A Book You Really Can't Judge By It's Cover

Beyond The Comfort Zone: The War That Never Ends

Frank Wilkins, Xlibris, USA, 2015

What attracted me to the opportunity to review this book was a promise that, as the symbol on the front shows, it wasn’t about “questions”, but rather “answers”.  And in particular, answers to global wars that never seem to end – the cultural war concerning the very existence of God and the religious war as to which supreme spiritual entity of our affections is indeed the “one and only true” God.

As a Christian, the topic as well as the background of the author, Frank Wilkins, intrigued me.  Frank graduated from high school, enlisted in the U.S. Navy, served as a radioman, and afterwards earned his Bachelor of Science degree. It was that normal of a life. That’s the very point he strives to make – the regular man and woman of this world – us simple common folks can indeed find answers and the truth to the very issues that cause global warfare.  God is there to be sought and found for those willing to remove their blinders.  By definition the truth exists and we can ascertain it.

Wilkins makes no bones about being an agnostic for the early part of his life and then a Roman Catholic.  It makes sense therefore that some of his evidence for the existence of God comes from his own experiences and that part of the Christian faith that he found a home in.  However, a good portion of it also comes from universal history and facts attested to by both believers and non-believers.

He has this amazing ability to dig through the questions and objections of atheists and others with respect to the denial of God’s existence, assuring them that if they really want to get out from behind blinders and take a hard look at facts, they can find the truth. He identifies realities of life that must be contended with.  One example is the reality that one’s life will definitely end. He helps true seekers struggling about whether or not a God, if He existed, would accept them by suggesting they should not be hard on themselves – “Do you think He let those Roman soldiers nail His Son to a wooden cross just so you could sit there and damn yourself for the rest of your life?”

Wilkins also takes on historians who have time and again distorted history to hide the inconvenient truth and the entertainment industry that pushes adults and worse still, young children, into promises of lies for the sake of the almighty dollar. He gives several well-known examples of historic battles where the outcome was decided because God decided to show up on the battlefield. That alone makes for fascinating reading.

Wilkins has an interesting perspective on Islam, Muslims, and the end of the world as well, but allows all of us to make up our own minds, always reminding us not to knock the ideas of others.  He is not too happy about all the distinctions and fights in Christianity, but again explains their existence as another reality.  Also of interest are his views of predestination as it relates to modern science, of evolution and Darwin’s usefulness, and of the actual age of the world.

This is a great book to help anyone get a grip on the answer to the question, “Is there a God?” For one who has been a life-long believer belonging to the Protestant arm of the faith, it helped me to understand the thinking of those who are not growing up in the Church, as well as to gain a clearer perspective on some very famous “miracles” the Roman Catholic Church holds dear to, and how these very miracles help explain their view of the Virgin Mary and the mother of Jesus.

Bottom line for Wilkins is this: “No amount of denial can prevent anyone from ultimately meeting their Maker face to face. You might as well try to deny the existence of the IRS in order to avoid paying taxes.”

He strongly recommends that when you get to “a point where we catch ourselves putting our faith in anything besides God”, that’s the very point we need to realize that for us, it would be foolish to deny His existence.

    -- Ken B. Godevenos, Accord Resolution Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario. 15/10/24

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