By Robert Jeffress, Reviewed by Chrysanthi Lee Wilson

   We live a world full of ups and downs, where people mess up everyday of their lives. Some messes are small and not so meaningful like leaving the headlights on or forgetting to take out the trash when your spouse asks. Other large messes can be disastrous like a poor financial decision that squandered your funds, a missed opportunity that laziness or fear stopped you from taking, ending a relationship that was good for you or staying in a relationship that is bad for you. Messes that big don’t count as slip-ups, they count as fiascos. Those mishaps make you feel like someone called curtains on your life and all you can do is run and hide. Most people in the world have at lest one of these major mistakes in a lifetime and when that happens to you it’s a good idea to have a book on your shelf like this one.

   Jeffress covers the crash and burn of a major life blunder he also write about the hope beyond the failure. Weaved through is book (as you might have noticed from the title) is a play and acting metaphor that takes the reader through their 1st act: the major mess-up to the intermission: a transition period and into the 2nd act: the recovery and finally into life’s Grand Finale: death and the after-life. With a delightful and easy to understand writing style Jeffress shows his reader how to start over with the second act of life and let God use their messes to create great successes.

   In Jeffress’ book he uses biblical passages, stories from the past and the present, and he also offers biblical based strategies to help the reader wade through the guilt and pain of life’s major disasters to come out on the other side. He highlights God’s talent at redeeming the lost and failed. The author offers five biblical tactics to redeem oneself from a major fall-out and get on with the second act in life.

   Robert Jeffress is a pastor of a 9,500-member church in Texas and he is the bible teacher on a broadcasted television program called Pathway to Victory. Dr. Jeffress is the author of fifteen previous books and is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.