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Across All Worlds: Jesus Inside Our Darkness
Jesus Christ is not a theoretical idea or a mere concept far removed from our human experience. In Across All Worlds, Baxter Kruger brings us face to face with the fact that Jesus has established a very real and personal relationship with us in our darkness. Jesus accepts us and walks with us because he is determined that we come to know His Father with him and life in His embrace.
C. Baxter Kruger is the Director of Perichoresis, an international ministry sharing the good news of our adoption in Christ with the world. He and his wife Beth have been married for 25 years and have four children. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree under Professor James B. Torrance in Aberdeen, Scotland. Baxter is the author of seven books, including The Great Dance and Jesus and the Undoing of Adam, and teaches across the United States, Canada and Australia. He is an avid outdoorsman and holds two United States patents for his fishing lure designs. He is the founder and President of Mediator Lures.
C. Baxter Kruger is the Director of Perichoresis, an international ministry sharing the good news of our adoption in Christ with the world. He and his wife Beth have been married for 25 years and have four children. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree under Professor James B. Torrance in Aberdeen, Scotland. Baxter is the author of seven books, including The Great Dance and Jesus and the Undoing of Adam, and teaches across the United States, Canada and Australia. He is an avid outdoorsman and holds two United States patents for his fishing lure designs. He is the founder and President of Mediator Lures.
98 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 2, 2015
Phenomenal. Baxter does an incredible job of describing the human condition and why Jesus had to become human and experience everything we experience. He paints a beautiful picture of the Trinity, the life that they share, their heart for humanity and their passion for finding us in our darkness.
The author does tend to get a bit dramatic and he does repeat himself within the book, but it's not enough of an issue to detract from the points of his message.
This is a terrific book for anyone who is interested in the atonement or the incarnation of Christ, and really for any Christian. Specifically, I would highly recommend this book to anyone experiencing inner pain (e.g. anxiety, depression, severe loneliness, hopelessness, etc.) that can't seem to get over it and anyone who's noticed an addiction or consistent relationship issues in their life.
The author does tend to get a bit dramatic and he does repeat himself within the book, but it's not enough of an issue to detract from the points of his message.
This is a terrific book for anyone who is interested in the atonement or the incarnation of Christ, and really for any Christian. Specifically, I would highly recommend this book to anyone experiencing inner pain (e.g. anxiety, depression, severe loneliness, hopelessness, etc.) that can't seem to get over it and anyone who's noticed an addiction or consistent relationship issues in their life.
December 11, 2012
"You are beloved, now rise up and live". Anything more from my lips would just dilute the beauty of this reality.
November 24, 2021
Heretical at parts, borderline heretical at other parts.
May 6, 2022
A really fascinating, a potentially life-shifting, look at the human condition in relation to the divine.
The book posits that, for all intents and purposes, the 'fallenness' of humankind is in fact a darkness brought on by our a warped impression of who God is (angry, judgmental and distant), exacerbated by difficult life experiences. Jesus enters this darkness and its resulting existential / emotional / psychological pain, works with it and in it, and seeks to draw our attention to his Father - the true God who loves. In effect, we re-learn who God is, and are transformed as a result.
Structurally the book is fairly loose, starting off with a caricaturising narrative chapter that probably isn't needed, then launching into the diagnosis of the problem. The book spends longer on the diagnosis than the cure, but tantalising hints of hope are scattered throughout, in very readable, short chapters. It then ends with a Shack-esque narrative sequence which is quite powerful (cliches notwithstanding) when you let yourself succumb to it. (I see Kruger has written on the Shack and I can see the connection between this book and the work of Wm Paul Young.)
Near the end, I looked at my bookshelf and thought, "I think I'll read 'Abba's Child' by Brennan Manning next..." Then found it in Kruger's concluding recommended reading list.
Kruger has passed on what might well be a true divine invitation, and I sense it's a journey worth taking.
The book posits that, for all intents and purposes, the 'fallenness' of humankind is in fact a darkness brought on by our a warped impression of who God is (angry, judgmental and distant), exacerbated by difficult life experiences. Jesus enters this darkness and its resulting existential / emotional / psychological pain, works with it and in it, and seeks to draw our attention to his Father - the true God who loves. In effect, we re-learn who God is, and are transformed as a result.
Structurally the book is fairly loose, starting off with a caricaturising narrative chapter that probably isn't needed, then launching into the diagnosis of the problem. The book spends longer on the diagnosis than the cure, but tantalising hints of hope are scattered throughout, in very readable, short chapters. It then ends with a Shack-esque narrative sequence which is quite powerful (cliches notwithstanding) when you let yourself succumb to it. (I see Kruger has written on the Shack and I can see the connection between this book and the work of Wm Paul Young.)
Near the end, I looked at my bookshelf and thought, "I think I'll read 'Abba's Child' by Brennan Manning next..." Then found it in Kruger's concluding recommended reading list.
Kruger has passed on what might well be a true divine invitation, and I sense it's a journey worth taking.
October 19, 2015
Baxter Kruger recovers the gospel and explains it in ways I can understand. He has really opened my eyes to a Jesus who meets me where I'm at, exposes my false beliefs about who God is and then helps me receive God's love fully. Life is so much more joyful and easy when I understand the perfect love if the Triune God. This is a theological masterpiece ending strong in a story that helps me see the application of truth.
September 29, 2013
Even better on a second time of reading. Confronts you with the beautiful reality of the incarnation as God enters our mess and confusion, and the painful but liberating truth of Christ's work of reconciling us to the Father. Tells the amazing truth that we are included in the life and fellowship of the trinity.
January 28, 2013
Another one hit out of the ballpark by Baxter Krueger! Can't say enough about this author.
January 19, 2024
Baxter Kruger has the ability to connect me to the depths of my vulnerability in union with the beautiful Trinity. It's sublime, I love it.
March 15, 2020
Life changing. In this short work Baxter takes the reader into the depths of Christ's work on our behalf. I've heard how Christ came to reveal the Father's heart for us, but the life changing work of Christ's receiving the Father's love as us in our darkness was something I had not considered. The implications of this changed my perspective on both God's love for me as well as changed my perspective on the ongoing redemptive work of Christ in each person's life, in their darkness, receiving the Father's love through the Spirit. Shining a brilliant light on what the ministry of reconciliation looks like practically today.
March 20, 2018
C Baxter Kruger's book is an insightful deep exploration into the human condition of pain and how Christ dove into the self-embraced darkness in our minds. It goes way past the pat answers of pain caused by lies and our own fallen ways of being to also exploring the pain of exposure to God's light and love as well as the peace and joy of that. On the other side is joy, peace, and freedom!
November 25, 2024
Not a book!
This is not a book. Not a book to sit and read and enjoy. It is much more. A Way of thinking, a Way of learning, a Way of appreciating, a Way of loving, a Way of seeing, a Way of living.
This is not a book. Not a book to sit and read and enjoy. It is much more. A Way of thinking, a Way of learning, a Way of appreciating, a Way of loving, a Way of seeing, a Way of living.
January 10, 2025
Astonishing...
Life giving...soul restoring...spirit reviving
Read this book. You won't be sorry.
Thank you, Baxter. You are my brother whom I look forward to meeting.
Life giving...soul restoring...spirit reviving
Read this book. You won't be sorry.
Thank you, Baxter. You are my brother whom I look forward to meeting.
August 10, 2024
I read this years ago and just reread it again - just as good as I remembered! One of my favorite books of all time.
February 11, 2016
gets really great at the end, especially the very last chapter!
December 27, 2022
There is a lot that I'm struggling to understand. I will have to let it percolate in the back of my mind for awhile.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews