Cook, Jerry - Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness

[Hans Deventer]

Strange. It appears that Hannie and I have had this book for many years, and yet I have never read it until last week! It was written in 1979, but I think it is timeless. It is about what a church should look like. His two main points are the title as the heart of what the church should extent to everyone, and the image of the church as being there for the world. Cook argues that if these two principles are worked out, it changes everything, including the role of the pastor and staff and even more of the laity.

He started out with a church of 23 members, and managed to change its course. Perhaps more of the book should have been devoted to how one gets that change going, for it seems to me that many pastors would agree with the principles of this book but haven't got a clue how to initiate change.

Still, a small but very worthwhile book.

[Brad Mercer]

That book is one of our core resources at NewStart that we regularly rotate through with our small groups.

I think it tends to distract when a book like that spends too much time on the mechanics of structural or programmatic change. I personally need to avoid seeing fundamental change as a top-down structural or programmatic issue, and see it as my own personal heart issue. As I learn to genuinely recognize when I'm honestly not either giving or genuinely allowing myself to receive love, acceptance and forgiveness, and work through why that is, and begin to genuinely, deeply, honestly, consistently give and receive love, acceptance and forgiveness, it changes my own relationships with other people, and ultimately the church is changed as well.

Many pastors indeed would agree with the principles, but the change that needs to be initiated is within themselves -- within myself. And it's an ongoing process, rather than a one-time crisis experience that I can get past and get on with the job of being the perfect one perfecting others. That, I think, is the ongoing temptation to those of us who've been in the church a while.

Brad

[Wilson L. Deaton]

I read the book years ago and loved and have gone back over it several times.

It is one of very, very, few books of that genre and time period that I haven't gotten rid of for being dated...

I would heartily endorse your review.

Wilson

[Roland Hearn]

Hans,
This was a formulative book for my present understanding of grace and the church. I have read it no less than 20 times.
One day when pastoring in Maryborough, my second pastorate, a group of pastors from a variety of denominations were meeting together talking about our dreams. We discovered that at least three of us, myself, the Assemblies of God pastor and the Church of Christ pastor were all fans of the book. The Assemblies of God pastor knew a pastor in another city that knew Jerry Cook personally. We decided to call him and ask him if he could put us in contact with Jerry. We called and right at the moment we called Jerry was with the pastor to whom we were making the call. He agreed right then to come to Maryborough and preach in a series of combined services. It was an incredible thrill to have Jerry Cook filling the pulpit of the church I pastored one Sunday morning. I spent about three hours with him one on one and found him incredibly gracious and profoundly aware of the issue of grace. I have never heard anyone preach as effectively in a multiple denominational context as Jerry Cook.
He has written another book called: "A few things I have learned since I knew it all." A real challenge to let God be God.

[William Hunter]

I read this book for the first time, several yrs. ago. I have taken it out and re-read it occasionally over the yrs. I think it is a timeless book with its content for it sees past the fads that surround us to some of the universal needs of man. It may be time to re-read it again.