"You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be" by Max Lucado

-

Max Lucado, You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be. Thomas Nelson: 2010, 128pgs.

Max Lucado presents writes that we are created for unique purposes by God and that we can find out what these purposes are by examining our 'tool bags.' That is, by studying our gifts, talents, passions, the things which drive us, the things which absorb our attention, and the things we are naturally good at. He recommends we follow the "S.T.O.R.Y." model (Strengths, Topics, Optimal conditions, Relationships, Yes!) and that we be careful to follow our designer and not our greed. Lucado lays this out as the way to live a fulfilled and satisfied life in which we do what we were made to do.

Within this book, as with most of Lucado's work, his strength, and weakness, is his simplicity. His message is simple, and therefore highly accessible. But it is simple, and therefore leaves much out. His points are simple, and therefore both memorable and easily understood. His points are simple, and therefore highly repetitious. I have no qualms with his arguments, presented, as they so, so gently and clearly. He speaks truth, even if it is limited and leaves much out. However, life is not as simple as Lucado presents it. We are a mix of God given design and sinfulness; built-in, or hardwired, design with culturally determined identity markers. Therefore, life requires discernment of a more disciplined kind than Lucado lays before us. Nonetheless, what he offers is a right starting point which much of the world, and the church, need to hear.

Full Disclosure: Thomas Nelson provided me with a free copy of this book to review.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgiveness: A Hard Word From Luther

-
"Those who follow Christ grieve more over the sin of their offenders than over the loss or offense to themselves. And they do this that they may recall those offenders from their sin rather than avenge the wrongs they themselves have suffered. Therefore they put off the form of their own righteousness and put on the form of those others, praying for their persecutors, blessing those who curse, doing good to the evil-doers, preparing to pay the penalty and make satisfaction for their very enemies that they may be saved. This is the gospel and the example of Christ." - Martin Luther (Quoted by Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge, pg. 161-162)
Read more

A Good Tree Bears Good Fruit....

-
Image
"Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." - Matthew 7:17-18 "One of the most powerful ways to influence the behavior of a system is through its purpose or goal. That's because the goal is the direction-setter of the system, the definer of discrepancies that require action, the indicator of compliance, failure, or success toward which balancing feedback loops work. If the goal is defined badly, if it doesn't measure what it's supposed to measure, if it doesn't reflect the real welfare of the system, then the system can't possibly produce a desirable result. Systems, like the three wishes in the traditional fairy tale, have a terrible tendency to produce exactly and only what you ask them to produce. Be careful what you ask them to produce." - Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems. 
Read more

A Gracious Reading of Rob Bell

-
The Journey So Far The controversy rages on over Rob Bell's upcoming new book. No matter what happens now, this controversy has effectively guaranteed that 'everyone who is anyone' will need to read this book. Either to find out what is wrong and bash it, or because someone we generally disagree with also disagrees with the book so it has to be good stuff! Then, because 'everyone' is reading it, people like me will 'have to' read it to. After all, I am a pastor, and if many of my people are reading and being influenced by a book, don't I need to know what is going on as well?  Or so the reasoning will go... and perhaps I will read it, who knows. In the meantime, none of this will stop me from continuing to join this fray which I probably ought to have stayed out of in the first place. Onwards, Christian... :) The Latest Salvo The latest salvo has been fired by DeYoung  claiming that not only do we not need to talk with Bell but, more importantly, it...
Read more