From Within the Heart of God

Rating:
Summary: Bold and passionate
Review: A bold and courageous book that reads like a love poem to God. The writing is terse, intimate, honest and passionate. Dwinell has chosen pivotal events in the life of Jesus. He imagines Jesus describing His conflicts, desires, pains and joys as He comes to understand the meaning of each event on the deepest level. Jesus is described as fully human and fully divine whose relationship with God is powerfully all-consuming. Through the words of Jesus, we come to know God as vulnerable, wounded and in need of our love. Dwinell writes, "These meditations come from the psychic life of Christ within me." He invites each of us to use his writings as an inspiration to spark our own imagination, not only to understand Jesus but also to deepen and intensify our relationship with God. This is a brilliant book that will speak to those who know God as well as to those who are honestly searching.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, the heart of God
Review: From first page to last, this journey--as in Michael Dwinell's other books--reminds me of Paddy Chayevsky's line in "Gideon": Passion is the very fact of God in man. While this journey might be spiritually uncomfortable to some folks--as intimacy "inside" the Nazarene might seem somehow inappropriate--it is that very intimacy that reminds us of our common struggles and joys with God in our pilgrimage. More than anything else, this journey is ALIVE in form, substance, relationships, reflection, hope...and yes, passion. For those who use religious language, this is a confirmation, I think, of "the Christ within us"; for those who might want to read "Jesus' diary," it is heartfelt and real. I hope that lots of folks--whether "churched" or traveling another spiritual pilgrimage--will gift themselves with the passion of this unique and powerful journey.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, the heart of God
Review: From first page to last, this journey--as in Michael Dwinell's other books--reminds me of Paddy Chayevsky's line in "Gideon": Passion is the very fact of God in man. While this journey might be spiritually uncomfortable to some folks--as intimacy "inside" the Nazarene might seem somehow inappropriate--it is that very intimacy that reminds us of our common struggles and joys with God in our pilgrimage. More than anything else, this journey is ALIVE in form, substance, relationships, reflection, hope...and yes, passion. For those who use religious language, this is a confirmation, I think, of "the Christ within us"; for those who might want to read "Jesus' diary," it is heartfelt and real. I hope that lots of folks--whether "churched" or traveling another spiritual pilgrimage--will gift themselves with the passion of this unique and powerful journey.

Rating:
Summary: A Riveting, Imaginative Approach to Jesus' Love for God
Review: Michael Dwinell, in his book "From Within the Heart of God", invites the reader to move right into and through the agony and the ecstasy of what it means to surrender oneself to God. He uses powerful and riveting images that ask the reader to feel, to imagine and to explore what it might have been like for Jesus. In doing so, he helps the reader find words and images for the very thing we so often cannot find words for - an experience of God. What happens, of course, is that anyone who reads this book is asked to plumb the depths of one's own heart and one's own relationship with God. Michael's images are unique, poignant and daring. This book is a gift to those of us who are constantly searching for words to match our experience of the sacred......words that are harsh, beautiful, soft, hard, passionate. Michael has a way of using them that is simply captivating.

Rating:
Summary: A Riveting, Imaginative Approach to Jesus' Love for God
Review: Michael Dwinell, in his book "From Within the Heart of God", invites the reader to move right into and through the agony and the ecstasy of what it means to surrender oneself to God. He uses powerful and riveting images that ask the reader to feel, to imagine and to explore what it might have been like for Jesus. In doing so, he helps the reader find words and images for the very thing we so often cannot find words for - an experience of God. What happens, of course, is that anyone who reads this book is asked to plumb the depths of one's own heart and one's own relationship with God. Michael's images are unique, poignant and daring. This book is a gift to those of us who are constantly searching for words to match our experience of the sacred......words that are harsh, beautiful, soft, hard, passionate. Michael has a way of using them that is simply captivating.