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Something That Lasts
Something That Lasts is the story of a minister’s family’s struggle with God and one another after the father’s adultery shatters their world and scandalizes their community.
336 pages, Paperback
First published December 30, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 18, 2017
If you are looking for a light read, James David Jordan's Something that Last is not a fit. But if you want something that is complex, compelling and focuses on struggles of the heart then this would be for you. Jordan's book follows 2 generations of a family who meets challenges, heartbreak, and tragedy. It particularly focuses on Rev. David Parst and his son Jack, their decisions, and how they affect their families. David is the pastor of a large church. When he gives in to temptation and falls from grace, it affects his church and his family. Jack, his son, is so filled with hatred and bitterness from his father's fall that, in turn, it affects the rest of his life. Their journey is written with pathos as they learn about grace, forgiveness, second chances and redemption.
I would definitely recommend this book to fans of Dan Walsh and Richard Paul Evans. But be prepared to read this with a tissue in your hand as you feel all of the emotions that Jordan brings forth from chapter to chapter, but as it closes grace and hope are born again.
I would definitely recommend this book to fans of Dan Walsh and Richard Paul Evans. But be prepared to read this with a tissue in your hand as you feel all of the emotions that Jordan brings forth from chapter to chapter, but as it closes grace and hope are born again.
October 16, 2013
It is now 15 minutes after midnight but I had to finish reading this book!
Something That Lasts is too good to be a debut novel. The characters are so convincing, I KNOW these people, I feel their hurt and disgust, I agonize with them as they look back and wonder "what if?" But most of all I can sympathize with their quest for undeserved and totally unmerited grace and forgiveness.
This book gave me nightmares last night, I seen myself giving in to that temptation that ruins years of work and faithfulness and in return only gives back shame and guilt. I woke up so disturbed, how easy it is to get careless and think we can handle a little thought!
I was so shaken by this book and the dream I had I began praying, and the thought came to my heart so clearly, "unto whom much is given, much shall be required".
This book is a good reminder that just because God forgave the dying thief He did not take him down from his cross. Make wise decisions and cry out to God for help when temptations come, we can't handle them! "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9
Something That Lasts is too good to be a debut novel. The characters are so convincing, I KNOW these people, I feel their hurt and disgust, I agonize with them as they look back and wonder "what if?" But most of all I can sympathize with their quest for undeserved and totally unmerited grace and forgiveness.
This book gave me nightmares last night, I seen myself giving in to that temptation that ruins years of work and faithfulness and in return only gives back shame and guilt. I woke up so disturbed, how easy it is to get careless and think we can handle a little thought!
I was so shaken by this book and the dream I had I began praying, and the thought came to my heart so clearly, "unto whom much is given, much shall be required".
This book is a good reminder that just because God forgave the dying thief He did not take him down from his cross. Make wise decisions and cry out to God for help when temptations come, we can't handle them! "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9
September 9, 2024
thought provoking
Read
September 1, 2025another quick read from the library
May 22, 2019
Reverend David Parst is well-known and respected in his community. It is the 1970s, and he has built his church into a strong influence in the St. Louis suburbs. Unfortunately, this position goes to David's head and he ends up having an affair with a church member. When the information becomes public, the news deeply affects David's wife Sarah and his young son Jack. The affair sets into motion a series of events that carries across the next generation, into Jack's adulthood and even shows its scars to Jack's children.
As David, Sarah, and Jack struggle with their reactions, they also struggle with God and His hand in everything that happened. Will they allow God to remain a part of their lives? Or will they let the past destroy what they have left?
This is a difficult book to read. It's almost like watching a wreck - you are morbidly curious and can't turn away, but you know you should. The one incident detailed above is just the beginning of the turmoil and tragedy these people experience. It is believable for a while, but one horrible thing after another keeps happening, and it becomes forced and unrealistic.
The emotion and message behind Something that Lasts makes the book a worthwhile read. It can show readers how sin can affect more than just our immediate lives in the moment it occurs. Sometimes the consequences last our entire lives. It is an important lesson for everyone to see that adultery is much less glamorous than Hollywood and the tabloids might portray. Real people's lives can be forever ruined. The ultimate battle here is for the characters to realize that God is in control. They must learn to surrender and forgive, and in some instances it occurs too late. This realistic approach will touch the heart and surprisingly instills hope.
Overall, Something that Lasts is a unique story, full of flawed, but redeemable characters. If one can overlook the flaws and the movie-of-the-week melodrama, there are some real nuggets of wisdom and insight in this book.
As David, Sarah, and Jack struggle with their reactions, they also struggle with God and His hand in everything that happened. Will they allow God to remain a part of their lives? Or will they let the past destroy what they have left?
This is a difficult book to read. It's almost like watching a wreck - you are morbidly curious and can't turn away, but you know you should. The one incident detailed above is just the beginning of the turmoil and tragedy these people experience. It is believable for a while, but one horrible thing after another keeps happening, and it becomes forced and unrealistic.
The emotion and message behind Something that Lasts makes the book a worthwhile read. It can show readers how sin can affect more than just our immediate lives in the moment it occurs. Sometimes the consequences last our entire lives. It is an important lesson for everyone to see that adultery is much less glamorous than Hollywood and the tabloids might portray. Real people's lives can be forever ruined. The ultimate battle here is for the characters to realize that God is in control. They must learn to surrender and forgive, and in some instances it occurs too late. This realistic approach will touch the heart and surprisingly instills hope.
Overall, Something that Lasts is a unique story, full of flawed, but redeemable characters. If one can overlook the flaws and the movie-of-the-week melodrama, there are some real nuggets of wisdom and insight in this book.
September 1, 2008
This is the story of the Parst family. David Parst was a minister in O’Fallon, MO who seemed to have everything and then he threw it away in one night. He committed adultery. The husband of the woman he had a one night stand with commits suicide on David’s church steps.
What follows is the effect that one act had on his entire family for the rest of their lives. His wife - didn’t want to divorce him but couldn’t live with him. Shortly after their separation she is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. His son, Jack, who at 12 learns of his father’s affair in the middle of a church service where his father is giving the sermon and then sees the dead man on the front steps of the church. He is sure that the failure of his family, the man’s death and then his mother’s disease is all his father’s fault. Can he ever forgive him? David, himself, has failed God, his family and himself. Is there forgiveness?
Something That Lasts is an excellent, well written story. It tells of the strong faith in God that Sarah and David have that carry them through more than 30 years of challenges and struggles as well as good times. Realistically it also shows the bitterness Jack carries with him towards God and his father.
The third part of the book is about Jack’s life with Katie his wife and their son. It is about their tragedy and the pit that Jack falls into after losing his son. This part of the book is very emotional but also very inspirational. It is a long struggle but with his family’s love and faith Jack climbs his way out of the pit of despair he has fallen into.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.
What follows is the effect that one act had on his entire family for the rest of their lives. His wife - didn’t want to divorce him but couldn’t live with him. Shortly after their separation she is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. His son, Jack, who at 12 learns of his father’s affair in the middle of a church service where his father is giving the sermon and then sees the dead man on the front steps of the church. He is sure that the failure of his family, the man’s death and then his mother’s disease is all his father’s fault. Can he ever forgive him? David, himself, has failed God, his family and himself. Is there forgiveness?
Something That Lasts is an excellent, well written story. It tells of the strong faith in God that Sarah and David have that carry them through more than 30 years of challenges and struggles as well as good times. Realistically it also shows the bitterness Jack carries with him towards God and his father.
The third part of the book is about Jack’s life with Katie his wife and their son. It is about their tragedy and the pit that Jack falls into after losing his son. This part of the book is very emotional but also very inspirational. It is a long struggle but with his family’s love and faith Jack climbs his way out of the pit of despair he has fallen into.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.
January 23, 2016
I read SOMETHING THAT LASTS after thoroughly enjoying Jordan’s second novel FORGIVEN. While I enjoyed SOMETHING THAT LASTS, I did not find it as absorbing as FORGIVEN.
SOMETHING THAT LASTS introduces David Parst, a dynamic preacher with a faithful following and a devoted family. When he is enticed into an adulterous relationship, he loses everything. Jack, Parst’s son, is scarred by his father’s betrayal and feels that God is no longer the god he wants to serve. SOMETHING THAT LASTS spans three generations as we watch how Jack, his mother, and Parst deal with ‘the sins of the father’.
This is not your typical ‘feel good’, ‘everything is fine in the end’ novel, which I appreciated, but it didn’t captivate me life the novel FORGIVEN. I feel some of the emotional aftermath of Parst’s betrayal is passed over too quickly and I didn’t really feel myself attaching to the characters like I would’ve liked to. Still, SOMETHING THAT LASTS is a good read that deals with issues that continue to plague churches and evangelicals today.
SOMETHING THAT LASTS introduces David Parst, a dynamic preacher with a faithful following and a devoted family. When he is enticed into an adulterous relationship, he loses everything. Jack, Parst’s son, is scarred by his father’s betrayal and feels that God is no longer the god he wants to serve. SOMETHING THAT LASTS spans three generations as we watch how Jack, his mother, and Parst deal with ‘the sins of the father’.
This is not your typical ‘feel good’, ‘everything is fine in the end’ novel, which I appreciated, but it didn’t captivate me life the novel FORGIVEN. I feel some of the emotional aftermath of Parst’s betrayal is passed over too quickly and I didn’t really feel myself attaching to the characters like I would’ve liked to. Still, SOMETHING THAT LASTS is a good read that deals with issues that continue to plague churches and evangelicals today.
July 28, 2007
This Christian fiction book reveals how a family can be torn apart by grief and how different people respond to it. A pastor is unfaithful to his wife which ruins his marriage and devastates his young son, who carries the bitterness of his father's betrayal into adulthood and rebuffs all attempts by his father to reconcile. However, the son, when grown and married, loses his young son to an accident, further compounding his anger at God and threatening to destroy his marriage. Not exactly a "feel good" read but probably a real depiction of how good people can be devastated by their choices and how complex grieving can be.
August 3, 2025
I loved this book and found it engrossing, heart-wrenching, and finally up-lifting. It was NOT a sappy romance with everything tied by God in neat little bows like so much of what passes for Christian fiction. I cared for the characters as if they were real, and it felt like I was reading someone's autobiography. Would like to read more by this author.
August 11, 2012
I liked this book. The characters honesty with their feelings was a good reminder that we don't always feel "OK" about what
happens in our lives. But to be healthy, at some point we have to get over it!
happens in our lives. But to be healthy, at some point we have to get over it!
October 15, 2013
I am not sure what caught my eye about this book, but I found myself sucked in and finished in 2 days. I don't normally enjoy Christian fiction (sometimes sappy), but I enjoyed this story line and the way the author presented the necessity of forgiveness (self and others).
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews