God on Mute

I'm not the world's friendliest book reviewer, but I have to say that on the whole I liked Pete's book. Though he's from a wing of the church whose prayers have changed the word 'God' into a replacement for a comma, I like what he puts here, and having suffered greatly with the illness of his wife, he has what we might call experience of 'God on mute'. His style is relaxed and genial, and there are a number of inspiring moments when he drops in an amazing quote or a short illustration that tends to have the right effect!

Parts of the book are frustrating - a fairly trite page or two when Pete hears God say 'I've been there', which predictably leads to an illustration about the cross. There’s use of that hideous phrase 'God showed up', and Pete's humour doesn't really work for me, but we keep coming back to his genuine and difficult experiences and there can be little argument with those. Here is a genuine guy trying to make sense of a genuine God - and it makes for an interesting read.

Some would argue that the 'personal checklist' - a condensed version of a previous chapter reads as a kind of 'magic solution' to unanswered prayer, which is an error, and whatever disclaimer is put here, some will still read it as a kind of 'fix all' list to awaken a 'silent' God. The point I think Pete makes well is that God is sovereign, knowing all, understanding all, and always wanting what's best for us, but he ought to have left out this chapter it's a little naive and shallow for a book which is a good thought provoking read.

In conclusion, yes I think God On Mute is worth a read, but just for the record - we can't ever understand God who is far bigger than we think she is, so let's just be glad we're loved!