Breakfast with Bonhoeffer

Breakfast with Bonhoeffer tells the story of how I struggled with faith as my entire life seemed to crumble around me. I was laid off three times, diagnosed with bipolar II disorder, divorced by my wife, which led to a crippling financial crisis that included losing our family home.

I think the experiences I describe reflect the difficulties many people have endured as they tried to make it through the economic crisis of the past few years. The story touches on a lot of headline issues, such as trying to refinance my home and trying to find affordable health insurance. But, ultimately, the story I tell is about how God works through his own economy and how we should look to him, not the government, for help.

The book is structured like a novel, showing the reader how God works through our often messy and inconsistent faith. The book is raw and transparent; it doesn’t try to wrap everything up in a pretty bow. Yet still, I hope, Breakfast with Bonhoeffer pushes the reader toward a deeper faith in Jesus.

The title refers to the fact that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, through his writings, helped me see how Jesus continually moves us toward making choices that will help deepen our faith and trust in him. Bonhoeffer teaches that a life of such extraordinary risk is the expectation, not the exception, for any disciple of Jesus.