Customer Reviews

Knowing the Heart of God: Where Obedience Is the One Path to Drawing Intuitively Close to Our Father

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have purchased many of this title for gifts and always have a copy on hand for myself. It would be impossible to overestimate the contributions of George MacDonald to the Christian understanding generally and to the understanding of Who God is and how to know Him specifically.
One pervading theme in all of MacDonald's works, both fiction and non-fiction, is his belief that simple obedience is the one and only path to truly knowing God and growing in spiritual understanding. It is not about what you know; it is about what you do! And the doing, beginning with the most simple thing you KNOW to do, is the beginning of knowing God. Without that first step of obedience, you will never know Him, though you might fill your head with all kinds of lofty theology.
The only complaint I have with this book (if you can call it a complaint) is the way Phillips inserted poems and excerpts from MacDonald's novels at random before and at the end of each chapter. Having read most of MacDonald's novels, even I had to struggle to place the short excerpts in their context. A reader who has not read any of his novels might find this confusing. The excerpts are best left in their original context, that is, in the novel itself.
Yet, I will not fault Phillips for his efforts in putting this together because he has done a tremendous service, in my opinion, in editing many of MacDonald's books for modern readers, who otherwise might find them daunting.
If you enjoy MacDonald, make sure to pick up "George MacDonald "Victorian Mythmaker" by Rolland Hein and read about the man himself. Also, MacDonald's "Unspoken Sermons" ...

I fell in love with George MacDonald's novels as a college student. When I discovered this book a few years ago, it was a treasure! Combining the best of George MacDonald's sermons and essays on the heart of the Creator with selections from his poetry and novels that illustrate the concepts, this book is a great devotional and insight into God's heart. I don't always agree with every ounce of MacDonald's theology, but he makes his case with sound reason and has a knack for making you dig deep to discover the truth. Great stuff -- read it!

I am a huge fan of C. S. Lewis. He has written of the affect George MacDonald had in his life. Since this book is a compliation of sermons, poems, and fiction, I thought I'd might get an sampling.

I see now why Lewis mentioned MacDonald so often in his own writings. MacDonald writes from a bone-deep spirituality, of heart and mind. His common sense, everyday relationship with God is there for all to see as he writes about the difficulty of obedience. At the same time, his reverence, reliance, and awe come through as he describes the desire to draw ever closer to "Our Father."

Although MacDonald died in 1905, his insight and encouragement to others is just a relevant today as it ever was. I highly recommend the book to christians, seekers, or anyone interested in hearing from man who knows who he is, what he wants, and is ready to do whatever it takes achieve it.

A great approach, a timeless treasure. If you are around Christians, or just plain old folks who are afraid to think or who are always trying to find the right legal formula for Salvation, or just think that they know it all, introduce them to this book. I found it a breath of fresh air after digesting another excellent book, "Bible Doctrines A Pentecostal Perspective". It provided a balance.

From the onset the best quote I found in this book "knowing the Heart Of God" is, "To hold a doctrine or an opinion with the intellect alone is not to believe it. A man's real belief is that which he lives by".

This and establishing the principle that Intimacy can be increased by Obedience, is the base argument for the Holiness Pentecostal way of life towards Sanctifaction and Holiness. Isaiah first chapter verses eighteen and nineteen are often cited for conveying this idea. I found it an excellent primer to convey and discuss the Christian notion of obedience for a wife or betrothed which has nothing to do with the idea of obedience in the contemporary world. And for the man or husband, I showed why the attributes of God should be mirrored through him as God's image in a relationship. This book is about establishing a relationship with God.

The title struck me because I just realized how fragile an omnipotent God's heart can be. Through my suffering I understood how I can see God's heart broken. Jesus wept, as I. I believe he still weeps. Try preaching "Intimacy Through Obedience" at your next women's meeting and notice the climate change. Notice how the end result will be for the hearers to merely fall back on opinion which the author has a great deal to say about.

Although the staunched legalist may find the fiction, counter-arguments and exegesis debatable. For those truly led by the Holy Spirit to find the perfect truth this book gives a gentle nudge in that direction with a touch of humor. In the end the only action needed is simply to know God through Our Lord and Great God Jesus Christ and obey him. Does not the scriptures say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him"? This hearing is obedience.

For someone who has just discovered the incredible authorship of George MacDonald, I was extremely disappointed when I received this book... please be aware, the author of this book is not George MacDonald, it is Michael Phillips, who compiled, arranged, and edited multiple snippets from George MacDonald's real books. I'm not saying this is a bad thing to do or that this book in general is bad, but the description needs alot more clarification, and that's the only reason for me rating this at three stars, but it is a significant reason in my mind.

I was introduced to George MacDonald from CS Lewis' book titled "George MacDonald", which is similar to this book in that CS Lewis just pulls out a bunch of quotes from George MacDonald's works. I loved it, but it's because I was clear on what it was, that it was a book by CS Lewis of quotes from George MacDonald. Anyway, just wanted to clarify this for anyone that may be looking for books actually written by George MacDonald himself... this is not one of them :)

Here is a list of the 53 books actually written by George MacDonald... if the book you are contemplating is not on this list, than it was edited, compiled, and/or arranged by someone else (although, I have found some books that have some of MacDonald's works that I don't think are included in the books below, such as "An Expression of Character: The Letters of George Macdonald" and "The Christmas Stories of George Macdonald"):

Adela Cathcart: Volume 1
Adela Cathcart: Volume 2
Adela Cathcart: Volume 3
Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood
At the Back of the North Wind
A Book of Strife in the Form of The Diary of an Old Soul
David Elginbrod
The Day Boy and the Night Girl
A Dish of Orts
Donal Grant
A Double Story
The Elect Lady
England's Antiphon
Far Above Rubies
The Flight of the Shadow
The Golden Key
Heather and Snow
A Hidden Life and Other Poems
The History of Gutta-Percha Willie
Home Again
Hope of the Gospel
The Light Princess and Other Fairy Stories
Lilith
Malcolm
The Marquis of Lossie
Mary Marston
Miracles of Our Lord
Paul Faber, Surgeon
Phantastes
The Portent and Other Stories
The Princess and Curdie
The Princess and the Goblin
Purposes and the Shadows
Rampolli
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood
Robert Falconer
A Rough Shaking
Salted With Fire
Seaboard Parish: Volume 1
Seaboard Parish: Volume 2
Seaboard Parish: Volume 3
Sir Gibbie
St. George and St. Michael
There and Back
Thomas Wingfold, Curate
The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Unspoken Sermons
The Vicar's Daughter
Warlock o' Glenwarlock
Weighed and Wanting
What's Mine's Mine
Wilfrid Cumbermede
The Wise Woman

This is for anyone (jacko97 especially) who likes to read the original author. I'm glad other's liked these edited books. The more that like GM the better. The original works can be found at: http://www.johannesen.com/ for hardback. Unabridged audio www.blackstoneaudio.com.

:)

Open The Eyes Of My Heart Lord!!!...and here came George MacDonald...Father's Love...Jesus...
Love This and All Of George MacDonald's books...
The Book arrived in excellent condition...this one is a gift...the second one passed forward...you'll find yourself gifting it too...

George MacDonald is great, my kids have read almost all his books. So I am reading them also. He writes so well, I'd recommend any of his books.

Stories, poems, commentary - all provide an introduction to the God of the universe who is much bigger and more unfathomable that most religeous organizations would have you know. Opinions, theology and descriptions fall far short of a life lived in pursuit and obedience to this God. He has and still is bigger than anything our minds can envelope.

So George MacDonald is the only named person -- well, forget Napoleon -- to appear in CS Lewis' *The Great Divorce* and with Jack's recommendation and clear respect, I finally found some MacDonald stuff -- supposedly -- only to find out that it's a compilation. Too bad Mr MacDonald wasn't clever enough to put this compilation together. I'm sure his work would have been much better. And that's the beef I have with this book: after all the hoopla about MacDonald's greatness as a writer/thinker, Phillips thinks he can improve on his work? Phillips' claims, "The fictional readings ... are not mere additions to the meaty sections of the text; they are equally vital to the reader who would learn ... ." ("Introduction", pg 13) Excuse me. Is Mr Phillips so inexpert that he doesn't know that even a merely good work has its own flow that is seriously disrupted by insertions? And that's the problem with Phillips' compilation: the insertions are merely distracting. They might be good, even great, but why do they have to interrupt? Put them in an Appendix so that I can just read MacDonald. But then I turn to the back of the book to see what else I can get of MacDonald's work from Bethany House, and I find that there's a bunch of stuff. All "edited for today's reader," and renamed; again, presumably, for "today's reader." Let's see. Macdonald wrote about 100 years ago, but must be brought up do date. Somebody has a fat head. Pulleeeeese, just give me MacDonald.

So I give MacDonald a 5+, Phillips gets a zero. Averages 3.