7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
What happened to the topic from the title?, February 5, 2007
I listened to the unabridged audiocassette version of "Overcoming Overload." The book began with a stirring case against the American suburban plague of overload. At that point, I was tracking with the Farrars and excited for the rest of the book.
However, after presenting such a compelling vision against overload, the authors essentially abandoned that topic and spent the remainder of the book avoiding practical solutions to the problem that they so clearly explicated. Instead, they decided to write a book on the classic spiritual disciplines, utilizing different terms than normal (sustenance rather than Bible study, supplication rather than prayer) to fit their S-word alliteration.
Ultimately, as books on spiritual disciplines go, this one is solid. Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" is more comprehensive, and John Ortberg's "The Life You've Always Wanted" is more engaging. But "Overcoming Overload" is perfectly fine as the Farrars lay out their prescription for the vibrant Christian life.
My frustration is that this information was not what I wanted when I bought this book. Throughout the entire book, excluding the introduction, the specific references to overcoming overload are few and far between. I suppose that the authors intentionally avoided a "how-to" approach to overcoming overload, but I still felt misled about what I had purchased. It's as if they decided that the best solution to anyone burdened by overload is to be a faithful, committed Christian. Though that is true, it's a very generic response for what would equally apply to any problem that a person might experience. I wanted more specific reference to the titled topic.
Other minor quibbles involve some theological perspectives that were communicated rather dogmatically, without sufficient support. For instance, Farrar is apparently a relatively committed Calvinist, but describes his theological positions without any detail. Again, if I had known that this was a more theologically-driven work, this would have made sense.
At the end of the day, the Farrars have written a helpful book. If it were titled, "How to Live a Good Christian Life" or "Disciplines for A True Disciple," it would have made sense. But they appeared to select a very useful title, get distracted by something more interesting, and essentially abandon the initial premise. That was frustrating for me. If you have appropriate expectations, I would expect that you will appreciate it.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Biblical advice for an epidemic in the Body of Christ, February 27, 2004
This review is from: Overcoming Overload (Hardcover)
Steve Farrar is known for his books targeted to men. Writing with his wife, Mary, he addresses both men and women who do too much in this book. This small volume contains Biblical advice for combating the drive to do too much, and to cope when life's circumstances cause almost unbearable pressure. Farrar is one of the best writers in the Christian market - he communicates a warmth and sense of humor that make the material more understandable. Highly recommended.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book!, June 16, 2011
This is a wonderful book. My husband bought it for me two years ago and ironically, I have been too overloaded to sit down a read it. But I recently picked it up, began reading, and couldn't put it down. It offers practical Bible-based advice on how we should view the busy-ness in our lives and how to reevaluate our busy-ness with a Christian worldview. Just because we CAN do things and CAN fill our calendar, doesn't mean we should. Learning to choose what is best for us and our families. Learning to discern what God's best is for us in a crazy busy world.
I did read a couple unfavorable reviews, criticizing the latter part of the book as being more of an advice book on how to live a better Christian life or on being a disciple. The person reviewing said this wasn't relevant to being "overloaded"... I beg to differ. When we learn to put God first in our lives and understand WHO God is,(as discussed in the latter chapters) our lives will have the proper focus and things of this world take on a different level of importance... or un-importance. We are then able to keep our lives free of the things that overload us.
Excellent book and highly reccommended... From a busy mom! :)
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