Relentless Pursuit by Ken Gire

I had not heard of Ken Gire until I was given the opportunity to read Relentless Pursuit: God's Love of Outsiders, Including the Outsider in All of Us.

The back cover teases:

The Marginalized and the Ostracized; the Sinner and the Loner; You, Me... and Jesus.  We're all outsiders sometimes. Each of us has felt lonely in a crowd, or been passed over for a job opportunity, or been squeezed out by "friends." We've all spent time on the outside looking in. But take heart--Jesus will leave the ninety-nine just for you.

Now that I am numbered with the ninety-nine I sometimes forget the patience and passion Jesus spent to draw me and capture me.  As Gire shows us through tales directly from God's Word, Jesus, The Hound of Heaven (as portrayed by poet Francis Thompson) does not ever stop His chase.  Whenever there is the tiniest fragment of our heart that wanders the pursuit begins again.

I felt afresh the love of God as I turned each page.  I needed this book.  We all need this book.

Included after each chapter are questions to ponder that I believe would make for a great group study as well as personal reflection.

As I mentioned above, this was the first of Ken Gire's books I have read.  I will surely not be the last.

I was blessed to receive a free copy of this book from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.