Customer Reviews

Loving God

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book gives a simple, yet thorough summary of how to Love God. At the point of my life that I read it - it was crucial. Still one of the best books I have ever read

Since the early 1970s, I have not been prone to trust Chuck Colson, or any of his colleagues from the Nixon White House. Nevertheless, Colson: the convicted criminal and reprehensible politician, has given us one of the modern treasures of Christian devotional literature.

Colson dares to say what must be said: that loving God with one's whole heart, and mind, and soul is not an essentially emotional event. Loving God has little to do with the heart. Instead Colson, courageously, declares that loving God is an act of the will. It is nothing less than complete obedience to God's revealed Word.

Colson is intelligent enough to comprehend that such obedience is impossible. Still, he has the courage to uphold it as the model: the goal for all who call themselves by the name of Christ.

In a world flailing in a swamp of competing values and rampant relativism, Colson has the strength to stand for the absolute sovereignty of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus.

Perhaps, I and those like me, who cannot seem to forget Watergate, need to learn to forgive Colson. More importantly, perhaps we need to learn to listen to him.

Chuck Colson is a great story teller, and he gives many gripping illustrations of what it means to love God in our everyday lives. He then ties it in with relevant Scripture passages. It's a very engaging read, and you won't be disappointed with it.

The big lesson I got from it is that loving God is not just something that we say with our lips. But it's something that we demonstrate with what we do with our time and with our lives. I was especially touched by the story of the woman who shows her love for God by donating her lunch hour every day to leading a prayer and Bible study time at a nearby prison. She has six kids at home. But she felt compelled to do something extra for Jesus each day.

The book is full of examples like this, and it turned out to be very satisfying.

I have a relative in prison, and this book, with Colson's own prison experience, and its' stories of prisoners who overcame it all, was highly meaningful to me. The chapter looking at the story of the thieves who were crucified along next to Christ moved me to tears. I would recommend this book to any believer who wishes to deepen their relationship with the Lord.

Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love one another. While loving one another is not easy, at least it is somewhat tangible. However, loving a being that you cannot detect with your five physical senses such as God can seem almost impossible. Charles Colson, former Nixon henchman during the Watergate scandal and now current leader of Prison Ministries, writes a wonderful book about what it means to be a Christian and how we can learn to love God. Charles Colson is a gifted story teller who relates beautiful narratives about the truth of Christianity and the power of loving God. This is definitely a book that I highly recommend. It is in the top ten list of many Christians who have had the pleasure of reading it. God bless.

This is a wonderful book whether you are Christian or not. It really depicts what Loving God really is. This book has helped me make my decision for Christ. There are many stories inside that really depicts the foundations for loving God. Chuck Colson has incorporated many wonderful testimonies that truly depicts how wonderful this God is.

Charles Colson's book does a very good job relating biblical principles to the ordinary reader. I plan on sharing this book with both new and "old" Christians. It is a very easy read and is must for every Christian's library.

This is a very compelling and thought provoking book! As Christians in today's Post-Modern world, it is far too easy to get bogged down in the trials and temptations of modern culture. To us, "Loving God" is often just another bullet on our weekly agenda. For many, the relationship with God has become a relationship of convenience.

Through Christ, we can all have an intimate, personal and deeply rewarding relationship with our Creator. The right relationship with God is far more rewarding than anything this world has to offer. As with any relationship, when we become complacent and develop unhealthy patterns, our relationship with God will suffer. True love is not just a feeling. It is a commitment. As humans, our feelings are constantly in flux, changing with the wind. As Christians, our commitments should remain strong, regardless of how we feel from day to day.

In "Loving God", Mr. Colson challenges us to evaluate our lives. Through stories from his own life, and the lives of others, he paints an excellent picture of what a life lived for God should really look like. It's not an easy pursuit, but the rewards always outweigh the sacrifice. The stories in this book illustrate this point very well.

The reason I did not give this book 5 stars is because just about every story and example Mr. Colson used in it had to do with Prison Fellowship in some way or another. I have deep admiration and respect for his concern for those locked away and forgotten by the world. It is a very honorable cause. At times, however, I felt he was emphasizing the virtues of Prison Fellowship over the core attitudes, and disciplines required to live a life that is pleasing to God. Never the less, all Christians should read this excellent book!

If your desire is to be encouraged, to walk more closely with Christ, to better love God and others, or to feast your mind on that which is true and honorable, you will benefit from this book. It is hard to be any more concrete. This is not a how-to manual or a theological study. It reads more like the product of Colson's thinking and meditating upon what it means to live the Christian life, to have intimacy with Christ, and how that life is manifested on a daily basis in our interactions with others. His anecdotes are colorful, touching, and instructive. They are examples of how others have come face to face with their innate sinfulness, been transformed by God's love, and gone on to share His love with others. A verse which could easily tie this entire book together might be John 14:21, where Jesus says, "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." How do we keep God's commandments, and what does it mean to be a witness of God's love to others? After visiting a friend diagnosed with a terminal illness recently, this quote from Colson's book remained with me: "Our presence in a place of need is more powerful than a thousand sermons. Being there is our witness."

Challenging. Colson details practical Christianity - getting your hands dirty to meet practical and spiritual needs. The beattitudes come to life. Everyone I know who's read the book had a good cry somewhere along the way, either from Colson's vivid details or a conviction of their own omission to love others as Jesus did.