For Theirs is the Kingdom, Christopher Carlisle (Eugene, Oregon, Resource Publications, 2021).
Stories can be effective lens through which to view our lives, especially when we refuse to look at ourselves directly. For example, the prophet Nathan used a story of two men, one who was rich and the other who was poor, to help King David realize the extent of his sin in his rape of Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. In like manner, Christopher Carlisle uses the lens of a story of an affluent lawyer and the Cathedral in Montreal to help modern day Christians see ourselves in a truer, more revealing light.
For Theirs is the Kingdom, is a well written book of fiction. The characters have a complexity to them. The scenes are not stereotypical and the settings are vividly described. The story flows well and the reader is drawn into it. While, it is perhaps not a page turner like a Baldacci novel, it is still a difficult book to put down.
The real strength of the book is the issues that it raises for the reader to reflect and ponder. Some of those issues include ministry priorities within the church, funding, clergy professionalism, and the use of both personal and corporate power. The questions are open ended and no pat answers are provided. Instead the reader is invited to be still and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
This would be a great book not only for individual consumption, but also for group discussion. After reading it, we followers of Jesus may not be able to ever see ourselves in the same light again.
I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.