29th January, 2006

LINDA ADAMS

How Do You Know He's Real? Celebrity Reflections on Christ
Amy Hammond Hagberg
Published by Destiny Image, Shippensburg, US, 2006

ISBN 0 7684 2332 5

"This book is a reminder that God is waiting at the door of every human’s heart and that what our Father, Creator and King offers makes us complete."

As far as celebrity status is concerned, this book will have more appeal to those living in North America than people in Australia but it is nonetheless a great book to reflect on the power of God to work in the individual lives of people on every continent.

How Do You Know He's Real? features 35 testimonies from people like actors Gary Burghoff (you may know him better as Corporal Radar O'Reilly in MASH), Kirk Cameron (remember him from Growing Pains and, more lately, the Left Behind movies?) and John Schneider (Superman's dad on Smallville) and musicians and singers like Bill Ray Cyrus (he of the Achy Breaky Heart) and Leon Patillo (formerly of Santana) as well as a former Miss America, US football and basketball stars and a host of other celebrities.

With a handy themed index covering subjects ranging from abortion, anxiety and addiction through to truth, worldliness and worry, the book tells of how God has worked in their lives in a range of different areas.

Bill Ray Cyrus, for example, speaks of how, in his early years of wanting to be a singer, he was desperate to get work and through a sermon he heard the voice of God telling him to start a band and follow his dreams; how, in times of discouragement and loneliness, God sent people to lift him up and keep him going; and, how, when he felt 'Satan' was trying to lead him away from his calling, he always could hear the inner voice, the Holy Spirit, speaking stronger, reminding him of his purposes for God.

Kirk Cameron tells about when he first went to church (he went because he was invited by the farther of a girl he liked) and he listened to an amazing sermon about God the creator and saviour. He tells of how hearing the Gospel made him realise he needed forgiveness, causing him to ask the question "If I die will I go to heaven?" He then asked God to reveal Himself, felt the Holy Spirit move in the form of the wind andsaw a vision of Jesus. Cameron says he knew then he had to get his priorities in order because even though he thought he had it all, he now knew he he nothing without a relationship with Jesus.

Some individuals had strong Christian upbringings while others came from very difficult and abusive backgrounds, but each recognised at some point in their lives that God had given them their talents and gifts and that they should use them for Him.

All here acknowledge that it was God who brought meaning to being alive and to their relationships and it was His love that brought them peace, purpose and sometimes a platform from which to speak to others about God.

These short autobiographies show us all the ways God can reveal Himself to us and that our relationship with Him can be deepened by being spiritually opened to Him communicating with us. For some, God’s revelation was immediate and dramatic while other developed their relationship with Him gradually and quietly. For those who want more, a number of the celebrities provide websites for readers to find out more about their lives.

This book is a reminder that God is waiting at the door of every human’s heart and that what our Father, Creator and King offers makes us complete.

~ www.hesreal.com