I haven’t posted to this blog in three years. I’m back! I still have been reviewing books and posting on other platforms. I decided to start posting here again. Books I have bought for myself (and not given “free” books by publishers in exchange for reviews like I have in the past). Here’s a review of a good book I recently read:
You may remember Leslie Nease, nicknamed Sister Christian, from the CBS hit series Survivor China. Leslie, a Christian radio host and an Evangelical at the time, exited a Buddhist temple in the series first episode. “I was afraid because the temple felt so “evil” to me,” Leslie writes in her new book. “Mostly because it was a place of worship for another religion. I was always told to steer clear of these places. Danger!”
Yet her experience on Survivor changed her. “It was the first time I began to understand how those outside of my Christian bubble perceived Christians,” she says. Leslie quickly made friends with Todd Herzog, a member of her tribe who became the eventual winner of Survivor China. “I believe Leslie and I were put together on the same tribe by production to see just how badly we would butt heads.” writes Todd in the book’s Forward. “The Christian Radio Host and (me) the Gay , Mormon Flight Attendant . I don’t think anyone would have ever believed we would end up as friends , myself included”
Another change that affected Leslie’s outlook on life was moving from the heart of the Bible Belt (South Carolina) to Utah, where her Evangelical Christian religion was a minority compared to her LDS neighbors. She couldn’t understand how a loving God would send her new neighbors to hell just because they didn’t believe the right way. “This made zero sense to my heart,” she writes.
Honoring the Journey’s prime focus is Leslie’s transformation of her faith from fear to love, but it also gives a behind the scenes look at her Survivor experience. Leslie writes about her motivation to get on the show, her many failed attempts to be selected, and what the gruelling environment Survivor China presented to her and her tribe mates. As a fan of Survivor I found this part especially interesting.
I recommend reading “Honoring the Journey” if you are questioning some evangelical beliefs you were taught (like that of Hell and The Rapture), if you have had bad experiences in church, yet you still want a loving relationship with God. “I guess you could say , I followed Jesus right out of the church so I could get to know him personally,” Leslie writes. “And — news flash — he’s amazing .*
