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Description:
Raised in a dingy trailer park, Brady Wayne Darby has only a death sentence to show for his sad, sorry life. But when weary man of God Thomas Carey meets this no-account with nothing left to lose, the seismic wave of rebirth and redemption will shake a state---and the nation---to the core!
My Review:
To be honest, this was not an easy book to read. Not because it was boring or poorly written--far from that--it was just painful because of knowing the outcome and watching it come. Like the movie "The Passion of Christ" where you know it will be hard to be reminded of the suffering of Jesus, but you watch it anyway because we need to be reminded. Not that Brady's death is meant to be a replacement for Jesus' or in any way equal to his suffering...but I get ahead of myself.
The story is about two men and goes back and forth between their stories. Brady is living a difficult life where he bounces in and out of trouble and can't seem to stop himself from his eventual slide into crimes, jail time, addictions, and more trouble. He ends up on death row awaiting his execution for killing his girlfriend.
The rest of the story is Thomas. A middle-aged pastor who has been shuffled from church to church to find himself accepting a job as a chaplain in the supermax prison. He finds himself weary and saddened by the human depravity in the prison, frightened when cancer strikes his beloved wife, and mourning the determination of his daughter to not have anything to do with his faith or church. Enter Brady Darby into his prison.
It is at this point that both men find what they've been missing. Brady finally finds out that God loves even a murderer. Thomas finds hope in watching Brady discover Jesus. Knowing he is to be put to death, Brady has an idea come to him. He is determined to show as many people as possible what Jesus went through with his crucifixion by recreating it in his own execution. He wants to be crucified on a cross like Jesus, not to die for his own sins, but to show others the depth of Jesus' love for them.
Quite a storyline, huh? I've given away enough of the storyline now, but suffice it to say that the outcome will stay with you for a long time. It is a powerful reminder of God's love and sacrifice. So while I had trouble wading through parts of it only because I was dreading the eventual outcome and was aching for the desparation of these men, it was important to let the story carry out because the pain that reading about it causes is only a teeny tiny fraction of the actual pain that Jesus suffered to die for our sins. And it is important to remember that He is the one who gives hope because all of us are sinners like Brady and are in need of a Savior.
