Experiencing God

       

PIC No. 62: Pails in Comparison (Feb. 13, 2024)

• Title: Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God
• Author: Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude King
• Publisher: B&H Books (May 4, 2021, 368 pages)
• Management Bucket #11 of 20: The Donor Bucket

Welcome to Issue No. 62 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

Experiencing God (Part 2 of 2)

In more than 600 book reviews, I’ve featured only a handful of books that required two reviews. This book also requires two reviews, maybe three. I wrote the Part 1 of 2 review for Experiencing God back on Dec. 1, 2021. I named it my book-of-the-year for 2021.

On Feb. 10, 2024, Richard Blackaby announced that his father, Henry Blackaby, had passed away. (Heaven’s gain!) He was 88. (Read this tribute in Christianity Today.)

So it’s appropriate for me to look over my notes and share Part 2 of 2 of my Experiencing God review. (It’s actually my third review. I published my first thoughts on Feb. 18, 2008 in Issue No. 76 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting. Now in 2024, more than eight million books have been sold.)

The C.T. tribute noted, “Blackaby’s famous summary of how to know and do the will of God—“watch to see where God is working and join him”—has guided numerous people, churches, and ministries to join God’s work. Blackaby’s teaching and influence crossed denominational lines as well as cultural and geographic boundaries.”

That simple principle—“watch to see where God is working and join him”—is at the heart of every short chapter and “the seven realities.” Example: “Reality 1: God is always at work around you.”

WATCH & JOIN! Henry Blackaby wrote, “When I served as a denominational leader in Vancouver, one of our churches believed God was leading it to begin three new mission churches for different language groups. At that time, the church had only seventeen members.” Citing biblical examples, such as Judges 7-8, he adds, “If He ever asks you to do something, He will work through you to do it.” The result: the 17-member church received “a substantial check” from a woman’s estate in California!

WATCH & JOIN! Don’t skip Chapter 5, “Seven Realities of Experiencing God.” Blackaby shares the movement of God in Angola Prison in Louisiana, “one of the largest and most formidable maximum security institutions in the United States.”

The warden’s church had been studying Experiencing God “…and he decided to make the study available to any inmate who wanted to take the course. It was also offered to all those on death row.

“So many prisoners were becoming Christians that seven different congregations were begun throughout the prison with inmates serving as pastors. Violence and drug use in the prison was dramatically curtailed.” Blackaby adds, “Some of the men even sensed God calling them into Christian ministry!”

And get this! The prison became an official satellite campus of a theological seminary and “…wardens from across the country began asking Angola Prison to transfer some of their transformed prisoners to them!”

EXAMPLE: View this remarkable first-person account from Angola Prison inmate Donald “Carolina” Biermann, one of five videos from co-author Claude V. King. Biermann’s story is stunning. (Watch all five videos here.)

  
View Donald “Carolina” Biermann’s experience with God in this 23-minute video from Angola Prison in Louisiana. 

WATCH & JOIN! Henry Blackaby cautioned: “Christians talk about ‘open’ and ‘closed doors,’ asking God to close a door if they are not headed the right way. While it is admirable to seek indications of God’s desires, the danger in this thinking lies in assuming that God’s will is always the path of least resistance (i.e., the open door).”

WATCH & JOIN! Henry Blackaby urged readers to “take an inventory of where your life efforts are being spent. How are you investing your time?” What are your priorities? Then ask yourself, ‘What am I presently doing that can only be explained by God’s activity in my life?’ If you cannot think of anything, spend time with your Lord and ask Him why.”

Oh, my. There’s so much more, I may need to write another review in a few months. Thank God for Henry Blackaby and Blackaby Ministries International.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Donor Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. Why the Donor Bucket? When you find out what God is doing—and you join Him—not surprisingly, God funds His work!

[  ] God in the Marketplace: 45 Questions Fortune 500 Executives Ask About Faith, Life, and Business (Nov. 3, 2020), by Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby. (Order from Amazon.) Note: See their answer to Question #12, “How do I honor God when I have to fire someone and make other difficult business decisions?”

[  ] Experiencing God: Bible Study Book with Video Access (April 1, 2022), by Henry T. Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Mike Blackaby, and Claude V. King. (Order from Amazon.)

[  ] Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God's Agenda, Revised and Expanded (May 1, 2011), by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby. (Order from Amazon.)

[  ] Joy Giving: Practical Wisdom from the First Christians and the Global Church, by Cameron Doolittle. (Read my review.)

[  ] Read my review (Part 1 of 2) of Experiencing God, featured as my 2021 book-of-the-year in Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.

To order from Amazon, click on the title for for Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God, by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude King. Listen to the book on Libro.fm (11 hours, 3 minutes). (Note: The audio version is from the 2009 book revision.) And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy. For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.

MORE RESOURCES:

   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2026 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. 

Crazy Busy

 

PIC No. 105: Pails in Comparison (July 29, 2025)
Book #3 of 12 in the Time Management Series

• Title: Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem
• Author: Kevin DeYoung
• Publisher: Crossway (Sept. 23, 2013, 128 pages)
• Management Bucket #9 of 20: The Team Bucket 

 

Welcome to Issue No. 105 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

Frazzled? “A one-point plan with no guaranteed results!”

Just when you think you can teach the course on time management and life management, along comes a quick-reading 128-page book by a pastor who wrote the book because—wait for it—he was yes… “crazy busy.” I will read this book again. I may even review it a second time. It won the 2014 ECPA Book of the Year Award (and my book of the month honors!). This is Book #3 of 12 in our monthly time management series.

WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN (and workaholics) to this month’s Book Award Show. Our Book-of-the-Month Award goes to Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem, by Kevin DeYoung. This book won ALL the awards this month!

BEST SUB-TITLE!
“A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem”

BEST FINAL CHAPTER: “The One Thing You Must Do”
Gratefully, the author doesn’t promise a “a great five-point plan to simplify your life; a brilliant ten-point manifesto on restoring sanity to your world; a simple twelve-step program to becoming a less hectic you in forty days.”

But Kevin DeYoung does recommend one thing: “… I don't have a self-help makeover to offer. I can't fix your broken, busy life. I'm having enough trouble dealing with my own. But what I can give you is one thing you absolutely must do. Think of it as a one-point plan with no guaranteed results. Except that it will bring you closer to Jesus. Which, come to think of it, is positively the best way to handle your busyness.”

In Chapter 1, “Hello, My Name Is Busy,” Kevin DeYoung begins, “I’ve yet to meet anyone in America who responds to the question, ‘How are you?’ with the reply, ‘Well for starters, I’m not very busy.’” LOL!

BEST COMMENTARY ON LUKE 10:
“At the end of Luke 10 we find the closest thing Jesus gave to a sermon on busyness.” It’s the Mary and Martha story and DeYoung confesses, “No matter how many times I read this story I always sympathize with Martha.” He labels this section, “A Martha Work Ethic in a Lazy Mary World!” LOL!

DeYoung pushes back on what Jesus said to Martha and notes, “Besides, Martha was doing important things. It’s not like she was glued to her phone, watching kittens breakdance.” Then he twists the busyness knife: “Someone has to set the table and preheat the oven so that the Marys of the world can have their spiritual epiphanies.”

BEST DRUCKER QUOTE:
How did I miss this? Quoting from The Effective Executive, the classic book by Peter Drucker, DeYoung urges readers and leaders to establish “posteriorities” and adds, “This is Drucker’s word for the things that should be at the end (posterior) of our to-do list. These are the things we decide not to do for the sake of doing the things we ought to do.” (See also Worksheet #16.4, “My Don’t Do List” in the Delegation Bucket.)

BEST PASTORAL COUNSEL FROM ELDERS:
DeYoung writes, “Making goals is not enough. We must establish what tasks and troubles we will not tackle at all.” At his church, the “elders made a rule that I couldn’t do any more premarital counseling.” (That’s not prescriptive for every pastor—but it’s a good question to ask: Are your bosses, boards, and/or elders discerning what you should not do?)

BEST THERAPY:
Addressing “apostolic anxiety,” the author writes, “Second Corinthians 11:28 always seemed like a strange verse to me. Until I became a pastor. This is a must-read chapter (well…actually every chapter is must-read). See Chapter 9, “Embracing the Burdens of Busyness.” DeYoung writes:

“Paul was busy, in all the right ways. If you love God and serve others, you will be busy too. Sometimes we will get frazzled. We will feel pressure. We will be tired. We will get discouraged. We will feel exhausted.” (He goes on and on…!)

But DeYoung also urges us to read 2 Cor. 12:9 and then adds, “Paul had pressure. You have pressure too. But God can handle the pressure. Do not be surprised when you face crazy weeks of all kinds. And do not be surprised when God sustains you in the midst of them.”

BEST SEVEN-POINT OUTLINE!
I would be remiss if I failed to mention Kevin DeYoung’s diagnoses for busyness (he lists seven!)—and you would be remiss in not reading these seven chapters:

• Diagnosis #1: You Are Beset With Many Manifestations of Pride
• Diagnosis #2: You Are Trying to Do What God Does Not Expect You to Do
• Diagnosis #3: You Can’t Serve Others without Setting Priorities
• Diagnosis #4: You Need to Stop Freaking Out about Your Kids*
• Diagnosis #5: You Are Letting the Screen Strangle Your Soul
• Diagnosis #6: You’d Best Rest Yourself before You Wreck Yourself
• Diagnosis #7: You Suffer More because You Don’t Expect to Suffer at All**
     *Note: Read more on raising your kids in this Wall Street Journal article (July 25, 2025), "Goodbye, Gentle Parenting."
     **Note: Speaking of suffering, watch for my review of Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, by Dane Ortlund (written seven years after Crazy Busy was published.)

Oh…there is so much more. Even with just 128 pages, I’ve barely skimmed the surface. If you’re “crazy busy,” I urge you to read this important book. And…I hope DeYoung will write an update. Since 2013, our lives are even crazier today, right? The “screen strangling your soul” is now 10x the problem—thanks to artificial intelligence and all of our frazzled friends. (By the way, check out my AI-generated podcasts here. Oh wait…you’re too crazy busy!)

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Team Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies.

[  ] Read about my workaholism journey in Chapter 9, “The Team Bucket,” in Mastering the Management Buckets. (Order from Amazon.)
[  ] Read these two chapters in Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes and What I Learned, by John Pearson with Jason Pearson:
   • Mistake #8: "Incessantly Whining About Being Too Busy: My default conversations were         about busyness, not results."
   • Mistake #20: "Trying to Fix Workaholism on My Own: I should have asked a counselor for        help much, much sooner."
      
NOTE: I quote from this book in Mistake #8: Leadership Briefs: Shaping Organizational Culture to Stretch Leadership Capacity, by Dick Daniels 

NOTE: I quote from this book in Mistake #20: Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry (Expanded Edition, 2018), by Ruth Haley Barton (Note: I reviewed this book three times! Read the review here.)

[  ] Free Study Guide (13 pages) to Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem. (Download free e-book of the study guide here.)
[  ] Read the short chapter, “Delegation,” in Leadership Prayers, by Richard Kriegbaum. (Read more.)
[  ] Read this very helpful blog from Time Boss, “Are You a Time Prisoner?”
[  ] Visit the Time Boss website. “Time Boss helps high-performing leaders master their time, scale with focus, and lead without overwhelm.”

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem, by Kevin DeYoung. Listen free to the first five minutes of Chapter 1 on Libro (the audiobook is 2 hours, 56 minutes). For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.

MORE RESOURCES:

   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2025 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. 

Now That's a Good Question!

 

PIC No. 111: Pails in Comparison

• Title: Now That's a Good Question! How to Lead Quality Bible Discussions 
• Author: Terry Powell
• Publisher: Serve Strong Publishing (Jan. 19, 2016, 134 pages)
• Management Bucket #9 of 20: The Team Bucket

Welcome to Pails in Comparison, the sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

Managing Monopolizers!

Are you thinking of joining a Bible study, or small group, in the new year? 

Or…maybe you’ve been asked to lead a group—but you’re hesitant?

Or…maybe you’re in a group—but your leader needs a refresher course in Better Discussions 101?

Or…maybe this is you—and you’ve heard this more than once: "If you don't know who the dysfunctional person in your small group is, it's probably you."

Whatever your situation or interest level…read this book and order another copy for your favorite Bible study discussion leader. Terry Powell brings years of Bible teaching experience (professor, pastor, blogger, and author of 19 books) to the table and serves it up in just 116 pages (plus notes). 

You’ll appreciate:

#1. The importance of details. (No spoiler alert here—but I was tempted.) Read why an eminent professor of medicine at Oxford University lectured his medical students on the importance of observing details—and then passed a small bottle of urine around the room, asking each student to “please do exactly as I did.” Yikes! (See Chapter 2, “Getting Into God’s Word.”)

#2. “Harder to turn off than Niagara Falls!” Powell features two chapters (are those enough?!) on “Handling Discussion Problems.” Oh, my…he’s been in our Bible study discussions! He writes:

“Despite the numerous advantages of Bible discussions, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the potential pitfalls. Adversaries to effective interaction include:
   • conflicting interpretations; 
   • comments rooted in ignorance or speculation rather than textual investigation; 
   • a group member who’s harder to turn off than Niagara Falls; 
   • plus the participant who chases rabbits during the discussion, and tries to take everybody else along for the hunt.”

#3. Managing Monopolizers! Page 100 is worth the price of the book! The author gives five ways to address “a group member who feels that a second of silence is a divine mandate to speak. Though most monopolizers are motivated learners who are passionately involved with the subject matter, their verbal initiatives cause passivity among others in the group.” 

Powell’s fifth way to address the problem: “Speak one-to-one with the monopolizer.” He suggests how to use humor and affirmation to coax the excessive talker into being a more appropriate group member.

#4. Must-read: Chapter 9! Actually, I spoke too soon. This second chapter on “Handling Discussion Problems” is worth the price of the book! Put this on your next small group training PowerPoint:

“A group leader who learns only from himself

has a fool for a teacher.”

That’s just one of dozens of side notes, call-outs, and attention-getting graphics sprinkled throughout the book. Others include:
   • “Try This” ideas
   • A “Key” from Howard Hendricks: “Interpretation without application is abortion of the Word of God.”
   • “Definitions” and “Wise Words” insights
   • “Caution” warnings
   • “Super-Size It!” half-page sections with “tips that are relevant to larger group or classroom discussions.” (Brilliant!)

One more quote from Howard Henricks: “If teaching were only telling, my kids would be incredibly brilliant.”

Not a typo! All of this, Terry Powell delivers in just 116 pages, plus notes. I could go on, but it would be inappropriate for me to lecture you about a book on leading discussions. 

Discuss! With the person next to you, share whether you’re going to buy one, two, or three copies of this amazing book! 

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Team Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[   ] Serve Strong: Biblical Encouragement to Sustain God's Servants, by Terry Powell. (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[   ] Oh God, I'm Dying! How God Redeems Pain for Our Good and His Glory, by Terry Powell and Mark Smith (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[   ] Can You See The Cross From There? Grace and Grit for Sufferers and Sinners, by Terry Powell (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[  ] The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible: Practical Insights From Extensive Research on Over 1,000 Biblical Leaders, by Steve Moore. (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[   ] Visit the “Questions Issue” of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Issue No. 665), highlighting Terry Powell’s book, Now That’s a Good Question!—plus other books on asking good questions. It will also be posted at John Pearson's Buckets Blog.

TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for Now That's a Good Question!: How to Lead Quality Bible Discussions, by Terry Powell. (And thanks to the author for sending me a review copy.)  

MORE RESOURCES:
   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2025 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. 

God The Science The Evidence

       

PIC No. 110: Pails in Comparison (Dec. 3, 2025)

• Title: GOD: The Science, The Evidence—The Dawn of a Revolution
• Authors: Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies
• Publisher: Palomar (Oct. 14, 2025, 562 pages)
• Management Bucket #2 of 20: The Customer Bucket

Welcome to Pails in Comparison, the sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

"A Lot of Sadness for Atheists"

Oh, my. Where to start? At 562 pages, any serious book reviewer would need at least five or six pages (single-spaced) to give justice to this extraordinary book. You can thank me now—this will be shorter. 

In Chapter 1, “The Dawn of a Revolution,” Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies write, “Never before have so many spectacular scientific discoveries emerged in such a short period of time. These discoveries have overturned our view of the cosmos and forcefully put the question of the existence of a creator God back on the table.”

 “ULO!” Two hosts of a French Muslim radio station welcomed the authors to their “book club” broadcast and portrayed this book as an “Unidentified Literary Object (ULO)!” The hosts described it as “the publishing sensation of the year’s end” that became “the number one bestselling non-fiction book in France.” One host commented:

“God is selling, after all! They approach the topic from a deist perspective. I really liked this book. But I also felt a lot of sadness while reading it. A lot of sadness for atheists.”

Top-10 Reasons to Order 2 Copies!

#1. INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: 400,000 copies sold! Just published in English in October 2025, “the book everyone is talking about” features a diverse collection of endorsers: “15 personalities from all walks of life.” 

Authors Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies note that “To our knowledge, no other book like the one you are holding in your hands exists. We have aimed to make it easy and enjoyable to read for all, while ensuring accuracy. The chapters are independent, so readers can approach them in any order of their choice. We have done our best; we leave the rest to your free judgment.”

With their permission, I then bounced around the two major sections: “Evidence Within the Sciences” and “Evidence From Outside the Sciences.” (You should see my marked-up copy! And I’m not a science guy—or an apologetics geek.)

#2. THE PURPOSE. “To make our intentions perfectly clear from the outset, the purpose of this book is not to militate for a particular religion, much less to engage in an analysis of the nature of God or his attributes. The goal of this book is to gather into one volume the most up-to-date rational arguments for the possible existence of a Creator God.”

#3. WIGGLE ROOM? The authors (who write in an enjoyable and non-technical style) are generous with presenting all sides to the key issues of science and evidence. (Example: Chapter 17: “The Humanly Inaccessible Truths of the Bible.”) The book employs a unique color-coding approach (blue ink) when quoting experts—which makes for much smoother reading.

The authors ask, “What can we conclude about these truths? Did they fall from the sky?” Read this: “Of all the ancient sacred texts known to us, [the Bible] is the only one that does not place the Sun and Moon on a divine pedestal.” And what inspired the Hebrews “to adopt a way of life different to that of their neighbors”? (Examples: no human sacrifice, better conditions for women, “and the condemnation of astrology and superstition.”)

So Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies lay out their arguments for the existence of a creator God, and quote Robert Wilson (1978 Nobel Prize in Physics), “Certainly if you are religious, I can’t think of a better theory of the origin of the universe to match with Genesis.” Then they challenge us:

“Now it is up to you, the reader, to judge this anomaly and form an opinion.
There is not much wiggle room between two alternatives: it is either the result of pure chance or of a divine revelation.”

#4. “THE ALLEGED ERRORS OF THE BIBLE, WHICH ARE NOT ERRORS.” That’s the title of Chapter 18, a must-read that covers the errors most commonly ascribed to the Bible. The authors give an amazing amount of equal time to naysayers (in blue ink!), such as the section, “The Stupidities of the Bible: Error No. 2: The Earth existed before the stars.”

A fourth “error” is noted: “The Bible teaches that the earth is flat.” Did you know this? “Let us make it clear from the outset. This regularly repeated accusation is really surprising because there isn't any passage in the Bible which teaches that the Earth is flat.” 

#5. YOU’RE ON THE JURY! In Chapter 19, the authors begin: “No one has the right to dismiss this question: ‘Who could Jesus be?’” They discuss “four astonishing or inexplicable facts that demand our attention.” Most of the chapter focuses on the fourth fact.

“Fact 4: Jesus asked his followers, and through them, indirectly asks us, an unsettling question: ‘But you, who do you say that I am?’  At first glance this question, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ (Matthew 16:15), seems simple, harmless, and open-ended, but it will actually end in a problem of implacable logic. But we soon find that there are very few logical ways to answer it. Moreover, we have enough information to eliminate most of the alternatives.”

So the authors give “seven answers that have been given historically and which are the only logical answers to the question ‘Who could Jesus be? (They’ve tried it all!).”
   • He didn’t exist, he is a myth created later on.
   • He was a great sage.
   • He was a madman.
   • He was a failed opportunist.
   • He was a prophet.
   • He was the Messiah and an extraordinary man, but only a man.
   • He was the Messiah and God made man.

Next…the authors invite us into a courtroom hearing with this: “…in this chapter, everyone can come to his own conclusion. No one can claim ignorance when asked the question, ‘Who could he be?’ We ask you to accompany us actively in each step of this chapter.

“Dear reader, take your seat among the jurors
—the hearing is about to start.”

The authors add, “Each of these seven possibilities will now be subject to a thorough scrutiny, and we will call reason, history, the Bible, and most importantly, the testimony of Jesus’ enemies to the witness stand.”

Brilliant! This back-and-forth reminded me of the creative “debate” that Bill Hull hosts among 10 debaters in his book, Time to Stand Up (read my review). That debate question: “Jesus is God come to earth in human flesh. Yes or No?”

#6. PODCASTS. To go deeper, you’ll appreciate these articulate podcast interviews:

“Free Expression,” from the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal. Gerry Baker, editor-at-large, interviews Michel-Yves Bolloré on the topic, “Science, Evidence, and the Existence of God.” Listen here (42 minutes). View on YouTube here (47 minutes).

Gerry Baker, editor-at-large at the WSJ, interviews Michel-Yves Bolloré on the topic, “Science, Evidence, and the Existence of God.” (47 minutes) - Follow along with the YouTube transcript.

 

 

Cardinal Timothy Dolan interviews Olivier Bonnassies about his book, God, the Science, the Evidence (14 minutes). Follow along with the YouTube transcript.

 

#7. FREE 6-PAGE GUIDE. On the book’s content-rich website, you can download the authors’ guide, “3 Scientific Breakthroughs That Offer Evidence for a Creator God” (a 6-page PDF). The breakthroughs address: 1) The Fine-Tuning of Physical Laws, 2) The Big Bang Theory, and 3) The Statistical Impossibility of Life by Chance.” Stunning!

#8. “THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE LIVES.” On the book’s website, others weigh in, including Fr. Robert Spitzer, Astrophysicist and Philosopher, and former president of Gonzaga University. “This book will change lives,” he writes.

Note: I’ve attended Father Spitzer’s lectures on The Shroud of Turin and he’s the real deal. (By the way, check out the “Ask Father Spitzer” feature when you visit The Shroud of Turin: An Immersive Experience, in Orange County, Calif.)

Read my "review" of my visit to the museum here.

#9. “PATRONIZING NONSENSE.” The authors quote from Mere Christianity, the classic book by C.S. Lewis. “You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”

#10. BIG BANG! Did you know that the phrase, “Big Bang,” was used for the first time in 1949, live on BBC radio? It was used by Fred Hoyle, then president of the Royal Astronomical Society—"and one of the staunchest opponents” of the theories of Alexander Friedmann and Georges Lemaitre (and later those of Fr. George Gamow).

Must-read: Chapter 5, “A Brief History of the Big Bang,” and Chapter 8, “The Big Bang, A Noir Thriller.” (Did I mention, I’m not a “science guy,” but this book is so well-written that I couldn’t put it down. And did I also mention, the humor is perfect? See Chapter 11, “Preliminary Conclusions: One Small Chapter for Our Book, One Giant Leap for Our Argument.”

SO…IS THERE PROOF FOR A CREATOR GOD? The authors respect your intelligence and leave the decision up to you. (And as I mentioned, order two books: one for yourself and one for a friend or family member.) This is a fascinating book—and I’ll end with this note: don’t skip the footnotes! I found this in Footnote #672 on page 531:

“We have not addressed some of the more far-fetched arguments that have been made throughout history against God's existence, such as his invisibility. Cabanis, an eighteenth century anatomical doctor, exclaimed: ‘I cannot find the soul with my scalpel!’ In a similar vein, a highly professional Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, cried out from his space vessel Vostok 1: ‘I don't see any God up here!’”

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Customer Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. (Why the “Customer Bucket?” This book will appeal to three customers: atheists, agnostics, and believers. The authors treat each customer group with respect.)

[   ] Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. (Order from Amazon.)

[   ] Time to Stand Up, by Bill Hull. (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[   ] Is God Real? Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life, by Lee Strobel. (Order from Amazon. Read my short review.)

And speaking of customers:

[   ] Faith for the Curious: How an Era of Spiritual Openness Shapes the Way We Live and Help Others Follow Jesus, by Mark Matlock. (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[  ] Perhaps it might be time to pull out this book from 1975 about “The Engel Scale.” What's Gone Wrong With the Harvest?: A Communication Strategy for the Church and World Evangelism, by James F. Engel. (Order from Amazon.) See the chart in the Customer Bucket (page 53) in Mastering the Management Buckets.

TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for God, the Science, the Evidence: The Dawn of a Revolution, by Michel-Yves Bollore and Olivier Bonnassies. Listen on Libro (15 hours, 6 minutes). Listen here to the two-minute purpose of the book. 

MORE RESOURCES:
   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2025 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.