The Pursuit of God

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointing Classic
Review: After thoroughly enjoying The Knowledge of the Holy (I am engaged in research on A.W. Tozer), I expected that I would find The Pursuit of God to be equally or even more enjoyable. But I have to express my disappointement with this work.

There are some things that are good with this work, these are, 1) Tozer does a good job of depicting the selfishness we often find in Christianity as the wretched thing that it is. 2) Tozer does well to create an appetite for pursuing God. 3) Tozer shows the blessedness of humility before God.

The Pursuit of God was not written to Christians who are mediocre in zeal, it was written to those who are longing for a close walk with the Lord. And as such, most of the good things he says are merely reinforcement to the attitue the readership probably already has.

What this book is missing is the very essence of victorious Christian living. Zeal, humility, and appetite will never, by themselves, produce true holiness. These three characteristics, when played out by the power of the flesh will produce constant defeat. How many Christians do you know who are zealous for the Lord, yet are completely beat up by their own sin? They sin, repent, determine to try harder, fail, repent, redouble the effort, promise to read their Bible more, to pray more, to stay away from the sin that entangles them, then they mess up again. This is exactly the experience that Romans 7:14-25 describes, and this is not what God intends for us.

Tozer makes consistent appeals to the flesh (p. 105-6 in my copy has a great example of this) to live a more holy life. This never works, for, "the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it does not submit to the law of God, nor indeed can it" (Romans 8:7). More willpower is not the answer.

I recommend you read Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Life or Hanna Witall Smith's The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life either in addition to or instead of The Pursuit of God.

Rating:
Summary: Great for spiritual guidance, but can't analyze too deep
Review: Aiden Wilson Tozer was a man who did not have a formal theological education. However, he wrote a book that could well be a complementary reading to a systematic theology textbook, further explaining the things of God where the systematic theology text does not go into. In fact, Tozer even said that "The books on systematic theology overlook this [the things he discusses], but the wise will understand." His deep insights would definitely come from God himself, and I am humbled by the life of Tozer who takes much time in prayer, study, and seeking the mind of God. His life as described by James Synder in the forward truly depicted a man in pursuit of God. Leonard Ravenhill once said of Tozer as "Men like him are not college bred but Spirit taught."

For a book written in 1949, this man was ahead of his time, and what he wrote about is still relevant and applicable today. His writing sounds to me like that of a modern day prophet, who could see into the happenings of Christianity, to foretell and forth-tell what would be problems ahead of us, and warn us of the impending dangers if we do not get back onto the straight and narrow (Matt 7:13-14). As I read this book, I can relate it to Christianity today, the pitfalls and the dangers which Tozer had warned about more than half a century ago. There are many warnings that Tozer had put forth, and I will attempt to draw some of the lessons of Tozer to what is happening today.

Is There Food In The House?

Right from the opening of the book, the preface already sounds a rebuke to Bible teachers who do not go beyond the fundamentals to teach in and with the presence of God. In fact, while reading Tozer's book, it reminded me of Tommy Tenny's book The God Chasers, which is based out of the same verse of Psalm 63:8, and the whole issue of whether there is food in the house of God. Tozer warns that "it is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the kingdom, to see God's children starving while actually seated at the Father's table." This rebuke I do not take lightly, but humbly, and it requires me to walk the road Tozer took to put food at the Father's table.

Before Tommy Tenny, there was A.W. Tozer, and the warning rings the same 50 years later. Tozer rightly assessed that today, even though many Christians hold the right opinion of God, true spiritual worship is decreasing, and continually decreasing. Just as William Seymore prophesied during the Azusa Street Revivals that in the last day, the Great Pentecostal Movement would see an overemphasis on praise to a God they no longer pray to, we see this prevalent in Christianity today and God's people must return to their prayer closets, just like how Tozer did. As much as we may study from the Bible how the Israelites were stiff-necked people and did not heed the warnings of God, I do not see much difference today. With many prophecies and warnings, only a handful heed them. The rest of us are no different from the stiff-necked Israelites.

Simplicity of Christianity
Tozer notices that the simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found in us. Today's Christianity has so many fads which have the potential of drawing people away from the personal relationship with God into a faddish relationship with God. The "in thing" in the 90's and early 21st century Christianity is the praise and worship movement, where the most adored position in church is to be a worship leader. Christians go to where the latest and most popular worship band is playing, and tell that they can worship God better there. Such moves are not in itself bad, but where Christians place their focus on can be detrimental. If their focus is on the act of worship rather than true spiritual worship of God, it is like a person in love with the feeling of love, not really wanting to truly know the person he is suppose to be in love with. All this will not satisfy the longing of the heart, as Tozer explains, but the shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship and that servile imitation of the world all testify that we know God only imperfectly.

Knowing God
Central to Christianity, and the very basics of it is to know God. Tozer explains that if we find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity in a child-like faith. We are warned that when we seek God, "the evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation." The world is perishing for lack of knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for a lack of His presence. We must remove every and in seeking Him, and to get back on our knees to pray, enter and live our whole life in His presence. In fact, Tozer defines "believing" as "directing the heart's attention to Jesus," and "faith" is the "gaze of the heart at God." This is the sole focus of a Christian, not a God-and, but God and God alone.

This knowledge of God is not a head knowledge, but a Biblical perspective of having a relationship with the living God. Tozer warns us that Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word. It would sound paradoxical that a Christian who studies God's Word could end up losing God, just as how modern scientists have lost God amid the wonders of His world. We need to give up all for all of God. This personal relationship with God is of utmost importance, and the end is not the act of "accepting" Christ and praying the sinner's prayer. Tozer points out an interesting fact that "accepting" Christ is a term not used in the Bible, but we use it so often today. In actuality, it is God who accepts us as His children through adoption. If man "accepts" Christ, it connotes that man greater than God, but it is contrary, and God being greater accepts us to Him.

Tozer follows through to show that theology is always practical. He rebukes man's idea of reality, and those with lofty intellectual peaks whose ideas are "brain-deep" but not "life-deep." Tozer insists that Christians are those whose beliefs are practical and are geared into his life, and "by them he lives or dies, stands or falls for this world and for all time to come."

The Pathway to His Presence
Because of Tozer's relationship with God and his views on Christianity, his writings show deep theology in a practical manner. He is able to explain profound truths of God in a picturesque manner, and at times through allegories, to help us "taste and see" God. Tozer often brings us to points that we have to choose and decide where we want to take our faith and walk with God to. It is either God, or not. However, not to leave us to decide but not knowing the destination, Tozer describes the result of taking the pathway to His presence. It is, however, not an easy road, but warns us of the all we have to give up to get there.

Tozer shows the immanence of God through the foundation he laid, i.e. the knowledge of God. The reason one feels God is near but not another is not that God is far, but that we do not know He is near. When we want to draw near to God, it is not in a measurable distance, but a nearness of relationship like a father saying of his son, "I feel closer to him than 3 years ago." He goes on to question why some people "find" God in a way that others do not, and states that the will of God is the same for all, that God has no favorites in His household. All that God has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children, and that the difference does not lie in God but with us.

With this claim that Tozer made, I question the complete and total validity. Is the will of God for every Christian the same? I beg to differ that each Christian has a unique will, calling, purpose and destiny that only he can fulfill, and no one else. However, the close relationship that God desires with every of His children is the same. Because each of us are different, God then relates to us differently. If we seek what is another's, we may get disappointed that we do not get there, but in actuality, God has something different for us. Just like in hearing the voice of God, I have learnt that when I read an author writing about how God speaks to him, it is really simply how God speaks to him, but does not totally apply to me. In the natural, we have also learnt that we relate differently to different people around us. Hence, each individual needs to discover how God speaks to him in the uniqueness of how God created Him.

Conclusion
At the end of the preface, Tozer wrote and humbly claimed that "This book is a modest attempt to aid God's hungry children to find Him. Nothing here is new except in the sense that it is a discovery which my own heart has made of spiritual realities... Others before me have gone much farther into these holy mysteries... but if my fire is not large it is yet real." Such is the humility that this man had. Tozer's life showed that the more a person knows God, the more humble he becomes.

Rating:
Summary: The Shekinah Glory of God
Review: I've been intimidated to review this book for a long time. Why? This book changed my life.

I grew up in a conservative Christian church, my father was a pastor, and I was studying for the ministry when I purchased this book as a gift for a good friend. I didn't want to give him a gift that would lead him astray, so I decided to read the first chapter.

What I found was nothing like what I had known. This was no dry, moldy, "scholarly" book--this was alive. The blessed truths that had been buried in my heart and mind beneath the drudgery of modern scholarship's debates over dating, authorship and sources came pouring forth in what I can only describe as "rivers of living water" (John 7:38). Through the Spirit-led power and insight of Tozer's writing I was awakened to the reality of the Almighty God and the nearness of His blessed Holy Spirit in an amazing way. The prayer he offers at the end of the first chapter (in which he borrows Moses' prayer from Exodus 33) left me in stunned awe before my Maker.

This book (as its author was) is annointed with the presence and power God. I would most highly recommend this book to any person--both those who thirst for more of God and those who know nothing of this deep soul-hunger. Tozer speaks with an authority and passion characteristic of one who has been in the very presence of God. Let the Spirit speak to you through this great saint as you embark upon Man's most noble effort--the Pursuit of God.

Rating:
Summary: The Shekinah Glory of God
Review: I've been intimidated to review this book for a long time. Why? This book changed my life.

I grew up in a conservative Christian church, my father was a pastor, and I was studying for the ministry when I purchased this book as a gift for a good friend. I didn't want to give him a gift that would lead him astray, so I decided to read the first chapter.

What I found was nothing like what I had known. This was no dry, moldy, "scholarly" book--this was alive. The blessed truths that had been buried in my heart and mind beneath the drudgery of modern scholarship's debates over dating, authorship and sources came pouring forth in what I can only describe as "rivers of living water" (John 7:38). Through the Spirit-led power and insight of Tozer's writing I was awakened to the reality of the Almighty God and the nearness of His blessed Holy Spirit in an amazing way. The prayer he offers at the end of the first chapter (in which he borrows Moses' prayer from Exodus 33) left me in stunned awe before my Maker.

This book (as its author was) is annointed with the presence and power God. I would most highly recommend this book to any person--both those who thirst for more of God and those who know nothing of this deep soul-hunger. Tozer speaks with an authority and passion characteristic of one who has been in the very presence of God. Let the Spirit speak to you through this great saint as you embark upon Man's most noble effort--the Pursuit of God.

Rating:
Summary: I can tell he has been in His presence.
Review: I've come across many books in my lifetime about "chasing God" or "following hard after God" and "Knowing God".But all of them have left me wondering: "Has the author himself been in His presence?"

Rev. Tozer had been in His presence, hence the authority with which his words ring out. It is not that he has some great, lofty mysterious wisdom, but rather, his work is sublime in its simplicity. I look at the book not so much as Tozer imparting knowledge to be gained, but rather as a prompt to question my own spirituality (or the lack thereof)and look to Jesus for The Way.

Rating:
Summary: A Book That Will Make You Think
Review: In The Pursuit of God, Tozer explores much of what is wrong with Christianity today. There are an abundance of Christians who don't know exactly what to do. It is not unusual for someone to came back from an altar call thinking "Now what?". This book holds that answer. Especially interesting was the very last chapter dealing with the common separation of spiritual and secular activities, in which Tozer explains that there does not have to be, indeed, should not be any distinction. All acts, whether commonly thought of as spiritual or secular, can and should be holy. These acts, executed with the proper motive will be happily accepted by God as acts of holiness, regardless of their seeming insignificance to others.

Rating:
Summary: A Christian Classic - Vintage Tozer
Review: Over the years I have read several Christian-related books and just recently completed this gem. After reading this title, I chastised myself for not reading the book earlier.

The book is vintage Tozer - insightful, penetrating, and uncompromising - just like his other titles.

Among the important points Tozer covers include:

1. We pursue God because He first pursued us.
2. We must put away all efforts to try to impress God and others and instead come to God in a child-like fashion.
3. God formed us for His pleasure.
4. Most people are too stubborn or busy to listen to God.
5. A meek person is one who has decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort.
6. Our daily labors can be acts of worship if our motive is pure.
7. Our break with the world is the result of the desire to exalt God above all others.
8. We must yield to God and trust Him to crucify our self-life.

Read and enjoy this classic as an excellent encouragement to exalt God.

Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Great for spiritual guidance, but can't analyze too deep
Review: Pursuit of God is a compelling book that draws upon Tozer's intimate experiences with God to impart godly wisdom to those who have a zealous hunger for more. The book is full with spiritual food for thought, and is great to pick up and read a chapter or two even after you've finished it as an accompaniment for daily readings of the bible.

In a sense of nourishing and aiding the Christian to be in the right perspective with God, it is an invaluable tool. However, the overarching blanket statements found throughout the book will leave a sensitive reader asking a lot of theological questions that will hinder him/her from getting the most out of the book.

Referring to a previous review since it's a good example, Tozer asserts that "the pronouns 'my' and 'mine' look innocent enough in print but... ...They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease." His point is true and sound, that the relentless pursuit to gratify the self manifests the fallen nature of man through sin. However, saying that the word "my" is a verbal symptom of our falleness goes too far, for it would mean that Jesus' poignant cry in Matt 27:46 (originally from David in Psalm 22), "Eli Eli lama sabachthani" or "My God My God why have you forsaken Me?" are symptoms of His deep disease of sin (Eli is El for "God" with the pronomial suffix i) in saying the words "my" and "me" (or using the pronomial suffixes since He spoke Aramaic).

While the author obviously didn't mean this, people who read and analyze every word and point will find many similar statements that will leave them cautious of what Tozer states.

The overall point is excellent, with each chapter saturated with sobering and blessful admonitions. Most will not even notice the occassional overarching statements. Most will probably be greatly encouraged in their spiritual walk. However, when one does deep investigations into the semantics and the implications of what Tozer says, it will provide a mixed and muddled picture of how to walk the Christian life.

Bottom Line: Excellent read, but theologically sensitive and nit-picky readers may wrestle with it.

Rating:
Summary: The simplicity of the pursuit
Review: This book is a good little devotional about the pursuit of God, showing what often hinders our pursuit and what can be done to change that. This book is full of many great little spiritual maxims that would be profitable for meditating upon.

Rating:
Summary: Tozer at his best
Review: This book is on my short list of all-time Christian classics. I've read several of Tozer's great books and I think that this one is his best. Tozer is concise, yet deeply penetrating. Reading the last chapter, "The Sacrament of Living," was an eye-opening and life-changing experience for me. Get this book.