New book on the mystery and paradox of God for spiritual development and freedom in Christ
A book for those tired of institutional Christianity who want to breath freedom in their relationship with God
This is the second of two books—the first is titled Finding Freedom and Grace in a Broken World: A Journey in the Purposes and Providence of God—intended to help longtime but tired believers and those at a distance or disenchanted with what they have seen in Christianity to know God better, to experience his grace from the inside, and to grow deep in their faith and loyalty to the God of the universe. The 248 themes here are intended to help readers continue to become what God wants them to be in a broken world trying to make them into something else.
These words are for people who want to move from Christian routines, rituals, and information about God to flourishing faith and trust, enveloping an ongoing, intimate relationship with him in their daily lives. For he continues to move in the history of the world he created, coming between humankind and the darkness that has settled in, offering his welcoming grace to the most unworthy, bringing freedom to the oppressed, hope to the weary, and reigniting the faith of tired Christians. It is the story of his intervening love for everyone who wants it.
Thomas M. Stallter is Professor of Intercultural Studies at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, where he has been teaching for twenty-eight years. Before that, he and his wife were missionaries in African countries for eighteen years. He is the author of The Gap Between God and Christianity: The Turbulence of Western Culture (Resource, 2022) and Finding Freedom and Grace: A Journey in the Purposes and Providence of God (Wipf & Stock, 2024).
Interview with Thomas M. Stallter
What is the purpose of writing this book now?
We are entering one of the darkest times in our history as a country. Never has the attack on life and morality been greater. Our society is trying to silence God. In the midst of this crisis, I am finding that many Christians are confused about what to believe, what God says, and how to live for him. They are not confident in their faith. We must each play our part in strengthening each other in our understanding of God’s ways and trust in his providence amid the crumbling values of our society. We truly live in a broken world, and it becomes more evident every day. Our faith must be stronger, our gratitude for his grace deeper, and our living for his purposes more far-ranging.
How does your book speak to this situation?
There is confusion about what God is saying to us in the Bible about how we are to handle our anxiety, fear, guilt, uncertainty, and confusion. This book seeks to help Christians grow in their knowing God and his ways, trusting his grace, purposes, and providence on their journey in our present situation. Though there is mystery in God for which we must trust him, there is also a freedom in Christ that eludes us, a peace that often feels just out of reach. But these blessings are ours, already given but yet to be owned, because we are distracted by our self-concerns. There is a rest we must enter by trusting the God of grace.
How do you want this book to change Christians and Christianity?
In this book, I want to help Christians understand more about God’s lavish grace, his unbending purposes, his good providence, and his unrelenting love for believers. I want us to grow in our trust in God and experience more freedom in Christ. I want the church to escape legalism and liberalism as we include both Grace and truth in our relationships and doctrines. I want to encourage worn-out Christians as well as those who are discouraged with institutional Christianity as they have known it. It is intended to help Christians reach a healthy maturity in Christ, to deal with anxiety, have a perspective that gives faith and hope in suffering, and experience confidence and peace in their relationship with God.
What is your approach to this in the book?
As the title says, I am attempting to help people experience God’s intervening love as they understand more about the mystery of his providence and the paradox of his grace in this broken world. The book gives us a good deal of information on all of this in 247 short, readable segments. It is easy to read one before you start the day. It can be read from beginning to end over a year or topically. There are, on average, twenty-five biblical references with each topic, so you can go to the Bible to see more and go deeper. I see it as a starting place for us in our journey in the grace and providence of God.
How would you suggest people approach the Bible?
I think, first of all, we have to let God speak for himself. If we let the pressure of our cultural values or the urgency of personal preferences become our hermeneutic, our measuring stick, we are asking the Bible to tell us what we want to hear. We limit what God can say to us. We need to be relevant in the expression of our faith in our situation, but we must draw a line between cultural relevance and relativity, between relevance and cultural syncretism. I think it is obvious what happens when we limit God to our personal preferences.
Do you have a summary comment or two about why we should read An Intervening Love?
It is time to let biblical values shape our inmost parts and go deep into our relationship with the Creator, the God of grace, the lover of our souls. It is time to think about ourselves in this relationship— our values, beliefs, and assumptions, and how they may interfere with this bonding already begun by God but held back by our weak faith and our clouded understanding. We were meant for more, but we have yet to fully understand the deep flood of his grace, the granite peaks of his decrees, and his far-reaching providence preparing us in our situation for his purposes. We must know more about dealing with fear, injustice, and anxiety, more about how he answers prayer, and reverse expectations of his providence. We lose so much if we wait. We must move ahead without delay and regain the full benefit of our birthright in Christ, damaged by the enemy.
“In An Intervening Love, Dr. Stallter offers a compelling exploration of God’s providence and grace, cutting through the complexities of Christian life. Stallter skillfully dismantles false notions of performance-based Christianity, inviting readers to embrace a genuine relationship with God. This book is a labor of love and a peek inside Dr. Stallter’s own spiritual life founded on a deep understanding of who God is.” — Drew Flamm, President, Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary
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Contact:
Thomas M. Stallter
Grace Theological Seminary
5742654734
stallttm@grace.edu
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Religion News Association
