Inspirational reflections taken from the author's writings in Christianity Today offer new evidence of God's extraordinary presence in the routine moments of everyday life, from reading the newspaper headlines to sticking to a new diet.

Much of this book consists of anecdotes written during Yancey's travels around the world as a journalist. He visits high-security prisons, some of them with appalling conditions: yet there he finds criminals converted to Christianity, who have the most incredible serene faith. He speaks to leaders in ex-communist countries and finds them hungering for spiritual teaching, for news of the church in the West, and for God.

All this is contrasted with the sad condition of much of the church in Europe and the USA, where our lifestyle is so comfortable - and often separated from the rest of the world - that we can barely understand why the poor and the broken-hearted are blessed. Because it's amongst the most unlikely places that Philip Yancey discovers evidences of God - where culture and conditions are such that there is no logical or rational explanation for the peace and love which people find.

He asks thought-provoking questions, and ponders them in the book. How can we appreciate the finer things in life without becoming snobbish? Does religious commitment damage psychological health? Knowing that God can forgive anything ('grace') can we sometimes be justified doing something we know to be wrong, in the confident assurance of future forgiveness?

I don't suppose this would be of much interest to anyone other than Christians, but I recommend it anyway. I'll be re-reading this frequently.

Note after re-reading again in 2012 - didn't enjoy it quite so much as the other times, though still certainly worth reading. ( )

This is a collection of stories that I don't think I would entitle 'Finding God in Unexpected Places.' I might call it, God is Still Alive or something like that. In any case, it is an encouraging set of longer stories and anecdotes about how God definitely does still show up in modern life. Meant to encourage and educate, it definitely still does both. I found it to be a little less 'fluffy' than the average Yancey book, and I enjoyed it a great deal. ( )

Yancey introduces several beautiful and poetic stories allowing us to see God's presence has always been with us. While there really is no bad Yancey book this is not one of his better books. He basically reworks many of his articles from Christianity Today, which is still great stuff but doesn't have his usual flow. ( )

Some parts of book were compelling but some boring. I like Yancey and his approach to God ( )