Book Review: Relentless Pursuit by Ken Gire
They say don’t judge a book by the cover. In this case, you should judge my cover of Relentless Pursuit–God’s Love of Outsiders Including the Outsider in All of Us.
It’s folded.
Dog-eared
Wrinkled.
I took this book poolside thinking I’d read on the deck while our daughter swam. But its been consistently in the 90’s or higher, I have a cast on my arm, so I thought I’d keep reading in the pool. I got a mattress, laid my arms against it, and kept reading. And reading.
Ken Gire writes about the marginalized and the ostracized; the sinner and the loner; you, me…and Jesus. He writes about being an outsider thanks to red hair and warts. A few years later he had to move, his dad had a heart attack, his mom went to work, and all he thought he could count on was his dog. His dog was hit by a car and died. It was one thing after another. While writing the book he returned to where much of those things happened, and he broke down.
Relentless Pursuit shares more than his moving story. I learned the history behind Francis Thompson, author of The Hound of Heaven. The poem captured many, and showed readers how personal God is, and to what ends He will go to pursue us. The book wraps itself around his story, the Hound of Heaven, authors like C.S. Lewis and Henri Nouwen, and outsiders from the Bible like Abraham, Mary, and the holiest outsider of us all–Jesus.
It sounds like this jumps around, but it doesn’t. Between the Prologue and chapters Relentless Pursuit is broken down into: Leaving Home, The Pursuit, The Pursuer, The Nature of the Pursuit, The Part of Us That is Lost, God’s Passion for the Outsider, God’s Provision for the Outsider, Jesus’ Mission to the Outsider, God’s Mandate to the Insider, The Part of Me that was Found, Coming Home, and in the Appendix, The Hound of Heaven. There are also discussion questions for individual or group use.
This is a topic close to my heart and I believe many people who feel they are on the outside of the glass looking in might do a double take when they realize they aren’t alone. God loves the outsider most of all. For me, I love the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus pursues not as a stalker, but as a good shepherd and friend. Ken Gire provides a great source of encouragement, comfort, food for thought, and Biblical guide in a book that I devoured cover to cover.
To purchase Relentless Pursuit, click here.
I received this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.
