Collateral Damage: My Journey to Healing from My Pastor and Father’s Failure

by James B. Carroll

At twelve years old, James Carroll became the collateral damage of his pastor father's infidelity and his parents' divorce. With his world completely shaken and identity in shreds, he could hardly process what was happening, let alone begin regaining normality. In Collateral Damage, Carroll, now a pastor himself, presents the specific ways in which God has worked in his life during and since that time - healing wounds, revealing sin, and restoring life. This is a highly practical book, showing the gospel as the power of God to save, to restore, and to heal.

Genres: Christian Living

112 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2017

About the author

James B. Carroll has been the Senior Pastor at Parkway Baptist in Bardstown, Kentucky since 2010.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I began this book, I’m not sure what I was expecting. But in just a few 106 pages, James Carroll packs a gospel punch. With humor, humility, and a clear dependency on God, he shares his journey of healing from his parents’ divorce when he was 12.
The great care taken to not disrespect his father while being honest about the trauma caused by sin was so edifying.
This was a real surprise and I am thankful for his book.

[Holland Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super short book that is very easy to read. The author basically outlines how the Gospel was applied to his own life when he didn’t realize it, and how we must depend on the gospel now in order to help us in tough situations. My favorite part was the afterword that his dad wrote at the end.

[savannah smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is written by my hometown church pastor, james. it beautifully displays the gospel and how christ used the suffering of his parents divorce in his life to grow his heart. he speaks so bright and humbly about his story, while conveying the big picture of finding your ultimate delight in christ.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a part of my Practical Shepherding course and it was a great read. I was blessed by the author’s story and how God used it. I highly recommend this

[S. Stutzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave the book two stars because it highlighted good and pure biblical truth.

But otherwise, I couldn’t engage with this book. It felt like a thousand other Christian books I’ve read: “Here’s the gospel…and here’s five point from any given passage.” I couldn’t track with the author in the illustrations he made then his point. Like the last chapter, he referenced visiting Haiti in 2010 and the aftermath of a totaled city now living in tents. I’ve been to Haiti and know, in part, the destruction he references. But I couldn’t connect the point of the story or if I did I thought it was weak/story not needed.

I give kudos to the author for I’ve not written a book so this is a great accomplishment. I’m sure some are helped by the book. But the author spoke in such generalities that I couldn’t get into it.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn with a rating for this book. On the one hand, it's an incredible book in terms of what the author went through in his life and how he found healing in the gospel. On the other hand, it would have been nice to read of some practical, tangible ways in which healing was experienced. Carroll gives nods to a number of people who took them under their wing after his parent's divorce, but he stays in the realm of generalities rather than specifics. Connected, although a "how-to" book on a topic as personal and sensitive as the one with which this book deals, it would have been nice to have more practical guidelines for ministering to individuals in a crisis.

Wasn't quite what I was thinking or hoping it would be. Ye it certainly is worth a read.

[Wood Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half was good but the second half was weaker.

[Steven Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

An honest, personal glimpse at how a divorce affected the author as a boy, and how God’s ordinary means of grace kept and restored him.