My Soul Cries Out
By Sherri Lewis
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Urban Books (July 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1893196976
ISBN-13: 978-1893196971
Monica Harris Day’s perfect world begins a downward spiral the day she comes home to find her husband in bed with another man. After confronting Kevin, her husband of two years, Monica discovers he’s had a lifelong struggle with homosexuality that began at the age of ten, when he was molested by a deacon in the church.
For years, Kevin has sought deliverance, crying out to God to make him straight. He explains his deceit by saying he truly thought he had been delivered when he married Monica, but was afraid to share his past with her for fear she wouldn’t marry him. Kevin begs Monica’s forgiveness and wants to save their marriage. He is convinced that God has indeed delivered him from the spirit of homosexuality and that the one time mistake was just his past coming back to haunt him. Their pastor offers them marital counsel but Monica suspects that his real concern is in maintaining his mega-ministry. The membership has grown to 10,000 since Kevin became the minister of music.
When the pastor swears them to secrecy and urges Monica to stay in the marriage, she thinks Bishop Walter isn’t willing to risk the potential scandal and church division that would result if the truth is leaked to the congregation. My Soul Cries Out is a compassionate look at the issue of Christians struggling with homosexuality and the redemptive power of God to bring deliverance.
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What made this story so riveting is the fact that Sherri Lewis broke all the rules for Christian fiction! She chose a highly controversial subject matter, a matter that affects a lot of women: homosexuality. I’ve heard about this on shows like Oprah, where the woman finds out her husband/boyfriend is actually gay/bisexual and they’re living “on the down low.”
I feel Lewis portrayed this story realistically, and that Monica really had to go through a lot of changes before she is finally able to confront her husband in a forgiving manner for what has transpired between them.
Kevin also has some healing to do on his own. He has to face his past, and break away from the ghosts that have driven him to this lifestyle.
I highly recommend this book if you want a good, riveting, and edgy story. This is the first Urban Christian fiction book that I’ve read, and I’m wondering if Urban gives their authors more freedom with the content they can place in their stories? I’ll be sure to read more of the Urban Christian Fiction novels in the future.