A Fragile Stone: The Emotional Life of Simon Peter

by Michael Card, Brennan Manning

Overview

Winner of a Chicago Book Clinic Design Award

A Fragile Stone explores the dynamic life of the apostle Peter, revisiting well-known passages and revealing unexpected insights. Author Michael Card sketches out Peter's life, showing how the impetuous fisherman of the Gospels was transformed into the pivotal leader of the early church. "The ultimate reason for getting to know Peter," Card explains, "is so together we might better know Jesus. For the story of Peter is the story of Jesus. Perhaps, if you and I do our best, the same will be said of us someday."

Peter's life serves as a model for Christian discipleship, offering hope that we likewise can be changed as Jesus calls us to follow him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830834457
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	12/22/2006
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Manning is the author of A Glimpse of Jesus (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003).

Michael Card is an award-winning musician, performer and writer. Having written such songs as "El Shaddai" and "Immanuel," he has produced over twenty albums and authored numerous books, including Scribbling in the Sand. He lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Brennan Manning

Introduction: The Search for Simon

Part 1: The Stone
1. A Meeting on the Seashore - John 1:40-43
2. Jesus the Fisherman - Luke 5:1-11
3. A Glimpse Inside His Household - Luke 4:38-39
4. The Fearless Water Walker - Matthew 14:22-33
5. Who They Both Are - Matthew 16:13-23
6. Loyal Despair - John 6:53-71
7. "Fear Not!" - Mark 9:2-10
8. Back to Fishing - Matthew 17:24-27
9. Confusion at the Final Meal - John 13:6-10
10. Dismay in the Garden - Mark 14:27-42
11. The Despairing Denier - Mark 14:66-72
12. ". . . and Peter" - Mark 16:7
13. A Farewell on the Seashore - John 21:1-23

Part 2: The Bridge
14. The Passionate Preacher - Acts 1—5
15. The Compassionate Healer - Acts 3:1-10; 9:32-42
16. The Fearless Prisoner - Acts 4:1-4; 5:18-20; 12:1-19
17. The Reluctant Reconciler - Acts 10:1-33
18. The Passionate Writer - 1-2 Peter

Epilogue: The Faithful Martyr

Bibliography

About the Author

What People are Saying About This

Brennan Manning

"[Michael Card's] unabashed love for Peter shines through these pages and permits him to probe the emotional complexity of the man without romance or sentimentality. . . . Card is not a neutral, dispassionate observer when Jesus dismantles Peter's false self of inner agitation, drivenness, bravado and emotional turmoil in order to shape a new creation who will become the unquestioned leader of the apostolic community. A Fragile Stone speaks to wobbly disciples who never seem to get it all together and to naive leaders who think they have. Michael Card has written a lyrical love song about Peter, and personally, I found the melody contagious."
— Brennan Manning, author of A Glimpse of Jesus (from the foreword)

Editorial Reviews

"[Michael Card's] unabashed love for Peter shines through these pages and permits him to probe the emotional complexity of the man without romance or sentimentality. . . . Card is not a neutral, dispassionate observer when Jesus dismantles Peter's false self of inner agitation, drivenness, bravado and emotional turmoil in order to shape a new creation who will become the unquestioned leader of the apostolic community. A Fragile Stone speaks to wobbly disciples who never seem to get it all together and to naive leaders who think they have. Michael Card has written a lyrical love song about Peter, and personally, I found the melody contagious."

Brennan Manning

"[Michael Card's] unabashed love for Peter shines through these pages and permits him to probe the emotional complexity of the man without romance or sentimentality. . . . Card is not a neutral, dispassionate observer when Jesus dismantles Peter's false self of inner agitation, drivenness, bravado and emotional turmoil in order to shape a new creation who will become the unquestioned leader of the apostolic community. A Fragile Stone speaks to wobbly disciples who never seem to get it all together and to naive leaders who think they have. Michael Card has written a lyrical love song about Peter, and personally, I found the melody contagious."

--Brennan Manning, author of A Glimpse of Jesus (from the foreword)

"Card offers some stunning exegesis and biblical insights, pointing readers to connections they might not otherwise have made. . . . Original, compelling, and full of joy."

--Publishers Weekly (starred review), June 16, 2003

From the Publisher

Card, a Dove Award-winning songwriter and author or co-author of more than 14 books (including Scribbling in the Sand, one of PW's Best Religion Books for 2002), here turns his attention to the Apostle Peter, who he says has been ignored by contemporary Protestants and Catholics alike. Card delves deep into the "emotional life" of Peter, the disciple Jesus called "the Rock." We are wrong when we assume that this title came because of Peter's strength or perfect stability, Card warns; Peter was a flawed man and an unlikely choice to be a foundation. He did, however, eventually become this sure foundation: Card traces Peter's evolution through the Gospels and the Book of Acts to the mature expressions of leadership and care for the flock that we see in his two epistles. In those letters, Peter extends the call of discipleship to all who confess Christ, using the same title Jesus once conferred exclusively upon him to call others to be "living stones" of God's spiritual temple. As always, Card offers some stunning exegesis and biblical insights, pointing readers to connections they might not otherwise have made. (In the post-resurrection scene where Jesus asks Peter three times whether Peter loves him, for example, Card posits that Jesus is giving Peter the opportunity to make restitution for his three earlier denials. "Painful as the questions are, they are an expression of Jesus' creative forgiveness.") This book is original, compelling and full of joy. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly