We live in divided times. Politically, racially, and religiously, the United States is experiencing a severe strain on its unity.  Similar factiousness has spread around the world.  Although Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and its sequel, In His Image were published over 30 years ago, we still have much to learn from Dr. Paul Brand.  This fascinating man studied medicine during World War II, when virtually the entire world was at arms.  He then began his medical career during a cataclysmic event in India that caused more than a million deaths and created fourteen million refugees.  Brand’s insights come not as sermons, but as observations of how cells work together in community and what we can learn from them.

“Why does the church stir up such negative feelings?”  I have found that this question is more relevant now than ever.  In a twenty-year span starting in the mid-nineties, research shows that favorable opinions of Christianity have plummeted drastically—and opinions of Evangelicals have taken even deeper dives.  Yet while the opinions about Christianity are dropping, interest in spirituality is rising.  Why the disconnect?  Why are so many asking, “What’s so good about the Good News?”?

Prayer can be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery.  I probe such questions as: Is God listening? Why should God care about me? If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer? How can I make prayer more satisfying?  Why do so many prayers go unanswered? Do prayers for healing really matter?  Does prayer change God? I began with a list of such questions, then I studied all 650 prayers in the Bible and interviewed scores of people about their own experiences with prayer.

How does the Jesus of the New Testament compare to the “new, rediscovered” Jesus—or even the Jesus we think we know so well? Thousands of books have been written about Jesus, and yet still he remains an elusive historical figure. For several years I taught a class on Jesus that relied on movie depictions of his life.  Out of that class came this book, for teaching it gave me a new and different perspective on his work—his teachings, his miracles, his death and resurrection—and ultimately, who he was and why he came.  In this book I emphasize the relational and personal rather than the scholarly. 

After writing one of my first books, Where Is God When It Hurts, I got letters from readers who said something like this: “Thanks for your reflections on physical pain.  My situation is different, though.  My child has severe disabilities, and I face a constant battle with depression.  Prayer doesn’t seem to help my emotional pain.  When it comes to God, I feel something like betrayal.” I settle on three questions, “Is God unfair?  Is God silent?  Is God hidden?” and scour the Bible methodically, looking for clues.