Thursday, February 19, 2009

Book Review: Living The Cross Centered Life by C. J. Mahaney

Early on in my professional football career I chose not to wear gloves to protect my hands. There were lots of reasons for this: I liked the look of it, it kept me from overheating, I had a better 'feel' for holding opposing lineman. But the main reason I refrained from wearing protective gloves is that it helped me to engage in the game.

You see, a sharp blow to my hands in the first couple of plays would bring all my faculties into focus; I was in a battle. Pain has a way of doing that. The sudden pain would shock me and would result in me tuning into what was going on around me in a significant manner.

I relay that strategy of mine because the book Living The Cross Centered Life affected me in a manner similar to that first painful jolt in a football game. It caused me to engage the gospel of God in a purposeful and profound way.

Mahaney suggest that there should be nothing more captivating or overpowering to our soul than a climb up Calvary's Hill. He has written a book that not only educates one about the cross but also propels one to a serious consideration of its implications to our Christian life.

Any book that causes us to focus on the work of Christ on the cross will inevitably be of huge benefit to us. Mahaney helps us to see the cross with new clarity when he retells the story of those hours in the Garden of Gethsemane or on Golgotha's summit. He brings home the reality of Christ's work with poignant stories from his own life.

Mahaney states clearly that he hopes to, like that first hit of a football game, cause us to engage with the cross both in the reading of his book and in every day after we read it. This book will help one do that. It helped me.

Definitely recommended.

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