A Fragile Stone: The Emotional Life of Simon Peter

by Michael Card, Brennan Manning (Foreword by)

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:	9780830874231
Publisher:	IVP
Publication date:	08/20/2009
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	907,789
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

In a career that spans 30 years, Michael Card has recorded over 31 albums, authored or co-authored over 24 books, hosted a radio program, and written for a wide range of magazines. An award-winning musician and performing artist, he has penned such favorites as "El Shaddai," "Immanuel" and many other songs. He has branched his ministry beyond music and written numerous books, including A Sacred Sorrow, A Violent Grace, The Parable of Joy and Sleep Sound in Jesus (a children's book). He has also written the Biblical Imagination Series, with a book and accompanying music CD for each of the four gospels. A graduate of Western Kentucky University with a bachelor's and master's degree in biblical studies, Card also serves as mentor to many younger artists and musicians, teaching courses on the creative process and calling the Christian recording industry into deeper discipleship. Card lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children.

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

Michael Card is an award-winning musician and performing artist. He earned a master's degree in biblical studies from Western Kentucky University under Dr. William Lane. His many books include Scribbling in the Sand, A Fragile Stone, and the Biblical Imagination Series on the four Gospels. Card and his family live in Tennessee.

Brennan Manning (1934–2013) was an American author, priest, and public speaker. He is best known for his bestselling book The Ragamuffin Gospel.

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

Down-to-earth and insightful, A Fragile Stone offers a heart connection to a gospel story that many long-time Christians are without. Michael Card's forward portrayal of Simon Peter's emotional life reflects a more personal image of what it means to befriend Christ and to find identity in him.

Shannon Whiting

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

"[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