Friday, April 15, 2011

The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

In The Traveler’s Gift, David Ponder was the one who needed saving; in The Final Summit, it’s all of humanity that needs the saving.  The book picks up years after Ponder made his first trip to learn the “The Seven Decisions of Success,” he’s faced at another crossroads of life.  He’s aged, his wife has passed away, he has succeeded in his life’s ambitions and now he’s faced with sitting back and becoming complacent.  Then Gabriel shows up and again, Ponder’s life changes.  The Final Summit brings back the original Travelers from the first book and introduces some new historical faces: Winston Churchill, Booker T. Washington, and King David just to name a few.  They are brought together to determine the secret that will save the world.  The secret is simple, yet profound.  I would tell you what it is, but instead if you can’t wait until the end of the book, you can find the secret in chapter 12.

For me, the book didn’t capture me until around chapter 5.  The action and writing style were a little slow for my tastes.  The plot continues to build and multiple times I found myself wondering if they had discovered the secret early and even thinking it made sense, only to find out just like the summit of Travelers, that I was wrong.  I had not read The Traveler’s Gift before getting a copy of The Final Summit so I had to briefly skim the former to get an idea of what I would be encountering in the latter.  Overall, the book was enjoyable and I would recommend it for someone who needs a little bit of a pep talk in both their faith and life.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Tact.

I used to wonder why my dad always placed an emphasis on trying to use tact.  To be quite honest, sometimes I felt like he didn't have it so it was a concept at times hard for me to grasp.  Now that I'm older and in a position where my public conduct affects more than just me or even just me and my wife, I now understand why tact is important.  That said, since I can get away with doing this anonymously, I have to things to get off my chest to different individuals that will probably never read this (and to prove that as a youth pastor, yes I am human; probably more than I should be at times):

1.  You are not in love.  You are too young and naive still to understand what love truly is.  What you have is lust with a commitment component.

2.  You need to suck it up and be a man.  Start setting an example for the kids living under the same roof as you because you are only hindering them spiritually.  You may be the worst (step)father ever.  Okay maybe not worst ever, but you're still setting a bad example.


Thank you for allowing me to stand on a soapbox for a moment.