Short Book Review :: Empty Promises by Pete Wilson

I approach book reviews according to this truism: "Evaluate a book according to what it is, not what it would be if penned by a different author, at a different time, with a different intent." Empty Promises: The Truth About You, Your Desires, and the Lies You're Believing is written for those today chasing false gods, and challenges all to find the only God that can truly satisfy: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Other books have been written on the topic of idolatry and the Christian response to the lures of money, sex, and power. Some of them are academic or spiritual classics, and Rev. Wilson quotes from them. But Rev. Wilson is a pastor, living today in Nashville, with a compassionate voice that is in tune with the lives of his people. As a work of practical, contemporary, pastoral theology, Empty Promises lives up to its billing. It accomplishes its purpose, and does so effectively, clearly, and with love. The illustrations are situated in our own time and circumstances; thus the book is timely. But the biblical treatments, which thread through each chapter and provide remedies for sinful maladies like pride, vanity, and works righteousness are sound and helpful for people of any time or place.

If you are someone who struggles with image consciousness, approval-addiction, power mongering, unbridled lust, vanity, or greed, this book provides a pastoral answer: worship God. Let God be the object of your every desire, and let every other desire fall in to proper place. This book provides a vision, amplifying the vision of Scripture itself, with the proper focus being Jesus Christ, the one who came to rescue us from every destructive desire, to smash our idols, and release us to experience the freedom that comes with knowing the God of all love.

NOTE: I received this book via Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze in exchange for a review. Learn more about Pete Wilson and his ministry by clicking here.