The Colson Way: Loving Your Neighbor and Living with Faith in a Hostile World by Owen Strachan Book Review

I’m a member of the Family Christian Bloggers and they provided me with a free copy of “The Colson Way” for this review.

 

In the Colson Way, Owen Strachan explored the life of Charles “Chuck” Wendell Colson and how he became Special Counsel when President Nixon was in office. The book also discussed how Colson faith in God played an active part in his life. Colson grew up in Winthrop, Massachusetts and in his childhood, he worked on the school newspaper as the editor-in-chief and he was able to successfully increase the paper’s advertising revenue. He was also the valedictorian and was voted “Most Likely to Succeed”. He also received two scholarships to Harvard and Brown. He turned down Harvard and attended Brown. He met his wife, Nancy Billings during college and they had three children. He also joined the Corps but he didn’t go into battle. After two years of being a Marine, he was promoted to the Navy’s Junior Management Assistance program and he interned in Washington, D.C. Eventually he was the co-director of the Key Issues Committee for President Nixon and he was appointed to the position of Special Counsel.

 

While working as Special Counsel, he was able to work alongside organized labor and unions and he tried to repair the damage the Vietnam War caused between workers and politicians. President Nixon was reelected as president and then everything began to fall quickly. A former employee leaked classified documents about the secrets of the U.S. role in the Vietnam War. President Nixon ordered Colson to expose the former employee. There was also more documents released and there was also a robbery at the Watergate office. Colson quit his position as Special Counsel. It was later revealed that Nixon was taping conversation and they were voice activated and contained details about Nixon’s corrupted activities. Colson took a lie detector test to prove he had no part in the Watergate scandal. It was at this time that his friend shared the message of Christ with him. Colson accepted him as his Savior and he realized that he was a sinner. He didn’t commit the major crimes in the Watergate scandal but he did struggle with pride and he used tactics to help try and get Nixon reelected. He eventually went to trial and admitted to defamation towards the former employee.

 

I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who loves history and wants to read an excellent book about how God can turn anything around. This is the first time, I have heard about Colson’s life and his role in the Watergate scandal. I liked how Owen Strachan dug deep into the life of Colson and how he made the book flow so well together. I enjoyed how Colson reached out to others and tried to teach them the ways of Christ while he was in prison. I also loved how the book shared the background of the Angel Tree program and how Colson met Mary Kay Beard, who founded this amazing program for other prisoners and their families. He helped the program to get National and international recognition where it could spread everywhere. I thought this program was a really neat idea and it’s truly inspiring how it has helped so many families. I also liked how the book discussed important issues and how critical it is to be a witness for the Kingdom of God.



If you would like to purchase a copy of “The Colson Way”, then check it out on Family Christian:

 

http://www.familychristian.com/catalog/product/view/id/323375/

 

Family Christian has graciously provided me with a copy of The Colson Way to giveaway to a lucky reader! (U.S. Only)
 

 

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