"A Bright Tomorrow" by Jared Mellinger. A Review.

A Bright Tomorrow: Facing the Future without Fear by Jared Mellinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Back in 2016 his then 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer; then came two years of chemo with all of the concerns, exhaustion, visits, and exams. Therefore, who better to write a little book on fear and faith than Jared Mellinger, Senior Pastor of a Sovereign Grace congregation, Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills Pennsylvania. Write a book he did, and what a book! "A Bright Tomorrow: How To Face the Future without Fear" is a 144 page manuscript just published in June 2018. It takes on many of the very things we fear and brings the hope of Gospel to bear on them. What keeps this from being a happy-clappy-feel-positive-all-the-time kind of work, is knowing that it was written during the days of his little girl's diagnosis and treatment.

"A Bright Tomorrow" is written to "push back fear and unbelief and to awaken our souls to the boundless comfort and hope we have in Jesus Christ" (1). By the time you turn the last page you will find it has hit its target of cultivating "confidence as we look to the future" (127). Mellinger takes this Gospel-hope and probes our multi-layered fears about the future, showing us that "our need is not so much to be delivered from the presence of trials as it is to be delivered from our fears of the future" (10). The book is not a long pamphlet on triumphalism, but a rich resource wrapped in hope. In fact, Mellinger never shies away from the reality that we will face suffering at times. Nevertheless, as the author asserts, the grace "by which we are saved prepares us for suffering by waging war on fear and unbelief, and by implanting an unshakable hope in our souls" (66). Mellinger also addresses our culture of panic and how the Christian hope sets us free from playing the culture's panic-game. The last two chapters on death, dying and eternity should make a reader jump up with hands raised high, shouting "Glory! Come, Lord Jesus!"

"A Bright Tomorrow" unfolds in twelve chapters that have reflection questions at the end. This small book makes for good devotional reading. It also lends itself to Bible study classes. If you're afraid, worried, or facing a financial black-hole, you should take up and read this book. If you just received a gut-wrenching diagnosis, had a child go wayward, or lost your job and have no idea how you can face tomorrow, you should find a way to snatch up a copy of this volume and pour over it. In fact, if you're human, you need to get this book and make it your top reading priority! I happily, heartily, and highly recommend this book.

My big thanks goes to New Growth Press for giving me a copy of the book used for this review. All of the thoughts and comments in this review are mine, given without stipulations from the publisher or reservations.

You can purchase a copy of the book here: "A Bright Tomorrow"

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