Childish Things: A Memoir
Childish Things: A Memoir
Dave Warnock’s faith took root during this intoxicating era, and soon he was speaking in tongues, casting out demons, and praying for legs to grow. That raw, emotional faith grew into a mature Christian lifestyle over the next three and a half decades, including pastoral roles in three different churches, where the innocence of Dave's early faith evolved into staff meetings, budgets, and carefully planned worship services. Dave's spiritual journey included vocational, financial and personal struggles, and an increasingly frustrating search for God's involvement.
But what if it’s not true? What if there’s not an active God doing things for His people? What does a man do when he pauses and reflects on a life lived in this kind of faith, and finds, upon examination, that the God he dedicated his life to has never been there?
By 2011 Dave had come to the conclusion that he no longer believed in a personal God and he rejected his lifelong faith. In 2019 he was diagnosed with ALS.
Praise for Childish Things:
“Raw, open, honest—I can’t imagine the courage it took to write this book, but it is a story you will not be able to put down until the last page. I hope this has a healing influence on anyone who reads it.”
Dr. Darrel Ray, president and founder of Recovering from Religion, author of The God Virus and Sex & God, founder of the Secular Therapy Project
“You will need a fire extinguisher as you read Dave Warnock’s journey. The pages blaze with courage, intensity, drama and heartbreak—and sometimes real fire. This candid revelation of behind-the-scenes ministry has no come-to-Jesus moment. Just the opposite.”
Dan Barker, co-president of Freedom from Religion Foundation, Author of Godless and Life Driven Purpose
“This book healed emotional and mental wounds I didn’t know I had. It shook me to my core. This is not a confession of sins—an imaginary term and concept created to control people. It’s more a presentation of what-the-fuck-was-I-thinking?”Cass Midgley, former pastor and podcast host of "Everyone’s Agnostic"
“Dave Warnock writes like he speaks: conversationally and compellingly. Deconversion stories aren’t uncommon, but Dave’s chronicle is unique, interesting, and inspiring . . . a great read for the religious and non-religious alike.”
Seth Andrews, The Thinking Atheist, author of De-Converted and Confessions of a Former Fox News Christian
“Astounding and aching. Dave’s story helped me, as a Millennial, to understand the Christianity formed among my parents’ hippie generation. Dave also invites us into empathy with those whose grief pulls them away from God. Suffering strengthens the faith of many, but for others, suffering confirms God’s unwillingness to save his faithful and throws into free-fall the fallacy of omnipotent love. Dave offers a raw, humorous, and unflinching account of purpose after pain—and freedom after faith.”
Alice Greczyn, actress, author of Wayward, founder of “Dare to Doubt”