The Visitation

This is probably the third time I've read this---maybe fourth. Every other time I imagined some ministry person/pastor that I knew in the role of the main character. This time around, that main character was me. Some of the scenes, actually, were emotionally painful. The church has caused a lot of hurt with their pharisaical ways and there are lots of us who love Jesus but despise the modern church model.

Since coming to Torah I've realized that there is only one authority---Christ. I love the quote on pg. 475 that says, "it's only when you're willing to know him on his terms, for who he is, that you really start to know him at all." God wants us to know Him in His way. That is through His entire Word but especially through Torah where show more He reveals His covenants and our instructions. If we wonder why the church is falling away---it's because they have abandoned the very foundation for everything---God's Torah. show less

A young man arrives in a small American town and starts doing miracles... the churches are divided in how they view him. Cleverly written with several subplots unrolling, mild humour in places, and a somewhat ironical look at some of the extreme types of church.

However, although I rated this five stars after the first time I read it in 2001, I find myself recoiling somewhat after re-reading 16 years later. The writing is good (although the viewpoint switches and the sheer number of characters left me a little confused at times) but the final revelations and some of the climactic events towards the end were sordid and did not make pleasant reading at all.

I had completely forgotten the storyline and the outcome, and the mild suspense in show more the earlier part of the book works well, but I didn't enjoy the last few chapters at all. show less

I hadn't read any of Frank Peretti's books since "This Present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness" when they first came out. I really enjoyed this one and although it was a big book, I didn't want it to end, although I wondered how it would end. It was interesting that it had third person narration for scenes without Travis, but was in first person with him. I liked the parts where he went back in the past, especially his wooing of Marian.

The best Peretti novel I've read so far. I've always enjoyed his work, though I wouldn't really call any of his books modern classics. Usually, I read him when my brain is tired from reading theology. It keeps me focused on spiritual matters without frying the grey cells.

While this remains a fun read and easy to get into, Peretti's plot and characters have filled out quite a bit from his earlier novels I'm impressed at how real his hero seems, and how urgent the plot.

The story takes place in a small Washington town that suddenly has a visitation from a man who basically claims to be the second coming of Jesus. The world seems to flock to him as he performs miracles and advocates love for everyone, but for former pastor Travis Jordan, show more something doesn't seem quite right. This would-be messiah does not line up with the Jesus of Scripture.

I do recommend this one above his other books. My only suggestion is, if you cannot figure out what is wrong with the ministry of this false christ, then study the Word about it. The more we know about Jesus, the harder it will be to draw us away from Him. show less

I Really loved this book. I had seen the movie before reading the book and that kinda spoiled it for me as I knew all the answers and what was coming. If you haven't read or seen this one ..read the book first.There is no denying the religious message given however I found it non preachy and precise. Kept me up all night reading and gave me a good case of the hebbe jebbies thinking right along with the book about it REALLY happening. As I live in a small rural area it hit me like a sledgehammer.

It's difficult to review this without giving away too much of the plot, which is based on suspense and twists, some of which are foreseeable. In general I found this to be a more mature and rounded book than some of Peretti's earlier novels. It engages fully with some of the frustrations and disappointments of those involved in full time ministry and some of the mysteries of how God answers prayer. I felt that this approach was betrayed slightly by the neatness of the resolution of the plot lines. I think that a little more ambiguity at the finale, a little more ongoing dissonance would have been more faithful to the first half of the book and to reality.

I can’t review a Peretti novel without dragging out my dusty copy of his last book and giving you a quick rundown.

“The Visitation” happens in a little eastern Washington town called Antioch, where nothing ever happens. Overnight, it became the centre of the supernatural - with sighting of angels, messianic images in the sky and a weeping crucifix that heals.

But that’s only the beginning. A self-proclaimed prophet appears at a local ranch and the people of Antioch accepted him as the Messiah of the second coming of Christ.

This turned out to be very good for Antioch when the visitation gives the town a booming industry in religious tourism. Everyone is happy but for one Travis Jordan, a burnt-out former pastor who came to Antioch show more to run away from his past. What happened to Antioch made Travis confront his past and work on uncovering the truth behind what is going happening.

Now the trap behind “Christian” thrillers, supernatural or not, is that someone out there will decry the entire thing as misleading and dangerously speculative. That’s why it’s called “fiction”, duh. If books like Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” or Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins’s “Left Behind” series poses a threat to your faith, then my warning label for this week is to stick to the non-fiction works that inspired novels of this genre.

(2005) show less