Book Notice: What is Jesus Doing?

Here’s a newly published book that promises much, especially if you want to know what Jesus is up to these days: What is Jesus Doing? God’s Activity in the Life and Work of the Church, edited by Edwin Chr. van Driel. The blurb:

Jesus is present here and now, Christians have always affirmed. But how are we to understand his present activity in a challenging, post-Christian context? In what ways is he at work in our congregational worship, pastoral care, preaching—and even our board meetings?

At a time when many feel uncertain about the future of the church, What Is Jesus Doing? brings together leading thinkers in pastoral theology, homiletics, liturgical theology, and missiology in a compelling resource for pastors and theologians. Emphasizing the reality of Jesus both as the resurrected, ascended Christ and as present and active today, the contributors consider how to recognize the divine presence and join in what God is already doing in all areas of church ministry.

So why do I say this promises much? Speaking very generally, books on divine action and providence tend to overlook what God is doing in the churches, including in pastoral care and the like. So I think this book has the potential to correct the course, even if only by a degree or two.