We wander through life looking for freedom, only to realize we have listened to the devil's call to serve our selves, our pleasures, and our lusts. Instead of freedom we find ourselves enslaved to sin. We wonder if we have sinned too often, too deep to ever be welcomed back to the Father's home, back into His loving embrace. Have we lost our inheritance as children of God?
In this short book, author Bryan Wolfmueller digs into the popular parable of the Prodigal Son to bring hope and aid to our hurting conscience. Wolfmueller proclaims the freedom-givng Gospel that through Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection, our place in the Father's house is secure, and forgiveness and welcome are ours in His outstretched arms.
Review :
"Pastor Wolfmueller is a remarkable pastoral theologian. I always chuckle when I'm in some backwater locale around the globe and someone approaches me with this question, often heavily accented by the speaker's mother tongue: "You know Worldwide Wolfmueller?" Ha! YES! The remarkable clarity of the Gospel, which animates all Pastor W's work, shines even more brightly in this little gem of a book. "He welcomes sinners and eats with them," the religious experts complained of Jesus. This book takes a wondrous look at the third and often ignored character in Jesus' parable of the prodigal: the disgruntled brother. Pastor W speaks to the Pharisee in every one of us and drives us to repentance, forgiveness in Jesus, and joy in living forgiven as we encounter our neighbors."
-Pastor Matthew C. Harrison, LCMS president
"Bryan Wolfmueller is well known for his ability to break down abstract biblical ideas into life-changing spiritual truths. He does it again in this beautiful book by employing insights from Lutheran theology (especially Law and Gospel) and highlighting three slaveries that threaten us and three freedoms lavishly given to us by God through Christ Jesus. This is a perfect study for individuals or groups. Highly recommended!"
-Reed Lessing, The Edwin F. and Esther L. Laatsch Chair of Old Testament Studies, Concordia University, St. Paul
"Bryan Wolfmueller offers a careful and contextual study of a well-known parable and shows how the heavenly Father would tear down walls both of guilt and of pride, which separate us from divine love. The Father's love extends both to the guilt-ridden and self-righteous among us. Highly recommended!"
-Rev. Dr. Mark Brighton, emeritus professor of biblical languages and literature, Concordia University Irvine
