The Extravagant Fool by Kevin Adams

Before the fall of 2008, Adams had a successful business, high income, and great investments. He and his family lived in a million dollar house. He owned properties, rentals, and a business condominium. He was highly leveraged – he owed millions.

By January of 2009 he had lost it all. He had overwhelming debt, his business was gone, and the pantry would soon be empty.

Adams shares how he weathered this turn of his life in relation to his Christian faith. “The years leading up to my colossal failure... I never rested or ever listened to anyone but myself.” He charged ahead in his career with a sense of invincibility. He was a committed Christian. He tithed and gave generously. He was a success in the eyes of his Christians brothers.

It took him years to understand he had misunderstood faith. He had been “committed” to God rather than “surrendered” to Him. He never doubted that God loved him but he believed God's love and care was based on his own behavior. He thought being a good husband was providing well for his wife and family.

“I wasn't angry with God, only with where my understanding of the Christian faith had led us...” He came to a new understanding of faith, a faith developed by actually having to live it. Trusting God had an entirely new meaning to him.

Adams is an eloquent writer. That is good news and bad news. He is a word smith. His sentences and paragraphs are a joy to read. Sometimes they are so eloquent I lost the information contained in the writing because of the sentence construction.

Other than the writing style, this is a good book. Adams is very honest about his journey to faith. I had a hard time identifying with his initial wealthy lifestyle. People who have never lived in anything larger than a three bedroom, bath and a half house may have difficulty identifying with this story.

Kevin Adams may be followed at http://www.extravagantfool.com/.

Zondervan, 224 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.