Jake's Choice - I Finished It

I loved the movie “To Save a Life.” If you haven’t heard, the author Jim Britts has written a sequel called “Jake’s Choice.” It’s not a film - just a book that picks up where the movie left off. Jake goes to U of Louisville to play basketball and his girlfriend Amy goes to Stanford U. Jake’s lifestyle gets off track as he falls back to his old lifestyle of drinking, drugs and girls - and guilt about leaving God behind.

While the author, Britts, weaves in a bit of “forced preaching” that (I thought) was uncharacteristic of Jake’s character, there is a lot of good stuff to reflect on. Pastor Chris, Jake’s youth pastor from California, continues to text Jake to say hi and check in even when Jake doesn’t care. Chris never questions him or condemns him - he just continues to “be there” and because of that, Jake returns to the Lord.

There is a fabulous chapter about Jake’s homosexual campus roommate. Not to spoil the chapter for you, but Jake asks Pastor Chris what he should do about the situation and Chris says “The real issue is how you can best love your friend and show him Jesus. Jake, that’s your responsibility.” That chapter alone is worth the read.

All the characters from the movie are mentioned - his friend Doug, Johnny, Andrew, his mom and dad and his girlfriend, Amy. The last page leaves you waiting for the sequel!