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Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive
There is a glory to life that most people-including believers-never see. In this insightful new book, John Eldredge presents the heart as central to life. Not only is the heart essential; the heart God has ransomed is also good. Building on these foundational truths, Eldredge shows readers why real Christianity is a process of restoration, where the broken parts of our hea...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
July 22nd 2003
by Thomas Nelson Publishers
(first published February 29th 2000)
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This book spoke to me. It was like the words were jumping off the page as I read. Everything made sense.
'Waking the Dead' will always hold a special place in my heart because it is the book that helped me find my feet again when I had been down and who-knows-where for a long time. Nothing made sense, I was reluctantly giving up my faith, desperate for something to cling on to. Then I found this book on a friend's bookshelf - my interest was piqued by the title. I read the intro and knew I had to...more
'Waking the Dead' will always hold a special place in my heart because it is the book that helped me find my feet again when I had been down and who-knows-where for a long time. Nothing made sense, I was reluctantly giving up my faith, desperate for something to cling on to. Then I found this book on a friend's bookshelf - my interest was piqued by the title. I read the intro and knew I had to...more
Recognizing Goodness - A Review of Eldredge’s Waking the Dead
Something happened with children of my generation (people some call Generation X) and those kids that followed mine. Somehow, through no one’s intention or desire, we became people who were taught both that self-esteem was absolutely essential for help AND that we are not really worth that much in the scheme of things. Somehow, when we started teaching kids that they were valuable and worthy and then started allowing them to act like a...more
Something happened with children of my generation (people some call Generation X) and those kids that followed mine. Somehow, through no one’s intention or desire, we became people who were taught both that self-esteem was absolutely essential for help AND that we are not really worth that much in the scheme of things. Somehow, when we started teaching kids that they were valuable and worthy and then started allowing them to act like a...more
Book Review: Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
"Waking the Dead" is a title that grabs your attention. It's even more of an eye-opener when you realize the author is not talking about the unsaved who have not yet found Christ. He's talking about us Christians.
"How can this be? " you may wonder. Even though we have Christ in us, all too often we're swallowed up by the events of our day to day lives so that to a large degree we're oblivious to spiritual reality. So much so that Christ, in his love...more
"Waking the Dead" is a title that grabs your attention. It's even more of an eye-opener when you realize the author is not talking about the unsaved who have not yet found Christ. He's talking about us Christians.
"How can this be? " you may wonder. Even though we have Christ in us, all too often we're swallowed up by the events of our day to day lives so that to a large degree we're oblivious to spiritual reality. So much so that Christ, in his love...more
This book makes you feel like your veins are filled with sunshine, and that every thought your brain has blossoms like huge white flowers. John Eldredge uses references from movies, quotes from book, and a fresh perspective to show his reader that the only way we can feel like we're living a worthwhile life is recognize that by being one with God, we have pure and precious hearts. But Eldredge doesn't merely say: Jesus loves you, he pries away the cover of that, and allows you climb into the bon...more
This book is about the heart & it connects with the heart. John Eldredge is a master of telling stories and this book is proof. Countless personal stories & pictures from epic tales litter this book and add to its truth an emotional connection that moves the heart. The core truth and theme of this book is that the heart is good and needs to be set free & guarded. Moreover, we are at war and our heart is the goal. He attacks the false doctrine that we are wicked (after receiving Chris...more
This was a God book. It was pretty clever. The author uses a lot of literary and movie examples to make his points and that's kinda neat, so instead of it being all, "hey! we should be like David and slay giants and pray and write songs!" the author is more, "hey! remember the part in the Matrix where Neo..."
Excellent work. John Eldredge is a gifted writer. He had a way of putting my secret thoughts on paper, in a way that made me say, “Hey, that’s just how I felt.” This is a must read for Christians in particular, because he deals with our core issues – our heart and the relationship we need to have with the Creator.
One aspect that stood out to me in the book was that everyone has a part to play. Each of us can contribute something. And each one of us can be used of God. The book brought to life t...more
One aspect that stood out to me in the book was that everyone has a part to play. Each of us can contribute something. And each one of us can be used of God. The book brought to life t...more
Dec 15, 2008
John
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Recommended to John by:
Debbie White - my wife
Shelves:
christian-discipleship
My wife led a small group in our home where we studied this book.
Eldridge uses cultural images that everyone could understand (The Matrix, Star Wars, fairy tales, and famous people), and
gave an amazingly insightful view of the Christian life.
My understanding of God's love for me, and of the way that he speaks to me and desires to use me were greatly enlarged by Eldridge's teachings.
Everyone in the group came away with great excitement aqbout putting all of the teachings into practice in th...more
Eldridge uses cultural images that everyone could understand (The Matrix, Star Wars, fairy tales, and famous people), and
gave an amazingly insightful view of the Christian life.
My understanding of God's love for me, and of the way that he speaks to me and desires to use me were greatly enlarged by Eldridge's teachings.
Everyone in the group came away with great excitement aqbout putting all of the teachings into practice in th...more
Cinderella sang
Not some dust girl's dirge
Her song was oh so eloquent
Her cheerful ballad rang
Beyond the confines of her room
Bound by duty, not by gloom
She sang
Before her magic moment
Before her fantastic gown
While battling the 'uglies'
That tried to drag her down
She sang
A song of hope and freedom
A song that rivalled birds
Her spirit soared within her
Her glory could be heard
The prince knew when he found her
In the tattered rags she wore
That she was still the lady
That he'd danced with once before
He did...more
Not some dust girl's dirge
Her song was oh so eloquent
Her cheerful ballad rang
Beyond the confines of her room
Bound by duty, not by gloom
She sang
Before her magic moment
Before her fantastic gown
While battling the 'uglies'
That tried to drag her down
She sang
A song of hope and freedom
A song that rivalled birds
Her spirit soared within her
Her glory could be heard
The prince knew when he found her
In the tattered rags she wore
That she was still the lady
That he'd danced with once before
He did...more
The good insights are buried in a continuously meandering style. John Eldredge tends to ramble, and with so many analogies, I think he sometimes forgets to return to his thesis.
The thesis itself is a mixed bag (man's heart created good). I found a couple of his points questionable (our parents taught us lies about our hearts??), but some of his insights were really outstanding (chapter 11: "Fellowships of the Heart" was a gem).
In this book are hidden snippets of his life story, and I kept want...more
The thesis itself is a mixed bag (man's heart created good). I found a couple of his points questionable (our parents taught us lies about our hearts??), but some of his insights were really outstanding (chapter 11: "Fellowships of the Heart" was a gem).
In this book are hidden snippets of his life story, and I kept want...more
This is excellent. I am rereading it more slowly and digesting it's message because I read it so quickly at first. Eldredge is getting to the heart of the matter, literally, and speaking to our hearts about our hearts-- that they are good, that they can choose to do wrong, but that God created them good. That we too easily believe lies. That we make agreements with the Enemy too often, and that we need to learn to walk with God, we need deep healing, we need God's counsel, and we need to go to w...more
Apr 20, 2010
VocalBillity - the Voice of one crying in the Bewilderness (tm)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
vocalbillity-com
About the only thing I did not like or care for in this book was the use (over use?) of contemporary stories, themes, and actual script from movie scenes. These all were tactfully used, but there just seemed to be too many... like something comparitive could not be located in the Bible.
The only realy contention I have with that is that it requires the reader to be aware of the story being referenced. Typically, they were mostly 'American' type stories, but there was a spattering of German, or Eu...more
The only realy contention I have with that is that it requires the reader to be aware of the story being referenced. Typically, they were mostly 'American' type stories, but there was a spattering of German, or Eu...more
This is an okay book but it has a lot of fluff. Eldredge presents a lot of analogies. And a lot of them don't work. The book takes a long time to make certain points and when they come up my reaction was "ok? so what?". I'm not entirely sure what the point was to parts of the book or to the entirety. Eldredge seems to try and build these wispy, grandiose ideas but they feel more like a house of cards. This book might be inspirational to some people, but this is a pass for me. Too much fluff, not...more
Great idea; incomplete development.
The glory of God is man fully alive. The heart is not fully alive until a person sees their way clearly, with God walking with them in stride. Waking the Dead helps you “see with the eyes of your heart” instead of just wanting to get through each day, and awakens your own relationship with God. By overcoming society’s preconceptions of what life is supposed to be and how to get there, this book explains that there is deeper meaning to life when its true purpose is found.
This book is set up in...more
Twenty clear days a year-that sounds about like my life. I think I see what's really going on about that often. The rest of the time, it feels like fog, like the bathroom mirror after a hot shower. You know what I mean. What exactly are you perfectly clear on these days? How about your life? Why have things gone the way they have? Where was God in all that? And do you know what you ought to do next, with a deep, settled confidence that it will work out? Neither do I. Oh, I'd love to wake each mo...more
Tremendous book. Brother John presents a new view of humanity and Christian living in Waking the Dead, one that is deeply rooted in our hearts. He points to a great swath of scriptures that really illuminate the heart and it's true power, especially as it is filled with the Holy Spirit and its full potential is realized. I have to say, I track with him. There are a lot of living dead in our churches, on our TVs, and on radio stations. As he says, it's easy to forget we're in a war. Out of all of...more
"We live in a far more dramatic, far more dangerous story than we ever imagined. The reason we love The Chronicles of Narnia or Star Wars or The Matrix or The Lord of the Rings is that they are telling us something about our lives that we never, ever get on the evening news. Or from most pulpits. This is our most desperate hour. Without this burning in our hearts, we lose the meaning of our days. It all withers down to fast food and bills and voice mail and who really cares anyway? Do you see wh...more
Waking the Dead was and still is a life changing book for me. I recommend it to everyone. In it, Eldredge discusses the four streams: walking with God, fellowship, healing and spiritual warfare and how they all need to be combined into one unit in one's spiritual life. It's a very deep and refreshing book - there's so much more that he says that is so important I cannot write here. My only recommendation to you is to read his works as soon as possible. He has been a major influence upon me.
I have loved John Eldredge's writing for years and started this book a while back and I don't remember why I didn't finish it the first attempt. But picking it up and reading in through now has been so relevant and applicable to where I am that I'm glad not to have finished it the first time.
It has been so important lately to remember that I'm in the midst of a war and there are battles every day in the unseen realms. Things are not as they appear more often than not and I have been refreshed in...more
It has been so important lately to remember that I'm in the midst of a war and there are battles every day in the unseen realms. Things are not as they appear more often than not and I have been refreshed in...more
This book was hard to follow in places and took me a long time to finish. But I think it is an important message. Our hearts are often wounded and don't reflect God's glory. I starting reading this not long before the earthquake, and I'm sure it helped me to steel my heart and not give into panic and fear when the ground beneath literally would not stop shaking!
This book can be life altering! Eldredge is one of my favorite author's - and he doesn't disappoint in this book.
Eldredge uses myth, and movies, to illustrate what we instinctively feel in our hearts: there is more going on around us than we can see. Not only are we living in a physical reality - but also in a spiritual reality, or what we might call a mythic reality - we can't see it with our eyes, but we know it in our hearts.
And our heart is the ultimate focus of this book. Eldredge challenge...more
Eldredge uses myth, and movies, to illustrate what we instinctively feel in our hearts: there is more going on around us than we can see. Not only are we living in a physical reality - but also in a spiritual reality, or what we might call a mythic reality - we can't see it with our eyes, but we know it in our hearts.
And our heart is the ultimate focus of this book. Eldredge challenge...more
This is a book that I would like to read and read again. It opened my eyes to thinking about putting on the armor of God and living that out and how important it is. It also opened my eyes to thinking about good and evil in the world. A wonderful read, and talking about it makes me want to read it again.
I find that once you've read one of Eldredge's books, you've read them all. But, since this was my first, I found it very inspiring. However, some of the illustrations he uses sound a little cliche. Really, do we need an epic movie for every point about Christianity? Maybe this book just hit the right chords at the right time but I would definitely recommend it over Sacred Romance or Wild at Heart. He's a little less...I'm trying to think of a better word than chauvanistic...he has less testoste...more
I loved that this book encourages you not to settle for normal. That to be introduced, and claim a friendship with Jesus Christ awakens, refreshes, and restores in a way that no other relationship does. But there's also a war for your heart. Good read.
Eldredge seeks to remind (or teach) the reader that their heart is valuable and loved and worthy, and that they will live more fully and at peace if they realize this. He also seeks to bring to light the importance of spiritual warfare in our lives. This could be quite moving for someone who is new to these concepts. However, having read several Eldredge books, I feel like there is a lot of recycled information. I was hoping he would have gone a little deeper into the practical aspects of guardi...more
In Waking the Dead, Eldredge does a great job integrating all four “streams” of the believer’s life: discipleship, counseling, healing and warfare. For those familiar with Eldredge’s other books, this one will pleasantly surprise you.
An amazing book that gives insight into the true character and capabilities of the heart. No matter how "alive" you think you are, this book will wake you up to the realization that your heart is an incredible creation of God.
Aug 10, 2011
Danny Bennett
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
christian-living
Dives more into the wound idea and how to get restoration from that wound. Surrounds itself around the verse about "guarding your heart." Probably not as good as Wild at Heart. I probably should read it again.
I loved this book! From start to finish, it held my interest and got me thinking about the way I view my heart and what that means for my relationship with God. This book also really appealed to me because of its numerous Lord of the Rings references (don't worry - he references The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia, and even The Matrix) that show examples of how God's message has penetrated popular culture and yet we still don't open the eyes of heart. And that's what we have to do in orde...more
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| useful insight | 1 | 19 | Jun 28, 2007 06:16am |
John Eldredge is an author (you probably figured that out), a counselor, and teacher. He is also president of Ransomed Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own heart in his love, and learn to live in his Kingdom. John grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles (which he hated), and spent his boyhood summers on his grandfather’s cattle ranch in eastern Ore...more
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“somehow we have overlooked the fact this treasured called the heart can also be broken, has been broken, and now lies in pieces down under the surface. When it comes to habits we cannot quit or patterns we cannot stop, anger that flies out of nowhere, fears we cannot overcome, or weaknesses we hate to admit--much of what troubles us comes out of the broken places in our hearts crying out for relief.
Jesus speaks as if we are all brokenhearted. We would do well to trust His perspective on this.”
—
25 people liked it
Jesus speaks as if we are all brokenhearted. We would do well to trust His perspective on this.”
“Part of me knows that prayer is essential; another part of me would rather turn on the TV and check out. And that whole bit about being long-suffering-no way. Part of me wants to just get drunk.”
—
3 people liked it
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May 18, 2009 02:55pm