Book Review: The Colson Way, by Owen Strachan

               Charles Colson, before he found Christ, was known as the hatchet man in Richard Nixon’s administration. He was “goal oriented”; He did whatever it took to reach the desired outcome seen by President Nixon.

              

               He was named, indicted, and sentenced for a political crime he had no knowledge of. He served his sentence in Alabama at one of the worst prisons in the Bureau of Prisons system.

              

               He told those who were there for lengthy sentences that he would do something to better their living conditions. Two years after he was released, he founded Prison Fellowship to do that very thing. This was a faith-based ministry, to help the inmates to find spiritual help through Bible studies and special services to introduce them to Jesus Christ.

               Chuck, as he was later called, took his work for Christ seriously. He devoted his time and resources to Prison Fellowship and the organizational parts that grew from it. He wrote several books in his lifetime, donating at least the majority of the royalties to the work

               Owen Strachan has written this book to introduce Chuck Colson and his philosophy about the Christian life to the Millennial Generation. He compared Colson’s make-up to the circus performer who spins several plates at the same time. He also reminds us that Chuck was a ‘type A’ personality—always active, always thinking, always busy.

               I enjoyed reading this book, having been an adult during the Nixon administration and remembering the political crime and the resulting trials. I read several of Chuck Colson’s books. What he said in them made sense and many of those predictions have recently happened.

                I found myself not only quoting a section from Owen Strachan’s book; I wrote an article on that section.

               I would recommend this book to anyone who feels called by God to the ministry or to anyone who considers working in a faith-based organization.

               I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through its BookLook Bloggers program. All they asked of me was to give an impartial, unbiased review.