The Life You Were Born to Give: Why It's Better to Live than to Receive [Paperback]

David H. McKinley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2007

Everything we have we've been given. Even our very lives are a gift from God, given so we can live to give, not live to get. Yet it is our tendency in life to absorb, to take in without distribution resulting in a "souring" of all that is good and a separation from all that is intended.

In The Life You Were Born to Give, David McKinley helps readers shift their focus from getting all they can out of life to giving their lives away, for Christ. Guiding them through the book of Romans, the transformational message includes:

• A Life Delivered (Romans 1-11)
• A Life Devoted (Romans 12: 1-2)
• A Life Distributed (Romans 12-16)

"Recommended for readers looking for a basic approach to spiritual growth." -Don Morgan, Aspiring Retail

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this study of the biblical book of Romans, McKinley urges us to shift our focus away from getting whatever we can out of life to giving our lives away. "God intends for us to become catalysts for distribution, not containers for consolidation," he explains. He divides his study into three sections: our need for God, our need to extend God's grace to others and practical ways to live the life we "were born to give." McKinley liberally quotes others and uses historic and current events and positive personal stories to make his points. However, his chapters feel like a series of sermonettes ("Are you discouraged today?"), with all the predictable sound bites. The advice that McKinley, a Southern Baptist pastor, offers is what you'd expect: he calls for placing God in the center of our lives, practicing baptism by immersion, putting aside homosexuality, paying a full tithe, living in love, finding our gifts and using those gifts for others. Some Christians may find his short discussion on alcohol overly conservative, and the long list of people he is grateful to belongs in the acknowledgments. Still, many Christian readers will find his key point compelling: "When you learn to give, you learn to live." (Feb. 6)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849912024
• ISBN-13: 978-0849912023
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,679,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Position:
Teaching Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX

Education:
' Doctor of Ministry,
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

' Master of Divinity,
Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary

' Bachelor of Arts,
Memphis State University

Speaking Venues: You can hear David McKinley every week at PowerLunch and the mid-week Connection Service. He is also a frequent speaker at worship services at Prestonwood, and is a popular keynote speaker at local events and various conferences throughout the country.


Service:
Pastoral Ministry:
' 2002 - present Teaching Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas

' 1998 - 2002 Senior Pastor, Boca Raton Community Church, Bibletown Conference Center, Boca Raton, Florida

' 1992 - 1998 Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Merritt Island, Florida

' 1989 - 1992 Associate Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas

' 1983 - 1989 Associate Pastor, First Baptist Church, West Palm Beach, Florida

Educational Ministry:
' Adjunct Faculty, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
' Ministry Mentor, Field Education Division of Dallas Theological Seminary
' Trustee, Palm Beach Atlantic University

International Ministry:
' Trustee Board of Mission One
' 2005: Speaker at the national pastor's conference in Romania
' 2003: Panama with a team of leaders involved in Operation Christmas Child
' 1997: Cuba, China and North Korea with International Mission Board leadership

Published:

David McKinley is the author The Search for Satisfaction and The Life You Were Born to Give.

He made contributions to a pastor's manual titled In Remembrance of Me, authored by Dr. Jim Henry (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998) and the devotional book, Directions: Daily Devotions for Your Journey (2002) with proceeds benefiting Sheridan House Family Ministries.

Website:
www.davidhmckinley.com

Email:
[e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need and responsibility to give, not merely live, one's life, June 5, 2007

By 

FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life You Were Born to Give: Why It's Better to Live than to Receive (Paperback)

Pastor and author David McKinley has developed a thematic Christian primer focusing on the need and responsibility to give, not merely live, one's life. With clever wordplay, another well-known evangelical voice, Zig Ziglar, writes the book's foreword and speaks of McKinley's bottom line message: Christians should be "go-givers" not "go-getters." That said, McKinley begins his three-part text with a quote from Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35). McKinley underscores that everything we have is a gift from God. Once this truth takes root, it will change your perspective. All of life is to be marked by "stewardship and service." McKinley tells readers that life isn't for existing but for distributing.

Before delving into the disciplines of life as a giver, McKinley spends some space examining the basic tenets of the Christian faith as noted in Romans 1-11. In part one, "A Life Delivered," McKinley explains that every person must wrestle with his need for a savior for "God's justice demands satisfaction"; once forgiven, believers will grow passionate to serve God out of love and gratitude. Next, McKinley ventures into detailing what "A Life Devoted" as described in Romans 12: 1-2 looks like and how a Christian's heart, mind and will are regenerated and energized to fully dedicate their lives to God.

Finally, McKinley offers the meat of the text in "A Life Distributed," which highlights Romans 12-16. This is where he offers fellow believers the nuts and bolts of a service-oriented life. Readers will glean fresh takes on how every Christian is gifted to serve, lifted to love, shaped by experiences, called to influence, entrusted to invest, tested by time, set free to live responsibly, strengthened to encourage and blessed to be a blessing.

One of McKinley's most helpful segments is his simplified discussion of spiritual gifts. He shares how spiritual gifts fall into three categories: gifts of service (prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership and mercy); gifts of signs (tongues, miracles, healings...given "to provide authenticity to the messengers of the church"); and gifts of support (apostleship, prophecy, evangelism and teaching). McKinley notes that these gifts were conferred to the church for its "enablement, establishment, and encouragement" and that each gift is supernatural in origin, personal in distribution, functional in design and beneficial to others.

While McKinley's warm approach to each segment of this topic is contagious, it is his humility that is perhaps the most compelling. With every self-disclosing story, he reveals his own struggle with living out this "giving life." Readers will relate amidst chuckles and some sober introspection just how essential this message is for anyone serious about following Christ. One of McKinley's most telling refrains is that it doesn't matter who we are or where we are in life; if we're honest, "we realize we are much more debtors than we are achievers." McKinley convinces believers that giving truly is better than receiving.

--- Reviewed by Michele Howe