Outrageous Grace: Finding a Forever Friendship with God

by Dwight K. Nelson

Book Overview

Popular author and pastor Dwight Nelson isn't afraid to tackle the questions that arise from the diverse biblical descriptions of God. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816316791
• ISBN13: 9780816316793
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Pacific Press Publishing Association
• Length: 126 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A powerfully illuminating and inspirational book

Outrageous Grace: Finding a Forever Friendship With God is not a long book, but it is overflowing with illumination and inspiration. Dwight K. Nelson addresses some of the hardest questions posed by sinners and believers alike concerning God, and he delivers eloquent and persuasive answers to those questions. Even many Christians find it hard to reconcile the jealous God of the Old Testament with the meek and loving Jesus Christ and His Father of the New Testament. On several occasions, the God of the Old Testament meted out divine punishment, struck fear in the hearts of his earthly children, and sometimes appeared more like a consuming fire than a loving Father. He denied Moses and Aaron the right to enter the Promised Land after forty years of wandering in the desert after a seemingly minor transgression on Moses' part. Even in the New Testament, in the early days of the church, God struck down Ananias and Sapphira when they conspired to secretly keep a portion of the money they made by selling a piece of property. If God is Love, how could He have done these troubling things? Taking the idea even further, how can a loving God allow so much misery and suffering in the world today? These are questions all Christians ponder at some point.Nelson does a fantastic job of tackling these hard issues. In each and every case he examines, he puts forth convincing reasons for God's actions and shows they were all borne of love. In formulating his central argument, Nelson goes all the way back to Lucifer's fall from grace and the introduction of sin in this world. He does a wonderful job explaining why God did not simply destroy the rebel angels; moving from this, he blames Satan for spreading the lie that God should be feared. He devotes a chapter to explaining just what sin really is, making brilliantly illuminating use of the parable of the prodigal son in this regard. He backs up his argument that God meets us where we are and as we are, extrapolating from this notion a brilliant explanation for the frightful appearances of God to the Israelites of Moses' day. In cases such as the seemingly extreme deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, Nelson explains God's actions as a form of "accelerated judgment" made so as to protect the larger body of followers from the dangers it would otherwise be exposed to. In each and every case, no matter how cruel God's action may seem on the surface, Nelson certainly proves to my satisfaction that God acted out of love and not jealousy or rage. God is not to blame for suffering and pain on earth, Nelson argues; He in fact shares all of our afflictions with us, and He proved the depth of his relentless love beyond doubt on Calvary some two thousand years ago. God wants his children to love Him, but true love cannot exist unless men and women have the freedom to say No to divine love. That is the heart of Nelson's explanation for the existence of pain and suffering among believers and non-believers alike. I fou

Excellent reading

I have started reading the book for the second time , I couldn't put it down. The author really knows how to explain the bible in layman's terms. I am back online to find more books by Dewight Nelson.

this book will change the way you feel of God

if you are looking for a forever friendship with God, this book is a wonderful way to learn more about him... was it the same God who created this world and flushed it with flood? to know me is to love me....