Irresistible Invitation:
Responding to the Extravagant Heart of God
by Maxie D. Dunnam
Overview
From the Publisher
A stewardship program designed to help congregations grow closer to God. .
My thoughts
Well that description from an editorial review is certainly brief!
Our church started doing this study through small groups and through Sunday worship in preparation for Commitment Sunday when we pledge our gifts to the church. I am always skeptical of these lead-ins to the big squeeze for time and money, but I feel duty-bound to listen, pray and act as my heart leads me. I wasn't encouraged in the least when my copy of the book arrived from an Amazon.com used bookseller. It just didn't look ... good.
But duty-bound as I was, I made the commitment to myself to read a chapter every night for as long as I could stand it and at least try to be open minded. In doing so, I found I loved the book. I found myself refusing to go to bed without reading that day's chapter, even when I was sick with a winter cold and allergies, even when I was so tired I didn't know if I could keep my eyes open. There is so much good in this book! So much to think about. So much to plant seeds of self-examination. So much of a springboard to spiritual growth.
I will be reading this book again because I think it's worth it. I think it will be even more powerful the second time around. The stories are interesting, the way they relate to today's world is realistic, and the scripture is powerful. I really was quite pleased with this book and will purchase another Maxie D. Dunnam book in the near future.
Favorite Passage
The path to self-acceptance is not through conformity to the world's ideas of who you ought to be: it is grounded in God's unqualified yes to you in Jesus Christ. There is a hole in God's heart that only you can fill. You are aleady loved as much as you can be.
