Reviewed by Donna M for Readers' Favorite

"Dug Down Deep" is a memoir about a man's journey with God. "Dug Down Deep" gives great insight into how we grow and develop individually as Christians. The author is funny, and knowledgeable about God's Word. He gives wonderful examples to illustrate our growth process as Christians. He also shows the great potential we have to experience the love of God and he manages to be frank about our vulnerabilities and the challenges we face as growing Christians. I especially like how he took us into the world of the Amish. I learned many things I never knew.

I must admit that when I first started reading this book, I felt a little hurt. I made the mistake of comparing my life with Harris’s life. And to make things worse, I did this with my natural eyes and not my spiritual eyes. Big mistake! I had somehow come to the erroneous conclusion that much of Harris's blessings were because he was a white man in America, who is afforded the opportunities that many of us may not have access to. But of course we all know that all blessings come from God whether we like who or what God blesses or not. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that somebody could actually have the opportunity to run a magazine at 21 years of age. So obviously Harris has a life experience that is totally different than mine. So, in my humanness I felt a little hurt. I desired some of the same opportunities as Harris. I have been praying for a husband since I could breathe. OK, I admit it, I was kind of jealous. Opps! If I would have let my mind and heart linger on these points then I could have missed Harris's point completely, which is to dig down deep into the Word of the Lord and let it rule your life.

Therefore, my soul was encouraged by "Dig Down Deeper". As I read, l realized that even though Joshua and I come from two different worlds there was in fact a great equalizer. And that equalizer was the Word of God. It did not matter if we lived in the castles of America or in the devastation of the inner cities. Following the narrow pathway is hard for everybody no matter our race, creed, or social standing. Rich or poor, we all still have to somehow find our way through the eye of the needle. Americans can erroneously believe that to be rich is to have it all. And I'm not saying that Harris is rich. Richness, like reality, can sometimes be relevant. Certainly, money gives us more options and maybe we feel kind of powerful because we can do whatever we want if we have money. Perhaps when we have money and success it’s easier to get caught up in self pride and come to falsely believe that we accomplished our goals through our own merits.