Sunday, April 27, 2014

Love Hunger by David Kyle Foster

A True Story of Homosexuality, Hope and Redemption
Homosexuality, prostitution, pornography, cults--secret sins rival the glitter of Hollywood for young actor David Kyle Foster. Winning wholesome television roles, his star on the rise, he is relieved to be free from his father's harshness. But the desperate loneliness and sexual obsession that characterized his youth now accompany his rise to success--and bondage to a double life seems the only answer. Can Jesus' love reach one so broken?

Whether you're grappling with your own darkness or know someone who is, this gripping and inspiring memoir shows you that, no matter how bleak it may seem, there is always hope: God can heal and restore the soul that hungers for love.


My review:

    The name David Kyle Foster didn't mean much to me when I had this book come up as a review opportunity. He listed some TV shows he had been on when he was younger, and I did watch some of them years ago, but I don't remember him, but his story still interested me, so I requested the book to review.

   I started reading the book last night and found it as hard to put down as the suspense novels I love to read, but I did have to go to bed, so I put it down, and finished it this afternoon. Wow. What a story. David was the son of a Presbyterian preacher, and went from there to years of drug abuse and selling his body on the street to men.

  David is bluntly honest about where he was, but never graphic. Maybe it was because I could relate to parts of his story, though I never did drugs, prostitution, nor acted, but his story really resonated with me and encouraged me. To realize the depths of sin this man went to, and yet God redeemed him and is using him in ministry to help others to find sexual healing, is nothing short of miraculous. In about a ten year period, David had sex with over 1000 different men, many of them for money. And no, that wasn't a typo. One thousand.

  I had some of the same doubts and struggles to feel affirmed and loved, not just by people, but by God, and I found hope also in that part of David's story.

  On another note, his story also reveals the sordid parts of Hollywood, parts we only get a glimpse of occasionally: how there is so much pedophilia that goes on and is overlooked, how sex is used to bargain and control people. How sad that David and many others get caught up in all of that, and how sad it goes on unchecked...... and yet millions of Americans, Christians included, go to this same Hollywood for entertainment.

   I disagree with the author on some things, such as speaking in tongues and some other charismatic elements, but I cannot deny what God rescued him from, and how God has used him, and is still using him. Even if one has never struggled in any of the areas that David did, this is still a great book to read, as it shows how God can save and redeem anyone. And how He will protect us even when we are running as fast as we can from Him. David related several stories in the book where his life was spared from attempts on his life by his own hand, and by others.

  Although this book takes the reader into the dark parts of Hollywood, and shows the life of a young drug addict immersed in homosexuality so much that he sold his body to countless men, it is a story of hope and redemption that helps us realize just how awesome and powerful of a God we serve, and how much He loves us, no matter how far we go.

  I highly recommend this book. It was a great help and encouragement to me, and could be to anyone, no matter where they are and have been.

About the author:

David Kyle Foster, founder of Mastering Life Ministries, holds an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a D.Min. from Trinity School for Ministry. He also hosts Pure Passion, a televised outreach equipping believers to minister to those trapped in sexual sin and brokenness.
 

Love Hunger is available from Chosen Books, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Chosen for the review copy.

0 comments: