Stories Jesus Still Tells: The Parables

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Summary: One Of John's Best, Most Read-able and Teachable!
Review: After reading most of our creative Priest/preacher/pastor's dozen books, I have to place this one right next to his HOPEFUL HEART! Even though Trey Yarbrough has one super perspective, I need to add a few of my personal view-points. These ten chapters all contain some of John's favorite material he often used in his sermons! My first, also second readings have best grappled with "The Rich Young Fool, The Great Banquet, The Talents & "The Treasure, The Pearl, and the Net" all with his themes of A "Many-splendored universe plus those of generosity, experiences of change and life as a Gift!"

His meticulous attention of these recurring themes first became evident to me when my Wife, Barbara and I heard John at Montreat in mid-1980's. Each morning for Chapel Worship Services, John at his best was stressing these themes in his Sermon material, the Scripture texts, and particularly in his narrative stories from Anthony DeMello. I kept all the tapes cassettes of those five sermons and often shared the same themes and stories in sermons for preaching to Prison Inmates in the early 1990's!

It has become a long, tedious journey from our common training at Southern Baptist Seminary, into the Episcopal Priesthood for him and his struggle with Cancer and healing through stem cell transplant. Now as we look back over our experiences of Change and discovery of Generosity, that "Life is truly a Gift" Now we easily contrast together our mutual struggles and growing into the deeper Faith of the Episcopal Church.

Upon reading Sermons on the Parables, I am reminded of comments from our class on values of contrast, parable, even metaphor! Don't miss seeing the underlying themes of discovering John's growth all thru his writings! Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

Rating:
Summary: Bob Claypool masters the Master's own teaching mode.
Review: Bob Claypool shows in his book, "Stories Jesus Still Tells, The Parables" a profound understanding of an ancient teachng method. He shows how a parable (in the right hands) can draw the listener into an appreciation of an abstract concept by making use of his own cultural substrate. By carefully disecting several chosen parables, Claypool takes a walk through the mind of Christ and shows His wisdom at work. He also draws upon his own experience and insight to add contemporary flesh to lessons which might otherwise seem confusing or obscure. Rev. Claypool has shown me in this writing the timeless value in this type of teaching. He has also demonstrated the craft involved in using this often underestimated teaching method

Rating:
Summary: The Generosity of God
Review: John Claypool remains one of the most important voices in the Church, and on behalf of the church to the world. In this book, he provides a deeply insightful but articulate and understandable examination of a number of Jesus' parables. As foreshadowed by the title, Dr. Claypool's exegesis reveals how the stories Jesus told his listeners almost 2000 years ago remain just as relevant and alive for his listeners today. While he is anything but naive about the human condition and the difficult world in which we live, at the heart of Claypool's theology is a deep grasp of the generosity of God; a theology shaped not only by his study of Scripture but also by the profoundly painful event of his daughter's death and his pastoral ministry as an Episcopal priest. Drawing directly from the stories themselves, Claypool's task is the same as that of Jesus in His parabolic teaching: to show us the true nature of God and how that understanding, if taken to heart, can profoundly impact the way in which we live our lives.

Rating:
Summary: The Generosity of God
Review: John Claypool remains one of the most important voices in the Church, and on behalf of the church to the world. In this book, he provides a deeply insightful but articulate and understandable examination of a number of Jesus' parables. As foreshadowed by the title, Dr. Claypool's exegesis reveals how the stories Jesus told his listeners almost 2000 years ago remain just as relevant and alive for his listeners today. While he is anything but naive about the human condition and the difficult world in which we live, at the heart of Claypool's theology is a deep grasp of the generosity of God; a theology shaped not only by his study of Scripture but also by the profoundly painful event of his daughter's death and his pastoral ministry as an Episcopal priest. Drawing directly from the stories themselves, Claypool's task is the same as that of Jesus in His parabolic teaching: to show us the true nature of God and how that understanding, if taken to heart, can profoundly impact the way in which we live our lives.

Rating:
Summary: outstanding
Review: This book is excellent helped me to understand more about the parables, and how they relate to life.