Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus

Description

Reading the Gospels without knowing the personality of Jesus is like watching television with the sound turned off. The result is a dry, two dimensional person doing strange, undecipherable things. But when we discover his true character-this man who made the wind, music and flying squirrels-suddenly all of the remarkable qualities of Jesus burst forth with color and brilliance like fireworks. Breaking Jesus out of the typical stereotypes, BEAUTIFUL OUTLAW welcomes readers into the rich emotional life of Christ showing how they can experience the actual personality of Jesus in their daily lives in ways that will deepen their faith.

John is part of the leadership of Ransomed Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own heart in his love, and learn to live in his Kingdom. John grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. John earned his undergraduate degree in Theater at Cal Poly, and directed a theater company in Los Angeles for several years before moving to Colorado with Focus on the Family, where he taught at the Focus on the Family Insitute. John earned his master's degree in Counseling from Colorado Christian University, under the direction of Larry Crabb and Dan Allender. He worked as a counselor in private practice before launching Ransomed Heart in 2000. John and his wife Stasi live in Colorado Springs with their three sons.

Bestselling author Eldredge (Wild at Heart), founder of Ransomed Heart Ministries, uses his playful style to uncover the truth about who Jesus really was. With an eyebrow-raising warning about the poison of religion, he urges readers to turn from religious power displays and legalism and instead spend time falling in love with the man, Jesus. Eldredge repeats tales from the Gospels to reveal a leader who was both humorous and confrontational, generous and moody. Eldredge clearly loves his subject, almost chuckling in delight at Jesus' antics. Readers get an intriguing glimpse of Jesus waiting his turn in line, snorting in anger, and artfully outsmarting his enemies. On the other hand, many of the themes are recycled (e.g., Jesus is your friend, suffering happens for a reason), and the book lacks opportunities for application and reflection (e.g., study questions). Still, readers will find a three-dimensional Jesus and may find themselves re-reading scripture with an eye on characters' feelings.--Publishers Weekly Eldredge's trademark passion and personal transparency offer another inspiring challenge that could revolutionize lives as did his Wild at Heart.--Christian Retailing, on Beautiful Outlaw