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Reconstructing Dad
What if the greatest misunderstanding in your life… is the way you see God?
For countless people, the word father carries the weight of absence, disappointment, fear, silence, rejection, or pain. And whether we realize it or not, those wounds often shape the way we view God Himself.
In Reconstructing Dad, Chuck Ammons offers a powerful and deeply healing invitation to rediscover the Father through the clearest revelation ever given—Jesus Christ.
Viewing Scripture through the “Emmaus Lens” of the resurrected Christ, this book pulls back the veil on distorted images of God and reveals the Father Jesus came to show us: compassionate, welcoming, trustworthy, and relentlessly good.
This is not another tired religious narrative built on fear, shame, violence, judgment, or impossible expectations. And it is not the hollow self-focused message culture keeps selling us either. Reconstructing Dad calls readers into something far deeper, richer, and more life-changing—the breathtaking reality of a Father who has never stopped pursuing His children.
- For every weary heart.
- For every wandering child.
- For every believer who has quietly wrestled with feeling like God is distant, displeased, or impossible to approach.
This book comes as a healing balm to the orphan spirit, dismantling false views of God and rebuilding faith on the person of Jesus.
Because if we misunderstand the Story, we will make it about something else.
But when we finally see Jesus clearly, we discover the Father has been far better than we ever imagined.
And He’s still standing at the edge of the road, arms wide open, ready to welcome us home.
For countless people, the word father carries the weight of absence, disappointment, fear, silence, rejection, or pain. And whether we realize it or not, those wounds often shape the way we view God Himself.
In Reconstructing Dad, Chuck Ammons offers a powerful and deeply healing invitation to rediscover the Father through the clearest revelation ever given—Jesus Christ.
Viewing Scripture through the “Emmaus Lens” of the resurrected Christ, this book pulls back the veil on distorted images of God and reveals the Father Jesus came to show us: compassionate, welcoming, trustworthy, and relentlessly good.
This is not another tired religious narrative built on fear, shame, violence, judgment, or impossible expectations. And it is not the hollow self-focused message culture keeps selling us either. Reconstructing Dad calls readers into something far deeper, richer, and more life-changing—the breathtaking reality of a Father who has never stopped pursuing His children.
- For every weary heart.
- For every wandering child.
- For every believer who has quietly wrestled with feeling like God is distant, displeased, or impossible to approach.
This book comes as a healing balm to the orphan spirit, dismantling false views of God and rebuilding faith on the person of Jesus.
Because if we misunderstand the Story, we will make it about something else.
But when we finally see Jesus clearly, we discover the Father has been far better than we ever imagined.
And He’s still standing at the edge of the road, arms wide open, ready to welcome us home.
224 pages, Paperback
Published July 17, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Author
Re- Constructing DAD
by: Chuck Ammons
CrossRiverMedia.com
If you ever felt distant from God or didn’t understand the God of the Old Testament versus Jesus(God) of the New Testament, Re Constructing Dad is the read for you.
This book will refresh all that you ever wondered or questioned about God and scriptures.
This will lead to a significant spiritual awakening about a Dad you can love and trust.
I read it all in 2 days. I highly recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is a book that leans down and blesses you. It goes low, connecting you to your own idea of God, and how to start healing from where your personal experience has taught you to believe in a God that is distant, disappointed, or destructive.
In the middle of the book, familiar bible stories are brought up where God seems to just be a jerk (my words), and Chuck finds the compassionate God which is in Jesus in these stories. The book ends giving theology that does not separate God from the sacrificial love of Jesus.
This book,
- Is diffused with Chuck’s narrative voice and stories which makes the conversation about God concrete
- Hermeneutics that are faithful to a Christian worldview, as well as being thoughtful expansive
- Theology that is both timely to contemporary Christian culture in America, and connected to ancient wisdom about Christ and revelations from the fathers of the church.
Reading this carefully and charitably will edify you, and will change how you see and experience God.
In the middle of the book, familiar bible stories are brought up where God seems to just be a jerk (my words), and Chuck finds the compassionate God which is in Jesus in these stories. The book ends giving theology that does not separate God from the sacrificial love of Jesus.
This book,
- Is diffused with Chuck’s narrative voice and stories which makes the conversation about God concrete
- Hermeneutics that are faithful to a Christian worldview, as well as being thoughtful expansive
- Theology that is both timely to contemporary Christian culture in America, and connected to ancient wisdom about Christ and revelations from the fathers of the church.
Reading this carefully and charitably will edify you, and will change how you see and experience God.
July 13, 2026
Review of an advance copy from the author.
My longtime friend Chuck Ammons has written a book…a book that for over a decade he’s centered his life and message around. I’ve seen him up close…he’s lived it, he’s struggled, and I can tell you he’s the real deal. I’m inspired by the question, “what if…?
What if Jesus is the perfect example of who God’s always been? What if we lived like this were true?
Using a warm narrative voice, personal anecdotes and examples, Chuck makes a compelling case. The message of this book has the chance to change everything about how you relate to God, how you view others, and even how you view yourself. Shame off, God loves you AND He likes you!
My longtime friend Chuck Ammons has written a book…a book that for over a decade he’s centered his life and message around. I’ve seen him up close…he’s lived it, he’s struggled, and I can tell you he’s the real deal. I’m inspired by the question, “what if…?
What if Jesus is the perfect example of who God’s always been? What if we lived like this were true?
Using a warm narrative voice, personal anecdotes and examples, Chuck makes a compelling case. The message of this book has the chance to change everything about how you relate to God, how you view others, and even how you view yourself. Shame off, God loves you AND He likes you!
Review of advance copy received from Author
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
I finished Reconstructing Dad with more confidence in the character of God than when I started.
The biggest takeaway for me is simple. Jesus is the clearest picture we have of the Father. If something I believe about God does not look like Jesus, then I need to rethink my interpretation, not who Jesus is.
That conviction was not new to me, but Chuck gave me language for things I have believed for a long time and helped connect ideas I had struggled to explain. More than that, this book gave me permission to believe in the kind of God I had always hoped existed. Not because I wanted to create God in my own image, but because Chuck continually brought me back to Jesus as the fullest revelation of the Father’s character. If I want to know what God is like, I look at Jesus.
The chapters that impacted me the most were Chapters 6 and 7. Chapter 6 helped me recognize how easily our view of God can become distorted by the lenses through which we read Scripture and by the influences that have shaped us. Chapter 7 then points us back to Jesus as the clearest revelation of the Father and the lens through which every other picture of God should be understood. Those chapters put words to convictions I have carried for years.
I also appreciated Chuck’s discussion of father wounds and the orphan spirit. It helped me better understand why so many people struggle to trust God. We naturally project our experiences onto Him. If our earthly fathers were distant, disappointed, or destructive, it is understandable that many people assume God must be the same. Chuck gently challenges that assumption and continually points us back to Jesus.
One thing I especially appreciated is that this book does not pretend to answer every difficult theological question. It actually strengthened something I have come to believe over the years. I do not have to have every answer. After reading this book, I found myself even more confident in what the answers are not. If Jesus fully reveals the Father, then whatever conclusions I reach cannot contradict His character.
Chuck writes like he pastors. There is real scholarship here, but he has a gift for making difficult subjects understandable without watering them down. His stories, humor, honesty, and humility make it obvious that these are questions he has wrestled with personally. That gives his writing credibility.
I also appreciated that the book never felt like it was trying to win an argument. It felt like an invitation. It invited me to look again at Jesus and to let Him shape my understanding of the Father more than my past experiences, difficult passages, or the opinions of others.
I closed this book with more peace than when I opened it. I still do not have every answer, and I do not think Chuck would claim to have every answer either. But this book gave me permission to believe in the kind of God I had always hoped existed because it continually brought me back to Jesus. If Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father, then I do not have to wonder whether God is loving, trustworthy, or good. I can simply look at Jesus.
I highly recommend Reconstructing Dad to anyone who has ever wrestled with the character of God, struggled to reconcile difficult passages of Scripture with the life of Jesus, or simply wanted to know whether the Father really is as good as Jesus reveals Him to be.
I finished Reconstructing Dad with more confidence in the character of God than when I started.
The biggest takeaway for me is simple. Jesus is the clearest picture we have of the Father. If something I believe about God does not look like Jesus, then I need to rethink my interpretation, not who Jesus is.
That conviction was not new to me, but Chuck gave me language for things I have believed for a long time and helped connect ideas I had struggled to explain. More than that, this book gave me permission to believe in the kind of God I had always hoped existed. Not because I wanted to create God in my own image, but because Chuck continually brought me back to Jesus as the fullest revelation of the Father’s character. If I want to know what God is like, I look at Jesus.
The chapters that impacted me the most were Chapters 6 and 7. Chapter 6 helped me recognize how easily our view of God can become distorted by the lenses through which we read Scripture and by the influences that have shaped us. Chapter 7 then points us back to Jesus as the clearest revelation of the Father and the lens through which every other picture of God should be understood. Those chapters put words to convictions I have carried for years.
I also appreciated Chuck’s discussion of father wounds and the orphan spirit. It helped me better understand why so many people struggle to trust God. We naturally project our experiences onto Him. If our earthly fathers were distant, disappointed, or destructive, it is understandable that many people assume God must be the same. Chuck gently challenges that assumption and continually points us back to Jesus.
One thing I especially appreciated is that this book does not pretend to answer every difficult theological question. It actually strengthened something I have come to believe over the years. I do not have to have every answer. After reading this book, I found myself even more confident in what the answers are not. If Jesus fully reveals the Father, then whatever conclusions I reach cannot contradict His character.
Chuck writes like he pastors. There is real scholarship here, but he has a gift for making difficult subjects understandable without watering them down. His stories, humor, honesty, and humility make it obvious that these are questions he has wrestled with personally. That gives his writing credibility.
I also appreciated that the book never felt like it was trying to win an argument. It felt like an invitation. It invited me to look again at Jesus and to let Him shape my understanding of the Father more than my past experiences, difficult passages, or the opinions of others.
I closed this book with more peace than when I opened it. I still do not have every answer, and I do not think Chuck would claim to have every answer either. But this book gave me permission to believe in the kind of God I had always hoped existed because it continually brought me back to Jesus. If Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father, then I do not have to wonder whether God is loving, trustworthy, or good. I can simply look at Jesus.
I highly recommend Reconstructing Dad to anyone who has ever wrestled with the character of God, struggled to reconcile difficult passages of Scripture with the life of Jesus, or simply wanted to know whether the Father really is as good as Jesus reveals Him to be.
Read
August 25, 2026Like many people, my rocky relationships with my dads—one physically absent, the other an emotional wrecking ball—skewed my picture of God. And I'm not alone. Since as early as Marcion, people have been tempted to divide God into two versions: the angry God of the Old Testament and the loving God of the New. It's a fragmented picture, and Chuck would even say a schizophrenic one.
In this book, Chuck forces us to stop and question that assumption. He offers a better, more coherent way of seeing God from Genesis to Revelation. He walks readers through the infamous violence and persistent rebellion of the Old Testament and shows how those stories point toward the same divine love revealed in the New Testament—a love culminating in God taking violence upon Himself to make enemies into friends and the orphans of this world into sons and daughters.
Yet this book isn't just about heaven. Far from it. It's about learning to recognize the Father's love here and now, in the middle of ordinary life. Chuck helps you see how much God is madly in love with you—even jealous for you. For example, in unpacking the over 400 images of God’s wrath, Chuck writes, “they describe something far deeper than divine temper. They reveal God’s protective love and His passionate opposition to everything that threatens to destroy His beloved.” And Chuck shows time and again, we are God’s beloved, the ones he delights in and calls home.
Chuck is fresh, current, and funny, too. From Thomas Aquinas to true crime shows to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, he tackles weighty subjects like justice, violence, suffering, and our own failures without ever becoming academic or inaccessible. Instead, he offers hope and a compelling vision of a God whose character—love, grace, mercy, and goodness—is beautifully consistent and unchanging.
What I love most about Chuck's writing is his imagery. He knows how to turn a phrase. For example again on wrath, Chuck writes, “God’s anger is not a protest against us. It’s the pursuit for us.” His personal stories of discovering God's fatherly love in everyday moments are both moving and relatable. And he has a rare gift for taking seminary truths often tucked away in lecture halls and commentaries and rethreading them into everyday language. His deep familiarity with Scripture—and with what God is actually doing in the biblical story—renews your confidence in the Father's affection for humanity and his consistency throughout the pages of the Bible.
Though highly readable, this isn't necessarily a quick read. In fact, if you allow Chuck's thoughts to soak in, there are devotional moments in every chapter—sometimes on every page. This is the kind of book you'll find yourself pausing over, underlining, and returning to long after you've finished it.
Reconstructing Dad is for everybody—those longing to experience God's fatherly love as much as those crushed by absent fathers, broken relationships, or dogmatic religion. It's for the orphan, the skeptic, the person struggling to reconcile the Old Testament with the New, the small group and anyone searching for Jesus from Genesis to Revelation. Chuck shows you how to find Him—and, more importantly, how to see both God and the Bible through Him. You will finish the book knowing your welcomed in the Father’s home, and you are deeply loved—you always have been and always will.
In this book, Chuck forces us to stop and question that assumption. He offers a better, more coherent way of seeing God from Genesis to Revelation. He walks readers through the infamous violence and persistent rebellion of the Old Testament and shows how those stories point toward the same divine love revealed in the New Testament—a love culminating in God taking violence upon Himself to make enemies into friends and the orphans of this world into sons and daughters.
Yet this book isn't just about heaven. Far from it. It's about learning to recognize the Father's love here and now, in the middle of ordinary life. Chuck helps you see how much God is madly in love with you—even jealous for you. For example, in unpacking the over 400 images of God’s wrath, Chuck writes, “they describe something far deeper than divine temper. They reveal God’s protective love and His passionate opposition to everything that threatens to destroy His beloved.” And Chuck shows time and again, we are God’s beloved, the ones he delights in and calls home.
Chuck is fresh, current, and funny, too. From Thomas Aquinas to true crime shows to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, he tackles weighty subjects like justice, violence, suffering, and our own failures without ever becoming academic or inaccessible. Instead, he offers hope and a compelling vision of a God whose character—love, grace, mercy, and goodness—is beautifully consistent and unchanging.
What I love most about Chuck's writing is his imagery. He knows how to turn a phrase. For example again on wrath, Chuck writes, “God’s anger is not a protest against us. It’s the pursuit for us.” His personal stories of discovering God's fatherly love in everyday moments are both moving and relatable. And he has a rare gift for taking seminary truths often tucked away in lecture halls and commentaries and rethreading them into everyday language. His deep familiarity with Scripture—and with what God is actually doing in the biblical story—renews your confidence in the Father's affection for humanity and his consistency throughout the pages of the Bible.
Though highly readable, this isn't necessarily a quick read. In fact, if you allow Chuck's thoughts to soak in, there are devotional moments in every chapter—sometimes on every page. This is the kind of book you'll find yourself pausing over, underlining, and returning to long after you've finished it.
Reconstructing Dad is for everybody—those longing to experience God's fatherly love as much as those crushed by absent fathers, broken relationships, or dogmatic religion. It's for the orphan, the skeptic, the person struggling to reconcile the Old Testament with the New, the small group and anyone searching for Jesus from Genesis to Revelation. Chuck shows you how to find Him—and, more importantly, how to see both God and the Bible through Him. You will finish the book knowing your welcomed in the Father’s home, and you are deeply loved—you always have been and always will.
Review of advance copy received from Author
When I was offered an early reader’s opportunity to check out Reconstructing Dad by Pastor Chuck Ammons, I expected a good book because I know Pastor Chuck and connect with the way he speaks and preaches. What I didn’t expect was for it to challenge the way I viewed my personal relationship with God the Father.
One of the biggest takeaways for me was realizing how easy it is to unintentionally filter our view of our Heavenly Father through our experiences with our earthly father. I had never really stopped to consider how much those experiences had shaped my expectations of God. Throughout the book, Pastor Chuck gently but confidently points back to Scripture, reminding us that God defines Himself. Our experiences don’t.
What I appreciated most is that this book doesn’t try to manipulate your emotions or offer easy answers. Instead, it invites you to ask honest questions and then patiently walks you through what God’s Word actually says. That approach made the book feel both deeply personal and firmly rooted in biblical truth.
Pastor Chuck also has a gift for making complex theological ideas understandable. I don’t consider myself a Bible scholar, but I never felt intimidated or overwhelmed while reading his book. In fact, I found myself making connections between passages of Scripture that I had never made before. It challenged me without confusing me, and that’s not something every author can do.
One of the questions that has stayed with me since finishing the book is this: How much of what I believe about God comes from Scripture, and how much comes from my own experiences? That’s a question worth wrestling with, and I think every Christian would benefit from asking it honestly.
Whether you had an incredible father, a broken relationship with your dad, or somewhere in between, I believe you’ll find something valuable in this book. At its core, Reconstructing Dad is about seeing God for who He truly is instead of viewing Him through the lens of our past.
By the time I finished the last chapter, I realized my perspective had shifted. I wasn’t just walking away with more knowledge. I walked away with a deeper appreciation for the Father’s heart and a renewed desire to know Him as He has revealed Himself in Scripture.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It’s thoughtful, biblically grounded, easy to read, and deeply challenging in all the right ways. More than anything, it points people to Jesus and to the true character of our Heavenly Father. I sincerely hope this book finds its way into the hands of many people because I believe it has the potential to soften hearts and change lives
One of the biggest takeaways for me was realizing how easy it is to unintentionally filter our view of our Heavenly Father through our experiences with our earthly father. I had never really stopped to consider how much those experiences had shaped my expectations of God. Throughout the book, Pastor Chuck gently but confidently points back to Scripture, reminding us that God defines Himself. Our experiences don’t.
What I appreciated most is that this book doesn’t try to manipulate your emotions or offer easy answers. Instead, it invites you to ask honest questions and then patiently walks you through what God’s Word actually says. That approach made the book feel both deeply personal and firmly rooted in biblical truth.
Pastor Chuck also has a gift for making complex theological ideas understandable. I don’t consider myself a Bible scholar, but I never felt intimidated or overwhelmed while reading his book. In fact, I found myself making connections between passages of Scripture that I had never made before. It challenged me without confusing me, and that’s not something every author can do.
One of the questions that has stayed with me since finishing the book is this: How much of what I believe about God comes from Scripture, and how much comes from my own experiences? That’s a question worth wrestling with, and I think every Christian would benefit from asking it honestly.
Whether you had an incredible father, a broken relationship with your dad, or somewhere in between, I believe you’ll find something valuable in this book. At its core, Reconstructing Dad is about seeing God for who He truly is instead of viewing Him through the lens of our past.
By the time I finished the last chapter, I realized my perspective had shifted. I wasn’t just walking away with more knowledge. I walked away with a deeper appreciation for the Father’s heart and a renewed desire to know Him as He has revealed Himself in Scripture.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It’s thoughtful, biblically grounded, easy to read, and deeply challenging in all the right ways. More than anything, it points people to Jesus and to the true character of our Heavenly Father. I sincerely hope this book finds its way into the hands of many people because I believe it has the potential to soften hearts and change lives
Review of advance copy received from Author
Over the past few months I've worked through a stack of books on faith, including Willard, Tozer, Rohr, and a number of others, and I can honestly say Chuck Ammons' Reconstructing Dad is quite possibly the best of them. It was a breath of fresh air, and for me, oxygen for my soul.
The premise is simple but profound: if you want to know what God the Father is truly like, look at Jesus. Ammons gently walks you through how our picture of "dad," for better or worse, shapes the way we relate to God, and then he reintroduces you to a Father who looks exactly like His Son.
That was the point that convicted me most. For most of my life I've known Jesus as a close, personal friend, while God the Father felt distant and far off. That distance, I came to realize, mirrored my own relationship with my earthly father. When Ammons shows from Scripture that the image of Jesus is the image of God, something broke open in me. It made instant sense, and it began to close a gap I'd carried for years.
What makes the book so good is the balance. It's a near-perfect blend of storytelling and insight, deep enough to teach you something new but never so heavy that it bogs down. Ammons takes you on a journey through the Old Testament and places its hardest moments in context, revealing a God who continually "comes in low" to meet His people, to call His children back, and to rescue as many as would follow Him, all of it pointing toward Jesus. He also has a gift for clearing up the little question marks you've carried for years but never stopped to look up. In one section he unpacks how our single English word "hell" actually translates three very different words (Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus) and what each one truly meant. He does this again and again, returning to the original Greek and Hebrew to recover the fuller meaning, and it opens the Scriptures up in a whole new way.
I read it in three days because I couldn't put it down. More than that, it felt like an answer to prayer. I'd been asking God to help me understand His love for me, and this book set me firmly on the path to knowing it.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend Reconstructing Dad to anyone longing for a deeper understanding of God's love, especially if the Father has ever felt distant. It's a beautiful, honest, and truly exceptional book, and easily one of the best I've read.
The premise is simple but profound: if you want to know what God the Father is truly like, look at Jesus. Ammons gently walks you through how our picture of "dad," for better or worse, shapes the way we relate to God, and then he reintroduces you to a Father who looks exactly like His Son.
That was the point that convicted me most. For most of my life I've known Jesus as a close, personal friend, while God the Father felt distant and far off. That distance, I came to realize, mirrored my own relationship with my earthly father. When Ammons shows from Scripture that the image of Jesus is the image of God, something broke open in me. It made instant sense, and it began to close a gap I'd carried for years.
What makes the book so good is the balance. It's a near-perfect blend of storytelling and insight, deep enough to teach you something new but never so heavy that it bogs down. Ammons takes you on a journey through the Old Testament and places its hardest moments in context, revealing a God who continually "comes in low" to meet His people, to call His children back, and to rescue as many as would follow Him, all of it pointing toward Jesus. He also has a gift for clearing up the little question marks you've carried for years but never stopped to look up. In one section he unpacks how our single English word "hell" actually translates three very different words (Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus) and what each one truly meant. He does this again and again, returning to the original Greek and Hebrew to recover the fuller meaning, and it opens the Scriptures up in a whole new way.
I read it in three days because I couldn't put it down. More than that, it felt like an answer to prayer. I'd been asking God to help me understand His love for me, and this book set me firmly on the path to knowing it.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend Reconstructing Dad to anyone longing for a deeper understanding of God's love, especially if the Father has ever felt distant. It's a beautiful, honest, and truly exceptional book, and easily one of the best I've read.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Reconstructing Dad doesn’t read like a theology textbook or a college thesis. It feels more like sitting in a living room listening to a wise father share stories, Scripture, and lessons learned over a lifetime. Chuck Ammons has a gift for taking deep theological truths and making them accessible without losing their depth.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is how thoroughly it is grounded in Scripture. Rather than simply using verses to support his ideas, Chuck weaves the biblical story throughout the entire book. His stories and illustrations, often sprinkled with humor, make profound concepts feel approachable and memorable in much the same way Jesus used parables to bring heavenly truths into everyday life.
Several ideas stayed with me long after I finished reading, especially the invitation to examine the lenses through which we read Scripture and to allow Jesus to shape our understanding of the Father. The book consistently points readers back to Christ as the clearest revelation of God’s heart.
Overall, Reconstructing Dad is thoughtful, biblically rich, engaging, and deeply pastoral. It doesn’t simply ask readers to rethink ideas about God. It invites them to encounter the Father’s heart through the person of Jesus. Whether you’ve wrestled with father wounds or simply want a deeper understanding of God’s character, this is a book that will leave you thinking, reflecting, and seeing familiar Scriptures with fresh eyes.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is how thoroughly it is grounded in Scripture. Rather than simply using verses to support his ideas, Chuck weaves the biblical story throughout the entire book. His stories and illustrations, often sprinkled with humor, make profound concepts feel approachable and memorable in much the same way Jesus used parables to bring heavenly truths into everyday life.
Several ideas stayed with me long after I finished reading, especially the invitation to examine the lenses through which we read Scripture and to allow Jesus to shape our understanding of the Father. The book consistently points readers back to Christ as the clearest revelation of God’s heart.
Overall, Reconstructing Dad is thoughtful, biblically rich, engaging, and deeply pastoral. It doesn’t simply ask readers to rethink ideas about God. It invites them to encounter the Father’s heart through the person of Jesus. Whether you’ve wrestled with father wounds or simply want a deeper understanding of God’s character, this is a book that will leave you thinking, reflecting, and seeing familiar Scriptures with fresh eyes.
Read
July 14, 2026This book is beautifully written with a lot of thought, education, & research then simplified making it easy to understand each concept introduced by the author, including scripture & Bible stories along with his personal experience. I love that he breaks down the meaning of the words in Hebrew, Greek & other languages which brings a fullness to the langage used by each author, understanding of what was going on when the Bible was written, how they spoke in general & the deeper meaning behind the words. For me, I found this book to be a confirmation of what God has been showing me combined with further comprehension & deeper thoughts. Through his writing he brings you face to face with who God is & his nature. The discussion questions at the end of each chapter also help to further solidify what is introduced in each chapter bringing it home on a personal level. I wasn't ready for the book to end & find Pastor Chuck writes as he speaks. I've had the pleasure of hearing him preach over the years (you should check him out) & I've read every book he has written. This book brings everything full circle or can be an amazing beginning to his other books. I've been excited for this book to come out, so when I was given the chance to read the book early & leave a review, I jumped at the opportunity.
If you're looking for a book to bring you closer to God, help understand His ways & deepen your walk with Christ, This. Is. The. Book for you!
If you're looking for a book to bring you closer to God, help understand His ways & deepen your walk with Christ, This. Is. The. Book for you!
Review of advance copy received from Author
As someone who grew up seeing God as the strict, disapproving Father, I had difficulty reconciling Him with the Jesus I came to know in my 30s. This book very helpfully demonstrated how He and the Father truly are One. Through use of scripture’s original cultural hermeneutics, historical context, and real-life parenting examples, Chuck unpacks some of the difficult stories of the Old Testament to reveal the heart of a parent pleading with His wayward children to see that His ways, not theirs, lead to the abundant life He wants for them. Though he doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, the fresh - yet ancient - lens Chuck provides demonstrates how God wants mercy, justice, and communion for His kids - ALL His kids. Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I am currently reading Reconstructing Dad, and I cannot put it down! This book is an absolute masterpiece!
What makes this read so special is how perfectly Chuck Ammons balances profound spiritual truths with a truly amazing sense of humor. The witty, relatable writing style will have you chuckling out loud, while the heartfelt messages gently melt away any walls you might have built up.
It is incredibly refreshing to read a book that points you to the Creator of the universe with so much warmth, grace, and tenderness. If you are on a journey to draw closer to God and want to experience His unconditional love on a deeper, more personal level, I highly recommend this book. It is a beautiful reminder that you are deeply loved, pursued, and secured by your Heavenly Father.
What makes this read so special is how perfectly Chuck Ammons balances profound spiritual truths with a truly amazing sense of humor. The witty, relatable writing style will have you chuckling out loud, while the heartfelt messages gently melt away any walls you might have built up.
It is incredibly refreshing to read a book that points you to the Creator of the universe with so much warmth, grace, and tenderness. If you are on a journey to draw closer to God and want to experience His unconditional love on a deeper, more personal level, I highly recommend this book. It is a beautiful reminder that you are deeply loved, pursued, and secured by your Heavenly Father.
Review of advance copy received from Author
First of all what can I say I’m not a reader, but I was asked to be a part of a launch team. This was the most powerful book I’ve ever read. “I have always tried to measure up to my earthly father’s expectations! Only to find out on his death bed that the one and only person who was his whole world was not related at all but a granddaughter to the wife he was married to! BUT this book was like the Balm of Gilead to my soul! It helped me read through the lens of Jesus and not the lens in the first person. It wasn’t as much of how I see God but how He sees me! I want to be immersed into the Holy Spirit so fully that I don’t exist anymore and when people see me they see my Heavenly Father! My heart is to have a heart like my Heavenly Father and learn to love and forgive others and myself like He does! I want to Overflow with His Grace and Mercy! So that I am unrecognizable!! Thank you for letting me be a part of this wonderful journey!!
Review of advance copy received from Author
If you've ever struggled to believe God is truly good... truly near... or truly delighted in you, read this book.
Chuck has a beautiful gift for revealing the Father's heart in a way that's practical, personal, and deeply healing. This book reminds you that God isn't disappointed in you—He's pursuing you with relentless love.
When you begin to see the Father as He truly is, you'll finally begin to see yourself the way He always has.
And that changes everything.
Enjoy every ounce of this life-changing book. ✝️❤️🙏
Chuck has a beautiful gift for revealing the Father's heart in a way that's practical, personal, and deeply healing. This book reminds you that God isn't disappointed in you—He's pursuing you with relentless love.
When you begin to see the Father as He truly is, you'll finally begin to see yourself the way He always has.
And that changes everything.
Enjoy every ounce of this life-changing book. ✝️❤️🙏
August 10, 2026
An outstanding book that challenges us to see the Father through the lens of Jesus. Jesus and the Father are one. If you have seen Jesus you have seen the Father. Applying this to how we read the Old Testament is what is known today as “the Emmaus way” alluding to the resurrected Christ’s admonition to two disciples about the law and the prophets point to Him and explain everything they are confused about. Not only does the bible become clearer, our image of the Father and His love for us begins to come into a sharper focus. This book is life changing. I highly recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Chuck Ammons teachings and books are a transformative blessing. This book WILL speak to you if you’re a Saint in the Kingdom, or like me, just an infant in Gods eyes and will make you see some things in an entirely new way.
Truly if you struggle with understanding God through the lens of a true father’s heart, you have to pick this book up and read through it. It launches officially July 17th, but you can preorder now! Best book I’ve read in 2026, and it’s not even close.
Truly if you struggle with understanding God through the lens of a true father’s heart, you have to pick this book up and read through it. It launches officially July 17th, but you can preorder now! Best book I’ve read in 2026, and it’s not even close.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Reconstructing Dad is a must read for anyone who is wondering what God is really like. It has been my privilege to serve with Chuck Ammons for 20+ years. He is a brilliant communicator and teacher. His in depth knowledge of the Scriptures is articulately displayed in humorous and humble style. Chuck is a deep well of integrity, and authenticity. His passion to show the love of the Father to everyone has revolutionized my journey with Jesus. This book will revolutionize yours too!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book will change how you see so much! Not just how you see God, but the Bible, your own interpretations, your own father (and mother for me). Such a great correlation between your earthly father and God. This book will have you thinking, then understanding who God really is and how very much He really does love you.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Wow! What an incredible book! I couldn't put it down. I loved the journey through the Old Testament and the way Chuck Ammons continually points us to the true character of God—a Father who has never been driven by vengeance, but has always pursued us and invited us into relationship with Him. It was both refreshing and thought-provoking. I highly recommend it!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Reading this book has brought me closer with God. The author of this book seems to have a real connection with God, and an understanding of God that I have never considered before.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Chuck Ammons opens Reconstructing Dad with a home renovation gone wrong — floors torn up, walls moved, a family displaced mid-remodel — and uses it as the frame for the whole book: your view of God as Father was built on a foundation, and for a lot of us, that foundation has cracks we've learned to cover with rugs instead of repair.
What sets this book apart from a lot of "God as Father" material is that Ammons doesn't stay abstract. He starts with his own story of physical fatherlessness and lets that grief sit in the room before he ever gets to theology. From there he walks through Scripture — Old Testament tension and all — making the case that Jesus isn't a nicer add-on to an angrier God, but, as Ammons puts it, "the Father without a veil."
My theological and doctrinal convictions are not the same as Chuck's; I'll say plainly: Ammons draws on frameworks — his handling of God's wrath and the cross, and his use of the "orphan spirit" language from the charismatic inner-healing tradition — that aren't where I land theologically or how I'd get there exegetically. But the destination he arrives at, adoption as beloved sons and daughters rather than orphans, is one I affirm without hesitation. This is a pastoral book for people whose picture of God was shaped by an absent or wounding father, and on that ground it's genuinely healing and worth your time.
What sets this book apart from a lot of "God as Father" material is that Ammons doesn't stay abstract. He starts with his own story of physical fatherlessness and lets that grief sit in the room before he ever gets to theology. From there he walks through Scripture — Old Testament tension and all — making the case that Jesus isn't a nicer add-on to an angrier God, but, as Ammons puts it, "the Father without a veil."
My theological and doctrinal convictions are not the same as Chuck's; I'll say plainly: Ammons draws on frameworks — his handling of God's wrath and the cross, and his use of the "orphan spirit" language from the charismatic inner-healing tradition — that aren't where I land theologically or how I'd get there exegetically. But the destination he arrives at, adoption as beloved sons and daughters rather than orphans, is one I affirm without hesitation. This is a pastoral book for people whose picture of God was shaped by an absent or wounding father, and on that ground it's genuinely healing and worth your time.
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