Customer Reviews

Chazown: Define Your Vision. Pursue Your Passion. Live Your Life on Purpose.

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Are you as happy as you want to be? If you were lying on your death bed and knew that time was running out--and also knew that your "doing" days were over--what kinds of thoughts would be running through your mind?

This might be a poor way to start a review for a book that I really, really want you to read. I hope not. I hope it rings a responsive chord. In 1991 I had a heart attack, and for 48 hours, I did not know whether I'd live or die. Those hours were filled with regrets--a realization of great hopes unrealized.

I got a second chance, but this book made me realize that I still have many hopes unrealized. After reading the book I now know why--and what to do about it. Chazown is from the Hebrew and it means "vision."

God has a unique plan or vision for your life, but do you know what it is? Do you believe that the God of the universe could have a plan or vision that fulfilling it would bring you more happiness, joy, and peace than you thought imaginable? More than your own plans even?

Groeschel lays out a way of finding that vision and acting on it that revolves around three knowable things, things that will take time to explore:

Your core values: What do you get passionate about? What gets you righteously angry when it is violated?

Your spiritual gifts: What are the things you do noticeably well, and love to do?

Your experiences: These experiences, both good and bad that make you who you are today.

The book lays out step by step how to focus and clarify these three things and identify where they converge. The author provides downloadable forms and a journal to help you with the thinking needed to find the answers to all the questions. It is a process, not a crash course--but a worthwhile process. It is simple, but not easy.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a challenge to you. Get this book if you are ready to maximize joy, peace, and happiness!

Everything about this book works! Good job marketing team!

From the moment I saw it on the shelf to opening the first few pages, I knew I'd found a book I could read, follow, and enjoy. It's so obvious that the book would work for an "addhd-ddd" like me that I had to have it no matter what it was about.

Each chapter of the book is set as to entertain those with a short attention span but much more likely to simply convey concepts that , run together, would be too difficult to apply to your own life. The multi colored pages, font disposition, and appropriate smatterings of art all accent the learning experience.

As much as I enjoyed all of the things mentioned above (yup, this book is intended to teach) this is about getting focused on your meaning, purpose or calling and taking the steps to realize God's dream for your life. Not only do we have dreams for ourselves, there is that specific and very special purpose (call/dream) that has been woven into the very fabric of our living. Too many people are bereft of any understanding of their "call" and therefore live a life of searching and struggling and missing the dream dreamt of us all.

If you know where you're going with life, this is a great book to work through with a struggling friend. If, like most people, you're trying to find your passionate dream to live out but a little unsure of your purpose in life, this eye catching little book will add great benefit to the search.

It is very difficult for an "outline" or "set of disciplines" book to not become a formula for growth work, which almost always results in the reader relying on the formula for growth instead of God and their love of and desire for God.

Groeschel avoids this mistake and has written a wonderfully clear and concise approach to achieving what you really want out of your life with the amazing thought that, wait for it, it might actually entail you taking this stuff seriously and making it a priority. What's amusing is that despite the fact that deep down we all know this, we either forget or disregard it. But Groeschel won't let you any longer.

The writing style is very conversational and light, which is why some individuals can correctly criticize the book for being a bit "surface-level" however this is not a book aimed at getting you to really contemplate and assess your beliefs but is more focused on equipping you to achieve an active growth through doing and planning.

In fact, planning for growth is the key message of this book, as the book's key verse echoes, if not screams, "Where there is no vision, the people perish (are unrestrained in other translations)," - Proverbs 29:18. I actually prefer the unrestrained translation because it hits closer to Groeschel's message, "Growth rarely, if never, happens by accident."

As a 27 year old collge graduate in the 3rd year of my profession, my thoughts began to wonder to what is next? Is my job all there is? Is there more to life? Is there more to the life I have been given? Chazown in simple yet profound language has given me a reason to look forward to each new day, and to not get bogged down in the monotony of everyday life, but to see life with a purpose, my OWN individual purpose that only I was created and put on this earth for.
Pastor Craig has delivered an awesome book on vision and purpose in life, but also has the tools nevessary to help us whether it is the online journal, or DVDs' that help us in finances, physical fitness, or relationships, this is one book that covers it all. I had read the Purpose Driven Life and thought it was alot of fluff, but Chazown not only had spiritual insight into the purpose God has for me, but also has the tools ( Life Development Plan found at [...] ) to help me determine and fullfill God's chazown for MY life.

This vision for my life is now lazer sharp after reading this book. If you have any sense of ambiguity as to why you are here and for what purpose you are to serve....READ THIS BOOK.

I need books that inspire me to dream bigger dreams. Chazown is like a overdose of vision--a vision IV. I feel like it's helped me recalibrate my goals and priorities.

Plus I love reading a book by an author that doesn't talk the talk. Craig has walks the walk. Chazown is not just good theory. It's good praxis. Lifechurch.tv is proof positive!

A must read.

Unfortunately, Chazown is a thinly veiled variation on the health and wealth gospel. I've never read Groeschel before, so I didn't realize that's what it was. But it comes clear pretty quickly.

At first, it looks like a book about finding God's calling for your life. He talks about finding the meeting point (using a venn diagram with three circles) of your gifts, your passions, and your experience. Then he outlines five "spokes" that need to be in place for your life's wheel to run well. Those are your relationship with God, your relationship with others, money, physical health, and work.

Here's the problem. God's vision for your life is for you to be financially well off, impressively in shape, excelling at work, and surrounded by friends, according to Groeschel. It doesn't quite jibe with the biblical narrative of a life lived in self-sacrificial love. Groeschel tells us to anticipate that God might surprise us, like the time he put money in a Sprite machine and by surprise got a strawberry soda (which, I guess, is even better). The problem is that I think when you put a quarter in the Christianity slot, a cross comes out.

Groeschel has the second largest church in the US behind Joel Osteen, so I shouldn't be surprised that they're both doing the same thing. God is here to make you healthy, happy, fulfilled, and even a little attractive. I just don't see this as the goal of human life prescribed by the Bible. This feels more like what would happen if Joel Osteen got together with Oprah to teach a Sunday School class.

I like the fact that Groeschel set out to write a book on vision, and his writing style is fluid and easy to read. A book that involves a less self-indulgent vision for life might be more promising. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

I am a disciple of Christ. I have always written ToDo lists, goals and plenty of vision statements for my personal and work life, but have never related them to God.
As I walked through life, I would overwhelmingly add more "God goals" to my plate. I have extremely great intentions for accomplishing all of my God goals, but the worldly personal & life goals somehow crept their way in first place.
Chazown helped me to focus in on what I really needed to do NOW to follow God's path for my life. God spoke an amazing message through the author, telling me that He wants my "worldly life goals" and my "God goals" to be one in the same. God doesn't want a separate life for him; He wants to be involved in all aspects of it.
I was so impressed with the book, that I gave it to a non-Christ follower that I know. I thought it would be interesting to see his perspective. He called me at the end of every chapter, completely empowered with God's message through the author. This was a person who was never interested in talking about God before, and I was enabled to minister to him through the Chazown book.
That made me realize: a message this good is not merely reserved for Followers of Christ, but it is a great way for all to realize we can reach our full purpose through the grace of God!

This will be an annual read for me. These truths continue to reshape my life. Thanks Craig, for pursuing the path God has lead you down and documenting the way.

Chazown looks strangely like the word shazam, but the Hebrew word is actually pronounced khaw-ZONE --- with a hard-clicking guttural sound to start. If it's unfamiliar to you, no worries, because it won't be by the time you finish reading Craig Groeschel's new book.

Chazown simply means a dream, revelation or vision. Groeschel believes that everyone is given a unique, one-of-a-kind chazown. The key is discovering yours.

The book takes readers on a personal journey to discover their purpose in life. To accomplish this sizable task, Groeschel challenges readers to examine three overlooked areas in life: their core values, their spiritual gifts and their past experiences. By examining all three of these areas, you'll find a sweet spot where they all intersect and reveal your purpose.

Groeschel writes, "When you are in touch with your God-given core values, that's exactly how you will think and live. Your core values will rearrange and direct your energies, your time, your thoughts. If you ignore them, sooner or later you'll be miserable. If you identify them and pursue them, you'll unleash your potential and set yourself up for fulfillment and success."

After helping readers identify their sweet spot, the book presses one level deeper by asking readers to examine five areas of their life: their relationship with God, relationship with other people, finances, health and fitness, and work life. Quizzes and probing questions invite readers to take a deeper look at their own life and how they're living.

He writes, "You're at a fork in life's path. You have two choices. You can go back to life the way it was, without a Chazown. Without a vision, a dream, a revelation. No passion, no plan, no direction, no motivation, no purpose. Perishing daily on the inside. Or you can find people to hold you accountable. You can move into a life of purpose. A purpose for which you were uniquely created. A purpose that follows a path blazed long ago by God, just for you."

To accomplish this sizable task in one book, Groeschel draws on stories from his own life and those of his friends and church members as well as a wide range of often-heard motivational stories. Along the way readers are encouraged to visit an interactive website to record their personal journeys, mission statement, and individual responses to the questions found throughout the pages.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its layout and design. The paperback title is packaged inside a colorful, plastic sleeve that is eye-catching. The text is laid out in easy reading portions, complete with artwork and designs that complement the writing. The result is a fun, interactive and visually stimulating work.

For readers who catch the vision for CHAZOWN, five DVDs are releasing this summer as part of the curriculum. Titles include "Work Life," "Physical Life," "Financial Life," "Relationships with People" and "Relationship with God."

Overall, Groeschel's writing is passionate and compelling. He wants everyone to catch the vision of dreaming big and discovering their true purpose. CHAZOWN is recommended to anyone looking for a book on vision or leadership.


--- Reviewed by Margaret Feinberg [...]