“If I don’t make it to heaven, I’ll worship You from hell” sets the tone for this tour de force dance of doubt and epiphany, culminating, at last, in Christian joy.  This outside-the-box, hard-earned guidebook takes you along on the author’s incredible journey.  That journey leads to the discovery of a deeply spiritual phenomenon that can benefit Christians of all persuasions and help bring joy and peace of soul in our troubled times.

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Chasing Jesus is one of those rare books that combines humor with profound insights. It is for those who struggle, questioning their faith, searching for the truth.

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The book covers not only “rubber meets the road” Christianity, dealing with the nagging doubts many Christians may secretly harbor in their hearts, fearing they’re alone in their questioning, but also the exploration of a gift left for all Christians by the great C. S. Lewis, involving what this author terms “God-speak”.

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These “whisperings of the Master” have allowed the author to find true joy in personal worship, and, since these taps on the shoulder from God are there for everyone, he believes all Christians can experience that joy.

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Like a story told by an old friend, the book “never leaves the room”. Just you, the reader and this octogenarian author with a wildly eclectic history. Just the two of you—personal, intimate, conversational.

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Jack invites you along on a tortuous journey, including struggles with church worship and nagging questions about the Old Testament, several inexplicable phenomena, and the incredible coincidences that drive him to his epiphany—the discovery of Lewis’s gift and even beyond to new levels of worship and devotion.

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There are interesting stops along the way, poignant episodes in which he discovers the nature of Holy Sorrow—paradoxically, one of the requisite elements for true bliss in the perfected Christian life (The author makes no claim to any substantial attainment of that perfected life—he simply describes himself as, “just a bumbling old duffer wallowing in the shallows”).

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This discovery begins with two nursing home visits that profoundly change his life. From these experiences, there begins to spring forth a myriad of thoughts and ideas regarding virtually every phase of the Christian dynamic—prayer, witness, service, sharing… the work and works of the sincere Christian.

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Through it all, the author remains painfully aware of his own spiritual poverty, realizing that try as he might, he so easily stumbles--yet takes heart and finds his peace knowing that God is here to do the heavy lifting.

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There is much more to be found in Chasing Jesus…for instance, a truly original series of apologetics essays: Christ, the Con Man; An Unlosable Wager; That Final Breath; and Howd’ya Like Fifty Dollars?, meant for those with faltering faith themselves or who are trying to encourage skeptical friends or family to explore Christianity.

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Approaching the logic of Christianity from four unique perspectives, these essays present arguments for the Faith in the down-to-earth, man-on-the-street type of language the author feels is needed in our times.

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Finally, Chasing Jesus is far more than an intellectual exercise. It has what used to be called “heart”. In addition to the author laying his own heart open to you, the reader, much of the book deals with that inner heart, what the author describes as a “spiritual organ”.

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From “Buddy’s story”, a true happening that might well bring you to tears, to reflections on pain, the “blood brother of empathy” and that faithful companion of true compassion, Holy Sorrow, the underlying thrust of this effort, this "owners manual" for all Christians is love--love of God and man and love for all of God’s creatures.

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Love as the very foundation of prayer, worship, and Christian action. Love as a verb. As St. Francis of Assisi is said to have advised, “Preach the Gospel always. When necessary, use words.”

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Chasing Jesus does that in its own sometimes passionate, sometimes gently humorous, self-revealing way…an open mind and heart, reaching out to all brothers and sisters in Christ.