THE LOST MESSAGE OF JESUS
By Steve Chalke & Alan Mann
Zondervan. 204 pages. £8.99
ISBN 0 310 24882 5
Much about this year's Word Alive was the same as usual-happy reunions with old friends, challenging teaching, the strange, permanent half-rain that characterises Skegness in April. But in the bookshop in the Skyline Pavilion, troubled voices could be heard: 'Have you seen it?', 'I can't believe he's written that.' OK, Christians can be more fascinated with controversy than we ought to be. But in this case it wasn't so much fascination as genuine alarm, disappointment, grief, even.
The cause was Steve Chalke's new bestseller, The Lost Message of Jesus. Steve is founder of the hugely influential Oasis Trust, which works closely with Spring Harvest, YFC, the Salvation Army, and Youthwork Magazine. A charismatic speaker, TV personality and visionary, he has inspired many. Yet his new book attacks the heart of biblical Christianity, and offers instead a 'lost message' which is really no gospel at all.
