Recapture the Wonder: Experiencing God's Amazing Promise of Childlike Joy (Hardcover)

by Ravi Zacharias (Author) "It HAPPENED AGAIN THE OTHER DAY as we were in one of the teeming cities of our land..." (more)
Key Phrases: red knot, God's Word, God Himself, Old Testament (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
DEEP WITHIN ALL OF US IS A LONGING TO RECAPTURE A SENSE OF WONDER, to marvel at the mystery of God and His creation like we did as children. But through the years our capacity for wonder has been stifled by busyness and ambitions, and we have resigned ourselves to explaining away all that once made us grasp in awe. After all, how can we let our hearts believe what our minds tell us is nothing more than childish fantasy?

In Recapture the Wonder, author Ravi Zacharias reveals that our heart’s ultimate fulfillment – a life of purpose and meaning – is found in rediscovering and developing our God-given sense of wonder. With profound and often poetic insights, Zacharias shows that we can not only recapture the innocent sense of wonder we once had, but we can experience wonder in its fullest capacity by yielding to God in awe-inspired worship. No matter how weary or cynical we have become, we can allow our minds to embrace the deepest desires of our hearts and experience life as God intended it to be.

From the Inside Flap
What Is Wonder?

As children, it is the fascination with a rotating musical merry-go-round or the marvel at a jet plane surging into the skies. As adults, it is the touch of a hand that makes us wish that time would stand still or a breathtaking view of nature that grips the soul. What makes these things affect us as they do?

Our sense of wonder is a blessing from God, says author Ravi Zacharias, given so that we would be continually amazed at His beauty and creation. But for many of us, our wonder has diminished through the years, and we doubt that we’ll ever be able to experience the overwhelming sense of awe we once had as children. Our minds tell us that enhancement is childish, while our hearts yearn to rediscover this very childlike sense of wonder. So the question is, can life be in tune with reality and also be enchanting without being escapist?

In Recapture the Wonder, Ravi Zacharias helps you find the extraordinary in the ordinary. By learning to interpret life through the eyes of eternity, you can experience life as it was meant to be and find your heart’s ultimate fulfillment.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591450187
• ISBN-13: 978-1591450184
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #670,757 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Chicken Soup for Socrates' Soul", November 11, 2003

By	Kendal B. Hunter (Provo, UT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Very affirming and positive look at what's missing!

"The components of gratitude and truth, love and hope bring the realization of wonder. The disciplines of study, of reading and reflecting, of dialoguing in dept and praying with belief sustain the wonder. In short, wonder is captured in one word-worship." (164)

Dr. Zacharias is well known for his sophisticated and often hardball apologetics. It believe him to be one of the quickest minds alive today. He is able to balance quick and precise reasoning and express it in a very calm, friendly, and often-times humorous way that gets the point home. He would be a great asset to anyone, but I am glad that he found his niche in Christian Apologetics.

In this book, Dr. Z nurtures his more affirming side. This book does not have all the clever logic-chopping that his other books has. It feels more like a "Chicken Soup for Socrates' Soul."

He makes very good points about the need for wonder. Most people you see nowadays are stumbling and slouching their way in a fog. It is always a rare person that has that spark of light in their eyes. These people are a charm to be around.

The book discusses several virtues we need to have to energize wonder: gratitude, truth, love and hope. These arc coupled with study, thought, prayer (which is a form of thinking). Ultimately, wonder equates with worship.

This book is a great way to introduce someone to Dr. Z thinking and speaking style. I cannot say enough good things about this man.

However, I think Dr. Z makes only one mistake in the book. He talks about one of the destroyers of wonder being "anything that takes away the legitimate mystery of life and living." (p. 46) He then speaks about there being bounds to human knowledge. True, he is talking about mortals "pretend[ing] to be God and play[ing] God," (p. 47) but the illustration of knowing all of the "hind the scenes" of a play chaffs me.

I have always believed that the glory of God is intelligence. Understanding and knowledge have always helped love God and other people better. And as to plays, I am one of those that loves the Disc 2 of the DVDs, with the "behind the scenes" snippets. These, coupled with the audio commentary, make the movie more enjoyable. And knowledge makes life more enjoyable. Ignorance is not bliss, and it is not wonderful. It is impossible for man to worship God in ignorance, to be saved in ignorance, and it is also impossible to be happy in ignorance.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meeting our ultimate Need, May 18, 2004

By	Stephen M. Anderson (Bridgeport, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ravi Zacharias at his best! I have been listening to and reading Ravi's messages for close to three decades. Recapture the Wonder is a culmination of Zacharias' central themes, his heart, and the thrust of his life-long ministry of preaching. This book will edify the believer and point the unbeliever toward God. Moving the reader back into the marvel of God is an demanding task. Usually Ravi is hard-hitting on a philosophical and intellectual level--similar to his preaching style. Here, however, in Recapture the Wonder he presents his life's work in a readable, straight forward fashion making the material more accessible to the general Christian reader and their non-Christian friends. This book offers guidance back into the ultimate resource to meet the human need--to worship God and enjoy Him forever.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonder: Never lost. Seldom found., July 30, 2005

By	Freedom Slave (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recapture the Wonder (Paperback)

The Lord has truly blessed Mr. Zacharias with wisdom, intellect, and clarity that most can only dream of. Thank God for Ravi's ability to write, and share his gift with us!

In "Recapture the Wonder", Ravi paints a beautiful picture of this Wonder that is within the reach of each one of us. The way to experiencing it has never been hidden from us. We just overlook it in our busy day to day lives. Mr. Zacharias has presented nothing new in this book, but he has provided much needed clarity, which will aid many in revealing the awesome capacity for wonder that God has placed inside of all of us. The key, of course is not in us, or anything else in this world. The key to true wonder is found in God's word. And the true experience only comes by living in God's perfect will.

For so many of us, it is unattractive to think of submitting to anyone's will but our own. We too often continue in our selfish pursuits, only to go to bed each night exausted and still starving for more. But, our desires can only be fulfilled through the One who put those desires there in the first place. Through Christ alone, we can be restored to an intimate relationship with God as it was intended to be from the beginning. In Christ, we can truly experience the joy and wonder of life that God wants for each of us. Mr. Zacharias' book brilliantly points us back to this truth.

If you feel that something is missing in your life, read this book! It won't fill the hole, but it will point you exactly where you need to go.