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Christian Nonfiction. Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. The Insanity of God is the personal and lifelong journey of an ordinary couple from rural Kentucky who thought they were going on just your ordinary missionary pilgrimage, but discovered it would be anything but. After spending over six hard years doing relief work in Somalia, and experiencing life where it looked like God had turned away completely and He was clueless about the tragedies of life, the couple had a crisis of faith and left Africa asking God, "Does the gospel work anywhere when it is really a hard place? It sure didn't work in Somalia.Nik recalls that, "God had always been so real to me, to Ruth, and to our boys. But was He enough, for the utter weariness of soul I experienced at that time, in that place, under those circumstances?" It is a question that many have asked and one that, if answered, can lead us to a whole new world of faith. How does faith survive, let alone flourish in a place like the Middle East? How can Good truly overcome such evil? How do you maintain hope when all is darkness around you? How can we say "greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world" when it may not be visibly true in that place at that time? How does anyone live an abundant, victorious Christian life in our world's toughest places? Can Christianity even work outside of Western, dressed-up, ordered nations? If so, how? The Insanity of God tells a story-a remarkable and unique story to be sure, yet at heart a very human story-of the Ripkens' own spiritual and emotional odyssey. The gripping, narrative account of a personal pilgrimage into some of the toughest places on earth, combined with sobering and insightful stories of the remarkable people of faith Nik and Ruth encountered on their journeys, will serve as a powerful course of revelation, growth, and challenge for anyone who wants to know whether God truly is enough.… (more)
User reviews
"In that moment, I began to realize how much I take for granted. I suddenly saw all the things that I have allowed to
God IS present and at work in our world today.
Read this book -- prepare to be challenged to love God & be grateful for what He is doing in your life, and share His love.
Nik and his wife decide to travel around the world and speak to various persecuted Christians. They want to find out how to stand in persecution and how to help them. In the end the persecuted Christians help them. It is the Ripken's story, but also the stories of dozens of persecuted Christians from Russia, China, South East Asia, India, and the Middle East.
You will be blessed by the stories in this book.
Highly recommended.
Once I got past my skepticism, I encountered a biographical work that was, at times, depressing, uplifting, convicting, and encouraging. With all of those emotions (sometimes in just one chapter), it's no wonder that I was emotionally drained on my journey through Nik Ripken's tale. But I'm glad he took me along.
The Insanity of God shines a needed light of the persecuted church. Ripken does something far better than bombard the reader with statistics and facts; he paints real-life pictures. His anecdotes draw the reader into the lives of modern day heroes of the faith. The nameless, faceless persecuted church is humanized in The Insanity of God, eliciting a powerful emotional connection in (this) reader.
May God strengthen the persecuted church! May God waken Western believers! May the Glory of God shine through Nik Ripken's tales.