A Sacrifice of Obedience was written through the years 2002 and 2003 as an intended sequel to Make Me Like Jesus. It was never published.
Fifteen years have now passed. As I look at the world around me, it seems less likely than ever that Christians in very large numbers will be drawn to a message about sacrifice or obedience. And I am no different. I resist both imperatives just like everyone else. I had hoped by this time in my life to be a little further along.
But obedience remains the bull’s eye of the Christian faith, and the very personal bull’s eye of my own life. Thus, the time at last seems right to revisit this manuscript and share it with whatever fellow pilgrims there may be on that isolated and occasionally lonely path.
You who read these words may be few. Even in Christendom, where the image of the cross looms large in the imaginations and theologies of its many churches and their members, the actual cross-life of sacrifice and obedience is not so well known.
Yet to such a life we are called. It is the only life to which we are called.
Let us, then, courageously explore together a few high points along the Lord’s earthly Calvary road to see what they have to reveal about that life.
Jackson Maxwell, Christian magazine reporter, begins routine research into the expanding global ministry of renowned evangelist Jacob Michaels. But when his questions about the Evangelize the World (ETW) organization focus on sensitive issues—the use of donations, an enormous development project, and certain skeletons in the closet—he is led into a maze of deception and scandal.
Hamilton Jaeger, Jacob Michaels’ assistant, manipulates people, money, and information for his own ambitious ends. He will not sit idle while an inquisitive reporter threatens his vision of a media empire dedicated to evangelism and the unity of the Christian Body—all under his direction.
Jackson’s professional obligation to truth, his loyalty to victimized friends, and his conviction that God’s representatives are accountable call for decisive action: Jaeger’s scheme must be exposed. Jackson Maxwell pursues the truth… and the secrets he uncovers will change lives forever.
