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Selling Water By The River: A Book About The Life Jesus Promised And The Religion That Gets In The Way (2012)

by Shane Hipps(Favorite Author)

4.09 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1455522082 (ISBN13: 9781455522088)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Jericho Books

review 1: "Selling Water by the River" is a wonderful book. I suspected it would be from the title alone. Could there be a better metaphor for the relationship between spirituality and formal religion--the felt experience of Spirit and God as opposed to the formulaic system of beliefs that constitute religion--than this? Among the many current authors who try to pry the original message of Jesus free from the twisted tangle of dogma and misunderstanding that have sadly come to characterize much of mainstream Christianity in America, I consider this one of the best, if not the best. Using Bible quotes extensively throughout as springboards for his essays, author and pastor Shane Hipps leads us unerringly to a re-visioning of what Jesus preached, making it a living, breathing set of t... moreeachings and not simply a rote collection of words transcribed centuries ago by men from a foreign culture. I especially enjoyed the chapter, "Waves on the Ocean," which took an especially troublesome passage from John 12:25 and brought it into clarity by returning to the original wording in ancient Greek and showing how it was (and still is) poorly translated.As a writer and psychotherapist, metaphor, allegory and parable are all near and dear to me. (My own book, "From Plagues to Miracles: The Transformational Journey of Exodus" reinterprets the Moses-Pharaoh story as a parable or extended metaphor of the spiritual journey back to God.) Shane Hipps is a master of metaphor. In every chapter, he is able to beautifully illustrate his points with extended metaphors culled from everyday experience, including tales from his own life. And he manages this so smoothly, so seamlessly and unobtrusively, that it makes this author want to stand up and applaud. Like Jesus, he's not afraid to challenge doctrinal authority masquerading as sanctity. But he does not have an axe to grind; this is no polemic against religion. Hardly. It's an attempt to salvage what is best in Christianity, but too often ignored or obscured.Drink deep of this book; let its currents bear you oceanward. You won't regret the journey.
review 2: Excellent use of metaphor and word-pictures...ones that have stayed with me and I continue to use in counseling. This booked gave me language and pictures for ideas I was wrestling with, and I am very thankful for that. The first half of it was better for me than the last, but still very good. Great book on the bigness of Jesus beyond the institutions we try to limit Him to, and His availability to meet the deep thirst of everyone who is willing to open to Him. less

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