Average Joe Review

Average Joe is a book by Troy Meeder about how God can use everyday average people. He starts by sharing examples of average, ordinary folk who have taught him lessons about God, then looks at some average, regular guys from the Bible and finally shares some lessons from his own life.
Average Joe is a good reminder that God can speak to us through all his followers, not just the pastors of the megachurches whose podcast we get on iTunes – Troy shares a powerful story about how the groundkeeper at his college taught him the importance of doing your best at everything as worship to God, even if no-one else seems to notice.While there are some good lessons in Average Joe it is aimed at a middle aged, married audience, and due to all the “Joe”s featured being male it is very man focused. It also is a bit lacking in Bible verses, especially in the opening chapters.
That being said, it is a very entertaining read, and has some challenging points – in particular emphasising the importance of reading the Bible for yourself rather relying on other people’s books to provide you with spoon-fed teaching. There is also a powerful reminder to fathers of the need to be a shining example of a Christian to your family, living with integrity and avoiding compromise, being holy just as God is holy.
So should you read this? If you are a married man, there is plenty of good truth here. If you aren’t married/male/still young then it is probably not going to be overly relevant, but would make a good present for your dad.
Legal disclaimer: waterbrook multnomah provided me with a free ebook for review purposes. My thoughts are my own and not influenced by them giving me a free copy.