UNDIVIDED
Closing the faith-life gap
By Graham Hooper
IVP. 220 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 844 746 248
This book is all about gaps.
It is a very helpful book, as the author seeks to explore the disconnect between the profession of our faith and the stark reality of living in today’s world. The author cleverly draws the reader’s attention to the gap between how we want to live and how we actually live when faced with life’s pressures. These are questions that all Christians ask, and the author shares his own experience of the impact that this self examination had on his own life and faith.
The author explores how we close these gaps and how, by exposing ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and by allowing the Bible to teach us how to live, in particular how we respond to the tough times in our lives. He goes on to point out the final goal of an eternity where we will have a perfect relationship with God and where all the gaps between our knowledge about God and our faith in him will be closed when we experience ‘wholeness and consistency’ in heaven. By pointing us forward the author encourages us to keep pressing on.
The book is extremely readable, with an excellent engaging style. The overall aim is to be encouraging, but it is exhortative too. It would be particularly useful for students or those newer to the Christian faith, but valuable too for anyone who recognises the gaps in their Christian experience.
