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Rating: 
Summary: DEATH UNDONE !!!!!
Review: Fleming Rutledge has succeeded once again. Her first two books, "God and the New York Times," and "Help My Unbelief" were outstanding collections of her sermons. The publication of this, the latest volume, is timed just right: Just in time for Lent, Holy Week and Easter, this volume is definitive on the true meaning of Holy Week and Easter. The most wonderful and inspiring thing about a Fleming Rutledge sermon is how it dares to preach the Gospel in the face of the bared fangs of sin, death, suffering, and evil. Fleming Rutledge knows that if the Gospel doesn't speak to the suffering, the sick, those in pain, and those who are oppressed, it speaks to no one. She has a spiritual gift that few have, she takes the Gospel as it was written and intended to be heard and proclaims it boldly to a world that not only refuses to understand, but actively opposes it. She does not shrink from those "hard sayings of the bible," that frighten so many of today's clergy. Nor, does she ignore the suffering, death, and evil that so plague our world, rather she challenges it directly with the pure word of the Gospel. Her sermons come alive with headlines from today's media-- e.g., the New York Times--that seem to challenge all that the Gospel claims was done by and through Jesus. Few ministers wrestle so successfully with the evils and problems of the world. But, despite the bared fangs of worldly evil, pain, and death, which she faces squarely, you will find only hope in the Gospel that she proclaims. This is no milque-toast, no mere inspirational gobbledygook. This is real biblical Gospel-completely uncensored, that can only come as a true spritual gift. It is a rarity--a better word would be impossibility--these days to find a preacher who combines a true passion for the Gospel with rigorous biblical scholarship, social relevance, and genuine pastoral concern. At a time when many in the clergy are faint of heart and offer only a comfortable and secularized Gospel, Fleming Rutledge, like St. Paul, "proclaim[s] Christ crucified." I Cor. 1:23. The sermons collected here were preached over the years by Rutledge during Holy Week, on Easter Sundays, and throughout Eastertide. If you want to know, or even if you already think you know, what Holy Week and Easter are all about you should read this book. It serves as an excellent devotional, as well as a careful theological and biblical study of the meaning of Holy Week and Easter. We miss a lot in our current observance of Holy Week and Easter, and I'm talking about the church goers, not just the crowd that views Easter an excuse to shop for a spring wardrobe and dye easter eggs. This book is about the real significance of the last week in the life of Christ: why it's so critical, what it means for us, and why it forms so much of the heart of Christian doctrine. It will serve those who need reminding of what Holy Week and Easter are all about, and it will be good for those on the outside of the Christian faith as a primer in what Jesus is really all about.
Rating:
Summary: DEATH UNDONE !!!!!
Review: Fleming Rutledge has succeeded once again. Her first two books, "God and the New York Times," and "Help My Unbelief" were outstanding collections of her sermons. The publication of this, the latest volume, is timed just right: Just in time for Lent, Holy Week and Easter, this volume is definitive on the true meaning of Holy Week and Easter. The most wonderful and inspiring thing about a Fleming Rutledge sermon is how it dares to preach the Gospel in the face of the bared fangs of sin, death, suffering, and evil. Fleming Rutledge knows that if the Gospel doesn't speak to the suffering, the sick, those in pain, and those who are oppressed, it speaks to no one. She has a spiritual gift that few have, she takes the Gospel as it was written and intended to be heard and proclaims it boldly to a world that not only refuses to understand, but actively opposes it. She does not shrink from those "hard sayings of the bible," that frighten so many of today's clergy. Nor, does she ignore the suffering, death, and evil that so plague our world, rather she challenges it directly with the pure word of the Gospel. Her sermons come alive with headlines from today's media-- e.g., the New York Times--that seem to challenge all that the Gospel claims was done by and through Jesus. Few ministers wrestle so successfully with the evils and problems of the world. But, despite the bared fangs of worldly evil, pain, and death, which she faces squarely, you will find only hope in the Gospel that she proclaims. This is no milque-toast, no mere inspirational gobbledygook. This is real biblical Gospel-completely uncensored, that can only come as a true spritual gift. It is a rarity--a better word would be impossibility--these days to find a preacher who combines a true passion for the Gospel with rigorous biblical scholarship, social relevance, and genuine pastoral concern. At a time when many in the clergy are faint of heart and offer only a comfortable and secularized Gospel, Fleming Rutledge, like St. Paul, "proclaim[s] Christ crucified." I Cor. 1:23. The sermons collected here were preached over the years by Rutledge during Holy Week, on Easter Sundays, and throughout Eastertide. If you want to know, or even if you already think you know, what Holy Week and Easter are all about you should read this book. It serves as an excellent devotional, as well as a careful theological and biblical study of the meaning of Holy Week and Easter. We miss a lot in our current observance of Holy Week and Easter, and I'm talking about the church goers, not just the crowd that views Easter an excuse to shop for a spring wardrobe and dye easter eggs. This book is about the real significance of the last week in the life of Christ: why it's so critical, what it means for us, and why it forms so much of the heart of Christian doctrine. It will serve those who need reminding of what Holy Week and Easter are all about, and it will be good for those on the outside of the Christian faith as a primer in what Jesus is really all about.
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