How do we interact with a God that we can not physical see, hear, or touch?  How do we know this God?  How does this God work in our lives? – These questions form the basis of Philip Yancey’s brilliant exploration of God in Reaching for the Invisible God.  I can’t say enough about Philip Yancey as a writer.  He provides brilliant insight and approaches faith with a very real and natural style.  His humanity is evident in his writing, as he shares story after story of the highs and lows of his faith.  As a journalist by trade, Yancey digs deep, asking more than the surface questions and reaches down into the depths of the questions that stick in our souls.  I always appreciate his candid and fresh approach and while the book is not a practical “how to” of faith, it gives practicality in the exploration of questions that need answers.  In revealing God Yancey also reveals how we can interact with God.

The Christian faith can be filled with questions and often the answer given is “have faith.”  Yancey goes beyond that simple answer and gives us logic and reason to have faith and to live that faith out.  He approaches deep theological topics with a sense of audience – this isn’t a textbook filled with jargon, but a highly approachable and relatable answer to the questions of faith.  While not a “devotional book” in the classic sense of the term (i.e. – a daily reading of scripture, interpretation, and prayer), Yancey’s writing lends itself to inward reflection and makes a great companion for times alone with God.

If you are looking to deepen your faith, I highly recommend Reaching for the Invisible God.

Simply put – Os Guinness is brilliant.  His writing is clear and concise with solid theology and practical application.  His use of history, particularly biographical vignettes from throughout history, give richness and realism to his writing.  He writes with purpose, not just to fill pages with recycled ideas and obvious conclusions.  Though an academic (he has a Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford), he writes with a novelist’s ear, giving smooth, easy reading prose with deep, thoughtful themes.

“The Call” centers on understanding what it means to be called by God.  Os quickly throws out the modern notions of calling as merely fulfilling an obligation or living out an occupation.  Calling is an experience of understanding God’s purpose for life and living that life in the will and drive of Christ.  We are called “to be” more than we are called “to do.”  Our calling is about who we are, not about what we do, though certainly what we do flows out of a true understanding of who we are.  “The Call” gives a clear guide to understanding this call and practical steps to living it out both in being and in doing.

Though recommending it is a danger (I fear you’ll recognize quite a bit of his writing in my messages!), it is one I’m glad to take.  This is the first book by Os Guinness that I have read, but it will certainly not be my last.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Next up in my reading – “Reaching for the Invisible God” by Phillip Yancey