Passion to Action
Jay and Beth Loecken
Guideposts, 2011, 256 pp. $19.99

This book creates the elephant. Passion to Action recounts the journey of a family committed to putting its passion for service before the pursuit of possessions. They describe the “ten thousand-pound elephant in the room we can no longer ignore”–a void only filled as we live out God’s purpose for our lives. The story, sacrifice and service stirs the conscience and pricks the heart of many adults, including Christians, who are in frenetic pursuit of the American dream. The book’s challenge questions serve as a useful small-group tool for personal reflection. While I do not think this book — written from a parents’ perspective — will resonate with teenagers, it would be a useful text with young adults or perhaps college students. Ultimately, this family teaches that it is the experience of serving the least of these that challenges one’s sense of purpose, responsibility or calling.
–Rev. Dr. Kimberlee Johnson, Chair of Urban Studies Dept., Director, Center for Urban Youth Development, Eastern University

Passion to Action is a dramatic story of two parents who were willing to take a radical step toward living out their faith as a family. Written from the parents’ perspective, it would be difficult to see how a youth worker could use this in a youth group setting. A possible use might include reaching out to parents of teens, but I don’t believe it would generate a positive response.

With September being the release date, I’m sure all major editing changes have been made. However, the book is rather verbose, including many unnecessary details and rabbit trails. While these things may be important for the family, they are not as helpful for the general public, especially as these details tend to drown out the power of putting passion into action. A book useful for a youth group setting would need to be more clear and concise. From a youth perspective, this video sums up the P2A concept in a few minutes.

Also, the first few pages may turn off many adult readers. Beth claims the family was not wealthy, though she describes living in a 4,500 square foot home and weighed the option of buying “a new boat or a convertible BMW.” The American public would consider this wealthy, and beginning with these comments might discredit the good the book has to offer. It also makes it more difficult to relate to this family as ordinary people (from the subtitle). With these things in mind, I believe it would be difficult for a youth worker to promote this to parents and teens. On the positive side, many of the challenges were helpful; and it was interesting reading through this as a married couples’ spiritual journey.
–Andrew Hedges

I enjoyed reading Passion to Action about the Loecken family and the journey taken across the United States to serve people and perform acts of random kindness. While I enjoyed reading about this family’s experiences, I wish they had gone more in-depth about some of the acts they did and the people they met.

I think this book could be used by youth workers to a limited extent. While the children of the family were involved in this project, there was not enough of it described to grab the interest of young people who might read the book.
–Peggy Stanford

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