I Surrender All

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JUL 25, 2005

Contemporary Christian singer Clay Crosse shares his journey as a performer whose 1994 number-one hit, "I Surrender All," captured the attention of the Christian music scene as he secretly battled a consuming addiction to pornography. Crosse tells how a mysterious throat ailment stopped him cold, causing his financial world to tip precariously, and bringing the realization that the road he was traveling was surely going to end in the demise of his marriage, crushing both his faith and his career. Telling his sobering story, Crosse takes turns with wife, Renee, as they candidly reveal the desperate condition to which their spiritual and marital lives had deteriorated before Crosse acknowledged his addiction. After he confessed that he would have had sex with any woman who offered, Crosse and his wife started a harrowing journey toward building a relationship characterized by trust and accountability. Renee had to struggle to overcome a wide range of feelings, including a sense of inadequacy as a wife, as well as hurt and anger at her husband's betrayal. Many Christian readers will appreciate the candor of the Crosses' story, which offers a fragile but persistent message of redemption.