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| Click on the picture to go to the Ransomed Heart website and learn more about the book. |
In Jesus' day, much as in our own, the religious establishment had by-and-large distorted the true picture of who God was and what he was really like. The message was lost about God's love, goodness, mercy, etc. The religious leaders had burdened their followers with petty laws and endless duties to the point where life was filled with heaviness and despair. Into this scene stepped Jesus, who was not happy with what the religious leaders were doing in God's name. During Jesus' brief lifetime (~33 years) he repeatedly went into the Jewish temple and intentionally provoked the religious leaders by (gasp) healing peoples' ailments (for example, blindness, deafness, crippling diseases) on the Sabbath Day. Read here about one brief example (Mark 3:1-6); there are many more. The problem was that religious rules forbade anybody from working on the Sabbath, and Jesus was breaking that rule by healing people (i.e., "working"). And the religious leaders were furious at him for doing this, so much so that they started plotting to murder him.
What do you think of when you think about Jesus? Do you think "televangelists"? Irrelevant? Boring? Religious? Perhaps you've had a bad experience at church and you naturally affiliate it with Jesus.
The first chapter of the book "Beautiful Outlaw" is entitled "The Playfulness of God and the Poison of Religion". Unfortunately, even today religion often presents a distorted picture of who Jesus really is (Disclaimer: Please don't think I'm passing judgement on every church). And that is tragic because it turns people away from a person who is truly remarkable, beautiful, and definitely worth knowing. Beautiful Outlaw is designed to introduce you to Jesus as he really is. He is many good things, but he is anything but religious.
I have read the first chapter of Beautiful Outlaw so far (the entire book will be released on October 5) but am excited about reading the rest of the book. I have read all of the books that John Eldredge, the author has written and I have no doubt that this one could be a life changer. I encourage you to check it out, though, with a warning that your life may never be the same if you give it a fair shake!
