The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today [Paperback]

Josh Moody (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The God-Centered Life is a graced prescription for truly engaging today's culture...."
-- R. Kent Hughes, Senior Pastor Emeritus, College Church in Wheaton

"Tremendous. Extremely well-written. It will be a blessing for many.... I heartily commend this work as a timely and valuable resource...."
-- David S. Dockery, President, Union University

"Josh Moody is uniquely qualified to bring the reader along the path of a greater joy of knowing God and loving God through a person whose life was ablaze for this Triune God of glory and grace."
-- Paul Lim, Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity, Vanderbilt University

"Potent, thoughtful, and constructive...."
-- R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"At last, someone who stands in the tradition of Edwards as a pastor-scholar, interpreting and applying the lessons from Jonathan Edwards for today...."
-- E. David Cook, Holmes Professor, Wheaton College, Fellow, Green College, Oxford

"I recommend this book most highly, praying that Josh Moody's labors will encourage the kinds of `Edwards influenced' lives and congregations that our world so desperately needs...."
-- Douglas A. Sweeney, Associate Professor of Church History, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

About the Author

Josh Moody (PhD, University of Cambridge) is Senior Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, New Haven, Connecticut, serving the Yale community and surrounding New England region. He is also the author of Authentic Spirituality and Jonathan Edwards and the Enlightenment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Regent College Publishing (February 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157383386X
• ISBN-13: 978-1573833868
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,410,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Eye opening, June 16, 2007

By 

J. Hebda - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today (Paperback)

This is a book that makes us take a step back. It is not all about us. It is not all about finding our purpose in life. This book is exactly what the title suggests: all about God, and how to use the successful approaches of Jonathan Edwards to relate to a thourghly post-Christian culture.
I recommend this book to Christians who want to learn and grow in their faith. This is by no means a self-help book based on Christianity. It an easy to read collection of thoughts on how we should confront post-modern thinking as it surrounds us and creeps into our churches. This book would make a great gift to pastors and ministry leaders, but even better, it is accessible to all Christians.
Highly recommended. It is something special when a writer can take the approaches of Jonathan Edwards and teach us how to be more effective in the Kingdom.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Motivating and Inspiring; Realistic, January 26, 2009

By 

Daddyo "Music Appreciator" (Chicago Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today (Paperback)

As a New Year's determination, I began the year by reading Josh Moody's book "The God-Centered Life." I believe it is an outstanding book for several reasons.
One is it's even-handed approach to Christian history. Jonathan Edwards, doubtless, would not be flattered by people forming a neo-Edwards revival. In his analysis of the contributions of the great 18th century preacher and philosopher, Moody steers clear of the jaded, tired tactic of taking up the writings of historical figures as a club against modern Christianity. Instead, he notes both the greatness and the failings of Edwards in such a way that you can appreciate him as a man of God, yet remain Christ-loyal above all. And yes, there are some failings to report.
Moody cautions us not to harp on these, but appreciate the harshness of public ministry, and remember what it means and costs to carry the Scriptures with such brilliance and force as Edwards did. Also very memorable is the emphasis on setting Edwards in his historical context, thus freeing us from the needless pangs of trying to recreate life as it was in the Great Awakening. Moody does a great job showing a great example of a man who, though reputed to spend 13 hours a day in his study, was nonetheless a great father and husband of renown to his beloved Sarah. While accurately portraying Edwards as a cessationist, he shows that that label need not mean he was a preacher who marginalized the supernatural or attempted to squelch true and vibrant worship, provided that true fruit accompanied it. The "Sense of the Heart" is a badly needed concept today, as it explains just how God transforms people into lovers of Himself. Moody gives this concept a fair shake, and challenges us to see the glory of God with new eyes of faith, thus freeing us from the domination of self-centeredness. If you want to be challenged--yes, revived--I highly recommend this book for a balanced uplifting of heart and mind. For best results, read it sometime after or before re-reading Piper's "Desiring God." And, I might add, Dr. Moody is now my senior pastor. I am truly blessed.

5.0 out of 5 stars Edwards Dead Yet Still Speaks!, March 6, 2009

By 

Allen Mickle "Allen Mickle" (St. George, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today (Paperback)

There are many saints of the past who need to be reawakened for our churches today. There is much we can glean from in the lives of those who have gone before us. Many of them still speak directly to the issues we are facing today. John Moody, now Senior Pastor of College Church, Wheaton, IL, has provided a helpful volume sharing insights from Jonathan Edwards that address the issues we face today.

Moody, a precise thinker and academic with a pastor's heart, is an expert in Edwards. He completed his PhD at Cambridge University on Edwards and continues to argue that the great American theologian and pastor speaks to us today. That is the intention in this book. He writes,

"Because he preached the historic Christian gospel, and because that gospel is still true today, Edwards' message, like that of any genuine Christian preacher, is relevant throughout the ages. But Edwards' contribution is particularly timely today because his great sparring partners, the Enlightenment and the secularist modernism it bequeathed, have defined the recent progression of our culture. Whereas Edwards' was responding to the Enlightenment at the beginning, our culture has reacted to the Enlightenment modernism at the end. If Edwards formed an effective and biblical response to the Enlightenment, we have lots to learn from him" (p. 21).

Moody addresses a number of issues where we can learn from Edwards. These include revival, analyzing new Christian movements not only by what they teach but by their fruit, the human-centeredness of modernism, leadership must be biblically intelligent, the reality that human leaders fail, and family life and ministry. Edwards informs us on all of these issues. For instance, on revival, Moody draws from Edwards the following conclusion,

"Revival is not random, not manipulative, not tied to a particular system or certain ecclesiastical machine. It is God's initiative, his action, his intervention, his applying salvation to the church and the world. Much of the contemporary criticism of revival is well founded. Revivalism can be manipulative and shallow, its techniques unthinkingly aping modernistic attitudes of industrialism and individualism and woefully inadequate to anticipate changing culture in which we live. Revivals can also be excuses for delay, inaction and remaining passive in the face of the challenges the church is called to address. All these and other criticisms targeted towards revivals are at least to some degree cogent. Edwards would have agreed: for him, true revival was less mechanical and more magisterial, less passive and more powerful and Christ-like" (p. 48).

Perhaps the strongest part of the book is the last chapter, "The Edwards Message." Here Moody summarizes what we can learn from Edwards but especially does a wonderful job at highlighting what an Edwards influenced individual, church, and evangelistic mission would look like. Moody is not content to leave this in the theoretical but places it in very practical terms of how one can learn from Jonathan Edwards.

If I had any one complaint it would be a desire to see more of Edwards actually speaking in the book. Moody knows Edwards well and communicates for him, but it would be excellent to see more direct interaction with Edwards writing on these particular subjects than was reflected in this book. But, this is a minor criticism as it does not overly detract from the helpfulness of this book.

Moody has done the church a service. While the growing body of secondary literature on Edwards is intense and not all of it ultimately helpful, this book is a valuable not only for pastors to learn how to have their ministry be more God-centered but also for individual Christians who seek to have their lives be more God-centered. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to any believe who wants to grow in their walk with God and especially to pastors who want to understand how the supremacy of God makes a difference in their ministry.