It’s Your Call: What Are You Doing Here?

Gary Barkalow
David C. Cook (2010)
ISBN 9781434764393
Reviewed by Chad Feight for Reader Views (1/11)


I recently received a free copy of “It’s Your Call: What Are You Doing Here?” by Gary Barkalow from Reader Views in exchange for this review.  Unfortunately, this book wasn’t worth the price.  It’s a great idea, but it was poorly done.

I am a middle-school pastor and a director for an internship program at my church, so I deal with a lot of people wondering what they are supposed to do with their lives.  I was excited to read this book, hoping to gain some insight that I could share with those who asked.  Instead, what I got was a poorly-written book with some questionable arguments, and little new content.

In the preface, Barkalow writes, “I want to encourage you to take your time with each chapter…There is a lot here.”  I would argue that he is only partially correct.  While it did take me a while to get through each chapter, it wasn’t because there was a lot there.  It was because I had to read and re-read paragraphs, pages, and even entire chapters because I realized that my eyes had glazed over.

I am not typically so harsh on authors who aren’t the greatest of writers if they have excellent content.  Unfortunately, there was no such saving grace in this book.  In fact, I found myself questioning some of the statements made in this book.  In answer to the question of “What am I supposed to do with my life?” Barkalow offers this gem, “…we are never offered that in Scripture.  What Scripture does say is that God ‘will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go…’”  First, the Bible could never individually answer that question for everyone.  Second, isn’t God “instruct[ing] you and teach[ing] you in the way you should go” offering an answer? 

Barkalow does suggest some advice that I would agree with (preventing the dreaded “1-star Amazon rating”).  Mostly, that God has created us to do what we enjoy and that we should enjoy what we have been created to do.  However, that is not a new idea or concept, nor is it really presented in a new way.  In fact, most of his best ideas are just quotes from other authors.  It would probably be better for someone to look up those books and read those rather than this paraphrase.

While I don’t enjoy writing a poor review of a Christian book/author, I just can’t find a way to recommend “It’s Your Call: What Are You Doing Here?”  If someone were to ask me for a resource to help them discover God’s call on their life, I would not point them this direction.

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