Reaching for the Invisible God

A timeless treasure I'm so grateful to Philip Yancey for writing this book. I'm coming to it late but at a perfect time in my life - a time when questions and doubt have dimmed my light, like a lantern with too much accumulated dust. Coming to Christianity with no background there are countless things I've noticed, contradictions and hypocrisies and just plain odd questions I couldn't answer. His depth of knowledge is so vast I feel this book is a treasure trove. (He literally surveys ideas throughout history, in pop culture. "It's Like Wrestling with Deep Questions with Your Really Wise Friend" according to Matt W Sandford. Yancey is the kind of author who seems to be aiming more at preaching to himself than convincing anyone else. Here is a guy who is so open and honest that that is what draws you in. The book feels more like a conversation with a close friend rather than someone telling or teaching you something out of their vast resources of knowledge. In the book Yancey seeks to tackle the ambiguities and difficulties of how Christians can have a relationship with an invisible yet present God usually by investigating wha. A Rather Dismal View of Faith In my continuing study of the mystery that is Faith, I ran across this book and looked forward to reading it. I'm a voracious reader--but I could not bring myself to finish it. Anecdotes and some well-selected quotes from wise theologians did not make up for the frankly-depressing overlay of the message, which seems to boil down to: "God does not answer prayers, and most people cannot hope to feel His presence." In my view, Faith and Hope go hand-in-hand; I got no message of Hope here.

Trust is pivotal. Reaching for the Invisible God: What Can We Expect to Find? is Yancey at his best--wrestling with difficult questions and refusing to give pat answers. Admitting that God's style "often baffles me," Yancey leaves no doubt that his framework of faith is still in place, that he sees "evidence of (God's) long-suffering, mercy, and desire to woo rather than compel--I have learned to trust God." Here is the clear, concise writing mixed with deeply personal and authentic insights that won Yancey nine Gold Medallion Awards for previous books. --Cindy Crosby. In our quest to know God, he offers this caveat: "The more personal conception of God we have, the more unnerving are the questions about him." Yancey quotes extensively from classic

'How do I relate to a God who is invisible when I'm never quite sure he's there?' In his honest and deeply personal style, award-winning author Philip Yancey ponders questions like this to men and women who want more than pat answers to life's imponderable questions. The audio CD version of the complete text of this best-selling book helps Christians encounter and establish an authentic relationship with the invisible God. Ultimately, though, he shifts the focus from our human questions to the One who offers himself in answer--the God who invites us to reach for him and find him. Read by Jay Charles.. Now available in an unabridged audio CD, the best-selling Reaching for the Invisible God explores six foundational areas: the thirst for God, God himself, the Holy Spirit, faith, growth, and spiritual transformation