Book Review
Military Writers Society of America
Author: Randy Meulman
Publisher: John Meulman
Reviewer: Bill McDonald – President of the MWSA
A Personal Spiritual Story Well Worth Reading!
Author and Vietnam veteran Randy Meulman shares his personal life story in a very well written book called The Quest For Glory. His own spiritual search makes for some fascinating reading and opens up lots of questions about religion, life, and meaning.
The book exposes many of the author’s short comings as he chooses not to hide from his past or his errors in thinking. You can follow what seems to be an evolutionary journey of his heart and soul that takes you through what made him who he is today. One cannot help but think that he is still moving along and discovering parts of who he is each new day of his life.
I read the book in one complete sitting. I began innocently enough intending to just briefly get a quick over-view of the book in a few minutes. I got myself hooked on his opening story about evil influences in Hawaii and how he dealt with it. The book will grab you. You will not want to put it down until you have finished it.
I enjoy reading about other men’s spiritual paths. Seeing how they are changed from events in their lives. This book is well worth reading for all spiritual adventurers – whether or not you are still looking for meaning in your religious life or not. The book is not long (only 71 pages) but it is loaded with emotion and inspiration. I enjoyed the reading and recommend it to others as well. This is one of the better spiritual memoirs that I have read. It is not some cookie cutter religious book spouting scriptures. It is about a real man dealing with the deep issues he faced in his spiritual life.
This Book Gets the MWSA President’s Personal Endorsement.
MWSA - Military Writers Society of America
MWSA
Executive Book Summary
Tarrant Baptist Association
There is something inside of each of us that yearns for more. I believe at the core of much of our searching lies an aching heart that knows it was created for more. I believe that yearning in our hearts is the longing for lost glory. This book is about retracing my steps and looking at the miraculous ways in which God has healed me and given me new life. The real miracle of my life, however, does not lie in the arena of the sensational, but rather in the overwhelming sense of well-being that I now possess.
It is impossible to intimately know the love of God apart from the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will be your best friend once you get to know Him. There are, however, two things that are essential if you truly want to be intimate with God. First, you have to be honest, and by that I mean you have to be yourself, just as God made you. Second, you have to be willing to accept God’s very best for you. To be separated from the love of God is absolute and unspeakable death. But once you have been in the presence of God, you will never again question his loving kindness.
The Holy Spirit was not given to us to make us feel guilty. Guilt is about condemnation. Satan is called “the accuser of the brethren” and sometimes these relentless accusations can be debilitating. Know with absolute certainty that these attacks are not from the Lord, although Satan will present them as such. Some of the most miserable people I know are born-again Christians who have either made destructive choices, ignoring the prompting of the Holy Spirit, or who truly do not understand what their choices are, often because they have not experienced a healthy concept of love. The Christian life is all about choices. Though the Holy Spirit will never make us feel guilty, the issue of Godly sorrow certainly exists. Godly sorrow, which leads to repentance, is totally connected to love, unlike guilt, which leaves you feeling condemned and without choices. Godly sorrow points us to repentance and is always a path to life, freedom and joy. Repentance is about changing and accepting the new spirit Jesus has for me.
One of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to help us grow—and that growth is all about love. In its essence, fear is simply the result of being separated from God who is love. I tell you my friends, if we want to be free, we are going to have to get naked before God, clothed only in the love of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will guide you and you will learn how to intimately relate with your Father. There is also the issue of God’s timing in our lives—God is like a loving parent who patiently encourages us to grow and turn away from harmful behaviors. As we grow in our relationship and love with God, He reveals more of His will to us and asks for new levels of obedience—things that were acceptable in the past will no longer be acceptable in light of our continuing transformation. As we grow, we begin to experience freedom from our destructive desires and habits and the freedom to love in a healthy way. Religion puts us in bondage and kills the spirit of life. In religion, one seeks to please God in order to either escape His wrath or win His love, because in religion, it is never finished.
Real faith has very little to do with what we call knowledge. Rather, faith is about a relationship of trust with the God who absolutely loves us. Faith is also about choice—the choice of responding to the Holy Spirit who helps us grow in our faith. It is impossible to live the Christian life apart from the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian, Satan has absolutely no authority or power over you. As a matter of fact, you have authority over Satan. Evil cannot gain control over you or me unless we submit to Satan’s lies. We have power over those lies, but we must choose to submit to the Holy Spirit. Pride and an independent mindset keep us from experiencing the grace of God more than any other tactics we employ. Like it or not, we are involved in spiritual warfare and Satan wears many hats that cater to our flesh. Real faith understands that we cannot manipulate God into doing for us what we want Him to do. The beauty in surrendering to God is that when we get to know Him He takes away our fears. Each one of us must work out our own salvation, which requires the on-going choice of surrendering to the leading of the Holy Spirit—the choice to know God intimately.