Customer Reviews

Carpe Diem: Seize the Day

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The best part of this book for me was the section called "Coming Alive While Making a Living" Part 9. This part contains chapters called "This Job is Killing Me" and Community in the Workplace. These are chapters contain stories about how labor-management differences have been solved with words like...."everything would change if you guys would just treat one another like the other person is Jesus !"

I wish I had the courage to say these words !

The "value of the person" (VOP) and building character would be interesting to hear more about these seminars.

There are heart warming stories about Habitat for Humanity and Cardone Industries.

Not my favorite Campolo book, but worth a re-read. Short chapters lead to a lot of topic introduction...but not much development. This leads to a fever pitch pacing: the book's intent is to get you excited. Seize life! Do something! Experience things more fully! A good reminder to shake you out of the doldrums.

My favorite section, as usual, dealt with living more simply. His advice on page 223 regarding a christian standard of life is an articulate rendering of that which I'm trying to already do: stick to a standard of living...resisting the urge to 'grow' as the income does.

This book has something for everyone...and would make a good small-group book, as the chapters are short, no punches are pulled, and there's bound to be some lively discussion.

He's done it again! Campolo refuses to water down the Good News of the Gospel... He insists that Christianity grow sneakers and sprout wings.

Want to prove that Jesus is alive and well today? - Read/listen to this book and live what you hear and be filled to overflowing as you truly serve others in Jesus' name.

Skeptics/agnostics/atheists: Give it a try, too.

This is a solid book with lots of good insight from Campolo. My complaint would be that Campolo is such a great speaker, one that pours out emotion and feeling, and his writing falls short of that same intensity. I wouldn't recommend this book to someone that is advanced in their Christian reading, reading such books like 'The Divine Conspiracy', but for the less intense it is probably a good choice for "How such I live?" kind of reading. I'd also recommend Yancy and Manning.
Campolo does a good job of putting the hard questions right out there: "Are we doing what we should/want/dreamed of doing?" This would be a good book for a high school or college graduate, just to remind them that ten or twenty years can blow past and one can find oneself in a fenced in yard of regret.
Campolo offers a good elbow to the ribs and gives some practical advice to getting or staying on track in living ones life for Christ.

Campolo has dozens of books out there; his writing style appeals to lots of readers. This one focuses on passionate enjoyment of life. After discussing the problems of materialism and life disillusionment that are predominant in our culture, Campolo unpacks the solution: living as God created us to. He challenges his readers to dream dreams and dare to live them out, embracing the fullness of life, including God, nature, work, and all the things around us.
Good: As with Johann Christoph Arnold's book _Seventy Times Seven_, this one has a lot of good stories and illustrations that powerfully convey the themes of the book. One example is of a man who has turned down high-paying opportunities in legal work in order to live in a one-room flat while working for civil rights - the very thing he enjoys doing. Another is of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who, when facing a mock execution, learned to savor every bit of life around him.
Bad: This book might be a bit cheesy for some people. Also, the danger with this kind of teaching is that some may interpret it to mean, "If it feels good, do it." This is not Campolo's intention, but it could be read that way. It's important to interpret a vision of fulfilled living within the context of the reign of God.
Opinion: My fourth-grade teacher once said to our class, "Today is February 6, 1980. This day will never happen in history again." She tried to teach us to appreciate everything around us and enjoy the offerings of each new day. It took awhile, but I've finally caught on to this truth. In this book Campolo has successfully delineated what it means to be truly "living".