Wayne Jacobsen came to my attention through his relationship with William P. Young, the author of "The Shack." Wayne has been writing for some time and has had impact in different circles through different ministry roles and previously through an editorial relationship with Leadership magazine.
I'm sorry it has taken this long for him to come to my attention. Through the influence of "The Shack" and another book that Wayne co-wrote, "So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore?", Wayne has had a profound influence in my thinking and views toward God and the Church. More importantly, in this book, Wayne does an excellent job of demonstrating the roots of those previous works in Scripture and practical theology in terms of the person of God and how He wants to relate to us.
Christianity is rife with lip service as to the importance of Grace in underlying the foundation of a personal walk with God. In practice however, many Churches and Christians of all ilks and persuasions quickly move past that lip service into forms of legalism and phariseeism that make it clear that if Grace is the foundation of the beginning of a walk with Christ, it certainly has little to do with what comes after. Guilt, shame, manipulation and coercion quickly raise their heads and become the motivator for far too many of us.
William Young, the author of "The Shack" recommends this book on the back cover as the best book he can suggest for those who have read "The Shack" to help everything begin to make sense. I can recommend no better than that myself.
This is a deeply freeing book to read, to grasp but more importantly to begin to live the concepts present.
I highly recommend it and will return to it myself many times.
5 stars.
Bart Breen