Book Review: Soul Survivor

If you've ever found yourself in a "spiritual desert," you will embrace and celebrate the truths revealed in this little book! Mr. Pilavachi has obviously spent time there, and rather than endure and tolerate that time, he shares with the reader how to embrace and venerate those times. It is during these desert times that God is doing his deepest work within us.

Why would we feel blessed to be in the desert? Pilavachi tells us we should feel blessed to be in the desert, because that is where we find God. He uses John the Baptist and Jesus himself to demonstrate this truth.

John the Baptist, was refined and prepared to be the voice leading mankind to Jesus. Where did this happen? You guessed it: in the desert. Jesus spent 40 days alone with God in the desert, fasting and praying to prepare for his ministry.

It's so hard to hear God in the noise and commotion of everyday life. And while no one should stay in the desert, a few trips there throughout a lifetime allow us a "time out" with God. "Just God and me." Pilavachi contends that, like John the Baptist and Jesus himself, we should use those times to listen to God and hear what truths he wants to reveal to us. When God has our undivided attention the secrets of His plan for our lives are revealed. If we bask in the sun and dig our toes in the sand, we become one with all of God's creation.

Pilavachi assures us, "And if we go willingly, in anticipation of an intimacy unobtainable in any other way, impossible to achieve with any person in our lives, God will not disappoint us. He will use that time to help us celebrate the mountaintops more fully and the even keel of the highways will be cause for celebration every day. In other words: we will more readily find God in the mundane and the ordinary, after we have found him in the extraordinary."

Come on out to the desert! Find your passion. Find your purpose. God is waiting.

Mike Pilavachi is the founder and leader of Soul Survivor, a ministry seeking to reach, disciple, equip and empower young people to make a difference in their generation. He is also an author, international speaker and pastor who writes from "God's eye view." Soul Survivor, Regal Books (June 2004), is an easy read, yet is jam-packed with so much wisdom and encouragement.