Living to Please God

Author Lee Gatiss
Publisher IVP £10.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781789745399

Subtitled ‘Life for a higher purpose and pleasure’, Lee Gatiss has written a book which is very thought provoking. How can our lives ‘put a smile on the face of God?’ By tackling the themes of God’s happiness, why please God, who pleases God, how we can rejoice in repentance, what delightful worship is, what is right or wrong about a life of pleasure and what might be the most treasured of gifts in the spiritual life, we have a series of thoughtful provoking chapters which could provide the basis for a Lent discussion group. Each chapter contains some stimulating questions which can help develop dialogue and reflection. There are many phrases in the text that stop you and make you think. Take this one – ‘True happiness is holiness.’ Many of us would not necessarily formulate a sentence like that, but Gatiss is right in drawing our attention to what life should be. The author is the leader of the Church Society and as an evangelical, he does draw upon Puritan thinking from authorities such as Thomas Manton. The book could benefit from some more up to date examples and quotations, as well as the wisdom of the ages that he gives us; but this is a thoughtful brief introduction to God’s holiness and how that should influence the way we live.

Reviewed by CAVAN WOOD

Lent