Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision [Paperback]

Andy Stanley (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 3, 2005

Lift Your Vision High

Vision is a preferred future. A destination. Vision always stands in contrast to the world as it is. Visioneering, according to bestselling author Andy Stanley, is “a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.” With warm, down-to-earth practicality, Andy Stanley explores the ordinary life of Nehemiah and his God-given vision for accomplishing the extraordinary. He shows how the life of this great ancient visionary, determined to rebuild the ruined walls of Jerusalem, reveals principles that can prepare us to find and follow God’s multifaceted vision for our own lives. Now this bestseller is again available in an attractive, affordable paperback!

Everybody ends up somewhere in life.
You can end up somewhere on purpose!

Visioneering is the engineering of a vision. It’s the process one follows to develop and maintain vision. “Vision,” writes Andy Stanley , “is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.”

In the bestselling Visioneering, Stanley builds a compelling case for the necessity of a clear, God-ordained vision for each of the roles of your life. Whether you’re a parent with a vision for your children or a CEO pursuing a corporate vision, Visioneering is the perfect tool to help you develop and maintain God’s unique purpose for your life.

“Visioneering is the best book on vision I’ve seen. It will put you on track to discovering God’s purpose for your life. In my course “The Vision of the Leader,” I quote from Andy’s book more than any other. Visioneering should be on the bookshelf of every pastor, business leader, and parent in America . I heartily endorse it!”
—Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, Chairman, Dream for Africa

Story Behind the Book

Andy Stanley, the pastor of more than 15,000, knows a lot of people, and is well aware of the overwhelming and mutual desire nearly every Christian holds to find and fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. This book was written to stir these hearts and move people forward by providing tangible steps to getting from Point A to Point B. “As Christians,” states Stanley, “we do not have a right to take our talents, abilities, experiences, opportunities, and education and run off in any direction we please.” This book was written to provide a specific plan for going in the right direction. It truly is “God’s blueprint for developing and maintaining personal vision.”

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andy Stanley is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and the founder of North Point Ministries. He serves as pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, with a congregation of more than 12,000, as well as Buckhead Church in Atlanta, Georgia, with more than 3,000 attendees. Andy is the bestselling author of The Next Generation Leader, The Best Question Ever, and How Good Is Good Enough? Andy and his wife, Sandra, have two sons and a daughter.

From AudioFile

Based on Ephesians 2:10--"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works"--Stanley's book asserts we are all products of God's vision. He credits moral authority--that is, behavior beyond reproach--with providing us the strength to see our visions through despite sacrifices and possible ridicule. Stanley's voice is sincere, and his self-deprecating humor, especially about his poor academic performance, lends the production a comfortable tone. He is persuasive, reading his script steadily with a Southern accent. This is a humbling and noteworthy book. A.G.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books; annotated edition edition (October 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159052456X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590524565
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andy Stanley is a pastor, communicator, author, and the founder of North Point Ministries (NPM). Since its inception in 1995, North Point Ministries has grown from one church to five in the Atlanta area and has developed a global network of more than 30 churches. Each Sunday, more than 33,000 people attend worship services at NPM's five Atlanta-area churches: Browns Bridge Community Church, Buckhead Church, Gwinnett Church, North Point Community Church, and Watermarke Church.

Andy's books include the recently released Deep & Wide, as well as Enemies of the Heart, The Grace of God, The Next Generation Leader, and How Good Is Good Enough? Andy and his wife, Sandra, live in Alpharetta, Georgia, and have three children.

For more information about Andy Stanley and North Point Ministries, visit www.northpointministries.org.

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#63 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

#63 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars ...this book is still a reasonably good book on personal strategic planning! February 21, 2007

By Lee Say Keng

Format:Paperback

Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision
by Andy Stanley

This is essentially the paper-pack version of the author's earlier hard-back book bearing the same title. My copy of the hard-back was published in 2001.

With due respect & from a secular standpoint, - subtracting all the religious connotations in the book -, I want to say that this book is still a reasonably good book on personal strategic planning.

In particular, I like the author's definition & point of view: "Vision is a preferred future. A destination. Vision always stands in contrast to the world as it is. Visioneering is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be."

Also, among the eighteen chapters, Chapter 13: 'Moral Authority' is certainly an interesting chapter to read, as it is a material departure from most, if not all, visioning or visioneering books!

I reckon this book will appeal more to those readers with a Christian background. I had originally bought this book without realising it (in reality, I had overlooked the secondary title on the book cover), but I have no regrets.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book I Have Ever Read On Vision October 3, 2009

By Michael Taylor TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Quite frankly, "Visioneering" by Andy Stanley is the best book I have ever read on the topic of vision. George Barna wrote a good book a number of years ago entitled "The Power of Vision", however, his title is targeted more for the church leader.

Stanley's book, on the other hand, is geared towards any Christian who wants to have a vision for his or her life.

The narrative flows freely and is an excellent read. Stanley focuses on the biblical character of Nehemiah to draw parallels between what he faced and what we can face today when searching for a vision for our lives.

Among the topics covered include:

1. Praying and planning about the vision God has for you.
2. How faith is an important part of vision.
3. The price of having a vision.
4. Obstacles you face in your vision.
5. The importance of having moral authority.
6. Distractions you will face.
7. Maintaining your course when pursuing the vision God has for you.

I highly recommend the book to any Christian who wants to get out of their comfort zone and wants to pursue God's best for his or her life.

Read and enjoy!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Visioneering a true blueprint January 7, 2008

By Duane

Format:Paperback

Andy Stanley in true fashion to previous work has shown why he is a great communicator. In the book he uses simple, easy to follow methods that can be used by anyone at any age. Vision is a tough subject to convey to readers. You will usually blind your readers with theories and methods that either consume to much time or require far to many assets to be practical in every day use. Andy, using God's word and blueprint spelled out in the Bible clearly gives a step by step method of what works, and certainly things that will fail. I will be reading this text again in a few weeks. So simple in approach. So rich in quality and quantity of material.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Book: Visioneering by Andy Stanley; Review by Adam Miller March 7, 2012

By Adam Miller

Format:Paperback

About a year ago, a good friend of mine and I were talking about visions that God has given us throughout the years. Both of us are strong visionaries and we were encouraged to discuss what God had given us individually and how that all worked together in the bigger picture of God's will. At the end of the discussion, my friend recommended that I read Visioneering by Andy Stanley. It has been a while since that conversation, but I finally had the opportunity recently to sit down and digest that book.

In Visioneering, Andy Stanley discusses a unique spirit that many people have in recognizing where things aren't right and the passion they have to make it better. The book is a sort of self-help book to those who have visions and it offers strategies on how to maintain a vision, accomplish the tasks, and sustain positive results.

Andy Stanley is the founding pastor of North Point Community Church and North Point Ministries in Georgia. The son of Mega-Church pastor Charles Stanley, Andy has followed in his father's footsteps by establishing his own Mege-Church ministry, with unique characteristics that are all his own. With a collective Church size of over 15,000 people, Andy Stanley has established himself as a voice to be heard and a clear visionary to be acknowledged.

Vision is a rather ambiguous term which Stanley doesn't spend a great deal of time defining. Stanley's definition seems to lump all great ideas into the same pot without making much distinction between business and ministry. In either case, the points Stanley makes could be applied to both worlds. Stanley's introductory point is that everyone ends up somewhere in life, and vision plays a large part in getting there.... While it is implied that visions from God are designed to further God's kingdom, it is not explicitly stated. Therefore, anyone with a vision of any kind could learn from this book.

The highlights of the book are chapters five, six, and eleven where Stanley explains that visions need to be founded, guarded, and evaluated in light of criticism. In Chapter five, Stanley explains the essential ingredient to vision: faith. "Faith is confidence that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He has promised to do." This is a critical point to understand before proceeding in any pursuit.

Chapter six talks about the importance of doing the necessary research to determine how the vision will be accomplished. Stanley notes that many people will not be on board with your initial vision until they see it working. Too often, visionaries are discouraged because the vision they were attempting to accomplish didn't work out. This is usually because they were using the wrong means. Instead of giving up on the vision, Stanley suggest one should reevaluate the process of accomplishing it.

In Chapter eleven Stanley gives extensive warning about the nay-sayers that are out there, "Visions are easy to criticize... Vision attract criticism... Visions are difficult to defend against criticism... and Visions often die at the hands of critics." For anyone who has ever had a vision and had their wind knocked out of them, this chapter will be encouraging and motivating.

Stanley makes several other key points that are important to note: Visions are never exclusive to one person, Vision takes sacrifice, and Vision requires leadership. Visioneering is a thorough book which will encourage anyone who ever had vision to keep pressing on and better refine their objectives, but it is not without its areas of concern.

The biggest concern I had with the book was that there was not a good deal of Scriptural support. This is not to suggest that the book was wrong in any way, or erroneous in its premise, but it does question the definitiveness of the argument. The point here is that people with vision and no idea where to begin look up to those who have accomplished much in their lifetime. It is clearly evident that Andy Stanley has accomplished a great deal of things. This is his sole source of credibility.

In order to understand why I bring this up, we must first note that all truth is God's truth, but not all truth is recorded in the Bible. Speaking outside of the framework of the Bible is not wrong, I do it quite often as does everyone else. But it is important to be aware that just because this is a Christian book, it is not above criticism. Those Christians reading this book need to exercise discernment and understand that what Andy Stanley is saying is outside of the realm of definitive truth. He is purely speaking from experience, which is not all wrong.

Furthermore, I did feel that there were a great deal of points to be made that would shed light on the Biblical principles for visioneering: multitude of counselors, iron sharpening iron, etc. Yet Stanley seemed to be speaking solely outside of any Biblical argument. Surely there are several models in Scripture which Stanley could have noted as examples in the book, but he didn't. This is not to say that it is all wrong, but to point out the limitations that the book has.

There are a lot of great men who have accomplished great things. Ironically, they will not all agree on what it took to get them there. If anyone desires to learn, they need simply to place themselves under the feet of those who have gone before them. There is so much to learn from those who have accomplished much. Those of us who are rising into the ranks of leadership should consider greatly the path of those who have influenced us and take great care to provide a clear example to those who are following us. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning how to steer their vision, but I would offer some caution that what is read will be accepted as general wisdom. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Surprise April 7, 2008

By Jesse M. Roland

Format:Paperback

As a Pastor I have read so many books on leadership and vision I stay away ordinarily but I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a 101 course on visionary leadership based on Nehemiah (which makes this book an inspiring Bible study for anyone). It is written in a way that makes you feel the authors sincerity and warmth. Very encouraging and inspiring. I thought the stuff on naysayers was very insightful. Couldn't put it down until I was finished with it.