Author: Heath Lambert
Subtitle:
Encountering God's Heart for a Hostile World
In this grave hour, we long to experience the embrace of infinite love from our Father in heaven. The importance of this great need is owing to an avalanche of problems that are now confronting us. We are hateful, lonely, hurting, scared, and confused. The cruelty in our culture has reached a state of emergency. Our generation has experienced the painful revelations of widespread abuse in leadership. At every turn we have come up short. No matter what we do the trouble persists and the fear remains. More connected than ever, but more divided, we cannot help but see a longing in ourselves and our neighbors for relationship, shared truth, and clarity of purpose.
In the face of animosity, failure, isolation, and betrayal is a love that speaks to our greatest longings and heaviest needs, but have we taken God's love for granted?
Now more than ever, and more than anything, people need to find their way into the compassionate embrace of their Father in heaven. The Great Love of God provides an accessible, passionate exploration of how the divine love casts out fear, provides ultimate hope, and never fails.
About the author:
Heath Lambert is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fl. He also serves as Associate Professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Formerly, he served as Executive Director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.
He is the author of several books including Transforming Homosexuality; The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams; Finally Free; and A Theology of Biblical Counseling. He is also the co-editor of Counseling the Hard Cases: True Stories Illustrating the Sufficiency of God’s Resources in Scripture and has contributed many other chapters and essays to various publications.
From Gordon College he earned the Bachelor of Arts (2002). From The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he earned the Master of Divinity (2005) and the Doctor of Philosophy (2009).
Endorsements:
'As Christians we know that God loves us. But when we, as Christians, endure times of sorrow and loss, times of poverty and want, times of illness and weakness, it is then that we need to know that God loves us. And as Heath Lambert so capably shows in this book, God really and truly does. Lambert searches the Bible to show that God's love for us is fixed and unwavering, steady and unchanging, grounded in eternity past and guaranteed to endure through the endless ages to come. To know of that love and to be reassured in it, I suggest you read this book and feast on its many treasures.' ~ Tim Challies, author of Seasons of Sorrow
'Deeply personal, refreshingly transparent, intensely engaging, and biblically faithful, The Great Love of God gives Heath's raw personal testimony attesting to the steadfast, satisfying, and practical love of God toward his children. Heath's musings will strengthen weary hearts and calm troubled souls with the everlasting truth of God's great love.' ~ T. Dale Johnson Jr., executive director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, director of counseling programs and associate professor of biblical counseling at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
'Everything Heath Lambert writes is worth reading, but nothing more so than The Great Love of God. In this rich, accessible book Lambert approaches this most welcome topic in a way that is faithful to Scripture, full of pastoral insight, and, most movingly, illustrated by his first-person account of God's sustaining love during his own seasons of crisis and challenge. Every Christian will benefit from reading The Great Love of God.' ~ Jason K. Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College
'Heath Lambert knows what it's like to experience God's love in the midst of great adversity. In this book, he pulls back the veil so we can see, in fresh and encouraging ways, God's boundless love and delight in his children.' ~ Randy Alcorn, author of Heaven, If God Is Good, and Deception
'I have known and respected Heath Lambert for many years. I have known him in his roles as preacher, teacher, theologian, and counselor. I have known him both before and after his struggles with major brain surgery and a difficult recovery. I know that before his recent struggles, Heath solidly believed in the love of God. But now, with passion driven by Scripture and channeled through the intense experience of his momentous struggle, Heath Lambert can tell us about the love of God in a whole new dimension. His theological and biblical reflections about God's love are a great gift to the church. He is generous in sharing about his experience and generous in sharing biblical truth.' ~ R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
'James wrote, 'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial.' Heath Lambert embodies that challenge and writes from first-hand experience. Having endured four brain surgeries and countless painful betrayals from fellow believers, Heath has the credibility to write about God's love in the midst of suffering. He makes this bold claim, 'Great love defines God's essence and will transform your existence.' Readers will find Heath's personal testimony captivating and his biblical insight into God's love transforming.' ~ Bob Russell, retired senior minister, Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY
'This is a gloriously beautiful book, unlike anything I have ever read. As I write these words, I am a bit breathless and in awe. I am filled with gratitude and conviction by what I have seen of the love of God. Through the journey and words of Heath Lambert, I have luxuriated in the love of God like I never have before. Written out of the deepest and darkest days of physical and relational suffering, Heath takes you to the only place of true comfort in this sin-broken world, the eternally and gloriously beautiful love of God. I have never read such a thorough, tender, and compelling exposition of God's love in all my years of ministry. I am sad that decades ago I did not have the vision of this book in my heart. Get this book, spend time in it, not just once, but again and again, and watch what God will do in you and through you.' ~ Paul David Tripp, bestselling author and the president of Paul Tripp Ministries
'We all know that God so loved the world that he gave his Son to die. This book supplies the missing pieces, showing us how God's love extends practically to our lives today--even amid our trials and unanswered questions. It will increase your understanding, build your faith, and show you that God's love is greater than you or I ever dreamed. Read it, be blessed, and pass it along to others.' ~ Erwin W. Lutzer, pastor emeritus at Moody Church, Chicago
