In this new age of
positive thinking, personal empowerment and "Yes You can" gospel
mantras, Pastor Charles Abraham presents a message that is at once eternal in
its source and timeless in its application. Beware, because this book so
undramatically titled "BOUNCE BACK UP" offers from its get-go a
decidedly unsexy premise - that failure is a fact of life and that all of us
will encounter failure at something, sometime. An uncomfortable truth but a
truth nonetheless. Its borne out by scripture in manifest expression in the
life and times of almost all the major characters of the bible.
Adam failed. Moses failed.
Samson failed. Peter failed. Paul failed.
The only figure that can
be argued never really failed in his goal or mission was Jesus Christ.
It seems therefore a
no-brainer to accept that failure is an inevitable, perhaps even necessary,
consequence of man's imperfect humanity. While man in the essence of his
creation was made in the image of God signifying his possibilities and the
unlimited power of the spirit of God in him, a yawning gap presents itself
between man's possibilities, his dreams and purpose, and man's humanity which
is the quick sand combination of his fears, discouragements and disconnections
from the path of righteousness outlined by his maker.
That gap between purpose
and possibilities, and man's humanity and discouragement, is a conundrum that
has confronted the greatest men of history and the best achievers of our time.
Each and everyone of us have to build a mental AND spiritual bridge over that
gap to connect ourselves and our ambitions and establish a reality and a
testimony of the triumph of action over inertia, of faith over fear, of
performance over mere precepts, of attainment over failure.
That bridge stands in
memory and in time as a monument to the grit and inner fortitude of history's
greatest achievers. It is held high by the iron rods of faith. The wooden
planks of determination and doggedness. The concrete mix of courage and
purpose. But above all it is made possible by some wisdom keys of spiritual
understanding that separates the hopeful from the hopeless. It is beyond the
positive spin of modern day life coaches who tend to affirm an unrealistic
concept of the 'always-winning-never-failing' human journey that have no
reality or parallel in biblical characters or figures of modern history.
Those wisdom keys build
from within each and everyone of us a spiritual understanding of the design of
man, the possibilities of man, the fall of man and the redemptive intervention
of Jesus Christ to make the rise of man possible again. Go figure then that The
Only figure that never failed in the history of the world was Jesus. That, in
summary, is the subtext of the wonderful narrative of this book.
Pastor Charles Abraham in
an affecting and inimitable 'voice' offers a message that is positive in tone,
enthusiastic in affirmations, persuasive in narrative structure and
reader-friendly and memorable in language; but this book succeeds most
importantly by its definitive scriptural
highlight of the key pillars of its premise using the story of David’s
experience at Ziklag as a template of a step-by-step process of turning failure
around from a fall to a 'bounce' back up to a higher dimension.
It is simply the most important message for
anyone hurting or reeling from the pain and disappointment of unattained goals
and unfulfilled dreams. "BOUNCE BACK UP"makes clear that failure can
happen but that failure does not define you. It is an event not an identity.
Where you are and what has happened to you is not your story. It is merely a
chapter in your story and as we say in the business of filmmaking, it is only a
twist in the dramatic arch of your story. It is suspenseful and will sometimes
accelerate the beat of your heart because it unbalances your world and
scrambles your carefully laid out plans and expectations but it is what it is,
a blip or bump in the road.
"BOUNCE BACK UP" is an exploration
of the inner space and psychological cross-road of David at Ziklag to mirror
the challenges we all face at that defining cross-road of our life when we face
a choice whether to give in or go on. This Message says, just as David did, our
wise choice is to LOOK UP! It is simply the heart of God speaking to man that
the strength to achieve and to create and to transport from one dimension to
another flows vertically from a God who is the only one equipped to add the
'super' to our natural so that we can operate in the supernatural.
The message is made real
as well because this book offers real-life case-studies in a gripping blend to
keep you riveted from page one to its end in an easy accessible flow. It is as
if you have sat through a friendly counseling that speaks God's mind directly
to what you are going through with a specific mandate to help you recover; to
affirm the hand of God in your affairs and to reassure you that heaven is
accessible to walk AND work you through the unavoidable pain and blood and gore
of birthing you from one dimension into another with a higher, greater remit
than your humanity can ever achieve in its own strength.
Failure happens.
Disappointment is a fact
of life.
Accept its reality.
Refocus your priorities.
Look upwards for strength.
And don't forget to
breath!
So whoever you are, and
wherever you may be in your journey "BOUNCE BACK UP" is simply the
most important book you will read today because, in reading it, your journey to
restoration, recovery and rebirth has already begun!
Femo Odugbemi
