Customer Reviews

God's Power to Change Your Life (Living with Purpose)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

God's way to change those stubborn areas of your life that won't seem to change. This was written before Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Life. It's worth reading. I've given it to both adults and teenagers to read. very clear.

This is a very good book by Rick Warren. This book is for people who are tired of trying to change their lifes on their own steam. This book is about using the power that God has given us to turn our lives from stressful to peaceful. It is about getting the best quality out of life. It motivates to reader to make the right choices to live the best life they possibly can. I was very motivated after this people and I know very many people who have read it after I gave it to them to read who were inspired to change their lives and who actually did it. They didn't pick up their lives on their own strength though. They learned to rely on Gods strength to lift them up and change them. It is a very good read.

I really enjoyed "The Purpose Driven Life," so I was excited when I found out that our small group would be going through this other Rick Warren book.

I was quite disappointed, though, to find out what the book's content was really like. The general idea of the book is to go through each of the fruit of the spirit, in a practical way. Rick provides a few (4-7) points for each fruit, of practical ways to grow in those areas. So far, so good.

The frustrating part was that I really felt like some manager or publisher told him, "The book isn't long enough, add a lot of padding." Each point has about one paragraph of depth to it, and about 3-6 paragraphs of cheesy cliches and anecdotes.

For our small group, it ended up working out ok, because it provided a starting point, from which we provided our own depth of discussion from our own lives. But the book itself was not one that I would highly recommend, especially after the high quality of Rick Warren's more popular book.

This is by far the best book I read about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. My preference of it certainly comes from my agreement with the author's perspective that no matter how many self help book you read, without God's power to practice, it's all useless. In short, well written and very helpful. Highly recommended even for those who had read tons of spiritual and self help books before.

p.s. Below please find some of my favorite passages for your reference.

Anytime you resent someone, you give that person a piece of your heart, a piece of your attention, a piece of your mind. Do you want that person to take that? No. So take it back by forgiving. pg53
Stop fantasizing about greener grass somewhere else. The truth is that the grass is not on the other side of the fence; the grass is greener wherever you water it! pg62
"Be still, and know that I am God." Ps.46.10 was written during the time of Hezekiah. Israel was under attack of Assyria. Enemy soliders had surrounded Jerusalem, and the Israelites were uptight. They knew they were going to get whooped, so they prayed this prayer. Five minutes before noon, God smote the Assyrians with a plague, and 185,000 of them died. pg90
Wisdom is seeing life from God's point of view, getting God's perspective on a situation. pg108
Many times when someone is experiencing a crisis, ....Actually you dont have to say anything. Just being there is an expression of kindness. Sometimes a touch on the shoulder, a tear, a pat on the back, or a grasp of the hand is all a hurting person needs. pg126
"Why are you so nice to him when he's so unfriendly to you?" "Because I dont want him to decide how I'm going to react." That is gentleness. That is strength under control - choosing the way to respond to people. That is choosing to be an actor rather than a reactor. pg190
Evangelism is just one beggar telling another where to find bread. - D. T. Niles pg192
Self control brings with it the good feeling of competency. Like a finely tuned precision automobile, your life stays on course with the slightest touch of steering. The results of self control are confidence and an inner sence of security. pg196
If you want to develop self control, learn to depend on Christ's power to help you. Galatians 5:16 says, "Let the spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature." pg211

I want to start by saying that I'm a big Rick Warren fan and think the garbage he's now taking for being nothing more than "too popular" is unwarranted and hypocritical.

I bought "God's Power to Change Your Life" with the full expectation that I'd get some real insight into the title. Ummmm, nope.

My opinions on this book in a nutshell are:

1 - Seems like a Bartlett's Cliche Book (if there is such a thing) blew up and landed inside this effort
2 - Either Rick "phoned this one in" to meet a publishing deadline while he was in Africa, or someone on his staff wrote it.
3 - The theology here is about a half inch deep
4 - Joel Osteen could have written this book.

On the positive side it was a good review of basic Christian tenants (However, I really don't think we need another reminder that people are born basically bad and not good), very basic, but really left me wanting something with meat in it. I hope his next effort is just that - an effort to reach out to those who want a deeper relationship with God and desire more scriptural and applicable insight into scripture. This one failed to do either.

Sorry, Rick - love you, don't like the book.

Love the book. Once again Rick Warren's bits of wisdom hit the mark. He used key scriptures of the bible in pointing the way so that we can effectively live by God's will. This is a definite read.

If you are expecting the something as revolutionary as a Purpose Driven Life you will be disappointed, but if you are just looking for a good inspiring Christian book you will be pleased. The book is based on the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, gentleness... He gives a chapter for each of the fruits in which he gives steps to help incorporate each of the fruits in our life, while also clearly explaining that the fruit is a work of the Holy Spirit

If you need a little push to move you toward your goals, this is a great book. It's full of examples and scripture to assist you in becoming a better person. This book is written in a very accessible, conversational style, making it a great book for almost anyone. It's very user-friendly and easy to understand. I highly recommend it.

Warren is best known for The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church. This is a much earlier work, but it is as good as either of the previous mentioned books. Warren is a master of taking the most difficult subjects in life and making them seem simple. I Purpose Driven Life, he makes living for God seem attainable to all of us. In this work, he makes something as hard as changing your life (an impossible task for most of us) seem attainable by anyone. Warren's reasoning and logic are amazing.

This is a valuable book for anyone struggling with things they would like to change about themselves and for anyone involved in helping people with life change.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book! It really helped me to get my focus back on God. It also very easy to follow!