A Second Shot of Coffee with Jesus

by David Wilkie

The wildly popular online comic Coffee with Jesus, described by Library Journal as offering "disarmingly funny reflections on human failings and faith," is back with a venti-sized second volume. Find yourself in your favorite characters, and laugh with Jesus at the absurdities of our world and the ways we walk in it. Follow your favorite characters as they honestly engage with Jesus about their successes and failures and wants and needs, effectively showing what conversation with God or prayer might look like. These poignant and pointed visual vignettes are rife with good theology and will have you laughing for days."

Genres: Christian, Comics, Humor, Fiction, Graphic Novels

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2015

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen the odd Coffee With Jesus strip here and there on Facebook, but this was my first concentrated dose. This is another of those strips where the writing is much stronger than the art, which looks to be repurposed clip art. Not all of these are hilariously funny. This strip is really more about the philosophy, but it goes down smooth and easy. It's more reverent than it may appear at first glance. Wilkie's Jesus is taken pretty much right from the Bible. The language and idioms are modern, but the message hasn't been tampered with. I think one would have to be incredibly dogmatic and/or intolerant of all but the most pious depictions of Jesus to have any problem with it. Wilkie makes some good theological points, and I found this book to be more thought-provoking and insightful than I was expecting from a comic strip. Well worth reading!

[Dawn Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read some complaints that the visual strip, the look of the "characters" are too samey looking, just repeated time after time. It doesn't bother me because it's the words that really are the star, the art is secondary but contributes to the humour.

Funny, thoughtful, thought provoking, gentle, insightful, pointed. This is a great book for anybody Christian or not. I would give it 10 stars if I could. Would be a good gift idea for birthdays, Christmas, etc. But don't wait for a special occasion, get this book now.

[Tommy Grooms · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Second Shot of Coffee with Jesus is simply more of the brilliant webcomic that made the first book so good. David Willkie ditched the thematic arrangement in this installment (and the poetry), which I found a tad disappointing, but the book makes up for the absence by being filled with more comics than last time. Jesus is still his patient, probing, puissant self, and I hope there's another book in the pipeline.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume of CWJ is just as witty, snarky and funny as Vol. 1. David Wilkie's Jesus speaks to all sorts of people, remarks on all sorts of circumstances. He always has a cup of coffee in hand, always has the perfect comeback, willing to listen but NOT willing to put up with lies, self-centeredness and egotistical blather. Everyone needs to have CWJ!!!

[James Barbour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought-provoking messages that feel as if the author is not overreaching Jesus's intentions.

I really enjoyed this book for its timely and timeless messages to God's people and the jabs he delivers to the Enemy. Bravo!

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Wilkie has shot to the top of my list of great religious authors. His Coffee with Jesus comics can generate so much deep thought in so few words. If you want to explore and challenge your faith and beliefs for your own betterment, read this book.

[Alice Teets · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pretty funny yet made me think about my misconceptions or behaviors that go against God's teachings. Good conversation starter.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Antidepressants are not a tool for Satan. Thanks.

[Jared A Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these comics. They remind us to take out faith seriously, but to also understand that we can be mistaken.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library thinking it was a humor/snark graphic novel, with Jesus as a character, but it turns out it's a very thought-provoking, readable, collection of comic strips featuring Jesus in the present, interacting with a "cast of modern, all-too-fallible characters" in a coffee shop setting. Actually, most of the strips are of the characters praying, interacting with Jesus - the coffee shop conversation is a trope, more or less the thematic framework of the book, as the drawings could be repeated stamps of the characters, sitting in a coffee shop. This is actually a funny, yet searching book - even for me, given that I'm not particularly religious. This doesn't hit you over the head with Christianity but it does present a Jesus a modern day person can relate to, a Jesus knowledgeable about and even in tune with modern day struggles, advancements, science, and of course persistent social problems. Somehow, a reader will get something out of this surprisingly well-written book - even I got something out of it, although I was brought up to disbelieve a great many things taught by any/all organized religions, and constantly told that church is "theater" and merely a venue for "social interaction." Interestingly, "A Second Shot of Coffee with Jesus" doesn't shy away from materialism/science - but places science in the context of God's creation. As for notions of the afterlife, this was one belief that we were constantly told was a complete lie, when I was growing up. It's interesting to read about concepts of an afterlife in the volume under discussion, but after a lifetime of not believing in any sort of afterlife, this is an aspect of Xianity that although interesting, I'm not sure that personally I'll ever believe.

Still, many of the insights in the book are thought-provoking, and the terseness of the writing, limited as it is to mostly a four-panel comic strip, conveying advice, insight, teachings in very few words, and often, humorously, makes the book a tour de force of sorts - no matter what the reader's religious (or non-religious) affiliation may be. The ethical/moral teachings are perhaps universally applicable, and can be appreciated by everyone.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as awesome as the first! Enjoy!!

[Darcy Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

A second volume of the funny, sharp edged, insightful look at day to day life as a Christian--enjoyed every bit of it, and I'm hoping for a volume three.

[Michael Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps this round isn't as consistently hilarious as the last, but it is probably even more theologically insight, and still very, very funny. Really fun book.

[Terri Mcgarry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I could have wrote this book. On the other hand, I feel like I could have wrote this book.

[Mackenzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it was making fun of Jesus, but it was making fun of humanity- didn't like it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and insightful just like the first book.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new church attendance.

[Amy]

I love this. Most of these are my exact thoughts about Jesus.