Pastor Randy's Blog

The Chasm: A Journey to the Edge of Life by Randy Alcorn

Fact: We change little by little and are motivated to do so by preaching and being a part of the community of faith.  It cannot be replaced.  However, I believe that something that we do far too little of as Christians is read Christian books that help us grow and encourage us, whether they be fiction or non-fiction.  I’ve decided to do something to encourage you (and me too!) to read more Christian books.  It is a program from a Christian publishing company called “Blogging for Books.”  In this program, the publisher sends me a free copy of a book of my choice to keep if I will read it, and write my honest review of the book in my blog.

The Chasm by Randy Alcorn

Since we were coming up on a message series on Heaven, and because I was familiar with author Randy Alcorn, my first book to read from the publisher is The Chasm: A Journey to the Edge of Life.  I have read some of Alcorn’s books before, including Safely Home, Deception and Deadline, all of which I enjoyed very much.  He is a bit of an anomaly, in that he writes both Christian fiction and non-fiction books.

Here’s Randy Alcorn’s  Website:    http://www.epm.org/

This book is actually a unique work because it is adapted from a novel entitled The Edge of Eternity.  It is a short book, one that can be read fairly quickly (for most folks, a couple of hours should do it).  But it is not a throw-away book.  It is time well spent and, it will challenge you.

The book itself is a description of Nick Seagrave, a man who is searching for his ultimate home.  He faces challenges, obstacles, and maybe more than anything else, he faces himself while on this journey.  It is a good book, written in an allegorical style (think Pilgrim’s Progress).  IMHO, this little books has some big moments that can spur thoughts of extreme clarity on the human condition.  They are not to be missed, because they can be incredibly instructive.

One such moment happened personally to me as I read about when the “Woodcutter’s” resurrection took place.  While reading this part, a thought struck me: a thought which I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I had never entertained before.  I think that I should have considered it plenty of times before, but I had not.  The thought was this: Christ’s resurrection is so powerful because it forces us to come face-to-face with Him, after we were openly complicit in His death.  We must face Him, and decide what we, each one individually, will do with His utterly ridiculous forgiveness of us.  Instead of looking at His death as a tragic historic event that remains buried in the past and in a tomb, we have to decide: Now what?

This is what makes Christ different than all other religious figures.  He alone came back to say to us, “You did this to me.  Matter of fact, I still bear the scars.  But I’m back and asking you to love and accept Me.  To repent and say that you wish with all of your being that you had not done this to Me.  Will you do that and accept Me?”  So our decision to turn our face from an utterly innocent man that we personally have condemned to die is not merely buried with all of our other regrets we have left behind us.  It is not simply chief among many more past mistakes.  He rose from the tomb, and His presence brings us back to our choice, and most importantly, give us another one.  Will we reconfirm our crucifixion of Him, or embrace Him as Lord and Savior?  But we must decide; “What will I do with Him?”  He will not be left as a mere footnote of our past, buried in some forgotten tomb.  He comes to us, and demands that we face Him.  And that we decide.

This the beauty of an allegory like The Chasm.  This literary device, like few (if any) others helps us to see old truths in brand-new ways.  To apply them as we had not before.  Ultimately, that is one of the big goals (probably the biggest goal?) of any “Christian” fiction or non-fiction book. The Chasm succeeds in making us think in new ways.

I do not know if it is possible to compare a book such as The Chasm to long-form books.  The power of a long novel/book is generated by its ability to go in-depth on important issues.  We are changed by considering themes from various angles and for long stretches of time.  But if you are a person who enjoys short books, or would like to enjoy books in general more than you do, the short book is probably a great starting point.  It can develop you personally. It can also help you develop a reading mentality/habit.

The Chasm definitely falls into that category of stretching you and expanding your mind to think more deeply about important matters, even if it’s form does so for a briefer period of time.  But this is the beauty of The Chasm’s connection to it’s big-brother, Edge of Eternity (a long-form novel).  You can sample here, and go deeper there… Win-Win!!  So I recommend this book to you.  Especially if you are a person who would benefit from thinking more about concept of Heaven, mankind’s nature, the person of Christ, and the journey we all walk which (hopefully) brings these all these things together.

You can borrow this book from EHC’s Library.  If you do read it and have thoughts on it, or anything in this blog about growth, Christ, Heaven, or anything else that jumps out to you, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments…

Blessings,

RPfromEHC