Love Has Come

by Kevin Orr

published by Pleasant Word, a division of WinePress Group

I like this book. I like it, but I think the title may be misleading. The info (I suppose you could call it the subtitle, but it's kinda long for a subtitle) under the title says, "A twenty-eight day journey through the Gospel of Matthew." And that it is.

You are encouraged to read this in twenty-eight days to match the twenty-eight chapters of Matthew. I cheated and read it in a couple days. But I'm sure I'll read it again. Mr. Orr, the author, deals with one or two verses from each chapter of Matthew's Gospel. They're not all the verses you'd think he'd cover. And that's one of the beauties of this book. We all need to learn more about God's Word, and this short book is a fantastic way to do that. Each chapter is short (usually 2 or 3 pages), and there is room for personal reflections at the end of each chapter. This also makes it an excellent book for a group Bible study. Mr. Orr tells stories of his own life experiences, which makes it connect with the reader. He has endured some interesting experiences, some good, some not so good. And that is really what the Christian life is all about. One of my favorite's is chapter 5, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt 5:43-44, NIV). Mr. Orr is a church musician, and many of his stories (including this one) deal with situations involving the churches he has ministered in. This is what makes it so relevant. Mr. Orr is not perfect (which he would readily admit), and the people he's worked with are not perfect, either. Yet we can all learn from our mistakes, and we should. This is a book that readily connects with readers to facilitate that.

Love Has Come is an excellent read. I look forward to more titles from this author!