Unplanned by man, and Guided by God – Amazing story!...March 17, 2011

When my husband and I took a vacation to the ocean for our 10^th Anniversary, I brought along a couple of books to “catch up on”, this title was included in my stack.  “unPlanned”, by former Planned Parenthood Clinic Director in Bryan,Texas, Abby Johnson, is a story of courage and integrity in the midst of the forces of the culture of death.

Ms. Johnson’s story starts dramatically, one that brought me to tears with the gruesome re-telling of her assistance in an ultrasound-guided abortion for the first time.  So vivid was the imagery that I had to look away for a moment.  Ms. Johnson’s turning point begins at that moment, on Saturday, September 26, 2009.  From that moment on, Ms. Johnson walks us through her journey of soul searching for truth, as she admits that “scales came off my eyes”.  The events that occurred after she resigned from Planned Parenthood on October 6, 2009 play out in whirlwind form like a Monday night movie:  Planned Parenthood issued a restraining order and files a lawsuit (“violation of employment contract by breaking the confidentiality agreement with patients”) on October 30, 2009; on November 6, 2009 Ms. Johnson appeared on the Fox News show ‘Huckabee’; and finally the court hearing occurred on November 10, 2009, which resulted in a denial and dismissal in Ms. Johnson’s favor.  To read the events, I am struck by the Almighty Hand of God at work – when God moves, sometimes it is fast and you have got to hang on tight and watch Him work. 

However, to get to that point can be painful, with obvious repercussions for choices made.  What rang clear to me in reading Ms. Johnson’s story, were a couple of things:  that the Devil works mightily to make us believe lies; that if those lies go unchecked or unchallenged by us, then we easily fall prey and pain and heartache are inevitable; and finally, that the Lord is faithful and still in control of our lives and orchestrates a beautiful song when we are open to Him and obedient.  Ms. Johnson’s walk of faith, despite the outward darts flying her way, is a testament to God’s faithfulness to us.  Although Ms. Johnson’s story is unique in that it offers both sides of the pro-choice/pro-life debate, it is also a story that goes beyond to the deep and unrelenting love of our Lord and Savior.

What also rang clear to me were the true believers who demonstrated pure love, not judgmental, but came along side with gentleness and longsuffering.  Hey, isn’t that the fruits of the Spirit???  Yes!  May we all learn to demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit in our daily lives – for we may never know whom God will touch through our obedience to Him.  Thanks for sharing your excellent story, Ms. Johnson.

Inaccuracies - Hard to read - Would not recommend....March 5, 2011

After reading mixed reviews on this book, I must say that I was a tad hesitant to request this book for myself to review.  Any argument against the resurrection of my Beloved Lord and Savior saddens my heart.  But, if I was to really be true to myself, and I mean painfully honest, then I would have to admit the truth that I, too, have had questions about the resurrection.  Understanding that faith comes from hearing and believing, this is my foundation.  For without the resurrection, there is no hope.

With that said, I started this book.  Right off the bat, I was put off.  On the very first pages of the Preface, Charles Foster wastes no time in speaking ill of other authors – namely Lee Strobel.  This left a bad taste in my mouth, as I thought to myself “Uh-oh, what am I getting myself into”.  It left me feeling uncomfortable, and thankful that I was not in a face-to-face conversation with Mr. Foster.

Moving on, I found glaring inaccuracies.  In the first chapter, titled “Does All This Matter?”, Mr. Foster lays the foundation of “X” and “Y” – two “characters” on opposite ends of the resurrection debate.  “X” represents the non-Christian view, while “Y” the Christian view.  Mr. Foster attempts to make argument that “we know that people get on trains” and “battles are fought”, but “we don’t know that men who are dead and buried sometimes rise”.  Mr. Foster continues on this thought, making statement that “…it is the Christian contention that they don’t – the Christians say it only happened once”.  What about Lazarus?  What about Jairus’ daughter?  Now Mr. Foster was insulting my intelligence.  Just a few pages further, Mr. Foster glosses over the issue of authors of the Gospels, stating that the authors wanted to preserve history as their reasoning for writing the Books.  Mr. Foster totally misses the mark in not acknowledging that all scripture is inspired by God, and actually makes light of this fact.

Even with all the inaccuracies, I did appreciate the questions that Mr. Foster was searching to find answers for.  He has an impressive breath of knowledge and obvious intellect, but that might also be his double-edged sword.  Faith is complex, yet simple.  The Lord says “Faith like a child”.  While I’m not so short-sighted to see that in this world people need tangible – I also have questions – I know that faith is everyone’s personal journey to work out.

This was a hard book to read.  I started questioning my own intelligence, realizing that Mr. Foster was beyond me in regards to brain matter.  About half-way into the book, after about 2-months of trying to get thru it, I have finally put it down.  Mr. Foster, I’m sorry, with all due respect, I just could not get into your head on this one.