I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars for good ideas and what you learn from the book.
But it is so boring, I would rate it 1 out of 5 stars for readability and too much filler/fluff.
I learned a lot about all Christians and myself from this book - it has ideas all Christians should know. You will learn a lot - IF you can get through the reading, as it is VERY boring, especially in the beginning. Much of this book is filler but with a lot of good ideas. I did end up underlining a lot of the book, but still, it could be condensed down to 20 pages reasonably. The filler is what makes this such a difficult read. My guess is VERY few people will actually be able to complete the whole book.
This book teaches you that almost all Christians have it wrong (or have had it wrong at some point in their lives) - they seek to use God in four different ways. 1) LIFE OVER GOD is when Christians put aside God's ways in favor of the logical world's ways in order to get ahead in life. 2) Christians seek a LIFE FROM GOD when they are after his gifts and blessings - what they can get out of God - and not interested in God Himself. These Christians seek a happy, trial free, wealthy, healthy life and only seek God as a means to this end. This view also includes those who use God as a ticket to heaven. 3) LIFE UNDER GOD is when Christians seek to obey God's commands so that He will bless our lives - we seek to appease God. This view includes Christians that believe if America were more godly, that natural disasters and 911 wouldn't happened to us. 4) LIFE FOR GOD on the surface seems the way to go - these Christians seek to live a life for God. These are your missionaries and people who seek to make sure their life is one of significance. These are the people who usually accomplish great things for God.
Problem is all 4 of these views are not what God wants. And they are all actually de-throning God and a human attempt to take his place. While you and I may think some of these sound good, the author points out the underlying fault with each view.
Then the author explains why LIFE WITH GOD is all God truly wants. Communion. This is what makes the book - it tells us why we have our thoughts and priorities in the wrong place. Stay exaclty in your job and serve God and build a relationship with Him. You don't need to quit, sell your house and go to Mexico and become a missionary. You can serve God right where you are.
The author explains the reason most Christians look so un-Christ-like is because they do not REALLY KNOW GOD but are only using God. In the Bible, Jesus tells us that some will perform miracles in His name, but He did not know these - they were not his saved people.
I think the author did a good job explaining the different views. I would have liked to see all the filler removed because it make the book VERY boring. I also would have liked to see better examples of someone who is living a LIFE WITH GOD. The way the author writes, it seems like the author doesn't even include himself as a person who lives a LIFE WITH GOD. All 3 examples he gives are obscure people from history and kind of hard to relate to. The author tells us that at times he has been in all 4 incorrect views but he doesn't really go into his current state. This lack of personalization, makes the book seem abstract.
Because of this, this book did feel a bit like a book that tells you what is wrong with you but doesn't really give you a life application solution. It tells you to go find God and life with Him. But what does that really mean? And how does one accomplish this? I think the author tried to explain how but perhaps because he isn't really living it, he had a very difficult time getting this across to the reader. I think the book fell short in this area.
I want to recommend this book to others but I know that no one will actually want to read this book because it is too boring. So I will just summarize the good ideas and share these instead. Too bad this book is so boring and has so much filler. It's another Christian author with a good idea but kills it trying to fill a book.
Disclaimer: I gave my honest review. I received this book from the publisher but a positive review was not required.
