Commendations In front of me is a volume of sermons. Sermons which were given from life and for life. Whoever knows Marcel Rebiai knows that he is a man who’s not just interested in words for words’ sake, but it is important for him to speak a “word.” A word of the living God. So in his sermons we sense the listening. Listening to the God who speaks. The sermon style is retained in the book. However – here no one is preaching to me, but it is as if Marcel were sitting on a bench with me and we were studying the Bible text together. Questions are asked, the meanings of words are pored over and parallel texts are considered. Aspects of personal spiritual counseling often arise. Questions which concern my spiritual life, questions which animate me. The book of sermons becomes a conversation between friends and God. Marcel Rebiai brings no dry commentary, but enters into the Scriptures with his own life. This is a typically Hebrew or Jewish way to reflect on the Bible. Not that I “reflect” on the word from the outside, but the word illuminates my life from all sides. The author poses questions asked by everyone who seriously wants to be a Christian. Doubt, fear, guilt and sin are not excluded. And he speaks openly about the things that rankle. But always in a way that does not jar, causing me to close up, but a way which helps me become open for Jesus’ healing and helping word. Friedhelm Geiss, Berlin Marcel Rebiai’s new book In God’s Image is a devotional “must-read” for all who are serious about their spiritual lives. It is filled with scriptural insights, yet always sensitive to the “Everyman” (and Everywoman) seeker in our midst, for whom Christ is not yet a clear reality. As one progresses through the book, however, more and more the implications of following the “real Jesus” become clearer and stronger, more practical and more demanding/ inviting, with every page. Reminiscent of the practical spirituality of Corrie ten Boom and Watchman Nee of a previous generation, this book both amazes and delights, brings consternation and joy, and breathes into the reader himself/herself something of the atmosphere in which it was written. I
SOVW In Gods image (D).indd 1
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