Redeeming Love – Francine Rivers

I am not in the habit of crying over books.  I am a big boy.

But this one did inspire a bit of moisture when I read it.  Just a little bit.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is an awesome book.  It is a re-telling of the story of Hosea, which in turn is an allegory for the Redeeming Love shown by God in reaching out to his church.  Farmer Michael Hosea hears the voice of God telling him to take a wife.  (As did Hosea the prophet)  In both instances they are told to take an unfaithful prostitute as their wife.  Michael hears and obeys, however his chosen wife, the prostitute known only as Angel, is less convinced of his intentions.  So begins a long journey of discovery for both of them.

It is beautiful, and beautifully written.  I many have teared up a little on occasion.

I remember reading an interview with Francine Rivers about how her publishers tried to get her to publish this book under a pseudonym.  It was her first book published after becoming a Christian, and they were afraid of it being tainted by association with her secular romances.  (Which were a little more… explicit.)

She said however that the story was about redemption, and the power of a changed life, and so it was published as the first of many Christian novels under her name, a testimony to how her writing had been redeemed as she had been.

Dangerous Fruit?

I was driving home late last night, at about midnight.  As is my custom, I was talking to myself.  (Yes, I am weird like that.)

I was busy thinking about the Fruit of the Spirit, because I am planning a lesson series on it in my small group.  Stay tuned, I might post some of it here if you are good.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law – Galatians 5:22-24

As I was driving, I was considering how one goes about exhibiting and growing the fruit in your own life.  I was thinking about what love really means, and goodness, and kindness. 

Then as I drove down a dark and abandoned road, I saw someone in a bakkie coming around the corner with their hazard lights on. (You would probably know a bakkie as a pick-up truck or utility vehicle.)

The driver pulled off to the side of the road, and stopped their vehicle.  It appeared that they were having difficulty. 

I suppose I should have pulled over to see whether they needed help.  But it was a dark and uninhabited area, and it was not safe.  My country is riddled with crime, and it is one of the first things you learn… never get our of your car at night.  Especially if you are alone.

So I slowed down, but I could not see if the driver was in trouble or not, so I drove on.  Sometimes hijackers and robbers use “break-downs” as decoys to lure people in.  So I carried on home.

It got me thinking though.  The loving, kind and good thing would be to stop and help someone in need.  Sort of like the Good Samaritan in the story.  But what about when it is dangerous to you?  I don’t mind risking my life to help someone, but deliberately doing something stupid when it might be a trap is another thing.

Isn’t it?

What are we supposed to do as Christians?  What Would Jesus Do?
Is it goodness to stop for every person, or just stupidity?

What do you think?

Simple Joy

I was reminded recently of a story that I read about a printer’s daughter discovering the love of God.

She found a scrap of paper on the floor of her father’s factory. 
The scrap had half of a verse printed on it.

”For God so loved the world, that he gave…”

That was all.  She was overcome with joy and thanksgiving.  No one had ever told her about Jesus, and her perception of God was someone to be feared.  When she showed the piece of paper to her Mother, she was asked, “What did he give?”

“I do not know,” she replied.  “But if He loved us enough to give us anything, we should not be afraid of Him.”

It’s Not about Me – Max Lucado

Pop culture and psychobabble tell us to make ourselves the center of the universe in order to be happy. Churches have communicated the false idea that God exists to give us all that we selfishly want. In this book, Max Lucado reminds us that it's not about us, it's all about God. It is through this shift in thinking that we can truly live an unburdened, happy life.

This book, as with most of the Max Lucado books I have read, was good solid theology.  The man really knows his stuff.  It is only about 150 pages long, and each chapter is short enough to read quickly and spend some time digesting.

Admittedly not a lot of what he says is original, and is repeated a lot.  However there are some truths that we need to keep examining from different directions until we can move them from our heads into our hearts.  I can’t say that it inspired me to change my life, but it gave me much to think about as I have been contemplating this very theme for a while… what does it mean to say that it is all about GOD, and not about me.

The study guide in the back is also quite good, and it covers the material from each chapter, so you can use the book as a group study, or personal study, as well as just a good read.

Don’t expect anything groundbreaking, but read it anyway.  It really is quite good.

 

I received the book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishing as part of their BookSneeze programme.  Learn more about the book here.

Tweasure yor wuv.

So. It is official.

I finally managed to hook the fabulous Dori, and get her to agree to spend the rest of her life with me.

Now, the only important question is....

How do I get her to agree to this wedding?

 

Hoo Ha Ha!!!

She said “yes”

HOO HA HA!!!

Today I asked the fabulous Dori to be my fish-wife, and she said “yes.”

The story of how we got together is just an amazing one filled with GOD’s hand.  Clearly even His infinite patience was wearing thin with us trying to get it right on our own. 

This day is just made of pure awesome!

Hoo Ha Ha!

FISH in the Reads/Reeds

I love to read. 

On a good day, I can devour an entire fiction novel in one sitting, maybe over a weekend for larger books.

Yet I have never really spent a lot of time reading Christian fiction.  That’s right, I still consider Frank Peretti to be the cutting edge of edgy spiritual fiction, and that nobody can top C.S. Lewis for some good fantasy.

But I am aware of the fact that there is an entire world of inspirational Christian Fiction out there.  I even aspire to write it one day.  So I suppose it was about time that I learned to appreciate it.

So it is probably a good thing that my girlfriend, Dori, is quite an expert on Christian Fiction.  She has been introducing me to works by Ted Dekker, Adam Blumer and others.

(She also likes Twilight, but nobody’s perfect.)

So while up until now I have been reviewing Christian Non-Fiction books on this blog, I will now be starting a new series called FISH in the Reads (Fish in the Reeds.  Get it?)  If I am going to be a FISH (Faithful in Serving HIM) then I need to be soaking myself in good, Christian Fiction as well as the secular fiction I read.  So I will be looking (possibly with some help) at how we can serve God in our reading patterns.

Do you read Christian Fiction?  Can you recommend anything/anyone?
Do you think it matter whether we read Christian fiction or not?