When You Feel Called to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Today’s reader reviews of The Turning are by bloggers, Kathryn Eriksen and Lonzine Lee.

How Do You Make a Turning?

By Kathryn Eriksen, Walk With The Master blog

Have you ever been called to step out of your comfort zone…for no logical reason other than you felt a strong desire? If you followed that desire, what was the result? Did it benefit you and those around you?

What if that strong desire was actually God whispering for you to go…and take the turning? Puts a different spin on it, doesn’t it?

The message of The Turning is that you are not strong enough to go alone. Instead of asking God to solve the problem, turn to God so you can grow closer to him. It is a simple shift in perspective but a profound one. And that same shift is experienced by the characters, who also struggle to hear God’s response to their pleas.

The clash of good v. evil is portrayed vividly in the book. The power of the media is pitted against the power of God. Darkness seems to overtake everything, until one man’s soul lights up with God’s purpose. Nothing can stop him from doing God’s will. And in those moments of pure courage, he discovers his own will is the same as God’s.

And his life is never the same.

The Most Significant Davis Bunn Novel to Date!

By Lonzine Lee, I’m Just Asking blog

Here’s what I like about reading a Davis Bunn novel. It takes less than one minute to get pulled into the story. His characters are well-drawn. He really knows how to capture the voice of people (the gender, the ethnicity and the generation); and he provides more than one perspective.

The Turning, Davis Bunn’s latest book, is significant, gripping, heraldic, hopeful and intentional. I’ll just tell you point blank, you need to read it. There are so many directions I can go with this review, but I’m going to go the way of my heart. Imagine being inspired to perpetuate a viral mindset that revolves around the death of all hope. It is an invitation to entertain all that is dark, fearful, evil and devastating to the psyche and life of mankind. At heart, you are launching an attack against God, His Word and His people. Now imagine being invited by God Himself to be part of a team of individuals gathered to confront that viral message.

You are caught up in the fast pace of one man’s unsavory ambition to take down the church and then you are called to a front row seat to watch the Almighty’s strategy unfold. John, Alisha, Jenny, Ruth and Yussuf, the five men and women central to the story respond to God’s voice inviting them to “take the turning, and walk the unlikely road…and you will find Me there.” Each individual knew precisely what He wanted them to do, and they obeyed.

The scripture speaks of those without God being without hope. It also speaks to the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ. The story revolves around those two positions, with the adversarial camp seeking to capitalize on the hopelessness of this generation. It may seem like a small thing, but I believe it captures the essence of our current day societal mindset. Mr. Bunn heralds the message to those who choose to listen to get ready, for this same confrontation is being played out in social media today. Because that is so, I found it inescapable that I would also have to make a turning of my own before I finished the book. And I did.

Some may find this book “preachy.” It isn’t, it’s simply that it confronts the reader and challenges the comfort zone, even as it shows the love of God and the delineation between His Light and darkness. This is uncomfortable for some, outrageous and pushy for others. Why? It is because God is intentional and He wants His people to make His position clear to all. He desires that none should perish, so everyone gets a chance to accept or reject His love and His message of hope.

Even Trent, the ambitious young man in the story gets an invitation to turn toward hope. In this book, there is no happy ending, just a deep breath between one accomplished victory and the next onslaught. The adversary is not vanquished for good…yet. Hopefully this means a sequel.

What if God asked you, “Who will go for Me,” and you responded like the prophet Isaiah: “Here am I Lord, send me.” And then God said to you, “Take the turning, and walk the unlikely road. Take the turning, and you will find Me there.” Would you do it? Are you ready to take the turning?