Customer Reviews

Louder Than Words: The Power of Uncompromised Living

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I challenge you to read this book. Even if you are none of the things above, chances are you know someone who is. So buy the book for them (but read through a bit yourself).

Andy writes like a person carrying on a conversation with you. He constructs scenarios that leave you with a handful of questions, and then he answer them one at a time with practical advice and scriptural support.

This is a book about integrity and character. Andy provides real solutions that you can start implementing in your life immediately to start combating each character issue. You will see yourself, and the people around you, very differently after reading this book. You won't regret this change.

I bought this book for each of the 11th grade guys in my small group. If you are a father, I recommend buying 2 copies and reading it along with your teenage son or daughter. Maybe schedule coffee every other week, and discuss one chapter per sitting.

Andy says that every day you are either growing closer to, or further away, from the person you want to be. This book is a guide for those who desire to be deliberate about becoming the person they wish they were all along.

This is a great book to read on Christian character development, what it means to grow gracefully in the Lord, to learn about poise and elegance from the liberation of being obedient to God (and they are not burdensome :) , how our reverence to the Almighty slowly changes our character and our willingness to go through such changes in light of a person's reverence for God. Character is a reflection of our inner being. Stanley includes appropriate biblical passages, it is a must read book for anyone who wants to develop their character to the likeness of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

This book was so well written and so applicable to my life, but to be honest, it would be so for pretty much any body's life. And to be completely honest with you, Andy Stanley is such a great speaker and writer that I recomend just about any sermon or book by him. He has such a unique, but basic view on things and how they should be, and he is very well gifted in getting them across. He can make something as "everyday" as the Lord's Prayer not just interesting, but captivating. So, to get back to the book, If you're looking to not just improve your character but actually understand what character is, this is the book for you.

The author seems to be a good writer and he gets his ideas across very clearly. The tone is conversational and it is an easy book to read. And though I can see how some might be inspired by his words, I did not care for the book.

I'll limit my critique to the assertion made by the author that genuine Christianity will not necessarily result in a changed life. Here are the direct quotes from the book:

"While Christianity does change our eternal destination, it's no guarantee that our behavior here on earth will be altered." (87)
"Being adopted into God's family does not necessarily, instantly, or automatically improve your character." (87 emphasis added)
"Being a Christian doesn't guarantee change." (89)

These statements are not biblical; they're antithetical to what the scriptures teach us. In James 2 we learn that a faith that does not produce works will not save us. In verse 14 James writes, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?" In verse 26 he writes, "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."

I am not suggesting that we are saved by works. The bible is abundantly clear that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works (Rom 3.20; Rom 3.25,26; Rom 5.17-19; Gal 2.16; Gal 3.11; Gal 5.4). But the scriptures also teach us that faith that is genuine always produces works of righteousness.

Andy Stanley claims that being a genuine Christian doesn't guarantee a change in our behavior in this life. I would say that being a genuine Christian absolutely guarantees a change in our behavior in this life. But what do the scriptures teach us about this?

One of the clearest places in scripture regarding this matter is found in 1 John 3:4-10:

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; j sin is lawlessness. 5 You know thatk he appeared to l take away sins, and m in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning;n no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, o let no one deceive you.p Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 q Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was r to destroy the works of the devil. 9 s No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's [2] seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, t nor is the one who u does not love his brother.

Now when John says No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, It's clear that he does not mean that Christians don't sin, for he says in 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So what does John mean when he says No one born of God makes a practice of sinning?

According to Wayne Grudem, John does not mean that Christians don't continue to sin, but rather "Once we have been born again we cannot continue to sin as a habit or a pattern of life (1 John 3:9), because the power of new spiritual life within us keeps us from yielding to a life of sin." (Systematic Theology - an introduction to biblical doctrine - Zondervan, 1995)

In addition to telling us that genuine Christians will not continue to sin as a habit or pattern of life, John says in verse 10 that it is precisely this change in behavior that is the evidence of who is truly born of God! He tells us that whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God!

John MacArthur agrees with this when he says, "True repentance and life-change are evidence of true saving faith." (The Gospel According to Jesus - Zondervan, 1988)

It seems clear that Andy Stanley's assertion that being a Christian doesn't guarantee change is simply unbiblical. And Stanley does not himself offer up any scriptural support for his errant assertion.

There are many other scriptural texts that teach us that genuine saving faith always produces a change in the heart and actions of true Christians. Romans 6:20-22 reads,

20 v For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 w But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things x of which you are now ashamed? y For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you z have been set free from sin and a have become slaves of God, b the fruit you get leads to sanctification and c its end, eternal life.

In a sermon on this text, John Piper, author and preaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis says, "So the big purpose of Romans 6 is to show why justification by faith always brings sanctification with it. Or as the old-time teachers used to say: this chapter teaches why the faith that alone justifies, is never alone, but always brings a holiness of life with it."

So we are not saved by works, but by faith alone - and saving faith always produces a change of character for those who are truly born of God.

Evangelical Christianity has tended to reduce salvation to an alter call experience. It is absolutely true that many have been saved at a moment in proximity to their alter call experience. But many have not. We are not saved by simply praying a prayer or making a commitment with our mouths. The scriptures teach us that it is God who makes us alive in Christ. And as we had a passive role in our physical birth, so we have a passive role in our spiritual re-birth. In John 1:13 we read that those who experience regeneration are "born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." Grudem writes, "In the work of regeneration we play no active role at all. It is instead totally a work of God." (Systematic Theology - an introduction to biblical doctrine - Zondervan, 1995)

We see this in Ezekiel 36:25-27 where the prophet writes the words of God:

25 e I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from f all your uncleannesses, and g from all your idols h I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you i a new heart, and i a new spirit I will put within you. i And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 j And I will put my Spirit within you, i and cause you to walk in my statutes and k be careful to obey my rules.

It is precisely because the new birth is a work of God and not of man that it is guaranteed to produce sanctification.

This is an excellent book, but I cannot recommend the Kindle edition. Again, it's a good read, but buy the paperback.
I suspect that this electronic version was published without being proofread. There were so many mistakes throughout the book--e.g., missing apostrophes, "you'll" rendered as "you 11," and other words that were unintelligible--that it was distracting. There were times when I had to consult my husband's paper copy just to make sure I understood a sentence or phrase as it should have been written. Please understand that the comprehension difficulties had nothing to do with Mr. Stanley's argument or writing style, they were completely due to a horrible rendering of the text into the Kindle version.
I enjoy my Kindle. I prefer to read on it. However, I find it extremely frustrating when I come across a book that has been released with so many mistakes. No editor worth her salt would allow this to happen in the "paper world," why should it be allowed in the e-world?

This book is a must-have for anyone, any age and any stage.

I like to diversify the spiritual leaders I listen to. Mostly because I don't think it's healthy when you start saying, "Andy Stanley says" more than you say, "The Bible says". I do find, however, that I keep coming back to certain ones again and again, because they do a good job of providing biblical teaching in a way that makes you want to apply it to your life. Some teachers make you feel so low it's hard to look "Up" and others make you feel so high you don't think you need to. The good ones make you aware of your shortcomings, then hold out a hand to help you get back on track.

Stanley is such a teacher. He makes no excuses for you; if you lie, he'll tell you to stop lying, but he won't keep calling you a liar. This is an excellent read for anyone interested in improving character.

If Andy Stanley has written a lousy book I have yet to read it! Louder Than Words is a contemporary call to pursuing a "life with no regrets." For Stanley, the plumb line against which all else is measured is God's Word - the Bible. He clearly identifies his firm belief that the Bible provides us with an absolute standard of right and wrong. Basing your character on that standard is the key.

Notice that there are two essential ingredients for character. First, character demands a commitment to do what is right in spite of what it might cost us personally....Second. we must acknowledge that there is an absolute standard of right and wrong - one that exists independent of our own emotions, experiences, or desires. This standard is a permanent, unwavering benchmark by which we can measure our choices. p.31

You may not like the idea of absolutes and prefer to approach life situationally by applying a wide range of standards to each situation. To me that seems like an incredible waste of time - trying to apply ever-changing standards to every different situation. How does that really work? It's okay to speed 5-10 mph over the limit but more than that is wrong? It's okay to keep a little extra change that the clerk mistakenly gave you but stealing $100 from the tip jar is wrong? How do you decide how much is okay?

For the committed follower of Jesus there is a deep desire to develop character that honors God and imitates Jesus. For most of us the struggle comes in figuring out how that works. According to Stanley it happens through the process of renewing your mind. His comments here were very pointed:

Putting on the new often entails taking a different approach to the Bible. Finding the scriptural truths that apply to your particular situation will require some effort. And that means moving beyond a devotional approach to Scripture. It could mean opening your Bible on a daily basis for the first time. You will never renew your mind reading a couple of pages out of a devotional book and praying a prayer. Renewing your mind involves more than simply reading through the Bible in a year or answering your Bible study questions or filling out a workbook. p. 114

Are you tired? Tired of the comfortable and routine way in which we pursue Christian discipleship? I am. We are so content to show up and get our frequent attender card punched. We want to sing the familiar songs, hear a familiar translation, and takes note on a comfortable message that doesn't push us outside of our comfortable seats, comfortable cars, comfortable homes, or comfortable vacations. How will our minds ever get renewed?

It's kind of like having gym membership. You show up every week - maybe a few times every week - dressed for a workout but instead you just sit and watch other people workout or just watch workout videos! Why even have the gym membership in the first place if you are not going to use that time to work on renewing your body?

It's time that we who claim to love and follow Jesus do so in such a way that our lives are transformed.

Louder Than Words will give you practical insights into developing godly character and having a life with no regrets.

Andy Stanley understands the nature of character, and uses life situations to illustrate how character -- your life testimony -- is built; piece by piece. Great reading for small study groups. Essential principles for anyone who wants to make an impact for good.

Andy Stanley's "Louder Than Words" is one of the most simple yet powerful books I have ever read. Everyone should read this book. I feel that everyone can benefit immensely from it! Beautifully written!