Love Beyond Reason: Moving God's Love from Your Head to Your Heart (Paperback)

He takes us through a very helpful chapter called "Love Pays Attention" which is so simple but true. "God notices things your mother has never even thought about." God pays attention to you, focuses on you, God sees. Through the 12 chapters, we journey through God touching the untouchables, being the Lord of the second chance, the teacher, leading us in "the roundabout way" because that is the way that is best. Many people have written about the desert or wilderness experience with God. This is also a helpful chapter on this subject, exploring how the word of God's love can often mean so much more in the barren places. To be loved when you are getting everything right, that's easy to believe. To be loved when you are getting it all wrong and "feel you may be more hindrance than help to whatever work God may be doing in the world" - that is simply amazing. That's grace. "That's life to someone who's dying."

His chapters on being safe in God's love and on the whole issue of hiding are just so wonderful. God as your protector, whether you can see it or not. God absolutely for you and fiercely defensive of you. His last chapter on The Ragged God speaks of God becoming flesh in Jesus, experiencing the raggedness of human life and in that we see His glory. "His glory is not just His power and might and majesty. His glory is that He would come to this corner of the universe....to a ragged people He could not bring Himself to discard. One day He laid aside His majesty and bliss and came knocking at your door. One day He came just for you."

This is a book that does what is says. It moves the love of God from your head to your heart if you will let it. It "frees and empowers you to love." I commend it to you.

With pictures like this John Ortberg shows us God's love to "rag dolls" like us. A love beyond reason and comprehension, a love that simply is.

The book also retells several stories from the gospels. "Jesus touched the leper." Yes, go on? Read it again: "Jesus TOUCHED the leper!" A man carrying af deadly, horrible, contagious disease that had made him an outcast, a man you would not even like to see. But Jesus loved him so much that he saw him and touched him. He also healed him, but suddenly it doesn't look like the greatest miracle in the story.

Every chapter has something new to tell, every time showing new aspects of God's immense love for us. If you doubt God really loves you, let this book be an eye-opener. If you already know God loves you, read the book to learn more about how much this means. Highly recommended for anybody.

John Ortberg is one of those wonderful pastors who preaches well and people love to hear him preach --  and writes well -- and people love to read him. Years ago a woman who had been abused by her husband and went through a horrible divorce told me that as much as she believed intellectually that God loved her -- she could not accept emotionally that God loved her. I gave her John Powell's book, "Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am."  She said it helped.  Now, if I can just find her again, I want to send her, "Love Beyond Reason." It will not only give some help, it will encourage some healing.

Once in a while a book comes along that ends up on every parish pastor's book shelf.  This is one of those books. Get one for yourself and another for your church library. (After you've used all the illustrations!)