Road to the Resurrection

In the weeks leading up to Easter, I read a couple of books on the resurrection. Road to the Resurrection by Greg Laurie was one of them.

This book was helpful as a preparation for Easter, in that it focused my mind on the biblical events surrounding the resurrection. It was a short read, and explained in simple terms what happened in the days and weeks surrounding Christ's death and resurrection.

Due to its being a short book, there was not a whole lot of substantial content. I've heard Greg Laurie on the radio, and his preaching delivery was been far more dynamic and interesting than this book. There were entire sections of the book that were simply lists of facts, for example a list and description of all the people involved in Passion week and resurrection. Although it was accurate information, it was not what I expected from a mini devotional book on the Resurrection. The latter portion of the book is a brief apologetic defense of the resurrection.

Despite the lack of substance and thorough application, the book directed my mind toward the life-changing truth of the resurrection. For this, I am grateful.

[This review originally appeared on my personal blog, www.danielthrelfall.com]

This book is about, well, the road to the resurrection. This road to the resurrection is considered by Laurie to be the heart of Easter, and thus, this book then being about the miracle of Easter. There is much discussion over the importance of Easter being a Christian holiday honoring the resurrection of Y'shua, and not about chocolate bunnies and plastic Easter eggs. 

So what is Easter about? Does Y'shua represent Easter, or is Easter a Catholic cover up for the Spring pagan rituals? What if Y'shua is really about the completion and fulfillment of Passover, and it isn't about Easter at all? There are so many questions to ask, but Laurie maintains a standard Christian mindset and interpretation through it all. 

Porter's narration style for this text is quite persuasive, with a defined tone to convince the reader of Easter's importance, as Laurie would desire. His inflection aligns with Laurie's intent for the text, matching the narrator and author up for this work perfectly. The textual intention is not just obvious by the reading, but reassured through Porter's performance, utilizing his deep mellow voice and medium to fast pace to replicate the author as much as possible. This truly is a magnificent work of narration.

While not a performed audio but more of a classic retelling, this narration nevertheless scores a five out of five, the content more of a three, giving a final score of four out of five. 

christianaudio commissed this review. Read this review and more like it at scriptedgenius.com today!

Let’s get one thing straight: I have mad props for Greg Laurie. That said, I don’t get this book. This was the second of two audiobooks I listened to in preparation for Easter, and was excited about the premise of a “road” leading to the Resurrection.

What I got instead is a collection of thoughts and lists. This collection includes a listing of the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross with commentary, a listing of the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, a list of the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus, and a bona-fide alphabetical glossary of people and places mentioned in the gospels (by itself taking up nearly a third of the book). The irony here for me is that the “road” mentioned in the title is completely absent in this book, as there is no narrative structure to be found anywhere.

Instead this book should have been called “Reference Guide to the Resurrection” or “Related Thoughts on the Resurrection” or something like that.

However, the narration is very well done, and the last chapter on the Great Commission contains some excellent thoughts and illustrations on evangelism, the Church, and the Holy Spirit. The last chapter and the narration are what earn this work two stars out of five instead of just one.

Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.

I’ve always liked listening to Greg Laurie preach on the radio. He has one of those voices that never gets tiring and makes me want to get up and go. He’s motivating and encouraging. He wants to see people get saved and follow Jesus.

His new book, Road tothe Resurrection: Explore and Share the Miracle of Easter, doesn’t really project the same voice I hear on the radio, and I’m not just talking about the narrator. I really wish Laurie had narrated it himself, and the book was short enough that it isn’t inconceivable that he could have done it.

Still, I can’t fault the book for being exactly what the title says. The main point of the book is for the reader to explore the miracle of Easter, that is, discover what the Bible says actually happened and what that means for us today, and to share the miracle of Easter, namely, using the book as an outreach tool. The gospel is there, and praise God for that. Anyone reading (or listening) to this book will definitely come across a straightforward and clear presentation of the gospel.

Overall though, the book is lacking. A whole chapter goes from A to Z like an encyclopedia on the people and places involved in Christ’s passion and resurrection, which is great in print format, but not so much for an audio book. Likewise, some parts sound like a multi-columned table is being read, which may be easy on the eyes, but definitely not so much on the ears.

In print it may be worth checking out, but if you’re hoping to look at the Easter story through a new lens or to share your faith with someone else, I’d pick something else out (like Piper’s Fifty Reasons why Jesus Came to Die).

I received this audio book from christianaudio for review.

“The Road to the Resurrection” by Greg Laurie is a short little overview of why Easter matters for today, as well as a Who’s Who and What’s What of the Easter story.

I actually found that the content doesn’t make for a very good audiobook, since it reads like an encyclopedia with dozens of references to scripture every couple of minutes. Nevertheless, since its free, I would recommend picking it up as a good way to help get your heart in the right place for this Easter season.

Another reason to download it is that It may be a useful resource to give to a new Christians at Easter time to help them become familiar with the whole Easter story.

At the very least, download it and listen to the beginning and end, which in my opinion are well worth your time. The start will remind you why Easter matters and the end will inspire you toward evangelism all over again.

Full Disclaimer: I received this book as part of the christianaudio.com Reviewers Program, which does give away free books in exchange for reviews, but I am not required to give a positive review in order to participate in this program.

Christ's journey to the cross and the people that surrounded Him is an account that needs to be heard and thought about often. Greg includes the information about Jesus, His disciples and the account of the crucifixion and resurrection with insights and practical application.

I am familiar with Greg Laurie, having read some of his previous works, and listened to him teach. That was one reason why I jumped at the chance to listen to and review this book.

That said, The Road to the Resurrection was more a basic guide for new believers than anything else. I didn’t really learn anything new; but parts of the book were a great review for what I learned a few years ago in an apologetics class.

There was one chapter that seemed to be out of place. It sounded and felt like it should have been an appendix – he goes through in alphabetical order the places, events, and people of the Resurrection. When I started to hear this list, I thought that perhaps my phone had skipped over several chapters of the book. I had to actually stop; and go to the table of contents to insure that I was listening in the correct order.

There was really nothing wrong with the narration, but the narrator just didn’t seem like he was very interested in the book either.

So, as a basic guide to the Resurrection for new believers, I would say this was a pretty good book. For others, who have been Christians for a long time, like myself, I don’t think it would add much to your understanding of this event. I was excited to listen to this book during Holy Week; but really there was nothing in this book that I didn’t already know.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this audio book as a part of the christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work. For more information about this and other Christian audio books visit christianaudio.com.

I haven't enjoyed this audio and have found it a bit confusing at times. Sometimes it comes across as just a fact only audio and then it is something more like an evangelistic outreach tool. It is not very easy to listen to as its mostly scripture references which would be fine in print but comes across as rather dull in the audio format.

The narrator Ray Porter is clear with his diction making him easy to understand, but he doesn't sound very interested in what he was reading, which made it hard to keep my attention.

I would only recommend this to listeners who want a scriptural reference only guide to the facts of Easter, and maybe students who are doing an in depth study of it. I haven't come across Greg Laurie before and doubt I would look for anything else by him.

Thanks to christianaudio.com Reviewer's Program for this copy.

Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Church in Riverside, CA, and host of the Harvest Crusades, released Road to the Resurrection as an exploration of the events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Laurie is a dynamic speaker who has a strong focus on evangelism, and this is not missed in his Lenten tome. I actually really appreciated his acknowledgement in this book that traditional evangelism is not the only important element of the Christian faith.

But that is not the point of this book, which was only 2.5 hours in the audiobook version I reviewed. His goal was really to walk the reader/listener through some of the facts around the last days of Christ's life. If someone is looking for a very basic Bible study into the end of the Passion Week, then this is a good introduction.

I can only recall one new thought I gained from the book (a clever and realistic explanation of why John arrived at the empty tomb prior to Peter). The rest was rather basic. While Laurie attempted to engage in some critical thinking on elements of the biblical narrative, the arguments were pseudo-scholarly. For instance, in defending the fact of the resurrection, Laurie depending almost solely on the Bible. Unfortunately, most critics of the resurrection have no faith in the Bible, so his rebuttals would be worthless. This perspective is analogous to a Latter Day Saint using the Book of Mormon to convince a Southern Baptist about the nature of Jesus. It just doesn't work.

In summary, there was nothing wrong with this book, but I found it neither thought-provoking nor moving.

This review first appeared on my blog, Jacob's Café.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”