The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God by Brent Curtis (English)

Description: The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God by Brent Curtis The God who saves is also a God who woos His own to a relationship primarily of the heart. As we draw closer to Him, we must choose to let go of other "less-wild lovers," such as perfectionistic driveness and self-indulgence. Eldredge and Curtis identify the lies offered by "false loves" and instruct us on the journey back to the Lover of our souls.In carefully crafted words and images, the authors entice the reader to his or her own journey of the heart, promising, "It is possible to recover the lost life of our heart and with it the intimacy, beauty, and adventure of life with God." FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description The God who saves is also a God who woos His own to a relationship primarily of the heart. As Christians draw closer to Him, we must choose to let go of other "less wild lovers" such as perfectionist drive and self-indulgence. Brent Curtis and John Eldredge here identify the lies offered by "false loves" and instruct the reader on the journey back to the true "Lover of our Souls". The book seeks to guide the reader from a busy-ness-based religion to a deeply-felt relationship with the God who woos us, by exploring obstacles and their solutions to the pilgrimage of faith. Author Biography John Eldredge is a bestselling author, a counselor, and a teacher. He is also president of Ransomed Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own hearts in Gods love, and learn to live in Gods kingdom. John and his wife, Stasi, live near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Long Description If you long for something more, even if you dont know what that something is, then open this profound book. The Sacred Romance is the story of our lives; it is Gods story. It is His invitation to experience His unfathomable love for us. Before long, you will find yourself eagerly turning the pages to find out what happens next. The Sacred Romance strikes a chord in us because more than in any other age, we have lost touch with our hearts. We have left that essential part of ourselves behind in the pursuit of efficiency, success, and even Christian service. From childhood on, something or Someone has called us on a journey of the heart. It is a journey full of intimacy, adventure, and beauty, but like any fairy tale it is also fraught with more than a little danger. To ignore this whispered call is to become one of the living dead who carry on their lives divorced from their most intimate selves, their heart. The Sacred Romance calls to us in our fondest memories, our greatest loves, our noblest achievements, even our deepest hurts. The reward is worth the risk. Excerpt from Book CHAPTER 6: God the Ageless Romancer So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about-He is looking for us. -Simon Tugwell C an it possibly get any more uncertain than this? We so long for life to be better than it is. We wish the beauty and love and adventure would stay and that someone strong and kind would show us how to make the Arrows go away. We hope that God will be our hero. Of all the people in the universe, he could stop the Arrows and arrange for just a little more blessing in our lives. He can spin the earth, change the weather, topple governments, obliterate armies, and resurrect the dead. Is it too much to ask that he intervene in our story? But he often seems aloof, almost indifferent to our plight, so entirely out of our control. Would it be any worse if there were no God? If he didnt exist, at least we wouldnt get our hopes up. We could settle once and for all that we really are alone in the universe and get on with surviving as best we may. This is, in fact, how many professing Christians end up living: as practical agnostics. Perhaps God will come through, perhaps he wont, so Ill be hanged if Ill live as though he had to come through. Ill hedge my bets and if he does show up, so much the better . The simple word for this is godlessness. Like a lover whos been wronged, we guard our heart against future disappointment. In my sophomore year in high school I (John) fell in love with a beautiful junior named Joy. Our first dates were romantic, exciting, and full of adventure. I gave her my heart. One day several months into the relationship, I was trying in vain to thumb a ride home when I saw her car approaching. My heart leaped with anticipation, but Joy whizzed past in her convertible with another guy at the wheel. Adding insult to injury, she waved gaily as they rushed by. I felt the fool, which is what we often do when we feel betrayed. And I never gave her my heart again. Everyone has been betrayed by someone, some more profoundly than others. Betrayal is a violation that strikes at the core of our being; to make ourselves vulnerable and entrust our well-being to another, only to be harmed by those on whom our hopes were set, is among the worst pain of human experience. Sometimes the way God treats us feels like betrayal. We find ourselves in a dangerous world, unable to arrange for the water our thirsty souls so desperately need. Our rope wont take the bucket to the bottom of the well. We know God has the ability to draw water for us, but oftentimes he wont. We feel wronged. After all, doesnt Scripture say that if we have the power to do someone good, we should do it (Prov. 3:27)? So why doesnt God? As I spoke with a friend about her painful life, how reckless and unpredictable God seems, she turned and with pleading eyes asked the question we are all asking somewhere deep within: "How can I trust a lover who is so wild?" Indeed, how do we not only trust him, but love him in return? Theres only one possible answer: You could love him if you knew his heart was good. In the movie The Last of the Mohicans , brave Nathaniel has captured the heart of the beautiful Cora. With tremendous courage and cunning, he rescues her from an ambush set by the black-hearted Magua, leader of a warring tribe. Nathaniel leads Cora, her sister, and a few other survivors to a hidden cave behind a waterfall. Just when it appears they will escape and live happily ever after, Magua and his savages discover their hideout. Once captured, the women may be spared but the men will surely be executed. With no powder for their rifles, Nathaniels only chance is to leap from the falls; by saving himself, he will live to rescue Cora another day. One of the other men calls him a coward, accusing him of foul and selfish motives. How is Cora feeling? What looks like abandonment may not be. Her only hope in the face of such wildness lies in the goodness of Nathaniels heart. At this point, its all she has to go on. Its all we often have to go on too. Does God have a good heart? In the last chapter Brent spoke of God as the Author of the story, which is how most people see him if they see him at all. And, as Hamlet said, theres the rub. When we think of God as Author, the Grand Chess Player, the Mind Behind It All, we doubt his heart. As Melville said, "The reason the mass of men fear God and at bottom dislike him is because they rather distrust his heart, and fancy him all brain, like a watch." Do you relate to the author when reading a novel or watching a film? Caught up in the action, do you even think about the author? We identify with the characters in the story precisely because they are in the story. They face life as we do, on the ground, and their struggles win our sympathy because they are our struggles also. We love the hero because he is one of us, and yet somehow rises above the fray to be better and wiser and more loving as we hope one day we might prove to be. The Author lies behind, beyond. His omniscience and omnipotence may be what create the drama, but they are also what separate us from him. Power and knowledge dont qualify for heart. Indeed, the worst sort of villain is the kind who executes his plans with cold and calculated precision. He is detached; he has no heart. If we picture God as the mastermind behind the story-calling the shots while we, like Job, endure the calamities-we cant help but feel at times what C. S. Lewis was bold enough to put words to: "Were the rats in the cosmic laboratory." Sure, he may have our good in mind, but that still makes him the "vivisectionist"-the experimenter. We root for the hero and heroine, even come to love them, because they are living in the drama. They feel the heartache, they suffer loss and summon courage and shed their own blood in their struggles against evil. What if? Just what if we saw God not as Author, the cosmic mastermind behind all human experience, but as the central character in the larger story? What could we learn about his heart? I worked as an actor in Los Angeles for a number of years. In the theater, when youre preparing to act a part, you want to "get into the skin" of your character, to discover his motives. What makes him tick? Why does he do the things he does? Every human action has a motive behind it. Nathaniel jumps from the waterfall, leaving Cora behind. Why? He lives to fight another day. Why does he live to fight again? Beneath simple motives lie deeper purposes. What is it that drives this hero throughout the course of his life? His love for Cora. Here might be the key to our dilemma: The Scriptures are written from the perspective that God is the hero of the story. Lets revisit the drama with the view of God as lead actor. What is his motive? How does life affect him? Details ISBN0785273425 Author Brent Curtis Short Title SACRED ROMANCE Pages 228 Publisher Thomas Nelson Publishers Language English ISBN-10 0785273425 ISBN-13 9780785273424 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY 248.4 Year 1997 Publication Date 1997-05-31 Place of Publication Nashville Country of Publication United States Imprint Thomas Nelson Publishers Subtitle Drawing Closer to the Heart of God Illustrations black & white illustrations DOI 10.1604/9780785273424 Audience General/Trade AU Release Date 1997-04-16 NZ Release Date 1997-04-16 US Release Date 1997-04-16 UK Release Date 1997-04-16 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:126507178;

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