{"id":1201,"date":"2017-03-06T20:03:22","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T20:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2017-03-06T20:03:22","modified_gmt":"2017-03-06T20:03:22","slug":"audiobook-review-people-of-the-second-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/?p=1201","title":{"rendered":"AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: People of the Second Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"<body><p><\/p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"  wp-image-1204 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=310%2C310\" alt=\"firebrand_21.jpg\" width=\"310\" height=\"310\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?w=1050&amp;ssl=1 1050w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=750%2C750&amp;ssl=1 750w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=430%2C430&amp;ssl=1 430w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firebrand_21.jpg?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/>One of the keys to encouraging vulnerability in another person is the willingness to vulnerable yourself.\u00a0 For many of us this is doable, and yet we have invented an imaginary line of \u201cappropriate vulnerability\u201d that seems to say, \u201cI am ok being <em>this<\/em> vulnerable, but beyond that is too much.\u201d\u00a0 In <em>People of the Second Chance<\/em>, Mike Foster argues that real thriving only comes when we embrace the darkest and most uncomfortable parts of our story.\u00a0 And then he boldly crosses the \u201cappropriate vulnerability\u201d line and models how to embrace embarrassment, shame, awkwardness, failure, and pain in a way that allows God to redeem it\u2014unimaginably\u2014for good.\n<p>To be clear, these are not the typical confessions of an author or speaker trying to \u201cemotionally connect\u201d with the audience.\u00a0 This is some really raw stuff.\u00a0 There were times I literally squirmed as I read, feeling embarrassed <em>for<\/em> Foster, only to find myself completely amazed by how he speaks of God\u2019s unconditional love.\u00a0 Foster seems to be a man growing more at ease with his failures and his painful story, quick to\u00a0 bring them to God so that the relationship can be that much deeper.\u00a0 What a powerful example!<\/p>\n<p>Foster also includes examples in the book from the stories of others.\u00a0 Many of these are people that Foster has met through his organization, also called People of the Second Chance.\u00a0 One particular story that impacted me was that of Heavy, an incarcerated man for whom Foster and some others threw a \u201cprodigal party.\u201d\u00a0 Foster speaks lovingly of this hardened man, and then he turns his attention to the dignity-stripping environment of the penal system.\u00a0 His critique of this broken system is made more credible by his ministry to those inside.\u00a0 He speaks of others who are tackling this same system and he challenges the reader with, \u201cWe will never change the world by doing things that make sense.\u00a0 Societal and religious norms must be pushed to the brink of absurdity sometimes in order to move us forward.\u201d\u00a0 Foster champions the restoration of dignity on an individual as well as systematic level all throughout the book.<\/p>\n<p>Along the way, Foster also ventures into other dark territories including abuse, the comparison game, judging others (with an amazing bacon analogy), and depression.\u00a0 I can imagine this book setting so many people free by becoming a manifesto for imperfection in a society that is uncomfortable with this level of vulnerability.\u00a0 Will we trust God\u2014and others\u2014enough to courageously admit our imperfections, and create a culture around ourselves where others can do the same?<\/p>\n<p>I highly recommend this book, particularly to those in the helping professions that would regularly encounter those with deep hurts.\u00a0 However, I would say this book is meant to be ruthlessly applied to ourselves first, and I certainly have benefited from Foster\u2019s raw wisdom.<\/p>\n<p>Foster does a great job narrating the audio version of his book.\u00a0 I cannot imagine anyone else narrating a book so intensely personal, so I am glad he did it himself.<\/p>\n<p>Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.\u00a0 More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/christianaudio.com\/\">christianaudio.com.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A physical copy of this book was also gifted as a part of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloggingforbooks.com\/\">Blogging for Books<\/a>\u00a0Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the keys to encouraging vulnerability in another person is the willingness to vulnerable yourself.\u00a0 For many of us this is doable, and yet we have invented an imaginary line of \u201cappropriate vulnerability\u201d that seems to say, \u201cI am ok being this vulnerable, but beyond that is too much.\u201d\u00a0 In People of the Second&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/?p=1201\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: People of the Second Chance<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,4,5,12],"tags":[15,32,36,84,86,111,150,157,176],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging-for-books","category-books-2","category-christianaudio-com","category-reviews","tag-52-books","tag-books","tag-change","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-jesus","tag-reading","tag-reviews-2","tag-social-justice"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EHHr-jn","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1209,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions\/1209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}