Book Review: I Am Second

I love stories. Especially when you hear about a life that was transformed or changed through an experience that they went through (good or bad). I love when my spirit is bubbling up inside me as I listen to a story and when it gets to the end I can boldly say to the story-teller, "That's the God I know!"

As I sat down to read this book over a few days, I was excited because I had used several of the videos from I AM SECOND in various youth ministry contexts. Each video is visually simple yet powerful, verbally thought provoking, and very inspiring. (I used three "V" words there, cool!). I am also a person who loves things visual, seeing a person share their own personal story, seeing their facial expressions of joy or pain is very powerful. Yet when I read, I love to visualize what I'm reading.

As I began the book I kept having this sense of confusion come over me because it wasn't clear to me who was telling each of the stories I was reading. Every story, through out the whole book, kept switching from first person to third person. I then jumped ahead to a story I had seen on video that impacted me personally and started reading with expectation. I was let down because as a reader I wasn't sure who was telling the story. I was left confused.

There are many ways to tell a redemptive story and I know that the redemption that God offers to each one of us is mind blowing. The big problem I had with the book was that the redemptive story of God seemed hidden, missed, not communicated well, I'm not sure what. When someone has a life changing encounter with the living God it is usually very clear to everyone through two ways: 1) their life changes (behaviour, decisions, attitude, thoughts, language, body language, etc…), 2) the reason for the change is clear, they tell you that it was because of their life intersecting with the living God and his son Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Some of the stories in the book I AM SECOND seem to lack a depth of the redemptive story and the life change that each person went through when they encountered God through Jesus Christ. I'm not sure if that's because the authors wanted it that way or if the person telling the story was not coached on how to tell the story of the redemptive work of God in their life.

Overall, if you are looking for a book to read about how various people go through a rough/rock-bottom experience and they emerge on the other side without drowning and discover God, then this is a book you will enjoy. If you are looking for a book that is very well written and explains in detail the redemptive work of Jesus in the life of various people, then this is not the book for you.

My recommendation is to watch the I AM SECOND videos for free. The book is not a must have on my book shelves. Stick with the videos.

Book Review: I Am Second

I love stories. Especially when you hear about a life that was transformed or changed through an experience that they went through (good or bad). I love when my spirit is bubbling up inside me as I listen to a story and when it gets to the end I can boldly say to the story-teller, “That’s the God I know!”

As I sat down to read this book over a few days, I was excited because I had used several of the videos from I AM SECOND in various youth ministry contexts. Each video is visually simple yet powerful, verbally thought provoking, and very inspiring. (I used three “V” words there, cool!). I am also a person who loves things visual, seeing a person share their own personal story, seeing their facial expressions of joy or pain is very powerful. Yet when I read, I love to visualize what I’m reading.

As I began the book I kept having this sense of confusion come over me because it wasn’t clear to me who was telling each of the stories I was reading. Every story, through out the whole book, kept switching from first person to third person. I then jumped ahead to a story I had seen on video that impacted me personally and started reading with expectation. I was let down because as a reader I wasn’t sure who was telling the story. I was left...

(read the rest of my review at thinkyouthministry.com)

You Lost Me

Ellen says...


Is the North American church overprotective, repressive, and shallow? "UnChristian" looked at outsiders and their perceptions of the church, and what we could do to respond to these very real concerns. With "You Lost Me", Kinnaman examines young insiders who have left disconnected from the church, giving them a voice and an opportunity for the church to respond in love.

About the resource...


You Lost Me by David Kinnaman
Paperback and Hardcover • Baker Publishing Group • 9780801013140

Millions of young Christians are disconnecting from church as they transition into adulthood. They're real people, not just statistics. And each one has a story to tell. The faith journeys of the next generation are a challenge to the established church, but they can also be a source of hope for the community of faith. Bestselling author of "UnChristian", David Kinnaman, with the help of contributors from across the Christian spectrum, offers ideas for pastors, youth leaders, parents, and educators to pass on a vibrant, lasting faith, and ideas for young adults to find themselves in wholehearted pursuit of Christ.



An excerpt... 

A generation of young Christians believes that the churches in which they were raised are not safe and hospitable places to express doubts. Many feel that they have been offered slick or half-baked answers to their thorny, honest questions, and they are rejecting the “talking heads” and “talking points” they see among the older generations. You Lost Me signals their judgment that the institutional church has failed them.

Whether or not that conclusion is fair, it is true that the Christian community does not well understand the new and not-so-new concerns, struggles, and mindsets of young dropouts, and I hope that You Lost Me will help to bridge this gap. Because of my age (thirty-seven) and my position as a researcher, I am often asked to explain young people to older generations and advocate for their concerns. I welcome the task because, whatever their shortcomings, I believe in the next generation. I think they are important, and not just because of the cliché “young people are the leaders of tomorrow.”

The story—the great struggle—of this emerging generation is learning how to live faithfully in a new context, to be in the world but not of the world. This phrase, “in but not of the world,” comes from Jesus’s prayer for his followers, recorded in John 17. For the next generation, the lines between right and wrong, between truth and error, between Christian influence and cultural accommodation are increasingly blurred. While these are certainly challenges for every generation, this cultural moment is at once a singular opportunity and a unique threat to the spiritual formation of tomorrow’s church. Many young adults are living out the tension of in-but-not-of  in ways that ought to be corrected or applauded, yet instead are often criticized or rejected.

In the vibrant and volatile story of the next generation, a new spiritual narrative is bubbling up. Through the lens of this project, I have come to understand and agree with some, though not all, of their grievances. Yes, we should be concerned about some of the attitudes and behaviors we encounter in the next generation of Christians, yet I also find reasons to hope in the best of what they have to offer. Apparently they are a generation prepared to be not merely hearers of doctrine but doers of faith; they want to put their faith into action, not just to talk. Yes, many young dropouts are stalled in their spiritual pursuits, yet a significant number of them are reinvigorating their faith with new ideas and new energy.

From this generation, so intent on reimagining faith and practice, I believe the established church can learn new patterns of faithfulness. You Lost Me seeks to explain the next generation’s cultural context and examine the question:

How can we follow Jesus—and help young people faithfully follow Jesus—in a dramatically changing culture?

Excerpt from You Lost Me by David Kinnaman. Copyright 2011, Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Used by permission.


DVD Resource coming Oct 2012

More free resources:
Video Interviews on New Day TV
Video Interviews on 100 Huntley St
Publisher's Page
Tables and Charts from the book

Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Ellen Graf-Martin now lives in the heart of Ontario’s Mennonite country with her husband Dan, where she continues to work in publishing and ministry.Learn more about her work at www.grafmartin.com

I Am Second

 Ellen says... 

"I Am Second" is the honest, raw, and often painful journey of broken people who have decided that life is not about them. This highly compelling collection of testimonies of those who have hit bottom and found God there would be excellent study material for older youth & young adults.

About the book...

A major league baseball player. A pastor. A reality TV star. A single mom. A multi-platinum rocker. What do these people have in common? They’ve all hit bottom. And none of them stayed there.
These are the stories of real people who reached the end of their strength, the end of their control, and found the most surprising truths. It taught them not to rely on self or substance but to lean on the only completely reliable source of love, hope, and freedom: the God who created them. 

Shocking in their honesty, inspiring in their courage, these testimonies are critical reminders that no one is too far from God to find him.

An excerpt...

…becoming Second isn’t the journey of perfected saints or of superhero believers. It is the honest, raw and often painful journey of broken people who have decided that life is not about them. It is not about what they want or about what they can do. Some have tried money, others pleasure, success, beauty, family, or religion. They all tried something to calm the ache in their soul, to find purpose, love, or happiness. But whatever they tried and whatever they were looking for, they only found it when they surrendered and said, “I am Second.”

Second is a simple concept. It summarizes all that Jesus taught, all that he lived, and all that he expects from those that claim his name. God is first and others are before ourselves. That is the motto and manifesto that “Seconds” live by.

It brings no guarantee to health or wealth and it makes to promise to take away troubles and trials. Some may describe the rewards of such a life as less tangible. But a smile on your face when the lights go out and a peace in your heart when the storm rages is much more real than any dollar bill or any quick pleasure.

In the following pages, you will see the full gambit of life. Falling in love and facing divorce, healing and sickness, rich and poor. But in every one of these stories, the lesson is the same. Second is the only way to find love, peace, joy, contentment, or whatever else you are looking for. It is the only way to find a life worth living. These are the stories of those that have found this to be true.

More of the book can be read online here for free  

Excerpt from I AM SECOND by Doug Bender and Dave Sterrett. Copyright ©2012 e3 Partners Ministry. Published in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas Nelson. Used with Permission.  All Rights Reserved

*curriculum coming Fall 2012


More free resources at the website: www.iamsecond.com

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Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Ellen Graf-Martin now lives in the heart of Ontario’s Mennonite country with her husband Dan, where she continues to work in publishing and ministry. Learn more about her work at www.grafmartin.com