Monday, November 14, 2011

Brilliant Book Club Book... This term I have been in a book club which has read and discussed Tim Keller's book, The Prodigal God Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (We also watched a 6 series DVD which went hand in hand with the book.) It was a really great read and I was so challenged and inspired by it. Keller's book looks at the Parable from Luke's Gospel in chapter 15 in a whole new light. It was something I had never even thought about despite having read the parable so many times. Even the title of the book was something new to get my head around. In the initial pages Tim supplies us with the definition
prod-i-gal- adjective
1.recklessly extravagant
2.having spent everything

Thinking of God as prodigal was a totally new theme for me, but yet so obvious when you think about all that God has done to redeem us his people. Part of the introduction reads like this:

This short book is meant to lay out the essentials of the Christian message, the gospel. It can, therefore, serve as an introduction to the Christian faith for those who are unfamiliar with its teachings or who have been away from them for some time.

Even so it continues on to describe how it is also such a 'Fresh Apprehension of the Christian message that they (Christian believers) feel themselves to have been essentially "re-converted". This book, then, is written to both curious outsiders and established insiders of the faith.'

The parts of the book which really resonated with me were those which dealt with themes of 'Redefining Lostness', 'The True Elder Brother', and in particular the paradigm of home which is described as 'The Feast of the Father'. Keller goes on to say that if we can see ourselves as already being seated at the 'Homecoming Feast of God' then it will radically effect the way that we view our lives now and how we use our time and resources.

But enough or I will give it all away. Needless to say I can heartily recommend it to you, your friends, and your church.
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