Ed Gungor examines what is conspicuously missing from The Secret

Contact: Diane Morrow, 800-927-1517

DALLAS, June 7 /Christian Newswire/ -- Few people can resist the promise of a sure thing. This fact is, perhaps, the driving force behind the phenomenal success of Rhonda Byrne's bestselling book, The Secret.

But, there are others who question the wisdom of accepting the work's guarantee of success. In his new book, There Is More to The Secret (Thomas Nelson, 2007), author and pastor Ed Gungor seeks to establish a more complete and accurate depiction of the power of the mind by incorporating an element conspicuously absent from Byrne's work -- the obvious role that the Almighty God plays in our everyday lives. Gungor's purpose in writing There Is More to the Secret is not to attack Byrne's book, nor to tear down the good that she has communicated; rather, he aims to interpret the ideas presented in The Secret from his perspective as a Christian.

The concept at the heart of both books is the Law of Attraction, a notion that has been repeated in oral traditions, literature, religions and philosophies throughout the ages. This law, plainly stated, is: Everything coming into your life is the result of what you have been attracting to your life. In other words, we have the power to transform our own lives simply by controlling our thoughts and channeling them in the right directions.

Gungor asserts that although there is some truth, even some Biblical evidence, in support of the fact that we tend to become what we think, the new-age representation of "individual as God" is a risky contention. "The Secret contains some very helpful information and gives us a life-transforming glance at an ancient truth," writes Gungor. "But there is more to be told than Ms. Byrne and her team have revealed. In fact, without a deeper look into the 'more' I speak of, I fear heartache may outweigh what help has been realized in people's lives."

Gungor's respectful, even open-minded, critique of Byrne's work raises many logical questions worth pondering (for example: Do people really "attract" car wrecks and other disasters?). As Rhonda Byrne's work flies off bookstore shelves into the hands of eager consumers anticipating big results, There Is More to the Secret encourages readers, particularly Christians, to recognize the connection between the Law of Attraction and the God who set that law into motion. Truly, there is more to The Secret.