Book Review (A Straight Up Thumbs Up): "Reasons For Hope" By Carl Kerby (Author-Speaker-Son Of A Pro Wrestler)

This is long overdue. I owe this one to Carl Kerby, the founder and president of the Christian apologetics ministry Reasons For Hope, not only because I enjoyed reading this book several years ago, but also after my wife April & I had lunch with Carl & his wife Masami, and after Carl helped me & April by preparing us for our exciting adventures at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky and Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. 

Carl has written other books (and his son, Carl Kerby, Jr., is an author, too), but this book "Reasons For Hope In the Mosaic Of Your Life" is his cornerstone or foundational book that challenges and engages the reader by providing, well, reasons for this hope that we have, when we put our hope in Christ Jesus who IS our hope (1 Timothy 1:1). I "yellow highlighted" and "red pen circled" several parts of this book (a sign that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it), including Bible passages written thousands of years ago that are still very relevant to us in this world today, and pointers when it comes to Christian apologetics, to prepare us to explain the reasons for this hope that we have as followers of Christ Jesus (1 Peter 3:15), when we have conversations with seekers, skeptics, and folks who just don't believe (yet).

Of course, I was very intrigued and informed by Carl's firsthand accounts as the son of the professional wrestler Luke Brown, who wrestled during the days of wrestling's regional territory system (before the global corporate giant WWF/WWE basically put many of these regional offices out of business) and who was half of a tag team called The Kentuckians with Grizzly Smith. By the way, I told Carl about the only nitpick I have about this book...on page 66 (pictured above within this blog post), Carl mentions that this photo is of his dad Luke Brown vs. "The Bruiser". Actually, when I looked at this photo through a magnifying glass, this photo is not of Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis, but of Dick's lookalike "cousin" and AWA tag team championship partner Reggie "The Crusher" Lisowski. Carl then told me that this photo was taken out of a wrestling magazine where they even advertised it as "Bruiser", and Carl said he never looked at it that closely! No biggie...I told Carl that probably 99 percent of his readers wouldn't know or look that closely (including readers of Christian books and wrestling fans born after the 1960s). 

Within this book, Carl also talks about his relationship with "Uncle Dutch", the legendary Dutch Savage, who was a main event mainstay in the old Pacific Northwest wrestling territory...not to be confused with the lesser-known preliminary wrestler Dutch Savage from Dick The Bruiser's WWA in Indiana (Bruiser promoted some knockoffs of better-known wrestlers in other territories). Along with getting a behind the curtain view of these older wrestling legends from the 1960s & '70s, younger wrestling fans will be fascinated by Carl's history with his old childhood playmate Aurelin Smith, Jr., the future Jake "The Snake" Roberts (the son of Grizzly Smith...again, Grizzly was the tag team partner of Carl's dad Luke Brown). A certain part of Jake's early career (featuring a photo, and that is related to Carl) is a part I never knew about and is fascinating.

With raw emotion, Carl talks about the time he saw, with his son, the (sometimes disturbing) documentary movie "Beyond The Mat" (which featured my old Urban Wrestling Alliance colleagues Michael Modest and Tony Jones, back when they were with All Pro Wrestling's promotion & school in California). A number of folks I know had a number of moods on the human emotional spectrum while watching "Beyond The Mat"...just imagine what Carl felt while watching the scenes involving his childhood friend Jake Roberts, Jake's daughter, and Jake's dad Grizzly. Actually, don't just imagine...you will be moved by Carl's brutally honest feelings about Jake The Snake's relationships and the wrestling business in general when you order a copy of this book and read it for yourself ("Reasons For Hope In The Mosaic Of Your Life" is available in various places where books in general are sold).

I am thankful that I have worked in the pro wrestling business, cherishing valuable experiences and working with many talented people, but no matter what your views are on pro wrestling, I agree with Carl Kerby's words on the Reasons For Hope website, "If we put our hope in what the world has to offer, the world can, and in many instances, take it away. No, our true value is based on the fact that we are created by God in His image and no one can ever take that away"!

I give Carl Kerby's book "Reasons For Hope In The Mosaic Of Your Life" a straight up thumbs up, and above all the trials and tribulations in this world, may we be strengthened in our steadfast walk with the Lord (as we wait for His return), and, to quote Carl Kerby, "stay bold"!