The Walk: Clear Direction and Spiritual Power for Your Life [Hardcover]

Shaun Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 5, 2010

Are you walking with God, dragging your feet, or running ahead of Him? Take the first step in living at God's pace.
 
When you start walking with God, it’s easy to misplace the emphasis. You might think it’s about seeking perfection or impressing God with your level of commitment. But God isn’t looking for perfection, and no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to impress him.

Walking with God is exactly what it says: God invites you to get in step with what he is doing in the world. When you walk with God, you allow him to set the pace for every aspect of your life. And that is when you discover faith and strength that overcome doubt, fear, and temptation.

Let Shaun Alexander help you get started on the greatest adventure possible. If you are ready to know God as your Walking Companion, you are ready to begin The Walk.

God invites you to grow through five stages of spiritual maturity

Walking with God is not a contest or a competition, and it has nothing to do with how you look in front of others. Your walk with Christ is the most extreme, dangerous, and  intimate adventure you will ever be part of. But all you have to do is walk, which takes you to a place where it’s not about you—instead, you will become part of something that is much bigger than anything you canimagine.

God leads his followers through five stages of spiritual maturity. He begins by working in us even before we trust him, drawing us while we are still Unbelievers. He walks with us when we become Believers, training us so that we can grow to live as Examples of Christ. He works with Examples, showing them how to explain what they believe and making them Teachers. And God calls some Teachers to serve as Imparters, those who do the miraculous work of Jesus on earth.

While our tendency is to run ahead of God or lag behind, just walking with God through the stages of spiritual maturity will transform your life with biblical wisdom, God’s direction, and the power of the Holy Spirit. With God at your side, your life will have an unprecedented impact on others.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I have profound respect for people who are better in person than they are in public. That is Shaun Alexander. He doesn’t just talk the talk; he walks the walk. And that is what this book is all about.”
—Mark Batterson, best-selling author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

“Shaun Alexander is an inspiration to those going through the ‘walk’ that we call our daily lives. His insight and wisdom will cause readers to look deep inside and seek after God. His candor and spiritual maturity teach us how to live happier, more purpose-filled lives. Once you start reading this book, you won’t be able to put it down.”
—Matthew Barnett, senior pastor of the Dream Center

“The Walk is a must-read for anyone who has questions about faith or who wonders what it would be like to have a more tangible relationship with God. It presents a picture of God we can connect with every day. From math tests to touchdowns, Shaun’s incredible insights and personal stories will give you the practical tools you need to navigate through life’s biggest challenges.”
—Erica Greve, minister and conference speaker

“Shaun Alexander has been a model and a blessing to countless young people in the Communities In Schools program, offering students hope for a future. When Shaun writes about those who are Examples—‘people who actually live what they claim to believe’—I see his face and hear his voice.”
—Bill Milliken, founder and vice-chairman of Communities In Schools Inc. and author of The Last Dropout and Tough Love

“Ever since I first met Shaun at the Senior Bowl, I have been impressed by his consistency, his humility, and his teachable spirit. I have watched him mature as he has learned to live out his faith. This book will take you through some of the same steps he took in that growth process, and I know you will be challenged and blessed.”
—Carey Casey, CEO of the National Center for Fathering and author of Championship Fathering

“Shaun lives with integrity and honor in the public eye. But it’s the life he lives when no one is watching that amazes us. His relationship with God and intimate knowledge of the Scriptures have given him a strong foundation for his entire life. With The Walk, Shaun makes these insights available to people of all walks of life in order to deepen their walk with God.”
—John and Lisa Bevere, authors, international speakers, and cofounders of Messenger International

“The greatness of Shaun Alexander running downfield with a football is but a glimpse of the greatness he walks in without a football. This man of God has written a phenomenal book that can spark the greatness in all of us. The Walk will allow us to start our walk toward a much better world, right from where we are.”
—Michael Jr., Christian comedian

About the Author

Shaun Alexander was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks after a standout football career at the University of Alabama. A three-time Pro Bowl selection, in 2005 he set an NFL record by scoring twenty-eight touchdowns. In the same season, he set a team record by gaining 1,880 rushing yards and leading his team to the Super Bowl. Today, Shaun travels the country speaking to business and military audiences, at sports camps, and at churches and Christian conferences—appearing in front of thousands of people. He is a gifted communicator and Bible teacher who points listeners toward exceptional achievement by aligning their lives with God’s perfect will.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (October 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307459519
• ISBN-13: 978-0307459510
• Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 5.4 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Walking the Walk... Cliche I know... April 4, 2012

By processbecoming

Format:Hardcover

I have something to admit. I am a band nerd at heart. I do not normally associate with athletes and jocks. As such, I have a bias that books written by athletes will follow a certain formula. However, this book blows that notion right out of the water.

I found Shaun Alexander to have a deep and abiding faith that allowed him to be a Christian who just happened to play football. In other words, while some people may need his credentials as a football player to read this book, I needed his credentials as God's man and found them.

I believe in process. I believe in order in that process. Shaun Alexander lays out an order of process for spiritual growth in this book. Immediately, I found evidence of his spiritual life and knowledge of Scripture. I kept thinking to myself where did he find time to learn God's word so in-depth. He has spent the better part of his life learning to read playbooks, plays, etc. His knowledge of the ultimate playbook excited me to no end.

I want to give you a look at the process. Shaun states that he believes that God loves order. So a progression of stages exists in our growth from not knowing God to knowing God to being an example to becoming a teacher. Most people believe that Spiritual Growth ends with being a teacher. However, Shaun takes the concept a step further and explains that we impart into others this faith that we have struggled and fought diligently to possess. Then we must walk the walk.

On a side note: I found myself dealing with some of Alexander's use of spiritual gifts. I grew up Pentecostal but have found myself serving in a baptist church. To a certain extent, I have seen abuses that have led me to walk away from some of the gifts. Alexander challenges some of my notions and really causes me to consider what Scripture says about the Gifts and how people use them.

Hopefully, this review will intrigue you enough to read this book. I think The Walk serves to challenge every believer to stop letting apathy rule our lives. Shaun Alexander speaks as a pastor/teacher to help us grow beyond who we are and challenges us to dream about tomorrow.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Blogging for Books book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended August 16, 2011

By J. Kossum

Format:Hardcover

The Walk by former NFL star Shaun Alexander is apparently written for those Christians young in their faith, but its bland, trite style and theologically questionable premise make it a book only someone with a fairly mature understanding of Scripture ought to attempt to slog through. Even then, there would be very little reward in the end.

Alexander's premise is this: Since "God is not a God of confusion but of peace" (1 Corinthians 14:33 - often translated as "order" rather than "peace"), that He has created a very specific path to maturity in Christ. That path consists of this series of stages: "Unbeliever, Believer, Example, Teacher, Imparter." (pg. 21)

Up until this point in The Walk, I had actually been pleasantly surprised. I had fully expected it to be another Christ self-help book - "Here's how to get spiritual power for your life - to be everything you want to be!" It wasn't, and I was glad of that.

However, Alexander completely lost me here. The passage he quotes as the basis for his sequence of spiritual maturity clearly relates to worship in the church - not the progression of a believer's growth. While it is true that 1 Corinthians 14:33 is a statement with broader implications, there is absolutely no Scriptural support for this order that The Walk is entirely based upon. Consequently, it took me about six weeks to read this short book because I felt compelled to continually question the author's credibility. And I continually found it lacking.

He essentially invents his premise and tells the reader it's from God, and this plagues the entire book.

There are notes of truth throughout the book, and I would encourage any believer from a non-charismatic background to read the final chapter with an open mind. Like Alexander, I believe that there are still miracles out there. We just don't see them happen because we have cut ourselves off from this kind of working of the Holy Spirit.

At the risk of being too harsh, The Walk turns out to be a more or less useless book. I absolutely would not recommend it.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of the Blogging for Books program.

3.0 out of 5 stars The Walk by Shaun Alexander March 21, 2012

By wjoehancock

Format:Paperback

When I first received this book my initial thought was that it was going to be like any other book written by an athlete. I opened it expecting a lack of writing skills and not very articulated. I can honestly say that I was completely wrong and was shocked at how well written this book is. Shaun Alexander did an amazing job at getting his point across in each chapter of this book. I would have to recommend this book to anyone that is a sports fan but more importantly a follower of Christ.

In his book "The Walk", Shaun writes about the walk with God that we are on. In each chapter he describes different phases of that walk and goes into great detail about what it is that God is showing and teaching us in that part of our journey. My favorite chapter is one that Shaun describes a "wonderer" and a "wanderer". My favorite part in each chapter and throughout the book is that Shaun timely uses stories from his playing days in the NFL. These stories for any sports fan are great but they also allow the reader to connect with him in a personal way. Shaun does an amazing job at writing in a way that is understandable by those who have been walking in a journey with God for years or someone who has just begun that journey. Also Shaun Alexander shows in this book his amazing knowledge and understanding of the Bible.

This book was given to me through a blogger review program via water book press and the opinions expressed are solely my own.