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March 10
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John
gave
 
to:
The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here for? (Paperback)
by Rick Warren
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: No one
read in March, 2005
John said:
"At its best, this book is filled with porous theology that is modestly helpful to someone who has no knowledge of Christianity whatsoever. At its worst, Warren mangles scripture to fit his own agenda (40 days to find purpose in your life) and promote...more
At its best, this book is filled with porous theology that is modestly helpful to someone who has no knowledge of Christianity whatsoever. At its worst, Warren mangles scripture to fit his own agenda (40 days to find purpose in your life) and promotes personal experience over the truth found in scripture.
This book is symptomatic of feel-good consumerized Christianity so prevalent in America today. Finding your purpose in life takes far longer than 40 days and it cannot be easily summarized (besides the obvious - to love and worship God). "The Purpose Driven Life" offers nothing new and while not quite heretical, it is very unsound and I cannot recommend this book to anyone. The fact that Warren makes references to the other "Purpose Driven"-branded items in his book that one can purchase pretty much sums it up.
I was given a free copy of this book by a friend at my church a few years ago. I finished reading the book simply to say that I had read it in its entirety. If you want good, thoughtful Christian writers, check out -
Links (for the lazy):
J.I. Packer ("Knowing God")
www.amazon.com/Knowing-God-J-I...
Augustine of Hippo ("Confessions" translated by F.J. Sheed, "City of God")
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/1...
C.S. Lewis ("Mere Christianity" "The Screwtape Letters" "The Problem of Pain")
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/0...
G.K. Chesterson ("Orthodoxy" "The Everlasting Man")
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/0...
John Piper
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/0...
Ravi Zacharias
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/...
A.W. Pink
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/0...
A.W. Tozer (no relations haha)
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/0...
I spent way too much time on this. Hope it helps....less
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March 09
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John
gave
to:
The Things They Carried (Paperback)
by Tim O'Brien
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: Everyone
read in March, 2006
John said:
"O'Brian certainly has a way with words. His use of sharp prose and his eye for description carries us to a place where most of us could not be - Vietnam. The war itself is not as important as the main character's internal conflicts and the way he tri...more
O'Brian certainly has a way with words. His use of sharp prose and his eye for description carries us to a place where most of us could not be - Vietnam. The war itself is not as important as the main character's internal conflicts and the way he tries to cope with what he has seen.
"The Things They Carried" is categorized as fiction, but it actually combines storytelling and biography to create a work better than the sum of its parts. The genre of "war fiction" is filled with many mediocre books. This is one of the few gems.
To those that dismiss this book as a bunch of disorganized vignettes or that it mixes in fiction with truth, it is arguable that the result is much more powerful. Humans experience a gamut of emotions, never just one at a time. Good writers never spell everything out for the reader. Taking the time to piece things together can be an extremly satisfying process....less
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John
gave
to:
I Had Seen Castles (Hardcover)
by Cynthia Rylant
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: Everyone
read in June, 2003
John said:
"".. Ginny, I want you to know that I am really alive. And I still love you."
This is a tale of the loss of innocence. The story is set in World War II but the sheer emotion it conveys is timeless. More than just a love story, this...more
".. Ginny, I want you to know that I am really alive. And I still love you."
This is a tale of the loss of innocence. The story is set in World War II but the sheer emotion it conveys is timeless. More than just a love story, this book is about a boy forced to mature quickly in a time of war. The journey he undertakes is told with heartbreaking honesty as he reexamines his own humanity.
Cynthia Rylant fits all this in a book not even a hundred pages long. I was struck by the author's careful use of words and the elegance of her prose. Every time I reread the book, I discover even more of its depth.
My mother picked up this book at a flea market years ago. It lay untouched on my bookshelf until I decided to read it one day, on a whim. It is by far the best book I have EVER read. If you have not read this book, please pick it up! It does not take long to read.
www.amazon.com/Had-Seen-Castle......less
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