Losing My Voice to Find It: How a Rock Star Discovered His Greatest Purpose by Mark Stuart with Robert W. Thompson. 256 pages. Nelson Books.
Sometimes you find a really good book when you go to a library or bookstore. And sometimes a really good book finds you.
When I was almost through with this book, I told my wife, “I think God wanted me to read this book.” I said that, because much of what Mark Stuart was going through in the book had direct application with what I find myself going through in my own life. Perhaps that’s why, subconsciously, I picked it up. Or maybe, as I said, God sent it to me to read.
The story is about Mark Stuart, the lead singer of Audio Adrenaline, the Grammy and Dove-award winning Christian rock band that has sold millions of records over the past fifteen years. It tells how the band came together, how his life was affected by it, and about his spiritual life as well, especially growing up the son of missionary parents. But more importantly, it tells of a point where he started losing his voice. At the same time that he realized that it was harder and harder for him to sing, his marriage was struggling and going under. He finally reaches the place where he loses both. Here is a man who loses his career that he has sacrificed everything for, as well as his wife. The obvious question that comes up is, what is next?
Well, I’m not saying that I am going through a divorce or losing my career, but I am at a turning point in my life with my retirement. I have struggled the past year to determine who I really am in relation to my identity and who I am in relation to God. This book has helped me understand that. I understood it in a logical sense–sure, God loves me for who I am–but emotionally it’s a lot harder to swallow sometimes. I know God wouldn’t think less of me if I couldn’t write, or speak, or do the other things I am able to do. But how would I think of myself? And that’s what it comes down to.
The book is easy to read, entertaining, spiritually positive, and I recommend it. If you enjoy Christian music at all, know about Audio Adrenaline, you need to read this.
Five of five stars.
The Great Adventure 