Quite possibly one of Tullian's best books, and I know from knowing him that such a topic is both dear and meaningful to him, so it suits him to write on such. Again, while holding alternate theological views, I still consider this a pretty solid work, so recommended. ( )

Grace in the life of Jonah. ( )

Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels (Tullian Tchividjian; Crossway 2010). Pastor Tullian moves artfully through the book of Jonah, pointing out gospel landmarks and Jesus-sightings along the way. Surprised by Grace is moving and powerful as it reminds us that it's grace all the way down - God's unthinkable grace to Jonah; His scandalous grace to the Ninevehites; God's amazing grace to you and me; His immeasurable grace both to reckless rule-breakers and legalistic rule-makers. Wherever we are, we are people in need of God's grace! A heart-stirring reminder that we are all in need of the gospel. ( )

I recently finished reading Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividjian, and I have a host of feelings about the book that I would like to share. In short, it is the best devotional/commentary on Jonah that I have ever read.

I have preached three times through the book of Jonah in 2007. First, to a Middle School Camp; Second, to a High School camp; and third, to my church. It is a book I have researched relentlessly, reading every commentary I could get my hands on. After reading more than 40 different commentaries on Jonah, I approached Surprised By Grace with an attitude of “surprise me if you can.” All I can say after reading it is that I wish I had the book back in 2007 in my preparations for the series.

What the book does well:

1) For starters, Tchividjian’s book does a great job incorporating the message of the Gospel. Every chapter, which deals with a text from Jonah, has great connections to the message of the Gospel. Pastors who struggle with how to correctly preach Jesus from an Old Testament text will find much gold here. Christians who desire to see ways to find Jesus in the Old Testament can learn a lot from Tchividjian’s insights. Tchividjian’s approach is similar to preachers like Tim Keller and Bryan Chapell, and there is not much mentioned in any commentary I have read elsewhere on how the passages of Jonah relate to Jesus Christ.

2) Second, Tchividjian is an expert researcher. Knowing the details of Jonah, I kept thinking that Tchividjian might leave out some of the amazing information that I had researched years ago. I was proved wrong again and again, and I even learned many new things that I had not previously discovered. For example, Tchividjian’s last chapter explores the mysterious ending of Jonah and explores questions about the demise of Assyria and the authorship of the book. Tchividjian’s explanation as to why he believes Jonah wrote the book was incredible. Few commentaries have addressed the authorship question with the clarity that Tchividjian has done here.

3) Third, the book was incredibly approachable and concise. Tchividjian has written a book than anyone can read and benefit deeply from. To learn so much about Jonah, in so few pages was an amazing feat. I would recommend the book to anyone who desires to learn more about God’s word.

What the book could have done better:

1) One thing the book could have done better is that Tchividjian did not reveal anything personal about his life in the book. Other than a brief mention in the introduction of how God had used the book of Jonah in his life when he was going through a difficult time with this church, there were absolutely no personal illustrations throughout the book. This made Surprised by Grace appear a little wooden and hollow. Since this was my first introduction to Tullian Tchividjian, I would have loved to learn a little bit about his personality throughout the book. Not that I buy fully into the “God conveys truth through personality” maxim, but a little illustration here and there that involves Tchividjian’s life wouldn’t hurt.

2) Tchividjian involved the use of art, literature, and poetry too much in the book. While I know that many will disagree with me on this, I felt the book relied too much on the arts. And I did not realize until the third chapter that the paintings mentioned in the book were contained in a special full-color section of the book. I’ll admit that some of the paintings and sculptures were interesting, but overall I found these interactions more of a distraction than a help. I am certain that Tullian has a high view of the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Bible, but to me, these sections sometimes blurred the edges of drawing an equal level of insight from the arts as from the text.

In conclusion, the book is an absolute must buy book. If you have any interest in the book of Jonah or in the Gospel, order the book today and take the journey through Jonah. You will not be disappointed! ( )