Purpose Driven by what - that is the question
934516
The Purpose Driven Life is a day to day devotional that proclaims there is a God and He has a purpose and plan for your life. Included within each chapter is a "point to ponder" "a verse to remember" and "a question to consider" wonderful format.
However the end result only touches the surface and could be an insult to mature Christians. The concept and idea was a good one but the delivery sucked.
Rick Warren makes a claim that his book is a blueprint for Christians living in the 21st Century. I can agree with that if the Christian is a mature one and knows how to read the Word.
Not proof-texting, which allows you to say anything you want with scripture. It allows you to win the argument of the hour.
I was shocked at the paraphrasing and incomplete use of the word. For example, on page 41, the question under the chapter heading is What is your life? followed by a scripture reference James 4;14b (NIV). As a mature Christian my Pastor told me read it for yourself and this is what MY bible says: James 4
14 How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone.
I will repeat myself this technique is fine for the mature Christians or for someone who was taught to learn it for yourself. However I believe this book should be read but if you are new to your walk please do not pick this book up without an open mind and a bible right next to you.
1347675
I enjoyed the knowledge shared in this book. I believe God is interested in helping us achieve the purpose he has placed in each of us. I do not think this subject is limited to money but lines up with the accomplishment of the His purpose in our lives.
1840609
This book gives individuals the opportunity to understand the purpose of the confessional. How something appears, what one is lead to believe or taught can be different from reality.  The information presented allows one to make an informed decision.
3740425
Haven't finished it yet, but my favorite piece of advice so far is that sometimes the purpose of an object isn't always what we think it is.  If you're holding on to an item of clothing that you loved in the store but never wear, she says that it's purpose was to give you a thrill in the store--it's purpose has been fulfilled now and you can let it go.
4470296
Seems to me, a number of people have succeeded at a great many things in life, often enjoying them equally. So, why the emphasis on JUST ONE in this book? Why can't we succeed at and revel in several things concurrently? I'm not convinced we can't...

Regardless, the author seems all about minimizing distractions from your stated purpose and sticking to your "one thing."

As with many such self-help books, it seems like the book raises lots of questions to help steer you along the path to self-actualization, but doesn't necessarily provide you with a set of concrete steps to get you from point A to point B. It seems like you still have to kind of figure h things out on your own and figure out what order to go through the questions in. It would be nice if there were some exercises to help you outline your success plan from start (identifying things you like) through finish (getting your dream job and enjoying life).

So, I guess, if you're just interested in getting some ideas to think about and steer you in the right direction, maybe this book is for you. If, on the other hand, you need help identifying specific concrete steps from start to finish, maybe this isn't the book for you?
3874171
When looking for a book for guidance with a practical discipline, like disciple-making, you tend to discover one of two types. One type is the book that almost exclusively answers the "Why" question, dealing with motivation - i.e. "Why should I be interested in discipleship?" The problem with this type of book is that it often leaves you motivated but unprepared. You think, "I really understand the importance of making disciples. But what does it look like to actually do it?" The other type of book is the book that almost exclusively answers the "How" question, dealing with practical application - i.e. "Here's how to DO discipleship, in one volume." The problem with this type of book is coming away thinking, "That is a good plan for those who want to do it, but that's not for me." It is rare to find a book that thoroughly answers the "Why" question and then moves directly to the "How" question. It is rare, but that is exactly what you find in Rediscovering Discipleship.

Beginning with the "Why" question, Gallaty traces the 2000 years of church history, beginning with Jesus' command to all His followers to make disciples. Perhaps the most unique contribution of this volume is the strong emphasis from the introduction regarding the importance of understanding Jewish cultural practices of the first century, with particular attention given to the rabbinic tradition. Gallaty demonstrated how that cultural background helps not only to read the Bible contextually but also to apply it practically regarding one's discipleship practice. The author then continues by demonstrating that not only was intentional disciple-making in small groups the model of Jesus, but others throughout history followed this model as well. Learning from the examples of Augustine and John Wesley, among many others, Gallaty further made the case both for the "why" of discipleship and the "how."

Though there were  "how" elements insinuated and illustrated in Part 1, Part 2 was specifically designed to explain the "how." Gallaty addressed the practical elements of choosing whom you will disciple, how many to include in your group, when to meet, what to do when you meet, etc. He even gives you the MARCS of a healthy discipleship group, giving you practical evaluation markers to monitor the effectiveness of your group. The book's appendix addresses in short fashion some questions and answers regarding the practice of disciple-making.

I was challenged as a disciple-making husband, dad, and pastor. I intend to use this book as a go-to resource as I seek to disciple my wife, my kids, my staff, and others in my church. I heartily recommend it to you!

(I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for this unbiased review.)
3328456
Purpose:
 It is intended to be a hands-on manual for implementing vision. The heartbeat of this book is to underscore the centrality of vision in our lives and to support that heartbeat with practical steps and insights in becoming a visionary leader, whatever your stature or position in life might be.

Content:
The author first wrote The Power of Vision.  As he travelled and assisted leaders with their vision, a set of reoccurring questions kept being presented to him.  Below are just some of the questions that he addresses in the book:
Can anyone be a visionary or this the domain of unusually gifted and specially called people?Does vision require targeting a specific people group or demographic segment? Doesnt that conflict with Jesus ministry of reaching out to everybody?Doesnt vision make a ministry too narrow?How do leaders integrate the vision for their corporate ministry (e.g., a church) with the vision for their personal ministry?How do you measure whether the vision has been fulfilled?Does the vision change if a church calls a new pastor?What can be done if a church does not have a visionary pastor?Can a church pursue an effective ministry if it has a sense of mission but does not have an articulated vision?How can a visionary persuade those people who resist the vision to embrace it?What if your personal vision for ministry differs from the vision articulated by your church? Should you stay and adapt, stay and fight, leave with a fuss or leave quietly?How long should you wait before developing a new vision?
Analysis:
This book answers the rubber meets the road questions when you apply the concepts of visioneering.  It addresses the difficult challenges that rise to the surface of your efforts to lead your ministry through the process of accomplishing your God-given mission.  It is a jewel of a book.  While you may not agree with all of his conclusions, it can lead you through your own journey.

Application:
Who will benefit?
Ministry leaders

How will they benefit?
It will help them navigate their way through the application of vision development

Where does it fit in the ministry design process?
At the front end of vision development

Aha Thought:
At its core, vision is a style of thinking, a process of dealing with current and future reality.  It is not, as many people consider, a program waiting to be implemented.
Contrary to my initial beliefs, I have found  through further biblical exploration as well as more prolonged observation  that vision is not dumped in peoples minds by God all at once, but it is progressively revealed to them.  This process of incremental revelation is, in itself, fascinating to study because of what it teaches us about Gods love for, and protection of, us. (p. 13)
3654926
The book does not focus on a particular religion, but rather aims to clarify the question of what God's will is. How do we know when He is trying to tell us something. As explained in the book, and it is something I agree with, it is essentially a personal question you are asking within yourself. This not only helps you to improve your relationship with the Lord, but also helps you to understand yourself better. When you do something, is it for the right reasons. A book that makes you think about the type of person you are.
3116500
Ripley promotes "high order thinking".  Great, but what is it?  It certainly sounds better
than "low order thinking".  Can you teach it?  Can you even give assignments that
encourage it *and* help students learn how to do it?

One hopeful clue that Ripley gives is the suggestion that schools and teachers "teach for
a purpose" and that students should "learn for a purpose".  The thinking is, I suppose,
that students learn better (in some sense of "better") when (1) they have a goal and (2)
they understand why they are learning something.  That certainly has an intuitive good
feel to it, but I'd like to see some evidence for that claim.  And, I'm guessing that we
have plenty of evidence that there is lots of successful learning in plenty of successful
schools where the only goal students have is to learn what they need to pass a test.  Is
that the kind of "learning for a purpose" that Ripley is talking about?

And, what about students in first and second grades?  Are we going to explain to them why
they need to learn?  And, do we need to give them a goal to guide and drive their
learning?  That claim seems quite a bit less intuitive to me.

It might be helpful and interesting to compare Ripley's book with the writings of Diane
Ravitch, especially Ravitch's latest book "Reign of error"[1].  (1) Ripley's goal seems to be
to help students and their parents be able to identify "good" schools and get to them even
it that means moving to a foreign country.  Ravitch's goal is to fix and save schools in
this country, *if* they are in need of fixing.  (2) Ripley assumes that the problems are
endogenous to the schools, that is those problems originate and are caused by conditions
and problems in the schools themselves, for example because of poor teachers.  Ravitch
makes no such assumption, and in fact stresses that much of what we need to do in order to
improve students' performance must change conditions outside the schools.  Ravitch claims
that students who live in poverty do not perform well, that hungry students do not perform
well, that students in families with turmoil and disruption do not perform well.

Ripley's recommendations how to evaluate schools are: (1) Find out whether the parents are
interested and involved.  Yes, but, more importantly she suggests, find out what the
parents are interested in.  An interest in sports improves school spirit.  An interest in
grades puts pressure on teachers to grade more leniently.  An interest in what their
children are learning might actually result in better educational outcomes.  (2) Find out
whether the students are interested and pay attention during class.  And, Ripley also
recommends asking whether students know what topic they are trying to learn and why they
are studying a that topic.

Some simple lessons that I took away from Ripley's book: (1) Students learn better when
they are interested and motivated. (2) Students are more motivated when the feel that it
matters what they learn and when they understand why they need to learn it.  (Presumably,
this applies more realistically to students above grades 1 or 2.)  And, (3) students are
better motivated when they have a goal and they believe in the value of that goal.

[1]&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Reign-of-Error-The-Hoax-of-the-Privatization-Movement-and-the-Danger-to-America-s-Public-Schools/dp/0385350880/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools</a>
1919137
Having found myself alone in my emerging suspicions about the limiting effect of obsessive theological scholarship to support any and all understanding of the Kingdom and God's intentions for us, I'm feeling some liberty now to go forward in finding out more of what it is to build the Kingdom through relationship, one person at a time where I find myself each day. There is purpose behind what seems innocuous and less than grand. It is up to us to set aside our need to know all the right answers, make a reputation for ourselves, and initiate sweeping institutional change. History shows it doesn't work. The world's systems are corruptible and we are not immune. Better to build from the bottom and let the boat rise with the tide.
4018886
The why behind the what is helpful in determining what would work or not for me. Thanks for the trail blazing.
3330931
I have not been doing lean consulting long enough to have a career's depth of war stories. When faced with some regular questions, I have to pull from the underlying philosophy rather than a real world example. Even in the Lean Construction history, there is not a lot of examples. Peter Block defends this approach in his 2003 book, The Answer to How is Yes.

He says that the typical How questions are a defense against action and change. When we ask how much time is it going to take, we avoid asking about our level of commitment. When we ask how much it is going to cost we avoid asking what the price is we are willing to pay.

The book is about the meaningful questions that we should be analyzing. Questions about our desire to create a future together. Questions about personal risk, freedom and responsibility. As I see it, progress won't happen if you study how others did it. Get your philosophy straight first and act on that.
4762050
At the end of The Falsifiers, we left Sliv in a deep question: what is the purpose of the RFC ?
This second part explore this question and give a wonderful thinking about the choices made by our governments.

Now, Sliv will have to face the biggest question: what worth fighting for ? In his polycultural approach, Bello have the intelligence to offer a global regard on a anarchic world.
4169089
Do you wander aimlessly or do you walk with purpose, intent and mission?  Do you love your job so much that you would do it for free?  Depending on how you answer these two questions will determine whether or not you need to read Phil Cooke's "One B1g Thing".

If you haven't discovered your one mission in life that would fulfill you and make you incredibly happy to go to work each day, then you definitely need to pick up a copy and read through "One B1g Thing."  Today's digital world makes it difficult to find our calling, but according to Cooke, we need to focus on that ONE thing that drives us, inspires us and separates us from everyone else.  He will help you wade through all the distractions and find your purpose and focus.

Don't waste your time settling for something you don't enjoy.  God has designed us to live life on purpose. It is up to us to decipher the clues God has mapped out for us and follow His path to help us achieve our dreams.

Phil Cooke is an internationally known filmmaker, media producer and speaker. At his blog at philcooke.com, he writes daily about the intersection of media, faith and culture.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BookSneeze, as part of Thomas Nelson's Book Review Blogger Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
2168424
Wow! Great book on finding your purpose, practical steps on how to ask God what it is and be activated to walk our your calling.

I loved the conversational style of this book, and found it hard to put down. I would recommend this to anyone who isn't sure what God would have you do in any situation OR you know youve been called but unsure what to do next.
3321457
The author makes his point, briefly explains why, includes scripture and lets us ponder the point. I don't think there needs to be more explanation. Using "life examples" could possibly be used to point fingers and it would only focus our thoughts to other churches/pastors instead of looking at ourselves and to what God wants us to do.
380424
The best part of this book for me, besides the tone and grace with which it was written, is the philosophical quandary of "what IS the what?" Is it a false dichotomy borne of the desperation for explanations? Or is it something to ask oneself when making decisions? It's going to stick with me.