Book Review: The Father I Never Had

Christian Singer-Songwriter and Pastor, Joel Engle's song "The Father I Never Had" is now in book form, it's a fleshing out - if you will - of his autobiographical song. Engle leaves no stone untouched in this unguarded accounting of his life and testimony. Gone is the facade that he is a 'perfect Christian' that no doubt comes with the territory of being in the Christian limelight. So rarely are we given a glimpse into the real life of an artist we admire, only to find out that they, too, struggle with their faith.

If you've followed Joel Engle's career at all, you know his testimony and his story. Engle's father was never in the picture, and his mother died when he was young. He went to live with his grandparents, until his grandfather passed away, and then he went to a group home - from their God blessed him with an adoptive family as he entered his teen years. He shared this story numerous times over the years at different youth events (I saw him waaaaayyyy back when I was just reaching double digits when he sang at our little church of First Baptist Kenai Alaska for True Love Waits, and then again in my late teens at a Youth Conference in Anchorage, AK.) but that's as far as it went, he never really fleshed it out (other than the horror of finding his mother unconcious on the floor) before he went on to talk about the Grace and the Peace he'd found in God, in the Father he never knew he had.

The book is a fairly quick and easy read, but it holds a lot of power. The reader can definitely tell the writing was no easy task, but that it's also a watershed of emotion for Engle.The honesty within each page, and the pain, helps the reader not just get a better understanding of where Engle is coming from, but in a very real way brings about how Engle views his faith. The reader connects very quickly with Joel, even if their life was seemingly 'easy' with a two parent family and nothing 'horrible' has happened in their life because Joel is open with everything - especially his doubts and faults.

Engle never preaches at the reader, and he never talks down. It's like a long letter to a friend where he's just spilling his guts in a very real and personal way. It's his sharing of his faith, and even with everything that has seemingly gone wrong in his life - and much of it he still doesn't understand why it had to happen that way - you can see God moving in his life. Joel introduces you to a very real God who is more than just a spiritual being that is untouchable. God sustains us in our time of need, He is a very real comfort, and Joel uses his life as an example as to how. Yes, he had tragic moments in life and learned early on that life isn't fair - this is truth, we all have that same realization at some point in different ways. We live in a fallen world where evil does exist in all forms - not because God is not all powerful (He IS all powerful) but because He loves us enough to let us make decisions for ourselves (sometimes the wrong ones, but we typically need to learn the hard way).

This book is a must have, a must read. Share it with kids and adults alike that have had similar experiences with an absent father or even an absent mother. Someone who is struggling with their Faith, someone who needs Faith. Most of all, just let God touch you in some way with this book.