Honest to God? [Paperback]

Bill Hybels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1992

In Honest to God? Bill Hybels challenges Christians to examine their lifestyles and honestly see if God has changed their lives. Some areas he addresses include: - family life - work - male and female role models - spiritual disciplines - sound physical fitness - emotional life - marriage values -- 'Christianity is a supernatural walk with a living, dynamic, personal God. Why, then, do so many Christians live inconsistent, powerless lives?' Hybels answers this question with - Practical, down-to-earth advice on living the Christian life - 12 signs of inconsistent Christian living -- and what to do about them - How to go beyond just 'talking' the faith - Honest personal examples about failures and successes -- Honest to God? is a clarion call to Christians to restore Christianity in their personal lives and thus influence the world.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Bill Hybels, founder and pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, is the author of several books, including Honest to God?, Too Busy Not to Pray, and the previous titles in the Interactions series. He is also coauthor of Rediscovering Church, Becoming a Contagious Christian, and the best-selling Fit to Be Tie

From the Back Cover

In Honest to God? Bill Hybels challenges Christians to examine their lifestyles and honestly see if God has changed their lives. Some areas he addresses include: - family life - work - male and female role models - spiritual disciplines - sound physical fitness - emotional life - marriage values -- "Christianity is a supernatural walk with a living, dynamic, personal God. Why, then, do so many Christians live inconsistent, powerless lives?" Hybels answers this question with - Practical, down-to-earth advice on living the Christian life - 12 signs of inconsistent Christian living -- and what to do about them - How to go beyond just "talking" the faith - Honest personal examples about failures and successes -- Honest to God? is a clarion call to Christians to restore Christianity in their personal lives and thus influence the world.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (June 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310521815
• ISBN-13: 978-0310521815
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill Hybels is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., and chairman of the board for the Willow Creek Association. The bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Axiom, Holy Discontent, Just Walk Across the Room, The Volunteer Revolution, Courageous Leadership, and classics such as Too Busy Not to Pray and Becoming a Contagious Christian, Hybels is known worldwide as an expert in training Christian leaders to transform individuals and their communities through the local church. Hybels received a bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Trinity College in Deerfield, Ill. He and his wife, Lynne, have two adult children and one grandson, Henry.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, Pertinent and Personally Powerful...A Must read!, March 16, 2002

By 

Tim Allison "Tim Allison" (Manteca, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Honest to God? (Paperback)

I love Bill Hybels heart. He is so passionate about being real and Christlike - He has this wonderful bent for doing something useful with what he knows. I find his insights true to life and his suggestions to be field tested and generally useful. It seems he leaves few stones unturned in his quest for authenticity as he relates it to:
*The role of spiritual disciplines
*Womens liberation issues
*Understanding Masculinity
*Truth telling-in relationships
*Parenting
*Work
*Christian service
*Money
*Exercise
The strength of this book, in my estimation, is not in the "knowing" part of Christianity but rather the "doing". His focus is always about becoming something different from what we've learned - I admire and appreciate that so much.

I have found Hybels teaching to be particularly helpful in applying biblical principles to contemporary concerns and daily living that truly impact me.
I find his writing style to be encouraging, clear, theologically sound and generally devoid of "Churchy" language. In particular, I found the chapters in this book on:
"A new dimension in Spirituality",
"Truth-telling: pathway to authentic relationships" and
"Honest emotions",
particularly encouraging and useful in addressing particular needs in my own Christian walk. I believe this is a must read for folks, who like myself, desire a deeper spiritual walk and need help getting "traction" on our part in the maturity process.

I highly recommend this book, I believe it is a text you will come back to time and again.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Its worth the read, September 9, 2003

By 

Robert Wynkoop (Washington State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honest to God? (Paperback)

Bill Hybells challenges Christians to put away pretentious Christianity and begin to communicate with each other about who we are and where we are in Christ. The author contends that unless Christians do so, they will never experience the supernatural walk with a personal God. In a mere hundred and ninety-two pages, Hybells addresses over a dozen significant areas of the Christian life ranging from the role of male and female to physical fitness.

I tried not to like this book. Although I have tremendous respect for Mr. Hybells, I am not a big fan of his politics; yet, despite my reservations I was drawn to it. Hybells attempts to cover a significant amount of material in only a few pages. Whereas Honest to God cannot be called scholarly, it does serve its purpose in challenging the reader to live the authentic Christian life.

Since this book is a primer on spiritual authenticity, it lacked depth; and since Hybells wrote it, it was predictable. Like many of his earlier books, it follows the same format- personal stories or illustrations from his ministry, followed by teaching. Every chapter follows the same format, Yawn! One gets the impression the book is pasted together from a sermon series. Some of the chapters were amazingly brief and consequently, amazingly weak. In a mere thirteen pages we are told how to have an authentic marriage, it is an amazing feat. His chapter on the languages of love or not original with him, nor did he document that it was borrowed from another resource.

Although it is rather predictable and superficial, Hybells does convey with utter clarity what authentic Christianity is. Unless the church rediscovers spiritual authenticity, true renewal will remain an elusive goal at best.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction, But Get Your Meat Elsewhere!, December 23, 2004

By 

Michael Taylor "Michael Taylor" (Indian Trail NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honest to God? Becoming an Authentic Christian (Paperback)

In my humble opinion, Hybels has written what is a good introduction on becoming a real Christian. The book consists of about 200 pages and 14 chapters on different areas: marriage, money, evangelism, effective service, parenting, emotions, and other areas.

The book is a good primer for someone who wants a deeper walk with Jesus Christ. However, if you are looking for something with more substance, I recommend reading A.W. Tozer, Charles Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee, Dwight Moody, Charles Stanley, C.S. Lewis, Charles Swindoll, Henry Blackaby, Ian Thomas, and others.

If the book creates a hunger for you to go deeper with Jesus, then the title has served its purpose. However, I would not recommend that you stay content with this title and instead pursue titles by the authors already mentioned.