Turner does a great job of telling the story of growing up in a fundamentalist independent Baptist church. He tells of his pastor tallying the number of souls saved each weekend, bussing people into church from near and far to get their numbers up (and to save souls), some of the diversions he used as a child to make it through church services three times a week (two of those on Sunday), boxing matches between his pastor and the devil and how his pastor liked to use the letter P while delivering sermons. It’s a great perspective on how kids view religion growing up and also how what they got from their childhood religious upbringing steers them one way or another as an adult. The subtitle of this book really sums things up: one kids’ journey toward God despite a holy mess.
