You Can Trust God with Scars: Faith (and Doubt) for the Searching Soul

Pastor Ayers explores in his pensive debut why “it’s a good, true, beautiful thing to be a follower of Jesus.” Drawing from personal experience and conversations with congregants and friends, he explores how to grapple with the world’s brokenness, noting that while the existence of suffering is something of a mystery, the knowledge that Jesus experienced earthly pain can reassure believers they’re not alone. Elsewhere, Ayers explains what to make of the fact that all humans are sinners (their fallen-ness simply recognizes the breadth of God’s promise to redeem his “good creation”), and why it’s important to join a church despite its flaws (Christians must “live, speak, and serve together” to enact Jesus’s mission, according to Ayers, though he also calls on churches to reform by reaching out to those they’ve abandoned or harmed). Blending personal anecdote with philosophy, the author makes an accessible and convincing argument for the continued relevance of faith. Along the way, he effectively stresses that God is less a concept to be proven than a presence to be discovered (“a someone to be known, a Glory to be experienced”). Skeptics may not find all the answers here, but it’s a worthwhile starting point. (Sept.)