Book Review of I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp (Plus free CD)

What a better time to discover a terrific love story than Valentine's Day.

I Still Believe is a testimony of the love story that God wrote for Jeremy Camp, one of the top Christian Musicians today. The book has been co-written with David Thomas and it lays out a wonderful and amazing story of God's power.

Jeremy's first wife, Melissa died of cancer only months into their marriage. God had prepared Jeremy for it in many ways that he didn't see until after.  For example, he wrote the words to Walk By Faith on his honeymoon while they believed she'd gone into remission.

A few short months after that Jeremy had to live out what he'd penned.  During that painful and confusing time after losing his wife God pressed on his spirit to write again.

"Pick up your guitar."

But Jeremy didn't want to. "Pick up your guitar.  I have something for you to write."

After the famous song I Still Believe was birthed.

There is so much more I could tell you about this book as

A little musical fun ...

You might not know this about me but I am a huge Jeremy Camp fan.  See this post here for more info on who he is.  Or here for a video of my favorite song and a devotional from him.

Last year, in January, I had planned a whole run of "Jeremy" posts to celebrate his arrival in Edmonton, Canada for Breakforth 2012. Unfortunately I suffered many migraines that month and posted very little - only the essentials.  You can watch Jeremy's thoughts on visiting Edmonton in this little video from his YouTube channel.

(That's West Edmonton Mall the band is strolling around in.  Also some photos from their trip to the Phillipines only hours before their concert.)

I have always wanted to still do some of the post ideas I had planned, but it felt very random without anything to report, like a concert or new record.

Now, this January I have some things to report.

January is Jeremy Camp Month

Or at least that was what I had planned for.  Instead I got swamped under book reviews, business deadlines and headaches. So now, the last week of January is Jeremy Camp week.

If you are not familiar with that name, let me introduce you to one of my absolute favourite Christian artists.  This is a radio hit you might recognize.

Let me give you a little background about this man:

• born to a pastor family, Camp was raised in the church in Indiana
• his father taught him to play guitar and he soon discovered he had a love for music
• in 2000 after attending Bible school in California, Camp released a self made album titled Burden Me
• he is an ordained minister and worked as a pastor until his music career took off
• at a performance he met a young woman named Melissa and started a friendship that turned into a romance
• Melissa ended the relationship after a few months which was hard on Jeremy
• Melissa discovered she had ovarian cancer
• Melissa went into remission and the two married
• "Walk by Faith" was written while on his honeymoon - only days before discovering her cancer was back
• Melissa passed away in less than five months - she was 21 and he was 23

Jeremy says, 

Watching Melissa go to Heaven made me realize what’s important. Music is not my life. Christ is my life. The only thing that really matters is what we do for Jesus on this Earth, and as a result of what I’ve been through, I express even more the goodness of God and how faithful He is. (Read full bio)

Following her passing, Jeremy wrote the song, "I Still Believe". Which once a chart topping song, is now the title to his first book. Check it out on his website or read the first chapter.  Jeremy has been through the fire and still stands poised in worship.  I know I can learn a lot from him.

Jeremy took his faith and his wife's dying wish for souls to be saved and hit the road making music.

I'm tired of living life a fool ...

My heart is so full today.  The Lord is stretching my heart past its edges these days.  It hurts.

But today I say to my God and to you ... I surrender.

I give to Him, the Maker of all that I am and ever hope to be, all the "junk"  I am holding onto.  Maybe it isn't junk in His eyes. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, a treasure worth a thousand fold, or the one thorn that will bring me closer to him.  To me it feels like a heavy weight, a burden I would like to pass on, a heart-renching pain I would rather be without.

I touched on this in a blog post last month - praying for the courage to follow God's lead - no matter where it takes us.  How can I find courage when I feel anything but strong enough?  Wasn't that Joshua's hearts cry?  Courage seems to be one of those things, like trust, that you have to act on it before you feel it.  God wants us to just trust Him enough to be willing to walk the path we wants us to.

I saw the movie Courageous last week.  It was amazing!  And an amazing roller coaster of emotions too.  We went from fear to sorrow to laughing so hard we could hardly sit in our seats and then back again.  The message is powerful and UNMISTAKEABLE. God is the only answer.

So if God is the only answer for them, I have to trust that He is the only answer for me.  God is the only one capable of getting me through the maze of my 'junk'.