"Stripped," Jud Wilhite with Bill Taffee (Multnomah, March 2007)

While Las Vegas has earned its title as America’s "Sin Capital," in this engaging volume the senior pastor of a suburban Las Vegas megachurch foresees the day it will also be known as "Grace City."

To prove his point, Jud Wilhite shares real-life stories of the story of redemption reaching such untouchables as strippers, drugs addicts and homosexuals. All are examples of the subtitle: "Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas."

Among other testimonies recounted are Central Christian Church’s treasurer and chief operating officer. He made a fortune as the financial officer for one of the nation’s top slot machine companies before God beckoned him to a better life.

The book crackles with intensity and vivid descriptions that bring these stories alive in dramatic, "you are there" fashion, a credit to the superb writing of former Sports Illustrated columnist Bill Taffee.

The non-denominational pastor includes some of his background in one chapter, sharing how he drifted from church-going roots into daily drug use and addiction before making a dramatic turnaround.

"I know how it feels to be broken, to feel trapped to the point of hopelessness, to be numb to everything and ready to give up," Wilhite says. "Out of this experience comes my tremendous compassion for others who are struggling, and I believe this is part of why I ended up Las Vegas."

In Wilhite’s eyes, the city is as a metaphor for modern America’s obsession with entertainment and Vegas’ wide-open, anything-goes lifestyle. The question implicit in this book: If God can do what he’s doing in Las Vegas, what can he do where you live? What barriers are too high, obstacles too tough, or addictions too entrenched for God to break through?

The stories in "Stripped" also serve as a glimpse of the chaos beneath our nation’s glitzy veneer, where lives spin out of control amid moral laxness that promises personal fulfillment but delivers insanity and despair.

If nothing else, this book ought to increase every believer’s compassion quotient, because the same kinds of people live everywhere.

Wilhite also challenges the Church to extend more grace, noting how Christ reserved his harshest criticism for the Pharisees and others who cared more about appearances than helping the downtrodden.

Yet, as the author points out, grace comes with a price. As he says, it’s not for the faint of heart. It is tough dealing with the sin in one’s life, confessing it and coming clean to God and others: "Bearing God’s image is a serious responsibility."

If you only read the book and don’t know the rest of the story, those words will sound terribly contradictory to its opening testimony. It’s the tale of two strippers, husband-and-wife performers who although they professed faith in Christ remained in their occupations.

In the book, both admit to serious conflicts over what they do and long for the day when they can work elsewhere. The good news: as the book was being printed, they left the adult entertainment industry, and recently had their first child.

As described in the book, though, the situation seemed such a flagrant abuse of grace that I e-mailed Wilhite to ask about it.

He replied that they left the chapter in because it introduces a contradiction—not only in this couple’s lives, but millions of Christians who struggle with such things as alcoholism, gambling, pornography, lust or greed.

Although they knew their dancing was a sin, since walking away meant a new career and losing their homes and cars, their pastor says they lived with the tension for awhile.

"That is why we left that chapter in the book unresolved," Wilhite said. "Sometimes it never resolves. I remember back to my first couple years as a Christ follower and all I journeyed through.

"I’m so glad that the church community I attended was merciful with me and all my failings. I needed to be compassionately handled with care. Thankfully, God used them to help bring me back to life."

That postscript clears up what I considered to be a major blemish on an otherwise first-rate volume. It also challenges pastors and churches nationwide to dispense God’s grace, while balancing it with accountability, so that people lost in the world’s lures can find new hope.

Romans 5:20 says "where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." That this truth is made evident in Las Vegas means the same can happen in every community—and every church.