HEAR NO EVIL

Okay, the whole title is HEAR NO EVIL: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost, and Matthew Paul Turner is a HOOT! Well, maybe I think so because I'm a Southern Baptist girl who grew up with the "we don't dance" rule hanging over her head while her feet simply would not be still. I always tried to convince my parents that David danced before the Lord, why couldn't I? Needless to say that argument never held much water. Thankfully they relented for high school dances and I was able to dance at prom.
Similarly, Matthew Paul Turner's roots are implanted in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, they're stricter than Southern Baptists! I thoroughly enjoyed the peeks into that realm and into how a teenage boy who thought he was destined to become the Michael Jackson of Christian music rebelled and survived. I also enjoyed the subtle look into the realities of CCM (contemporary Christian music) and how all things are not always as they seem in the hallowed halls of Christianity.
What Mr. Turner is trying to convey, in his funny and often irreverent way, is that Christianity isn't found in the four walls of a religion, but instead inside one's heart and in their personal relationship with God. It's not whether you play the drums in church, sing rock and roll, dance, tap your foot, or clap your hands. It's not in lifting hands in worship, or in putting on your piety along with your best dress or suit before you head out the door for Sunday morning worship. A real relationship with God is personal and intimate. It's not a performance for others.
Highly entertaining, HEAR NO EVIL is a quick read with a sound message. It's a book I hope you won't pass up. Recommend it to your chuch librarian, it's one everyone can enjoy!
This book was provided for review by the Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.
More information about HEAR NO EVIL is available on the Random House website.