Spring and Beyond
by Robert C. Hollingsworth
Trafford Publishing


"This cry has taken on an urgency and a sincerity that I find hard to explain. Beyond any doubt, God has and is using this experience for good."

One of the most common misconceptions about Christians believed by both those outside of the faith, and also often by new adherents, is that those who have professed Christ for several years, and who are not obvious hypocrites, have somehow "arrived" at a stage of spiritual holiness where they no longer struggle or need to grow. Echoing the words of the Apostle Paul, the author refutes this claim and gives ample evidence of not having "finished the course" in this candid autobiography of his own Christian walk of several decades.

Born in Canada in 1939, the author was raised in a Christian home but did not truly come to experience Christ's love for himself until he was fourteen. Encouraged by others to go to a Bible college, even though he didn't particularly feel called to do so, Hollingsworth began attending Zion Bible Institute. During these years he also met a new Christian named Loretta, fell in love, and despite the objections of both his father and hers, eventually married her. Most of the rest of the book describes their life together going from ministry to ministry as God opened and closed doors of service. Especially poignant is the latter part of Hollingsworth's story where he describes having to become his wife's caregiver as she battles and eventually succumbs to Alzheimer's disease.

Told with honesty and passion, the author describes the struggles he and his family faced over the years in their obedience to God's call to the ministry. Yet what emerges is not a sad tale but one of hope and recognition of how God works in the lives of those he loves.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review.

Return to USR Home