In this first-hand account, author Matthew Paul Turner shares amusing— sometimes cringe-worthy—and poignant stories about growing up in a fundamentalist household, where even well-intentioned contemporary Christian music was proclaimed to be “of the devil.”

As a rising and recognizable Christian writer on personal evangelism, dating, sex, money, and politics, Matthew Paul Turner now tells readers of his formative years in a Christian fundamentalist church. In these funny yet inspirational essays, Matthew grapples with the absurdity of a Sunday School Barbie burning, the passion of the annual boxing match between the pastor and Satan, and the holiness of being baptized a fifth time— while growing into a young man immersed in dogmatic rules.

He reveals how he ultimately came to understand the church and its people, to fall in love with Jesus in a new way, and to make his peace with the spiritual foibles of his youth. Through it all, readers will gain considerable insight into how their own faith can become more authentic, positive, and Christlike no matter what their given circumstances may be.