BOOK REVIEW - JESUS MANIFESTO

"But what about you?" he asked. 
"Who do you say I am?" 
Simon Peter answered, 
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, 
for this was not revealed to you by man, 
but by my Father in heaven.

Matth. 16: 15-17

Every generation since then has had to answer this for itself!  To help us know the person of Christ in all His glory, Authors Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola “hope to bring vision and understanding of Jesus into sharper focus” for the reader. “You and I are meant to be living epistles – that is, “Jesus Manifestos” – in our world.  Cities set on a hill.  Salt and light. That’s why we wrote this book.” This book is for everyone who wants a deeper relationship with our Lord!

Jesus Manifesto comes highly acclaimed by more than a dozen leaders, such as Rowan Williams, Calvin Miller, Ed Young, Jack Hayford, Shane Claiborne, Ed Stetzer, Anne Jackson and many more, whose endorsements lead off the book prior to the Introduction.

The book is less than 200 pages, easy to read but thought provoking. It is a devotional book meant to appeal to the Christian who has not truly experienced Christ, or to the Christian who may have need to rediscover Jesus – who is truly Son of Man and Son of God, or even to someone who is not yet a follower of Christ! Have your Bible close by and be sure to check all things! I appreciated reading this book.  The authors ask us to step out of the “YOUNIVERSE” of narcissistic religion and to exalt Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, as portrayed throughout the whole Bible. There is no greater calling than to let Him increase, all the while we decrease as it should be and will be.

On our last trip to Europe we visited some ancient churches and in one or two of them I had the distinct impression in my spirit that ‘Jesus doesn’t live here anymore’.  Much like this quote:  “The gospel that’s 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.”

“Every revival and restoration in the church has been a rediscovery of some aspect of Christ in the process of answering the ultimate question that Jesus put to His disciples:  “Who do you say that I am?” I leave your answer with you and I hope that reading the book will be helpful in sharpening your focus!

I want to acknowledge thanks to Thomas Nelson Books for sending me a free copy to review in any way I chose.