Customer Reviews

Don't Waste Your Life (Group Study Edition)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book suffers from Piper's tendency to fill 200 pages when 30 would have illustrated his points sufficiently, but the points in Don't Waste Your Life are terrific, and it's well worth the read. Mostly, the book challenges the reader again and again to live deliberately for God's glory instead of wasting life pursuing anything else. I love Piper's exhaustive Biblical citations and his presentation of rarely referenced milestones in the history of international missions. I also love that Piper clarifies that living deliberately in a "normal" job is no more or less valuable than physically traveling to unreached people groups. Still, there were many times that I read a passage, paused to reflect, and realized that I could not pinpoint anything that had been added to the discussion, so I can't rate the book higher than 3 stars. If you're up for a challenging read, though, one that will confront you repeatedly with the question of whether or not you're wasting your life, I recommend this book.

Every half-awake human being desires to know his purpose and live without regret. Yet most, believers and unbelievers, fail to rightly apprehend their true purpose and miss the meaning of life as they are in danger of wasting their time on the earth. In "Don't Waste Your Life," Pastor John Piper helps you discover how:

- Not to squander the time you have on trifling diversions
- Not to merely aim for security, ease, and gratification
- Find true hope, joy, and lasting fulfillment in Christ and His purpose.

"Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it" (Jesus).

Lewis posed this dialogue: "And what does it amount to?" said Satan, with his evil chuckle. "Nothing at all. You gain nothing: you always come out where you went in. For a million years the race has gone on monotonously propagating itself and monotonously re-performing this dull nonsense to what end?"

This is an outstanding resource for personal devotion and with the DVD makes for a fine group study.

And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, that you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

There Are Moral Absolutes: How to Be Absolutely Sure That Christianity Alone Supplies

Don't Waste Your Life

There are two main points that I get from this book. One, the importance of sharing the gospel in places where it has never been heard. Two the importance of sharing our wealth with people who are in desperate need of it. A book that makes one of these points, without making the other, is suspect. Piper does a good job on both points. Other important points are made, especially about the Cross, but they are made to reinforce these first two points.

Chapter 1, My Search for a Single Passion to Live By, and Chapter 2, Breakthrough - the Beauty of Christ, My Joy, are autobiographical, telling of John Piper's desire to not waste his life, what that means, and the answer he found. Piper mentions some of the influential people and books that he encountered. His favorite is Jonathan Edwards.

Chapter 3 is Boasting Only in the Cross. You might think it would give a lot of theology of the Cross. It is more personal than that. One point it makes is that everything I think or do should be centered on the Cross. A second point is that when we were converted (or regenerated), our old self died, crucified, and we took on a new self. I think everything in the chapter is written to make one of these two points. Page 48, "One thing matters: Know Christ, and gain Christ. Everything is rubbish in comparison to this."

I read some of the favorable and unfavorable reviews of this book. K. Willis (1 star review) and Simon W (2 star review) say that Piper neglects the Holy Spirit in the book. The Trinity is very challenging, more challenging than many will admit. Many people identify with one Person of the Trinity more than the other two. Piper emphasizes Jesus. I don't have a problem with him not mentioning the Holy Spirit much in this book.

David T (2 star review) and aspiringtraveler1792 (2 star review) say the book is repetitive, not saying much more that what you can infer from the book's title. I can see why they say that. The book is gentle in the points it makes, not hard-hitting punches. I read this book concurrently with reading David Platt's Radical, which has a similar theme, to encourage evangelism. Radical is full of hard-hitting punches and makes some theological statements that some will not agree with. Piper acknowledges that some people should go on foreign missions, some should stay on the home front and support the missionaries. I prefer Don't Waste Your Life over Radical, which was written later. But some will prefer Radical.

The book bounces around some and sometimes the reader may not see how it is all connected. There are many 1-2 page segments that tell some facet of the general topic of a chapter. I recommend that you read the book slowly and carefully, meditating on it. It is not a long book, you can afford to take your time with it.

Working for the cause of Jesus is compared to war. Not just a sentimental, cliché, or vague comparison, like the war on poverty or the war on drugs. He mentions some of the most bloody fighting of World War II, the battle for Iwo Jima. He sees the enormous sacrifices that people made for World War II, both on the home front and on the front line, and wants Christians to make enormous sacrifices for Jesus.

Because the last thing I ever want to discover is the stark realization that my life had been wasted I felt intrigued to read "Don't waste your life." But as I read through the book I began wondering where the presumed theology of justification by faith alone is going to be eluded to. For isn't it in such biblical truth that one's life draws its fullness and not wastefulness from? Hasn't the blood of Christ procured for us this life "saving" us from waste? Isn't it true biblical doctrine that not to have believed in Christ is wasting one's life? Can we really say to faith believing good works producing Christians that there may be the possibility that they may waste their lives? For if we are truly seeking God and depending upon Him aren't we doing all that God requires of us? I believe Piper by not discussing faith's role in ones Christian life faults us in his presentation of how one truly pleases and honors Christ.

Although a finely written book, I was left feeling I was not good enough or spiritual enough in living my Christian life. There was more I had to do. It was faith plus more. Or maybe faith plus less. That is I certainly couldn't be a Christian pleasing to the Lord if I retired early and enjoyed the life God had given me. Piper said it would be a waste (46). But I had to ask if I sought to honor Christ in my life and was living by faith in God's promises which resulted in doing good unto others why was this not enough? How could I be wasting my life if I so lived? I do want my life to count but I believe how that happens is God's work and His work alone as Philippians 1.6 says. And although Piper may have alluded to this verse he failed to inform me exactly that it is God's work which "completes" this "good work in you." Before we can "honor Christ" (Piper quoting Phil 1.20 on page 64) we must know in Paul's previous verse 6 that God is working within us doing the producing of his will. Thus living by faith in God's promises (His glory if you will) can never result in a wasted life! Therefore if you are living your life in such a way which honor's Christ daily then this book is not for you. However if you see yourself on the borderline and not 100% given over to Christ this book will help you see the necessity and glorious benefits of banking all of your hopes upon Christ!

I have been doing this study in a group using the study guide and you really have to dig deep... Ive gotten alot from this study and my relationship with God has grown..

What are you waiting for? Buy it! This is one of the best books I ever read beside the Bible!

In June of 2003, the man who was discipling me challenged me to dedicate two of my greatest loves -- music and reading -- to the Lord. He told me that I ought to read books that would cause me to focus on the Lord, and the first book he handed me was John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, which had just come out the previous month.

The book changed my life. Of course, it was God who changed my life, but he used the words of John Piper to do it. It was a huge wake-up call for a guy who had always coasted through life, piddling away my time and talents and taking faith for granted. Piper's strong language convicted me of my apathy and wastefulness, and helped me see that I was indeed wasting my life. I realized that I had never fully grasped the magnitude of the gospel, and that what I called "faith" had no roots. I needed to devote my life to the pursuit of God, which included a serious study of theology and a lifestyle of active obedience to the Word.

I recently re-read this book. I was once again challenged and convicted, but also encouraged. By no means have I "arrived", but as I listened, I remembered where I was when I first read those words. I can see the vast difference Christ has made in my life, and how He has walked with me every step of the way. I see that life can have meaning. It doesn't have to be a waste! And my life is so much more fulfilling knowing that I am no longer a slave to my own selfish desires, but a slave to Christ and His perfect purpose for my life.

I could go on and on about this book, but I'd rather you just read it yourself (even if you've read it before).

I have a few Reformed friends who swear by John Piper, and have urged me to listen to him and read his books. I've tried many times to listen to him, and frankly his style isn't what works best for me, to often he fluctuates between being quiet and then yelling. So with this book I've tried reading and I don't think it works for me either (also it took me way to long to finish a book this short). I think this entire book could be summed up with a sentence: Don't waste your life, live each and every day with God as your focus and purpose. This is a good message, but the book didn't seem to me to get much deeper than that and after 200 pages of the same it got tiring. Okay I am simplifying the book a little, but it was far too verbose and repetitive for me. Don't get me wrong I respect Piper and think he's doing good work, I just don't think his style meshes with my personality or tastes.

John Piper's passion and deep love for his Lord and Saviour leaps off the page, and is infectious. In this book he exhorts people to (as you may have guessed) not waste their lives. In essence, he is saying that we waste our lives if we do not give ourselves wholly over to Christ and obey Him fully. As Piper argues, we are to enjoy God, for it is when we enjoy Him most that He is most glorified in us. Piper pulls his ideas straight from Scripture.

I recommend this book to everyone. To Christians seeking to live a life wholly dedicated to Christ - it will inspire you. To those who don't want that, may it inspire you to want that.

There can be nothing worse than to come to the end of the few precious years God has given us on this earth and say "I've wasted them." It sounds paranoid, but it isn't. Piper shows that when you truly believe in Christ and know Him, you will want to work for Him; you will want to enjoy him and glorify Him.

I did feel at times that things were repeated, but this did not take away from the book in anyway. It is absolutely worth reading.

This is just another copy of this book, as we have several. This time, we are giving it as a gift to a high school senior. We pray it will be a challenge for him as he prepares to enter his adult life.