God's Ultimate Passion: Unveiling the Purpose Behind Everything [Paperback]

Frank A. Viola (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Search for "From Eternity to Here" by Frank Viola (David C. Cook, 2009).

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Present Testimony Ministry (December 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978901908
• ISBN-13: 978-0978901905
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #681,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, February 28, 2007

By 

P. Shreve "PJ Allman" (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God's Ultimate Passion: Unveiling the Purpose Behind Everything (Paperback)

This book really does unveil the purpose behind everything! Next to the Bible, it is the most important book I've ever read. "Light bulbs" were going off in my spirit left and right as I read it. In fact, it helped me understand the entire Bible, finally enabling me to see the whole forest instead of just the trees! I couldn't put it down! And I can't wait to teach it to my Sunday School class. Everybody needs to read this book. No kidding.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and life-changing reading!, February 10, 2007

By 

bookworm (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God's Ultimate Passion: Unveiling the Purpose Behind Everything (Paperback)

Just finished reading Frank's new book today.

Frank's previous books have been instrumental in shaping the way I view the church, today.

This book further reinforces what God has been doing in my heart for the past year or so.

Frank gives an intense systematic but practical study of the eternal purpose of God. He goes from eternity to eternity in relating the pulsating passion of God's heart.

I did not grow up in the church. However, I spent the first 11 years of my journey with Christ in the institutuinal church structure. I can relate with Frank's concern with the IC and the radical rethinking of the wineskin that must occur within the minds of believers.

Frank relates to us God's eternal need for the establishment of a House composed of living stones and the imperative of recovering the centrality of Christ within our meetings and lives.

This Christian walk Frank admonishes is not a religion of "its" and "things", it is about Him, Christ, the sum of all spirtiual things.

Frank's opening up of "the deep ecclesiology of the body" is intrigiung and something I would like to explore further.

I commend the author on a job well done!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bride of Christ!, February 4, 2007

By 

David D. Flowers (The Woodlands, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God's Ultimate Passion: Unveiling the Purpose Behind Everything (Paperback)

Growing up I remember hearing the church referred to as "The Bride of Christ." I only believed it to be one more way to speak of heavenly things. It was nothing more than a metaphor in a line of many metaphors that were used to talk of God's love for his children. Viola explains in his book that it is more than a metaphor... it is "God's central purpose."

Out of all the books Viola has written, this volume reveals the driving passion behind his life and all of his work. He writes, "in beholding God's central purpose, I found my own purpose. In touching His passion, I found my own passion."

Viola effectively communicates this passion in three parts. The first part is entitled "A Forgotten Woman: The Bride of Christ." Viola begins by pointing his readers to the "hidden romance" between the great lover (God) and his beloved (the church). This story begins with Adam and Eve and continues throughout all of Scripture as the true lover is seen through foreshadowing. Viola beautifully describes in detail this great love story between the lover and the beloved that will one day be the wife of God.

Part II is entitled "An Eternal Quest: The House of God." The chapters within this section look at the divine passion from another perspective. God desires a house that he and his bride may have a family. Viola traces God's quest for a house throughout the Scriptures. The last half of this section gets personal and compares our own journey to being like that of Israel's history.

Like Israel, as members of the Body of Christ... we must make a choice as to which house we will dwell in. Put another way... what kind of house are we going to be for God?

Egypt: the world system which is driven by pleasures and places earthly pursuits above pursuits of our heavenly home and King. Babylon: organized religion which is a mixture of fallen humanity and the divine; characterized best by hypocrisy and described best as the "counterfeit of the New Jerusalem." Babylon can be compared to the institutional church of today. Many of God's people live there and they will only find themselves building a community centered around man and not Christ and his purposes. The Wilderness: this is the place where those who leave the world and organized religion will find themselves. It is a place of transition. "To sift us, to reduce us, and to strip us down to Christ alone." This is a time of "detox." Yet... it is not our home!

The old wineskin must be down away with so that the new can come. The home for which we were made is a land of freedom and one that flows with "milk and honey."

Part III is entitled "A New Species: The Body of Christ & The Family of God." This section speaks of Christians being resident aliens. The Bride of Christ is to remain pure and holy as she awaits her bridegroom. The church is a "new species." Viola traces this language through the New Testament. A language that many Christians have failed to recognize and apply to their lives.

Viola simplifies Body life as an act of gathering around Jesus Christ. This is our purpose. Likewise, it should be our passion. Viola writes, "Recognizing that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of all spiritual things will change your prayer life. It will change your vocabluary and the way you think and talk about spiritual things. And it will ultimately change your practice of the church."

I strongly recommend reading this book before you read any other books by Viola. It is necessary that you hear his heart. His passion and purpose scream loud to the reader in this book. And he calls his readers to recognize this passion is only the result of God's ultimate passion for his Bride. God's love returns back to him!

After you read "God's Ultimate Passion," I recommend reading Viola's set:

Rethinking The Wineskin: The Practice of the New Testament Church

Who is Your Covering?: A Fresh Look at Leadership, Authority, and Accountability

Pagan Christianity: The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices

So You Want to Start a House Church?: First-Century Styled Church Planting For Today

The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament

Get the revised and expanded version of Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices by Frank Viola and George Barna

NOTE: I do not always agree with any author I review. In this book for example, I do not believe God was "lonely" and was not satisified with his Trinitarian unity. Yet, at the same time, I very much appreciate how Viola presents the church in the way in which he does. Christ is the centerpiece of God's plan and purpose. It is the delight of the Lord to share his Son with his creation, particularly with his people... the church. It is accurate do describe this as God's ultimate passion.