Dinner with a Perfect Stranger/A Day with a Perfect Stranger

When I first heard about this blog tour, I was excited because, let's face it, I'd give anything to have dinner with Jesus! I found this summary of Dinner with a Perfect Stranger very intriguing.

The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched.

The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.


I was also curious about the sequel, A Day with a Perfect Stranger.

When her husband comes home with a farfetched story about eating dinner with someone he believes to be Jesus, Mattie Cominsky thinks this may signal the end of her shaky marriage. Convinced that Nick is, at best, turning into a religious nut, the self-described agnostic hopes that a quick business trip will give her time to think things through.

On board the plane, Mattie strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger. When she discovers their shared scorn for religion, she confides her frustration over her husband’s recent conversion. The stranger suggests that perhaps her husband isn’t seeking religion but true spiritual connection, an idea that prompts her to reflect on her own search for fulfillment.

As their conversation turns to issues of spiritual longing and deeper questions about the nature of God, Mattie finds herself increasingly drawn to this insightful stranger. But when the discussion unexpectedly turns personal, touching on things she’s never told anyone, Mattie is startled and disturbed. Who is this man who seems to peer straight into her soul?

Both of David Gregory's novellas are well-written and thought-provoking. More than just stories of encounters with Jesus, Gregory digs into the arguments unbelievers make against Christianity. In Dinner, the dialogue centers around other possible paths to Heaven, whereas Day speaks to the legalism found in organized religion. Both are compelling reads, as well as a good resource for witnessing.

I thoroughly enjoyed these books, and am grateful for the opportunity to read them. If you'd like to learn more, click on each title.