"Greater" by Steven Furtick

"Most of us aren't in danger of ruining our lives. We're in danger of wasting them."

Greater by Steven Furtick is a book for those who feel that they are stuck in a rut- spiritually, professionally, relationally, or otherwise. "You can't keep living like this," Furtick writes. "It's not fine for you to settle for going every day to a job you'd prefer to quit, doing decent work, being a pretty good person compared to your neighbor, paying your bills on time, and sporadically reading your Bible as though it's your guide to the great things God did in other people's lives in the past. Baseline living is not okay."

Furtick begins by defining a "greater" life. A greater life is not mediocre living or being stuck in spiritual survival mode. It is not being controlled by complacency. It is not having vague, unrealistic aspirations. "Greater" as defined by Steven Furtick is "the life-altering understanding that God is ready to accomplish a kind of greatness in your life that is entirely out of human reach." Whether it be making a huge, life-altering change or simply stepping it up by coming at your current situation with greater passion from a fresh perspective, Furtick explains that God is calling us to be greater with Him through His Spirit within us.

Furtick suggests that the reason many of us are so stuck is because we try to do it on our own, and consequently we pick the wrong place to begin pursuing the greater things God has for us.  From training yourself to hear God's voice, to knowing how to respond to His promptings, to preparing yourself for the inevitable setbacks, Furtick walks the reader through what it looks like to seek a "greater" life. He draws on the biblical story of Elisha to illustrate his proposals throughout the book. While I found this particular comparison worked on some levels, it seemed completely random at other points which is really my only criticism about this book.

Overall, Greater is an empowering book that challenges you to take a look at the life you're living and determine if there's anything about it that is setting it apart. It touches on stretching your limited resources and making significant impacts with your life starting today, rather than making endless plans for tomorrow that you never get around to. Furtick states that when you begin to seek this greater life, God will "give you the confidence to know that nothing is impossible with Him, the clarity to see the next step He's calling you to make, and the courage to do anything He tells you to do."

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. 

"The Gospel of Yes" by Mike Glenn

In The Gospel of Yes, Mike Glenn tackles the fallacy that Christianity is nothing but a bunch of rules, or, as he puts it, "a bunch of NOs."  Glenn kicks off his book by talking about his early church experiences where it was inferred that God was only interested in setting boundaries and making sure he didn't enjoy his life. Glenn states, "I attended a church where I was told what not to do. Not doing things took on a sheen of righteousness. My friends and I would get together on Sunday and praise God that we hadn’t done anything all week. We were convinced that scrupulous inactivity was what God preferred." 

Glenn's purpose in writing The Gospel of Yes is to dispel this belief; to set straight this common misconception about God.  Mike Glenn seeks to offer a clear presentation of the Gospel and the way that saying "yes" to God's grace actually frees us rather than limits us.  As the title suggests, Glenn's main point is that God's favorite and most powerful word is "yes," not "no." God is for us, not against us.  

I like the basic message of this book.  There are several chapters I particularly enjoyed, such as chapter 4, "God Says Yes a Lot," in which Glenn goes through numerous examples found in the Bible of God finding a way to say "yes" when the circumstances all pointed toward "no." (i.e. Adam and Eve)  However, I personally had a hard time getting through the book.  Glenn went heavy on the personal stories and self-actualization philosophy, leaving little space for much else in his book.  I struggled with staying engaged in the book; therefore I found myself on several occasions setting it down and going long periods of time before picking it up again.  Also, the cover of this book states, "We have missed the most important thing about God.  Finding it changes everything." Despite it's aim at defining "the most important thing about God," this book fails to deliver a clear statement of what that specific "thing" actually is.

Mike Glenn's overall message in The Gospel of Yes is an important one.  However, I feel that Glenn could have used more of the actual gospel to establish his objective. 

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. 

"The Necessity of an Enemy" by Ron Carpenter, Jr

"An enemy arising in your life is an announcement that the next stage of your future is about to be born." -Ron Carpenter, Jr

In his first-ever book, The Necessity of an Enemy: How the Battle You Face Is Your Best Opportunity, Ron Carpenter, Jr describes an enemy as any person, mindset, weakness, or situation that Satan uses to threaten or sabotage your passion for God's purpose and plan for your life. The concept behind his book is that these "enemies" are just as important as friends- or potentially even more critical- because they are indicators that God is planning movement in your life, and that transition is right around the corner. 

Despite being about spiritual warfare, The Necessity of an Enemy is a very encouraging book. It views suffering from a new perspective and is eye-opening to some of the reasons that God allows (but does not cause) adversity to take place. Carpenter covers a variety of topics; such as the reason for enemies, viewing enemies through God's point of view, battling back when your enemies rise up against you, and so on and so forth. The book is broken up into 8 different parts that lead to understanding, embracing, and ultimately conquering your enemies. 

Carpenter challenges some traditional views such as "tests and trials are God's way of teaching us something." Instead, Carpenter suggests that tests in life are God's way of measuring what we already know. Carpenter states, "[In] the time of testing, God is evaluating what you have learned during the previous season of your life. And you have to overcome or pass that test, which often comes in the form of an enemy, in order for God to advance you to the next level of your purpose...A test forces us to focus squarely on what we know to be true. The enemies you're facing right now may be there because God recognizes you've lost focus and it's stopping you from accomplishing your purpose." This is one of many perspectives Carpenter takes on viewing hardships in life.

The Necessity of an Enemy is essential for anyone who struggles with the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" This book is chock-full of good insight and wisdom. It's an easy read in the sense that the content is not overwhelming and each of the 8 parts of the book are organized into short and to-the-point sections. I would recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with any kind of affliction. As Ron Carpenter, Jr states, "If your enemies are loud and the battles are raging, continue to stand, knowing this: Something great is about to dawn in your life."

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. 

My rating: 5/5 stars

"Love Wins" by Rob Bell

Does a loving God really send people to hell for all eternity?


Rob Bell tackles this loaded and very controversial question in his book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.

Bell begins his book by diving into the concepts of heaven and hell. To summarize, Bell suggests that heaven is a place that is essentially earth, but without all the loss, pain, evil, etc. It is a literal location that is someplace else; but is also coming into existence here. Hell, on the other hand, may not be a "literal place." He goes into how people experience personal hell here and now on this earth every single day. Rape. Torture. Imprisonment. Greed. To get around definitively stating that hell apart from the here and now is not a real place, Bell finds a loophole by discussing the fact that when Jesus mentioned "hell," He was actually referring to a particular garbage heap called Gehenna, a physical location here on earth, and using said place metaphorically. Therefore, yes, Bell believes that hell is a "real place." It is, however, emphasized as a current reality.

Bell poses many, many questions in his book, but never comes right out and gives resolutions. I admire this; as there is clearly no way that Rob Bell, a human being, has all the right answers. However, there was a sense of passive-aggressively alluding to answers and at times manipulating scripture to back up his unstated viewpoints. It also seemed that Bell was so desperate to be rid of the idea of eternal punishment that much of what he said felt like a stretch, not to mention contradicted itself. For instance, Bell talks about the Hebrew word for "eternal" and how the root word means "a time of pruning." Bell uses this to his advantage to suggest that "hell" after one's death may just be a time of redemptive sculpting. However, the concept of "eternal life" is never addressed in this context. Does Rob Bell believe that "eternal life" is also temporary?

Ultimately, Bell alludes to the idea that since we have the power of choice here on earth, there is no reason to believe that we would lose that freedom once we die. My issue with this, which also goes unmentioned in the book, is that it completely negates the purpose of leading others to Christ in this life, which contradicts a multitude of scripture.

Honestly, all content aside, my main issue with this book was Bell's personal writing style. In reading his book, I often found myself wondering if he had completely skipped the editing process all together, and if not, what kind of editor would condone such obnoxious diction?

"Is it what you say,

or who you are,
or what you do,
or what you say you're going to do,
or who your friends are,
or who you're married to,
Or is it what questions you're asked?
Or is it what questions you ask in return?
Or is it whether you do what you're told and go into the city?"

Seriously, Rob Bell. We get it. Calm down. If he threw out questions like this every couple of chapters, fine, but the entire book was riddled with this pandemonium. 

I do have to commend Bell for taking on such a weighty and often glossed-over subject. I know that this book was attacked by many Evangelical groups and that Rob Bell got a bad rap for the questions he posed. But all religious prejudice aside, the main thing that Bell seems to be trying to convey is that Jesus = Love and that following Jesus is not about living in fear of eternal punishment. This is the theme that shows up over and over again during the book and it's certainly not one that I can argue.

My rating: 3/5 stars

"Life, In Spite of Me" by Kristen Jane Anderson & Tricia Goyer

Life, In Spite of Me, is the personal memoir of Kristen Anderson. At seventeen-years-old, after a series of traumatic events, Kristen decided to try to end her own life by lying across the train tracks in front of her home. Miraculously, she survived being run over by a train, but lost both of her legs in the process.

In her memoir, Kristen recounts her journey of dealing with the aftermath of her failed suicide attempt, learning to live life without legs, and the way that what began as a tragedy ultimately saved her life by propelling her into a very real and gratifying relationship with God.

Stories like this tend to be my personal favorites. I'm always impressed and humbled when people have the courage to write and share their journeys of hardship with the world. I love reading about how people overcame said struggles and am constantly inspired by the ways that God faithfully shows up in the darkest of times when people are willing to look for Him. Kristen's story is no different. It is powerful and very encouraging. I have seen videos of her speak and she definitely has an incredible story to tell.

That being said, I feel that her book left something to be desired. The writing was dull and I had a very hard time engaging for the majority of the book; focusing more on how many pages were left rather than the story itself. This is partially because of the fact that it was written at a juvenile level. I'm not sure if that was Kristen's intentional target audience or not. Based on the personal "notes" that she placed periodically throughout the book, it seems like she may have been trying to appeal to a younger crowd, but much of the content of her story, such as the piece about being raped or the moderately graphic details of being run over by a train, didn't necessarily seem appropriate for a young age group. I also had trouble engaging because I felt like the written account of her story was simply a superficial narrative of what happened. There was little to no depth to it. It felt like it could have been written by someone who had no more than observed the situation from afar. The book occasionally jumped so far forward in time with no explanation that I felt like I had missed something. The personal notes that Kristen disperses throughout the book between chapters address individuals who may be struggling with depression, suicidal thoughts, etc, which, according to the author, consist of "things I wish I had known, things I wish someone had told me back then." I understand the concept, but the notes seemed very random and redundant. They were also a bit of an interruption, never flowing well with the chapters they followed. I think it would have been more effective to combine them into one (they all said virtually the same thing anyway) and put it at the beginning or end of the book.

Kristen's story itself is beautiful and inspiring. However, her book does not do it justice and I would highly recommend viewing it on YouTube instead. Check out this short summary video if you're interested in her story.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

My rating: 2.5/5 stars