Seven Days in Utopia, Dr. David Cook

Let me start off by saying I am not a golf fan...In fact I am not a sports fan at all. I actually chose this book for review with my husband in mind. So when I received it I let him read it first. It had been some time since my husband had picked up a piece of fiction to read. Over and over he told me that I needed to pick up the book and read it. So when he finished it that is just what I did.

Amazing!! Absolutely amazing!! I was blown away. This is one of the best books that I have ever read - honestly. I think my facebook page was over loaded with quotes as I read it. In fact one of my friends posted: "I see your reading a new book". I could not help but pass along the nuggets of wisdom woven throughout this book!

At one point Johnny asks, "Is it tradition you seek, or truth? Is it excellence, or acceptance? These are the questions of greatness. These are the questions that must be answered if a man is going to lead a revolution." On the face of the statement and in context with the book the reader may think this simply applies to golf - However, upon deeper contemplation and the fact that Johnny's faith is silently woven, like a scarlet thread, throughout his golf instruction - the reader discovers the depth of the statement. In fact - these are the very questions all Christians need to ask themselves. And if it is truth and excellence we seek then we must be prepared to be different.

I will say this story ends with the most powerful presentations of the gospel that I have ever read in a fictional work! I cried my eyes out and even suggested to my husband that we ought to have a cemetery of lies near our church. A physical reminder that we are dead to the old life and risen to a new life in Christ. Absolutely stunning!! Seriously makes you think.

This is a must read!! Don't just settle for the movie, though I have heard it was great - and I am anxious to see it. If you only see the movie you may miss some of the things that this author was trying to get across that won't come through in the movie. Plus there is something about the written word that soaks into a persons self and causes one to look more closely, to contemplate the truths upon the page.

Thank you Zondervan for this review copy!!