Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Book Review: Jesus Manifesto

Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus ChristI really enjoyed reading the "Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ" by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. The authors contend that the body of Christ is at a crossroads - one in which people are having trouble seeing the divine in Christ. The author's contend that "the gospel so often preached today lacks a revelation of Jesus Christ. The contemporary gospel boils down to a fire-insurance policy, a Santa Claus God, or a performance based religion. As long as we stay on that plane, we'll never see or comprehend the staggering enormity of our Lord." I agree with their assessment whole-heartily!

Throughout the book the author's sound a clarion call to allow our lives to flow out of our relationship with Christ.
...following Jesus doesn't mean trying to create a weapons-grade theological system to analyze, explain, and contain Him. Neither does it mean trying to obey His teachings by the power of our volition. When you say yest to Jesus, you are saying yes to a person, not to a proposition. Just as when you propose to your spouse, the proposal is not to propositions but to a human being. in vowing to be a disciple of Jesus, your "vow" is like any other vow of love in all of love's varieties. You pledge your allegiance not to the vows, but to the person you love. the padlock of wedlock is not the vows; it's the love. The padlock is a love-lock.
When you vow allegiance to Jesus, you are pledging allegiance to journey together without knowing everything about where you're headed, and without expecting everything to be spelled out in some prenuptial. But you do know with whom you want to travel through life. And you know who the "head" of the relationship is.
So, Christianity is not an allegiance to a complex doctrinal or ethical system, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that's rooted in living by Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life.
This is a great book and one in which I highly recommend. It is written very well and the authors do a great job keeping your interest.

***** out of 5

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

3 comments:

  1. Awesome, I really loved this book, too!

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  2. Sounds like a good bok - have you read anything else by Sweet or Viola?

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  3. No, this was my first book by them

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