I recently played for a wedding where the bride and groom chose a hymn which included these words:

I will weep when you are weeping,
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through

.

I thought that was an honest, realistic way to begin married life. John Chapman's latest book is similarly down-to-earth. In this little book he reflects on ups and downs he has experienced in his more than sixty years of following Christ. He doesn't gild the lily but helps us to understand that a life lived for Jesus will be good and hard.

Furthermore, Chappo does not tell us that he has a secret that will provide a shortcut that makes everything simple and easy, but warns us about the way Satan will try to trick us and discourage us in an attempt to divert us from continuing to trust that God is working in the joys and sorrows we go through. He also points out that many of the problems we face are the result of our own sinfulness, but also sometimes of the difficulty of living for Christ in a world that won't accept his rule.

Chappo tells us that the Christian life is strenuous and involves "keeping on keeping on" with our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is our saviour, but also our goal. Alongside this he warns the readers about easier ways he has been encouraged to take to avoid some of the struggling, so that we don't have to go through the painful process of slowly becoming like Christ. He tells us about his experience with a few of these, including Entire Sanctification (the idea that we can live a life of continuous victory over temptation), the teaching that we need a spiritual charge by undergoing the Baptism with the Holy Spirit as a separate encounter with God after we are converted, and the idea that Christians have a right to be free from illness and to be wealthy.

Writing in his well-loved humorous way, Chappo explains that each of these teachings do not square with the New Testament message about what we can expect as followers of the Lord Jesus. He also points out that each Christian's experience of Christ will be different, and we should not think that what happens in our lives must be exactly the same as what happens in somebody else's.

John Chapman hasn't written a dud yet, and this book is another gem which is worth reading, no matter how short or long you have been on the road with Christ. It is easy to read and clearly explains the tension we all feel as we live as members of God's eternal kingdom in a fallen world.