I Was Given a Copy of Blessed Child
Just about 10 years ago all the Campus Crusade staff at the semi-annual staff conference received A Blessed Child by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright. It was my second conference, and I gladly received the book with all of the other giveaway items. Over the years I have read this book three times and each time I have found new fresh ideas to encourage my relationship with God.
Why Dr. Bright Wanted This Book
Dr. Bright had said that he had some concepts he was trying to get across and felt that putting them into a story would distribute the message to a wider audience. The concepts he wanted to get across in the Blessed Child were the keys to the supernatural life that he wrote about in Living Supernaturally in Christ. Ted Dekker took the concepts and put together a story that is both exciting to read and inspiring to your faith.
Book Summary
This story revolves around a 10 year boy named Caleb. He was raised in an Ethiopian monastery, but the book picks up as he is rescued by an American and Canadian named Jason and Leah right before a deadly attack on his home. Caleb is taken to the United States where his pure faith becomes evident in miraculous answers to his prayers. As the book progresses, Caleb becomes tainted by the ways of the modern world and lessens his connection with God.
While this is going on there are struggles over custody of the boy, outside dangers, and wrestling with deep held beliefs. Each time I have read this book it has been hard to find a place to stop. Dekker masterfully ends each chapter making you want to keep reading to find out what will happen next.
Dr. Bright pens an afterword where he mentions the stories he has collected from the Jesus Film showings. The miraculous is still alive today! But, the main point of the book is not to highlight the miraculous as much as it is to increase believers’ expectation of God interacting with their lives.
Quotes from A Blessed Child:
- Listen to your heart; the eyes will deceive.
- Words are a weak instrument of love.
- It is always light in the kingdom of God.
- Meditation was nothing more than resting your mind and then walking in the light.
- You cannot see the kingdom of God unless you first want to.
- Desire tends to open the eyes as well as the heart.
- You want to enter the kingdom and then you decide it’s worth everything in your life.
- The Spirit and evil do not mix. One will displace the other.
- Whoever said that a straightened hand was more dramatic than a healed heart anyway?
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