I received a complimentary copy of the Cross Shaped Gospel by Bryan Loritts from Moody Press in return for a review of this book. This review is my honest opinion.
I remember years ago listening Crawford Loritts speak and I can still remember the wonderful things he had to say about his children. Mr. Loritts should be proud of his son Bryan. When I opened this book I had high expectations and I was not let down. Bryan Loritts has put the true meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ into this book. He shows how the gospel has a vertical and horizontal aspect. The vertical aspect is our relationship with Jesus which pushes us into the horizontal realm. The horizontal realm is how we relate to our fellow man. It is our love for Jesus that stirs our hearts for our fellow man.
Bryan Loritts shows that it is our love for Jesus that motivates us to love and care for others. My personal feeling is that our modern day churches put far more into foreign missions than they do on the much needed mission field that we have right here in America. Jesus commanded his disciples to take His gospel to Jerusalem first, which was where they resided. That is exactly what the disciples did and they met needs alone the way. In this book Bryan Loritts shows how Jesus showed the masses who He was by the truths that He spoke and in the many miracles that He performed.
Bryan told the story of his best friend who was among the less fortunate. Bryan was middle class and his friend was more like urban city. Bryan's father Crawford did many things to help this young man to be all that God called him to be. It is so easy to present the gospel of Jesus and go back to our comfortable lifestyle. Bryan used many scenarios on how people come from different backgrounds and walks of life and have a hard time relating to one another. In his book the Cross-shaped gospel, Bryan Loritts shows how our faith in God helps us to love and relate to our neighbors and each other.
In this book he shows many things that causes problems and conflicts in today's churches. Some of them stems from lack of understanding different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. I think many Christians and churches present the gospel and minister according to their own personal political background and stance. Jesus was not into politics but people. Mr. Loritts shows that everything that we do should be about glorifying Jesus. When we identify with Jesus we can identify with each other because then we are motivated by His love.
I think this is a much needed book and should be added to every church library and every Christian home. We all are from different backgrounds and walks of life but we all should live to glorify Jesus. May we all live out The Cross-Shaped Gospel. This is a book that I will reference again.
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