Does God want us fulfilled?

Popular psychology says we should be fulfilled. Advertisements tease us with dozens of ways we can be fulfilled. Many preachers and book promise Christian fulfillment.

But in this surprising (and surprisingly liberating) book, Craig Barnes suggests we weren't created to be whole or complete. With a fresh reading of the early chapters of Genesis, he says that much of our pain and disillusionment arises from wrong expectations of the gospel and of life.

Echoing comedian Bob Newhart, Barnes "would like to make a motion that we face reality." He candidly draws from his own experience as a son, a student, a husband, a father and a pastor to help us see what we all know but are so reluctant to say aloud--that biblical living will not save us from crises or unfulfillment.

Barnes writes for anyone who knows that faith must be tough enough to "hold up in the emergency rooms of life." But he doesn't merely help us face reality. He helps us see how our needs and limitations are gifts, the best opportunities we have to receive God's grace. Because of that, Yearning may be the most honest and the most helpful book you'll read this year.