God Is Stranger
Finding God in Unexpected Places
by Krish Kandiah
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Pub Date Dec 05 2017 | Archive Date Jan 10 2018
Description
Who is God?
Many of us call God our Father, Lord, Savior, and Friend. But when we delve into the perplexing bits of Scripture, we discover a God who cannot be explained or predicted. Is it possible that we have missed the Bible’s consistent teaching that God is other, higher, stranger?
Krish Kandiah offers us a fresh look at some of the difficult, awkward, and even troubling Bible passages, helping us discover that when God shows up unannounced and unrecognized, that’s precisely when big things happen. God Is Stranger challenges us to replace our sanitized concept of God with a more awe-inspiring, magnificent and majestic, true-to-the-Bible God.
Allow yourself to be surprised by God as you find him in unexpected places doing the unexpected.
Advance Praise
"My friend Krish Kandiah's new book is not only needed 'for such a time as this,' it's one that will help reshape some of our thoughts and feelings toward others and allow us to see strangers more with the eyes of God. Many thanks to Krish for this encouraging book!"
- Mac Powell, singer and songwriter
"For many years, Christians have felt at home in the world. The result of that way of life was the presumption that we knew what we meant when we said 'God.' Drawing on often-ignored passages in the Bible, Kandiah helps us recover how odd the God we worship as Christians turns out to be. It seems God shows up even as a Jewish peasant. Such a God can scare the hell out of us, but I guess that's the point. So read this book as a challenge to our domesticated imaginations."
- Stanley Hauerwas
"Has God become as familiar and forgettable as a fridge magnet? That's the danger Krish Kandiah faces up to in this wonderfully readable and very challenging book. Bible stories come to life as Krish tells them afresh, richly illustrated with personal experience and social relevance, and in each case the living God turns up—strange, dangerous, and, like Aslan, not safe but good. Read it and be prepared, as he says, to 'replace a simplistic, domesticated, anemic, fridge magnet understanding of God with a more fierce, awe-inspiring, and majestic God that is true to the Bible and big enough for the whole of our lives.'"
- Christopher J. H. Wright, Langham Partnership
"You have no accidental people in your life. Whether family, friends, or total strangers, everyone in your story is there by the providence of God. Christians, then, should be the last people crippled by fear of unexpected people or places. This book will help equip you to love the strangers around you as Jesus does."
- Russell Moore, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
"In God Is Stranger, Krish Kandiah asks us to lean in to the passages of Scripture that challenge our perception of what it looks like when God shows up. As the global refugee crisis marches on, it is imperative for the church to embrace God's heart for the aliens, outcasts, and exiles. This is a profoundly important book for such a time as this."
- Brian Fikkert, coauthor of When Helping Hurts
"In this xenophobic age of open vilification toward outsiders, Krish Kandiah presents us with the provocative idea that God often comes to us as a stranger. This is such an important book, reminding us that xenophobia is not only irrational, it is sinful. God's concern is for the least, the lost, and the left out, and so should ours."
- Michael Frost, Morling College, Sydney
"If there's ever such a thing as a timely book, God Is Stranger is it. In a world and culture today where fear is the dominant currency, Krish Kandiah invites us back to the Scriptures to tell us about a God who invites his people to choose faith, hope, and love over fear. Because of who God is, the church is called to seek justice, love kindness, walk humbly, feed the poor, cloth the naked, speak up for the voiceless, welcome the refugee, embrace the orphans, fight for the rights of vulnerable, and welcome the stranger. This is an important discipleship book!"
- Eugene Cho, author of Overrated
"God Is Stranger will help readers better know a gospel that is truly good news. Krish Kandiah is someone with theological depth and experience living out his faith in the real world. Krish has been an encouragement to me as a friend and exemplar, and I believe he will inspire a generation of Christians to serve a God who loves each person—including the stranger."
- Michael Wear, author of Reclaiming Hope
"Krish Kandiah reminds us of a simple truth with as many consequences as there are stars in the night sky: God keeps showing up where we least expect him. To know that is to live."
- Mark Galli, editor in chief, Christianity Today
"In this profound and challenging book, Krish Kandiah calls us to think again about how we view strangers, reminding us of the many times that God appears in the Bible as a stranger in such a way that turns the world upside down. Be warned, this book could seriously affect your view of yourself, the world, and God—and I highly recommend it to you!"
- Paula R. Gooder, theologian in residence, Bible Society
"At a time when many throughout our world are increasingly fearful of refugees and others arriving as 'strangers' in their lands, this brilliant book reminds us that God himself often appears to us—as he did to many of the heroes of the Bible—in unexpected and strange ways. I highly recommend it."
- Matthew Soerens, US director of church mobilization, World Relief, coauthor of Welcoming the Stranger and Seeking Refuge
"The God of Scripture is not always as familiar as we think. In this lively and fresh book, Krish Kandiah helps us see the strangeness of God and how this transforms how we see the strangers God has put into our lives."
- Sam Allberry, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and the Gospel Coalition
"Drawing us into a faithful and original encounter with biblical passages we usually avoid, Kandiah challenges us to recognize opportunities to meet God in unlikely places and through people we often overlook. His concern for the strangers and refugees among us is combined with his convictions about the life-changing character of Christian hospitality and the richness of the biblical witness. I strongly recommend this engaging and important book!"
- Christine D. Pohl, professor of Christian ethics, Asbury Theological Seminary, author of Making Room
"God Is Stranger is one of those books that stays with you. Each chapter is filled with the knowledge of who our God is but also contains reminders that to know God is to learn the importance of embracing and loving who our God loves. I have found God Is Stranger a refreshing read of biblical reminders, but also a challenge to walk these reminders out in everyday life."
- Christy Wimber, author, speaker, pastor, church planter
"You know those parts of the Bible you haven't highlighted? It turns out that it's those parts that can point you to a truer depiction of God that is especially helpful in complex and troubled times like today. Krish is a trustworthy and gifted expositor of those Scriptures, a travel guide pointing out both comforting and disturbing truths in these less-traveled lands of our Bibles. Ultimately, Krish points us to the wild and furious love of God, and it's stranger—yet more wonderful—than you've ever imagined."
- Brian Mavis, president, America's Kids Belong
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780830845323 |
| PRICE | $24.99 (USD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Keely R, Librarian
In God is Stranger: Finding God in Unexpected Places, author Krish Kandiah thoughtfully wrestles with the meaning of biblical passages in which people meet God in unexpected ways and brings this meaning forward into current times. These encounters with God are usually challenging and sometimes troubling. This book prompts readers to question if they know God as they think they do and if they would recognise God if they encountered him. It challenges Christians to delve deeply and reconsider the way they interact with others, especially strangers, and with God. While this book poses difficult questions, it is also a rewarding read.
Conrade Y, Reviewer
Who is God like? Is He friendly that we could hang out a beer like a buddy? Is He like what some Christians like to call "Daddy" affectionately like a little kid hugging his father after a birthday party? Do we look at external signs of God before letting our guard down? Things like seeing God's character based on our encounters with different people on earth. Like if we mix around with people who say that God is always harsh and merciless, we might end up with a perspective of God being judgmental all or most of the time. If we see God drawn as one giving teddy bears to kids, we might say Jesus is a warm and loving man who cares for little children. Truth is, many of us prefer to see the softer and kinder side of God more than anything else. The big question before us would be: Who is God as described in the Bible? For author Krish Kandiah, God is often stranger than we might think. Familiarity breeds contempt especially when it clouds our sense of discernment, letting our presumptuous past define what we see or perceive. There is mystery. God appears to people when they least expected it and turned their world upside down. Quoting Dennis Covington, this book revolves around this statement: "Mystery is not the absence of meaning, but the presence of more meaning than we can comprehend."
Kandiah provides twelve chapters to illustrate the way God speaks to people through the ages. To Adam, we find it strange on why God the Creator drives away the very people He created. It appears like Adam was cursed when he was banished from the Garden of Eden. This turns out to be God's mercy in disguise. For Abraham, it was strange to have a first encounter with God that leads to a call to leave home. This leads to the tensions faced by Abraham: 1) doing things that seem almost impossible to do; 2) of judgment and mercy; 3) of doubt and understanding. The chapter on Jacob reveals how in the process of wrestling with God, God also heals. The story of Gideon's encounter with God keeps us asking about God's punctuality. We learn about the interplay of doubt and faith. Eventually, we are forced to deal with our own condition, whether the late arrival of God is actually a space for us to deal with our own selves. The story of Naomi is a picture of God's grace in the midst of misfortune. The story of David's relationship with God is a journey through the ups and downs of faith. It appears that God was a stranger especially when emotions go awry. Other biblical characters covered include Isaiah, Ezekiel, Mary, Jesus, and Cleopas. Interestingly, there is a chapter "You and the Stranger" to warn us about judgmentalism. The author also cautions us about swinging from one extreme to another. For instance, those of us burned by "brimstone and fire" condemnations may swing to the other extreme of total silence when it comes to sharing the gospel. Perhaps, in the midst of the passages containing judgment and hellfire, there is grace and celebration. As we read the Bible, we need to read the Word not mere literally but also in the light of God's eternal love. We may become too familiar with the passages that talk about judgment and forget that there is immense mercy waiting to spring up on us. We learn that Jesus' warnings are not meant to scare us into submission. It's to demonstrate the urgency for us to respond to His great love.
There is a strange paradox here. God is supposed to be a friend, and yet, He is also a stranger. For the most part, we meet strangers who are kind. Kandiah tells the story of a woman driving her car, wary about another car following her behind. Initially it seemed like the driver of that car was some sinister stalker waiting to do her harm. Yet, it turns out that the driver was protecting her after seeing a man hiding inside her car back seat. That is what Kandiah is trying to show us throughout the book. Like the story of Joseph who reflected on his years of bullying by his brothers, and his subsequent misadventures that what the brothers meant for evil, God had turned the whole episode around for good. We are called to be led by faith, not fear. In fear, we tend to misjudge people and blame God. In faith, we remain in an open posture that seeks God in all circumstances.
My takeaway is this. We are not to be too conceited or cocksure about what we need and how we see things. If our confidence makes us too arrogant about ourselves, we become closed in on our own points of view. Without the spiritual openness to mystery, we may not as teachable as we should be. Our restlessness is essentially a clue to our need for God. Due to our sense of dislocation, we seek for answers all the time. We realize that there is no other way we can substitute our relationship with God. It also tells us that God appears to us when we least expect it, and to hear things we least anticipated.
Krish Kandiah is the Founding Director of Home for Good, a charity that seeks to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children. He holds degrees in Chemistry, Missiology, and Theology. He is a popular speaker as well as holding teaching positions at Portland Seminary, Regent College (Vancouver), and Regents Park College (Oxford UK). He blogs at krishk.com.
Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of InterVarsity Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
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