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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
I loved this book. I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. When I began it, the book didn't grab me the way that Blue Like Jazz did but once I got going, I found myself repeated wanting to yell, "Yes! Amen!" I don't want to give too much away but the chapter on the alien (I know, it sounds odd), literally made me feel sick because it so precisely summarized how we humans view each other and define ourselves by comparing to others who are "lesser" than ourselves. His thesis that Christianity is a relational faith and that by reducing it to a series of propositions makes it lose its beauty is so profoundly accurate. It made me feel as if I am not somehow a lesser Christian because I have questions and struggle with some things. Again, his idea that to read the Bible as a list of rules is to reduce it to a place where it is full of the inconsistencies that stump so many people is also such an accurate way of describing the way that I feel.
Is Donald Miller right? I don't know but he has found a way to articulate feelings that I have had for years in a better way than I ever could. If you are searching or if you believe and yet struggle with some of the "absolutes" as presented by white, well-to-do, politically conservative Christians, this is the book for you.
Is Donald Miller right? I don't know but he has found a way to articulate feelings that I have had for years in a better way than I ever could. If you are searching or if you believe and yet struggle with some of the "absolutes" as presented by white, well-to-do, politically conservative Christians, this is the book for you.
Really enjoyed the concepts that were brought to life. I think I read this at a really important time in my life as well.
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This definitely helped me see Christianity in a new light. He presents the ideas as a narrative rather than a formula, and it makes you see it as a relationship rather than a religion. I liked his emphasis on equality- that Jesus loves everyone no matter who they are or what they've done- and that no matter what we do here on earth, none of it makes us any more valuable to God than anyone else. I like Blue Like Jazz a little more, but this book was still great.
A gift from long ago. The second Christian book I have ever read and, funnily enough, 3 years after leaving the faith. More Christians should read this book.
I outright fell in love with this book. Yes, it made me laugh, and I appreciated Don's complete honesty, but it truly kept surprising me with beautifully spun truths about the gospel and how deeply God loves us. Truly a valuable read for young or old Christians.
I'd forgotten some things about Donald Miller's writing...namely, that he uses so much exclusive language (man, He, etc), and that his style is so casual as to sometimes be boring and repetitive. The concept of the book--that God wants us to be in relationship, not to follow a formula for faith--is, I think, pretty much right on. Near the end of the book he says "When Jesus gets inside somebody, the first thing that starts happening is the person starts loving people regardless of their race, their socio-economic status, or their looks." This is in comparison to people who are trying to follow a formula, which, Miller says, is more about redeeming your place in the world than about being redeemed by the grace of God. All good.
I still think he's a little over-focused on the afterlife (though he doesn't say so explicitly), and it's clear that he thinks that if you don't decide to have a relationship with Christ, then you're pretty much doomed. And again, it's mainly for "man"...
Twice during the book Miller references an incident in which he told a class at a Bible college that he was going to tell them the gospel but leave out something important--and then he talked at length about all kinds of things but never once mentioned Jesus--and the class could not figure out what he had left out. That's disturbing. Also disturbing is that in a book that purports to be about Jesus, Miller states that his favorite biblical writer is Paul (who never met Jesus) and the majority of his "gospel" quotes come from Paul's letters. He occasionally talks about the gospel of John, and Matthew gets a quote or two, but there's shockingly little JESUS material...and given that we're Christians, not Paulians, it seems that Jesus would be the beginning/middle/end of the conversation about what it means to be in relationship with Christ.
About 60% of the way through the book I almost gave up. I was bored, there was nothing new here, the style was driving me a little bonkers, and I didn't think I could take one more thing about what God is doing with "man." I stuck it out, though I confess to skimming the Romeo and Juliet chapter at the end...
I still think he's a little over-focused on the afterlife (though he doesn't say so explicitly), and it's clear that he thinks that if you don't decide to have a relationship with Christ, then you're pretty much doomed. And again, it's mainly for "man"...
Twice during the book Miller references an incident in which he told a class at a Bible college that he was going to tell them the gospel but leave out something important--and then he talked at length about all kinds of things but never once mentioned Jesus--and the class could not figure out what he had left out. That's disturbing. Also disturbing is that in a book that purports to be about Jesus, Miller states that his favorite biblical writer is Paul (who never met Jesus) and the majority of his "gospel" quotes come from Paul's letters. He occasionally talks about the gospel of John, and Matthew gets a quote or two, but there's shockingly little JESUS material...and given that we're Christians, not Paulians, it seems that Jesus would be the beginning/middle/end of the conversation about what it means to be in relationship with Christ.
About 60% of the way through the book I almost gave up. I was bored, there was nothing new here, the style was driving me a little bonkers, and I didn't think I could take one more thing about what God is doing with "man." I stuck it out, though I confess to skimming the Romeo and Juliet chapter at the end...
I think you're either going to love or be annoyed by Donald Miller's style; but what I love about his books is his tendency to stand things you think you understand on their head until you see them in a completely new way.