Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Plays

This weekend I finished, "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology" by Eugene Peterson. Peterson also authored "The Message".

When I read the first chapter all I could say was 'wow'! I found myself saying these over and over again. I couldn't put it down. This is a theolgy book that reads like a novel - a good novel.

Peterson style of writing is captivating. He paints a masterpiece with his words. It's not a theology textbook that is just some academic knowledge of God - though Peterson teaches you a great deal about God often things insights you may have never known. It is not a book about 'do this and then this and everything will be okay'. This is a book about the life of Christ living in us in ten thousand places and our being tranformed to live the Christ life. It is about the Spirit bringing life to us and our experiencing the glory of God among the community of believers.

He breaks down his book into three main chapters: Christ plays in Creation; Christ plays in History; and Christ plays in Community. Each main chapter focuses on two main passages; one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament.

One thing that I have found myself mulling over and over again is peterson's insight into how that Wind, Breath, and Spirit are all the same word [pnuema] in both Aramaic that Jesus spoke and the Greek that the NT writers wrote in. Peterson asks us to imagine how our perceptions would change if we used 'wind' and 'breath' when we thought of the word 'spirituality' or the 'Holy Spirit'. For me it has caused me to think differently about the Spirit prevading my life, my family, our church, Boulder, places we send teams... the way the mighty rushing wind invading the upper room in Acts 2 or the way the breath of God invaded Adam and created life.