A Second Look: Encountering the True Jesus

A Second Look: Encountering the True Jesus was the book that I have been looking for. It is an easy to read book that allows the reader to contemplate the life of Jesus, as well as one’s own life and faith. I greatly appreciated the opportunities to reflect and pray as I read the book.

Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down! Though brief, under 200 pages - but it seems the author decided on brevity by referencing a lot of scripture and other written material rather then including copies of it, this is a truly compelling look at how the Lord is with us everyday through the stories of others in the bible and faith that have encountered Him and been changed forever by the way He touched their lives. Mark Hart brings scripture and Catholicism together with some humor and insightful wisdom that helps me in my faith journey to keep the Lord close to me at all times: to keep my encounter with Jesus an on going interaction... I am glad I got this book!

Wonderfully written. Inspires and teaches!

We're reading this in our weekly women's book study and everyone loves the style, the humor, and the messages that Mark Hart presents.

Mark Hart takes many well-known stories from the life of Jesus where he touches the life of someone profoundly, and allows the reader to encounter Jesus in that same way. Hart doesn’t just retell the story, but first wants us to read from the Bible and then experience that encounter through the eyes of the person seeing Jesus, for example, the Magi, Peter or Zacchaeus. He details how this encounter fundamentally changes that person, and how we too can be fundamentally changed by that encounter with Jesus. The Bible is not just a historical book or a book of nice stories, they are meant for us to get to know who God is, who Jesus is, and live the way they want us to live to gain eternal life. After detailing the scene, and gleaning the lessons, Hart asks us to reflect on several questions to help us to understand what we might have done if it was us encountering Jesus or what we should be doing to grow our relationship with Jesus.I’ve studied the Bible for years, and each time I read the same story I’ve studied before, I always seem to pull some new “golden nugget” of information God is trying to give me. Each time we read God’s Word, we are at a different point in our lives, and have a different perspective than what we had the previous time we read the same verses, which is why reading the Bible never becomes “old.” Hart allows us to have our own personal encounter with Jesus in each of the chapters. Each one offers us real life stories and applications which can call us to either move as that person did (like in the calling of Peter) or revealing to us our true purpose (through Hart’s own calling). Pondering these stories, just as Mary kept and pondered everything she experienced in her heart, will allow us to actually feel the love Jesus has for each of us and will increase our desire to come closer to him and have our own personal encounter with our Lord.I highly recommend this book for everyone who would like to dive deeper into Scripture and live the lessons which could have been easily overlooked. Hart does a wonderful job telling the story, explaining it in a profound way, and challenging the reader to apply what they learned to their own life.

Awesome book a must read.