Wonderful book about a navy seal's conversion; highly recomended.
Plot
It all started with a young boy and his glamorized idea of being a navy seal. Joining the Seals meant endless, strenuous training, yet Steve Waltkins held a desire and determination to get through and become one of the elite who ever finished. In order to pass, you must first go through weeks of eternal, fatiguing work. So hard is the training that some of the troops went through, some died before finishing. Others just dropped out. Steve said, "Hell week began the fifth week of BUDS and was designed to force the trainees who hadn't yet quit to reconsider the cost of becoming a Navy Seal. The tactic worked! Nearly forty persons quit during hell week..."
Steve would not be a quitter. With effort and a source of unseen strength keeping him going, he finished training. Yet God had something else in mind, and joining the seals was just a tool he used in Steve's life.
Every moment of a Seal's life had a cloud of ominous death hanging over it. As many life-threatening moments seemed to endanger his safety, he began rethinking his immoral lifestyle and looking to Christ for forgiveness. Alone in his convictions and looked down on by Seals, he was thought to be a weaker Seal because of his faith. Yet he stood strong in his convictions and was used by God in the lives of other fellow Seals. For their criticism was a cover for the guilt they felt for their own lifestyles. And when times got tough, they always came to him for help and comfort. They must have known deep down, God was in control and God was protecting him. Against what other Seals thought, becoming a child of God's did not make him weak, but a stronger Seal, just as ready to sacrifice his life for his country.
(Note: Steve Waltkins is now a Senior Pastor at Kenton Baptist church in Kenton, Kentucky.
"Seals always want to be where the action is, and that is a kind of prerequisite for being a seal in the first place." Steve Waltkins.)
Morality
Love for God and dependence on Him are supported; the book also includes Steve's testimony at the end.
Spiritual Content
Steve turns to God when times get hard and realizes he can't do it by himself. In the time when his buddies are partying, he reads God's Word.
Violence
In the book Steve is fighting in the Gulf War and almost dies. A Seal dies in training during Hell Week. Others die in war, but it is not graphically described.
Drug and Alcohol Content
It mentions his buddies going out to bars in a negative way, while he stays back alone, studying the Bible.
Sexual Content
None.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
None.
Conclusion
God uses difficult experiences some times to turn us to Him; our hearts are in his hands. This is just one example of how He works in the lives of His people.
Note from Squeaky Clean:
This book, as the autobiography of a navy seal, does not address whether or not serving in the military is an acceptable career for Christians. Readers may wish to consider this question in the light of Scripture as they read this book.
