The Things We Do For Love
by Xavier Knight

List Price: $14.99
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780446582384
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Ten years ago, Jesse Law was a twenty-year-old with the world at his feet. After surviving a painful, often lonely childhood as the youngest child in a music dynasty, he forged a high-profile career, blazing a path on the charts later followed by the likes of Usher and Justin Timberlake. Those heady times are far in the past now, and Jesse's life is far richer thanks to his emerging values, the love of his wife, Dionne, and a lower-key but fulfilling career as lead singer of the gospel group. As far as he has come, though, Jesse's days are burdened by a shameful reality.

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1. According to strict interpretations of Scripture, Dionne had every right to divorce Jesse given that he had committed adultery.Should she have? Why or why not?

2. If his sister Carol had not appeared at Vanessa's bedside when she did, do you think Jesse would have followed through with hisplan to confess the truth about Samuel's paternity on his own? If he had confessed on his own before Dionne fi gured it out, should she have forgiven him any more quickly?

3. Did the fact that Jesse took so many months to seriously consider confessing prove that his spiritual rebirth was as phony as many outsiders always assumed?

4. If you or any close friends or family have ever struggled with infertility in the way Dionne and Jesse did, how did your real-life responses differ from the Laws'? How much responsibility, if any, does Dionne bear for driving Jesse away and setting off the chain of events that led to Samuel's conception?

5. Did Vanessa make the right choice in giving Samuel up for adoption? Couldn't she have followed through with her medical career and still raised the baby with fi nancial help from Jesse?

6. After Samuel's birth and during her long-term separation from Jesse-which included her relationship with Earl-should Dionne have stepped down from her ministry position at Rising Son? Why or why not?

7. Put yourself in Jesse's shoes: A close friend like Coleman comes to you, confesses a homosexual past, but insists he or she has been healed and is free of that lifestyle. How do you react? What types of questions do you ask? How do you pray for that friend?

8. In your opinion, did Suzette and Coleman make the right decision by keeping their family together? Whose sin was more wounding to the marriage-Coleman's keeping his past a secret, or Suzette's impulsive decision to have an affair as retaliation? Why?

9. Although Jesse still hadn't figured out all the answers, he decided to support his gay nephew, Larry Jr., in an attempt to get more Christians to speak frankly about the issue of homosexuality. Do you have gay friends or family who are sincere Christians and believe their orientation is a gift from God? How have you responded to their convictions? Have you drawn on your instinctive reaction, your lifelong beliefs, or further study of Scripture when speaking with them?

10. Some would say that neither Jesse and Dionne nor Coleman and Suzette's marriages were worth saving. Do you agree? Have you faced situations in your marriage that had others telling you to just quit? What decision did you make, and why? Would you make the same decisions today?

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