I was loaned this book by one of our parishioners a couple of weeks ago, and just finished it today. I became a fan of Mark Hall's Christian music group, Casting Crowns, after hearing their song "Slow Fade" in the movie Fireproof a couple of years ago. I received their new album, Come to the Well, from my daughter and son-in-law on my birthday, and saw an advertisement for the book. Lo and behold, this friend texted me about it and told me about it at church and offered to loan it to me.
The most striking aspect of this book is that, while it's very deep and moving, it's also written in a completely conversational style. It includes personal stories from Mark Hall's life that relate to the Christian walk, with such diverse subjects as the Chinese church, Jewish rabbinical training, life in prison, small churches vs. megachurches and even the first Halloween movie. That's another thing that impressed me--Hall wasn't holier-than-thou enough to not admit to watching a movie like Halloween, one that many Christian have surely seen but many wouldn't admit to.
The whole book relates the story of the Woman at the Well, and how we continually as humans and as Christian believers go back to wells in life that give us no real help, while the true Well is standing right beside us, or residing within us (Jesus, duh). The message is sounds so elementary, but like so many simple things, we don't even see the forest for the trees.
I highly recommend this book to any Christian believer who'd like to reach deeper in his or her Christian walk, but also doesn't want to have to read a 600-page theological treatise. There's certainly a place for those 600-pagers, but not so much. Plus, anybody who loves Casting Crowns music like I do should read The Well to learn more about their leader, Mark Hall.
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