a few weeks ago, i had a dream that profoundly impacted my book reading. without going into details, i was left with a desire to read about Jesus, a desire to know Jesus better. i had this book on my bookshelf already; i picked it up at a thrift store for a dollar, since i'll buy pretty much any book that looks half decent at a thrift store. i hadnt read anything about Phillip Yancey. i knew very little about him, other than his name is huge in the Christian book market. so i picked up the book.

at first, i wasnt impressed. for the first chapter or two, i thought it was a decent book. he has an obvious journalism background, and that really shapes his writing style. he interjects various quotes withing his chapters to broaden his points. he talked about the history behind Jesus. really, at first, i thought he needed to change this title to The Jesus I Kinda Already Knew Pretty Much. but then everything started changing gears. i thought this book was going to be more of a biographical story of how one man is changed by an encounter with Christ as opposed to his idea of who Jesus was and is. and, at first, i was disappointed to find that he's just reporting his research of who Jesus is from an objective point of view (if there is one). but, i dont know when or where it happened in the book, precisely, but it morphed into what i first expected, while still retaining his objective reporting. as he started to research this Jesus, his life changed. and as i read his book on his findings, so did mine.

Yancey does a great job at going through Jesus' life chronologically, his message, grace, the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, the kingdom of God, and the difference Jesus makes. the book really sucked me in, as his chapters take on a different life than i thought they would, given the titles and sections of time in the chapters.

this is a fantastic book. there really is a certain anointing so to speak that leaps from the pages of his writing. maybe it has nothing to do with the author, but the subject matter. when i read about Jesus, it is hard to not be changed. reading this book, certain things about Jesus that we highlight--almost apart from the person of Jesus--jumped out in their clarity. things like grace and faith--these are things we teach about as ideas and not something in connection to Jesus. but when i read this book, i saw these things flowing out of the person of Jesus' nature. i could probably go on and on, but in summary, this book is amazing.