Childish Things

A Memoir

By: Dave Warnock, Jennifer Wachtel Kates

Narrated by: Dave Warnock

The Jesus movement of the '70s was a heady time. It was a time of Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. It was a time of the Doobie Brothers telling us that “Jesus Is Just Alright with Me”, and Norman Greenbaum singing about a “Spirit in the Sky”. It was a time when Jesus was going to return any day, according to the best-selling book The Late Great Planet Earth. It was a time of the Rapture, Armageddon, and the Antichrist.

Dave Warnock’s faith took root during this intoxicating era, and soon he was speaking in tongues, casting out demons, and praying for legs to grow. That raw, emotional faith grew into a mature Christian lifestyle over the next three and a half decades, including pastoral roles on three different church staffs, where the innocence of Dave's early faith evolved into staff meetings, budgets, and carefully planned worship services. Dave's spiritual journey included vocational, financial and personal struggles, and an increasingly frustrating search for God's involvement.

But what if it’s not true? What if there’s not an active God doing things for his people? What does a man do when he pauses and reflects on a life lived in this kind of faith, and finds, upon examination, that the God he dedicated his life to has never been there?

By 2011, Dave had come to the conclusion that he no longer believed in a personal God and he rejected his lifelong faith. In 2019, he was diagnosed with ALS.

©2022 Dave Warnock (P)2022 Dave Warnock

Critic reviews

“Raw, open, honest - I can’t imagine the courage it took to write this book, but it is a story you will not be able to put down until the last page. I hope this has a healing influence on anyone who reads it.” (Dr. Darrel Ray, president and founder of Recovering from Religion, author of The God Virus and Sex & God, founder of the Secular Therapy Project)

“You will need a fire extinguisher as you read Dave Warnock’s journey. The pages blaze with courage, intensity, drama and heartbreak - and sometimes real fire. This candid revelation of behind-the-scenes ministry has no come-to-Jesus moment. Just the opposite.” (Dan Barker, co-president of Freedom from Religion Foundation, author of Godless and Life Driven Purpose)

Really enjoyed this!

It was funny, touching, moving etc. All the regular adjectives. It's an in-depth look into religious trauma and control. It's an uplifting take on a mostly sad story. And it's a straightforward and easy listen that flows well and makes complex topics understandable and relatable as it reaches beyond the particulars and touches the core of human experience.

thanks for this

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I know that some of it was hard and probably painful to relive but in the end it has made this book more powerful. Thanks for everything you do and I wish you well in life. I look forward to your future shows and books.

A genuine and emotional memoir, narrated well

Excellent book. Dave's story is full of emotion and heartbreaking honesty & authenticity. I highly recommend it.

An honest retelling of a fascinating journey

This was a fascinating memoir. I grew up religiously though not in a charismatic, evangelical denomination. This book was eye-opening and taught me a lot about life in that arena. The story was always entertaining, and Dave is a great narrator. I enjoyed it enough to read the hardcopy and then, when I learned that he narrated the audiobook, listened to it as well. I can’t recommend more both of those versions. You will experience just about every range of emotion while reading it. In full disclosure, my wife and I know Dave personally and know him to be a great guy. However, this is an honest review, and I recommend it to Christians, atheists, and everyone in between.

Not a feel good book

This is not a feel good book. It is a raw story of deconstructing faith. It spoke to me like no book ever has.