"The Purpose Driven Life"

[Preachers12]

Brethren in Christ, God give you Peace.

Someone recommended this book to my wife. I have seen it in bookstores, but never looked at it. Is anyone familiar with it and could they provide some feedback?

God Bless,
P12

 

[Swoosh]

I have seen it too. The attendance clerk at my school was reading it yesterday. My dad got it for Christmas from my Aunt. My girlfriends church is planning their next few months of services geared towards it.

All this, yet I have heard nothing about it! Please fill me in too.

God bless,
Swoosh

 

[JOYfulbeliever]

I started reading it about a week ago. I really like the book so far - it really makes you think and is very well written.

My only beef with the book is that in the chapters, when it quotes Scripture, it doesn't include the reference. It adds a footnote reference to each verse and you have to flip to the back of the book to find the reference. That frustrates me a bit. I like to read the verse and know where it is found...flipping back and forth gets to be a pain. But, it's my only complaint.

 

[MichaelFJF]

Well it could be a while before I can provide any quality feedback. I just started it, and the outline suggests you read one chapter per day - 40 short chapters. It looks very interesting so far though. I never heard anything about it before. I was in Barnes & Nobel and it just jumped out at me. M

 

[nyj]

Amazon dot Com Review
From Publishers Weekly
Pastor of Saddleback Church, a Southern Baptist mega-church in southern California with weekly attendance of more than 15,000, Warren now applies his highly successful "purpose-driven" framework, developed in the best-seller The Purpose-Driven Church, to individual experience. The same principles Warren has taught to thousands of pastors to help churches be healthy and effective can also drive lives, he says. The book argues that discerning and living five God-ordained purposes-worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism-is key to effective living. His 40 short chapters are intended to be read over 40 days' time, giving readers small pieces of his purpose-discovering program to chew on. Warren certainly knows his Bible. Of 800-plus footnotes, only 18 don't refer to Christian Scripture. He deliberately works with 15 different Bible translations, leaning heavily on contemporary translations and paraphrases, as an interesting way of plumbing biblical text. The almost exclusively biblical frame of reference stakes out the audience niche for this manual for Christian living. It's practical yet paradoxically abstract, lacking the kind of real-life examples and stories that life-application books usually provide in abundance. The book has flaws editing might have fixed. People are quoted without being identified, and subheads simply repeat lines of text, which tends to make the prose sound too simple. This book is not for all, but for those needing a certain kind of scriptural rock, it is solid.

 

[Preachers12]

Brethren in Christ, God give you Peace.

Thanks for the quick responses. The review that NYJ posted concerns me a bit. The "purpose" in a "Purpose Driven Life" could be very different depending on such things as whether you think you can be saved and never lose that salvation and/or what the Sacrament of Baptism really means. Given that the author is a Baptist preacher, I doubt that it is consistent with Catholic Doctrine. Any more comments on this book is appreciated.

God Bless,
P12

 

[JOYfulbeliever]

Well, I'm on chapter 12, so I'm not really far into it either. Also, I don't know the Catholic doctrine very well - I just realized this was in OBOB! Oops! That's what I get for responding to a thread from the "new posts" - heehee. So, I really don't know if it contradicts the Catholic faith or not - I'm pretty Catholic illiterate, so I won't even begin to say yay or nay to that!

That being said...I'll slip back out of this thread... I'm pretty sure I am not much help!

Blessings!

 

[Metanoia02]

Preacher12,

I have mixed feelig about this book. I have skimmed parts of the book, but haven't read it in any depth. But one thing I do know from living smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, its use is very wide spread among Evangelical churches. Here in Nashville we have the highest density of churches per capita. Literally a "church on every corner". I can't begin to count the number of churches that have signs out that advertise this book and its associated church program.

The book does give a good basic outline of how to live the Christian life and what is important in our efforts to become more Christ like. It is very readable and is organized well. It is designed to be read in groups and discussed after you read every chapter. You can share your thoughts on the topic and hopefully learn form the related experiences of hte people in your group.

The question I have with this book is its popularity. It use is so wide spread it is almost frightening. Its praise is almost without reservation. If this book is such a breakthrough and so successful, what has been taught from the pulpit in these churches for the last twenty years. It is a sad commentary on the condition of the Christian faith in this country that it takes a popular book to educate people the most basic parts of thier faith.

On the positive side, those people who staunchly proclaim to have a "personal relationship with Christ", are finally discovering what that really means.

The true test of this book will be the amount of change it brings about in the heart of the people who read it. Unfortuantely like most popular programs and books like this, the effect is temporary and folks return to thier noraml routines. Can anyone say "The Prayer of Jabez?"

 

[nyj]

If you want two good Catholic books which perform the same sort of "function" that this book is supposed to, let me recommend the following:

1. Reaching Jesus: Five Steps to a Fuller Life
2. His Way

Both books are by Fr. David Knight, $14 for the both of them.

http://www.hisway.com/bookstore.HTM

 

[ps139]

The true test of this book will be the amount of change it brings about in the heart of the people who read it. Unfortuantely like most popular programs and books like this, the effect is temporary and folks return to thier noraml routines. Can anyone say "The Prayer of Jabez?"

Thats why I'm always wary of books with this much hype. Many are just fads. If this book is talked about in 5 years I will check it out.
Back to the OP - one of my Evangelical friends raves about it. I have not read it yet though.

 

[nyj]

Thats why I'm always wary of books with this much hype. Many are just fads. If this book is talked about in 5 years I will check it out.

Exactly. When is the last time you heard someone speak of The Prayer of Jabez?

 

[ps139]

Exactly. When is the last time you heard someone speak of The Prayer of Jabez?

It was Metanoia about 5 minutes ago
Honestly, with the prayer of Jabez....I still don't understand how it generated that much hype. I think people thought that buying the book would cure all of their problems.

 

[nyj]

It was Metanoia about 5 minutes ago

Heh... ummm, whoops.

I'd like to say that my excuse for forgetting Met's post was that "I've slept since then." but I haven't.

 

[thereselittleflower]

Brethren in Christ, God give you Peace.

Thanks for the quick responses. The review that NYJ posted concerns me a bit. The "purpose" in a "Purpose Driven Life" could be very different depending on such things as whether you think you can be saved and never lose that salvation and/or what the Sacrament of Baptism really means. Given that the author is a Baptist preacher, I doubt that it is consistent with Catholic Doctrine. Any more comments on this book is appreciated.

God Bless,
P12

I think that when the focus is on purpose instead of on Christ, it can possibly lead to a lopsided view of things . . something not quite on center when we should be aiming for the bullseye ..

Can I suggest another book to you instead? One that has withstood the test of time thorugh centuries?

The Imiitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis


I think you will find it to be profoundly deeper than what is in modern writings . . .

Peace in Him!

 

[nyj]

Another book (and one which can be found online as well):

On Cleaving to God by Saint Albertus Magnus.

 

[Preachers12]

The Imiitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis

Thereselittleflower, God give you Peace.

Now THAT is a book every Christian should read to learn how to live their life!

God Bless,
P12

 

[Metanoia02]

It was Metanoia about 5 minutes ago
Honestly, with the prayer of Jabez....I still don't understand how it generated that much hype. I think people thought that buying the book would cure all of their problems.

Its all about selling books. I live in Nashville which is ground zero for the Christian book publishing industry. Once something is popular they go way overboard. They spin off about ten different books. Kind of like the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books. Now there are "Chicken Soup" books for every occassion. The same happened to the Prayer of Jabez and now the Purpose Driven life. They already have a couple spin off books.

 

[Motor City Christian]

I think that when the focus is on purpose instead of on Christ, it can possibly lead to a lopsided view of things . . something not quite on center when we should be aiming for the bullseye ..

Can I suggest another book to you instead? One that has withstood the test of time thorugh centuries?

The Imiitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis


I think you will find it to be profoundly deeper than what is in modern writings . . .

Peace in Him!

The whole idea behind Purpose Driven Life is doing what God's will is for your life. It's supposed to strengthen your relationship to Christ. The first sentence of the book is "It's not about you, it's about God." Guess that blows away your theory about the book. Just read it before you make any comments about it. The ironic thing too is this book has been named the #1 Self-help book when it is more about God less about us.
Rick Warren has commented that this book has gone thru denominational lines and rightly so. It is a good book, highly recommend it.
I will definitely give Imitation of Christ a look-see. I have had Protestants and Catholics tell me it is a good book. There must be something to it.

 

[Filia Mariae]

I've heard that the book is okay, certainly nothing spectacular.

Warren says things such as:"The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits isolated from other believers and deprived of fellowship" and also asks "how can you become closer to God or do his will when you separate yourself from the world and don't DO anything?" So he is pretty derogatory to those leading the cloistered life, which is incompatible with our Catholic faith.

He's also big on sola scriptura....surprise, surprise. He says, "...for most of the 2,000-year history of the church, only priests got to personally read the Bible, but now billions of us have access to it." Of course the reason most people couldn't read it was that they were illiterate, not some scheme to keep people Biblically ignorant but you know, details details.

He then slams Tradition with his assertion that: "The people were offering God stale prayers, insincere praise, empty words, and man-made rituals without even thinking of the meaning. God's heart is not touched by tradition in worship, but by passion and commitment."

Are you getting the picture yet? Go with something like Imitation of Christ instead. It's far superior writing and deeper spirituality and has stood the test of time. I doubt anyone will know the name of this book on 5 years.

 

[Filia Mariae]

Okay, I've got no idea why some of my words are blue and some are teal.