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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Definitely more geared for new believers. Personally found it extremely black & white, but I see the value in how this could be helpful in anyone who is starting a relationship w God. Solid little nuggets/reminders to go back to.
This is one of the most useless pieces of drivel I've ever read. Rick Warren's definition of "life purpose" and my definition are diametrically opposed. His definition of life purpose is: those things which you, and the whole rest of the world, should be doing anyway. While those things you and I might think of as a life purpose (job, career, family, etc.) are things he derides as meaningless diversions. Here are the 5 purposes Warren comes up with (so you don't have to read the book yourself): worship God, serve others, proselytize, grow spiritually, and fellowship with a community of believers. Yep, that's right, that's all you get with this crappy book.
At the beginning of the book, Warren claims that this book is not a "self-help" book because self-help books are self-centered, while this book is, of course, God-centered. That's a pile of horse poop distinction. I felt like he was saying that just to build himself up and make himself look better (way to be Christ-like there Warren!). There is nothing wrong with making yourself a better person and in fact that's what this book urges you to do - be a better Christian person. So making that distinction was an effort to make other Christian self-help books/authors look bad or un-Christian.
Warren apparently does not know how to research and cite ideas. The most annoying example of this was his saying "The Bible says..." every 3 or 4 sentences without giving a reference. Since he uses so many different Bible translations, I often couldn't figure out where in the Bible that was, even though I am very familiar with scripture. Now, I listened to the audio version so maybe there were references in the print addition. But it was still annoying. As a writer you should never repeat the same phrase over and over like that.
The entire book was a plug for either his other books or services or self-aggrandizement about all the good he's done at his own church. His church plugs always told how many thousands of people had benefited from whatever method he was selling, like it's the numbers that are the most important thing.
I was very annoyed at the things that Warren seemed to think were invented by Christians but were obviously not. The most obvious was what he called "breath prayers." I had never heard that term, but, as he described it, it was obvious that mantras are the same thing. Sorry Warren, but Eastern religions were using mantras long before Christ. (Again, it's called RESEARCH. Try doing it next time, before you just spout off whatever you like.) Another example was meditation. He talked as if meditation as we understand it from the Eastern religions is just "woo-woo," hippie stuff, while meditating on God was something totally different. In reality what he described (intense focus on one thought/idea) is exactly what Eastern religions have been teaching long before Christ.
Two specific things about his listed "purposes" that I disagreed with were the fellowship part and the evangelism part. For fellowship, Warren came right out and said that you were a bad person if you weren't an active member of a church. And it was very obvious that by "church" he meant some sort of "official," recognized one. A splinter group, a sect, or a small group meeting in someone's home would not live up to his definition simply because these groups wouldn't be able to support all the things he said a church HAD to do. He also did not even think about all those people who might not be able to even get to a church, much less do all those things that a supposed Christian is supposed to do (I'm speaking here of the poor, the sick, those without transportation, those whose jobs require them to work, etc.). His book is completely slanted towards the upper middle class in this respect, who would have no obstacles to overcome in regards to fellowship. For evangelism, Warren claims that you are REQUIRED to be a WORLD evangelist. That's right. It's not good enough to do all the other things he talks about in your own home, town, city, or country. In order to fulfill your "purpose" you must go to other cultures or countries and preach to those people to. (Again, this is in spite of him talking about everyone having different gifts, etc. He thinks that these 5 purposes go beyond your "gifts" and therefore everyone must do them.)
A personal annoyance was that Warren got emotional several times. I understand being passionate about a subject and wanting to share your passion with others. But IMO random outbursts of (almost) crying is unacceptable from someone who is supposed to be a leader, especially when that person is talking to complete strangers AND when you are able to record as many takes as you like for an audiobook until you get it right.
To sum up, Warren's 5 purposes are less help for those who are questioning their life purpose than most other self-help books, Christian OR secular. These are things most Christians probably understand already, especially those who want some direction in life. So this is a big FAIL in Warren's attempt to help others.
At the beginning of the book, Warren claims that this book is not a "self-help" book because self-help books are self-centered, while this book is, of course, God-centered. That's a pile of horse poop distinction. I felt like he was saying that just to build himself up and make himself look better (way to be Christ-like there Warren!). There is nothing wrong with making yourself a better person and in fact that's what this book urges you to do - be a better Christian person. So making that distinction was an effort to make other Christian self-help books/authors look bad or un-Christian.
Warren apparently does not know how to research and cite ideas. The most annoying example of this was his saying "The Bible says..." every 3 or 4 sentences without giving a reference. Since he uses so many different Bible translations, I often couldn't figure out where in the Bible that was, even though I am very familiar with scripture. Now, I listened to the audio version so maybe there were references in the print addition. But it was still annoying. As a writer you should never repeat the same phrase over and over like that.
The entire book was a plug for either his other books or services or self-aggrandizement about all the good he's done at his own church. His church plugs always told how many thousands of people had benefited from whatever method he was selling, like it's the numbers that are the most important thing.
I was very annoyed at the things that Warren seemed to think were invented by Christians but were obviously not. The most obvious was what he called "breath prayers." I had never heard that term, but, as he described it, it was obvious that mantras are the same thing. Sorry Warren, but Eastern religions were using mantras long before Christ. (Again, it's called RESEARCH. Try doing it next time, before you just spout off whatever you like.) Another example was meditation. He talked as if meditation as we understand it from the Eastern religions is just "woo-woo," hippie stuff, while meditating on God was something totally different. In reality what he described (intense focus on one thought/idea) is exactly what Eastern religions have been teaching long before Christ.
Two specific things about his listed "purposes" that I disagreed with were the fellowship part and the evangelism part. For fellowship, Warren came right out and said that you were a bad person if you weren't an active member of a church. And it was very obvious that by "church" he meant some sort of "official," recognized one. A splinter group, a sect, or a small group meeting in someone's home would not live up to his definition simply because these groups wouldn't be able to support all the things he said a church HAD to do. He also did not even think about all those people who might not be able to even get to a church, much less do all those things that a supposed Christian is supposed to do (I'm speaking here of the poor, the sick, those without transportation, those whose jobs require them to work, etc.). His book is completely slanted towards the upper middle class in this respect, who would have no obstacles to overcome in regards to fellowship. For evangelism, Warren claims that you are REQUIRED to be a WORLD evangelist. That's right. It's not good enough to do all the other things he talks about in your own home, town, city, or country. In order to fulfill your "purpose" you must go to other cultures or countries and preach to those people to. (Again, this is in spite of him talking about everyone having different gifts, etc. He thinks that these 5 purposes go beyond your "gifts" and therefore everyone must do them.)
A personal annoyance was that Warren got emotional several times. I understand being passionate about a subject and wanting to share your passion with others. But IMO random outbursts of (almost) crying is unacceptable from someone who is supposed to be a leader, especially when that person is talking to complete strangers AND when you are able to record as many takes as you like for an audiobook until you get it right.
To sum up, Warren's 5 purposes are less help for those who are questioning their life purpose than most other self-help books, Christian OR secular. These are things most Christians probably understand already, especially those who want some direction in life. So this is a big FAIL in Warren's attempt to help others.
This book was life-changing for me. I’m sad that I didn’t read it earlier in life!
Not for me.
Not a fan of the way scripture was done
Felt very cheesy
Not a fan of the way scripture was done
Felt very cheesy
3.5 stars. I don't think I was to this point in my spiritual journey. I took what I needed right now. I will revisit this in the future.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
medium-paced
Outstanding Book
This was one of the most inspiring Christian books I have ever read.
This is one of those books that will change your life, and the lives of people around you.
Would highly recommend reading this.
Definitely check this one out.
4.9/5
This was one of the most inspiring Christian books I have ever read.
This is one of those books that will change your life, and the lives of people around you.
Would highly recommend reading this.
Definitely check this one out.
4.9/5
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Really struggled with this one…took multiple breaks and had to force myself through. There were some great ideas but it felt pretty watered down and definitely had some things i didn’t agree with