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Our Favorite Sins: The Sins We Commit and How You Can Quit
The Essential Guide for Beating Temptation
Falling for temptation isn’t inevitable. We don’t have to lose the fight. In fact, we can win if we understand the root of the problem and what Christians have done from the beginning to beat it. Our Favorite Sins shines a much-needed light in our lives’ dark corners and reveals the time-tested methods for getting victory over sin.
Are you tyrannized by your own desires?
If you are breathing, your answer is probably yes.
The question is: What are you going to do about it?
With more than thirty years of pastoral experience, Todd D. Hunter knows that most people—himself included—struggle every day with temptation. All too often, we fail and fall, and some of us are at our wit’s end, utterly defeated. What do we do to get a grip on the sin in our life and live like God wants?
There’s good news: despite all our failures and shameful “moments after,” there really is a way out, a way forward, and a way that draws us closer to the life that God desires for us.
In Our Favorite Sins, Hunter cracks open the problem of temptation and points to practical, biblically based, time-tested solutions. First revealing the role played by our disordered desires, Hunter shows how different temptations trip us up and how we can resist and overcome them, even if we’ve fallen prey to them for decades. Victory starts with reordering our desires, and the church has given us the tools for the job. Hunter shows us how to use them and start beating the temptations that so often beat us.
Informed by exclusive research from the Barna Group, Our Favorite Sins offers a view that works for any believer wherever they are and no matter how big the battle they’re fighting.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 6, 2012
13 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Todd D. Hunter
14 books13 followersBishop Todd Hunter of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, is the founding pastor of Holy Trinity Church, an Anglican church in Costa Mesa, California and author of Christianity Beyond Belief (IVP 2009), Giving Church Another Chance (IVP Spring, 2010) and The Outsider Interviews (Baker Books, Summer 2010). Todd is also the founding director of Churches for the Sake of Others, the West Coast church planting initiative for The Anglican Mission in the Americas. Prior to his work with the Anglican Mission in the Americas, Todd founded Three is Enough, a small group movement that makes spiritual formation doable.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 8, 2020
This is a book, by an Anglican Bishop (in fact, the bishop of the diocese my own local church is part of), not so much on sin as it is on temptation and how to overcome it. Temptations work on our desires for getting ahead in life, sexual fulfillment, financial and career success, having good personal relationships etc. None of these things are bad in themselves but temptation comes when we have the chance to reach for these things in illicit ways that end up harming ourselves and others. Because our desires are innately disordered we are prone to fall into doing bad things, not usually realizing that they will harm us until it's too late. The only true fix for our disordered desires is to have a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. God loves us and is seeking a relationship with us. Like any relationship, this is something you grow into once you are beyond the initial encounter with God in Christ. You become part of God's story - His creation, humanity's fall, and God's plan for renewing all creation through Jesus and his followers. Embracing that story - making it the template for our lives - gives us our hope and vision for this life and the next. This does NOT make you perfect overnight - in fact trying to be "holier than thou" is a temptation to a spiritual pride that should be avoided and repented of should one fall into it. This life is a pilgrimage with our fellow believers on the way with Christ, with all its peaks and valleys.
September 9, 2012
This review was originally for Englewood Review of Books - http://erb.kingdomnow.org/todd-hunter...
“Loving Desire, Desiring Love” a review of Our Favorite Sins - The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit by Todd D. Hunter
by Seth Forwood
Our Favorite Sins is the newest book from former Vineyard pastor now Anglican bishop, Todd Hunter. Hunter’s past in evangelicalism and high church conversion provide a good picture of what one should expect from his book on temptation - an evangelical heart with the blood of liturgy, sacrament and ancient prayers flowing through it. He relies heavily on both Barna Group research and ancient wisdom and practices to address the issue of temptation. This results in a tension that pulls the book in odd directions.
Hunter’s approach on desire and sin is probably the single most important aspect of the book. Borrowing from James K.A. Smith’s important and engaging work Desiring the Kingdom, Hunter argues that desire, longing, and loving will never go away and should not be suppressed to gain victory in temptation. Rather, when we order our desires to fit the ends we were made for we find our sins irrelevant, distasteful and idiotic because they bar our path toward true fulfillment in the love of God. This teleological approach situates sin in its proper place, a mere distraction from our good work as creatures.
This contrasts with the egocentric approach of many North American Christians who obsess over their faults, lost inside the narrowness of their personal struggle. Hunter is not only more true to traditional Christianity with this approach, but also, in his pastoral way, kinder to the struggling sinner. I am reminded of a passage in the novel Gilead where pastor-narrator, Rev. John Ames writes, “I think sometimes there might be an advantage in making people aware how worn and stale these old transgressions are. It might take some of the shine off them, for those who are tempted.”
Hunter begins his chapters with a quote from a theologian or writer and peppers his writing with more thinkers. Assuming this book is for beginners in spiritual matters, this provides a resource for going deeper into the concepts Hunter mentions. His citations for spiritual writing are worth following up on: N.T. Wright, James K.A. Smith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, and C.S. Lewis. Those looking for more depth and theological nuance will find Hunter’s sources good ground for richer food.
The Anglican tradition and other ancient texts also give the reader an avenue to begin this transition to our good work from the “tyranny of what we want”, one of Hunter’s favorite phrases. His goal is to give the completely uninitiated an introduction to the rhythms of prayer and the lectionary, spiritual disciplines, and the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. Every chapter ends with a bit of spiritual writing, a prayer or collect and instructions for making it a part of your practice.
Also admirable is his emphasis on incarnate practice. He writes,
“...this is the interesting part of spiritual transformation into Christlikeness: most of the spiritual disciplines that transform our inner beings are bodily. Our bodies work with us as allies to transform our hearts, minds, wills, emotions and social selves...Think about it: fasting is bodily, so is praying, reading, kneeling, seeking solitude, and even keeping silent.” (111)
With these very bodily and temporal practices he casts an alternative vision, more compelling than the sin we hold onto, that inscribes our lives with beauty.
As an anglican myself, I enjoyed reading various prayers, collects and rites from the Book of Common Prayer that I pray every Sunday (he also includes profound and beautiful prayers from Celtic Daily Prayer). In my case Hunter is preaching to the choir. I have seen how these practices and prayers become glorious and transformative when participating with a vibrant community every week and throughout the year. Hunter’s approach, a kind of testimony to what he feels when he prays and reads scripture, may not be enough to convince evangelicals without the experience in a community like his own.
The book has the unfortunate subtitle “The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit” which seems to borrow more from self-help publications than Hunter’s content. Our task is not to “quit” sinning. The obsessive focus on the self is the first barrier to transcend in order to realign our sight on the work of God in the world. The subtitle is not just false advertising but bad theology and unhelpful to Hunter’s main goals.
The heavy reliance on the Barna Group survey data is troubling. Christian literature is necessarily written from a community for a community and, from scripture up to the present, is most relevant to a wide readership when it is rooted in a place. Augustine’s Confessions is an ancient example while last year’s The Pastor by Eugene Peterson might be a contemporary one. These books speak universally because rooted experience informs them, not statistical figures. Hunter tries to infuse the research findings with character and life, but the impulse to provide credibility through hard data bears a resemblance to market-driven efficiency rather than the story of Christianity.
Our Favorite Sins has many virtues for new Christians or those uninitiated in the rich traditions of the ancient prayers, practices and sacraments of the church. At the same time, I believe that some of the structure and content of the book, mentioned above, have real and not inconsequential repercussions to the soundness of the text for Christian reflection. Certainly not a reason to avoid it, but rather a reason for churches to engage it critically and with prayerful hearts.
“Loving Desire, Desiring Love” a review of Our Favorite Sins - The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit by Todd D. Hunter
by Seth Forwood
Our Favorite Sins is the newest book from former Vineyard pastor now Anglican bishop, Todd Hunter. Hunter’s past in evangelicalism and high church conversion provide a good picture of what one should expect from his book on temptation - an evangelical heart with the blood of liturgy, sacrament and ancient prayers flowing through it. He relies heavily on both Barna Group research and ancient wisdom and practices to address the issue of temptation. This results in a tension that pulls the book in odd directions.
Hunter’s approach on desire and sin is probably the single most important aspect of the book. Borrowing from James K.A. Smith’s important and engaging work Desiring the Kingdom, Hunter argues that desire, longing, and loving will never go away and should not be suppressed to gain victory in temptation. Rather, when we order our desires to fit the ends we were made for we find our sins irrelevant, distasteful and idiotic because they bar our path toward true fulfillment in the love of God. This teleological approach situates sin in its proper place, a mere distraction from our good work as creatures.
This contrasts with the egocentric approach of many North American Christians who obsess over their faults, lost inside the narrowness of their personal struggle. Hunter is not only more true to traditional Christianity with this approach, but also, in his pastoral way, kinder to the struggling sinner. I am reminded of a passage in the novel Gilead where pastor-narrator, Rev. John Ames writes, “I think sometimes there might be an advantage in making people aware how worn and stale these old transgressions are. It might take some of the shine off them, for those who are tempted.”
Hunter begins his chapters with a quote from a theologian or writer and peppers his writing with more thinkers. Assuming this book is for beginners in spiritual matters, this provides a resource for going deeper into the concepts Hunter mentions. His citations for spiritual writing are worth following up on: N.T. Wright, James K.A. Smith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, and C.S. Lewis. Those looking for more depth and theological nuance will find Hunter’s sources good ground for richer food.
The Anglican tradition and other ancient texts also give the reader an avenue to begin this transition to our good work from the “tyranny of what we want”, one of Hunter’s favorite phrases. His goal is to give the completely uninitiated an introduction to the rhythms of prayer and the lectionary, spiritual disciplines, and the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. Every chapter ends with a bit of spiritual writing, a prayer or collect and instructions for making it a part of your practice.
Also admirable is his emphasis on incarnate practice. He writes,
“...this is the interesting part of spiritual transformation into Christlikeness: most of the spiritual disciplines that transform our inner beings are bodily. Our bodies work with us as allies to transform our hearts, minds, wills, emotions and social selves...Think about it: fasting is bodily, so is praying, reading, kneeling, seeking solitude, and even keeping silent.” (111)
With these very bodily and temporal practices he casts an alternative vision, more compelling than the sin we hold onto, that inscribes our lives with beauty.
As an anglican myself, I enjoyed reading various prayers, collects and rites from the Book of Common Prayer that I pray every Sunday (he also includes profound and beautiful prayers from Celtic Daily Prayer). In my case Hunter is preaching to the choir. I have seen how these practices and prayers become glorious and transformative when participating with a vibrant community every week and throughout the year. Hunter’s approach, a kind of testimony to what he feels when he prays and reads scripture, may not be enough to convince evangelicals without the experience in a community like his own.
The book has the unfortunate subtitle “The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit” which seems to borrow more from self-help publications than Hunter’s content. Our task is not to “quit” sinning. The obsessive focus on the self is the first barrier to transcend in order to realign our sight on the work of God in the world. The subtitle is not just false advertising but bad theology and unhelpful to Hunter’s main goals.
The heavy reliance on the Barna Group survey data is troubling. Christian literature is necessarily written from a community for a community and, from scripture up to the present, is most relevant to a wide readership when it is rooted in a place. Augustine’s Confessions is an ancient example while last year’s The Pastor by Eugene Peterson might be a contemporary one. These books speak universally because rooted experience informs them, not statistical figures. Hunter tries to infuse the research findings with character and life, but the impulse to provide credibility through hard data bears a resemblance to market-driven efficiency rather than the story of Christianity.
Our Favorite Sins has many virtues for new Christians or those uninitiated in the rich traditions of the ancient prayers, practices and sacraments of the church. At the same time, I believe that some of the structure and content of the book, mentioned above, have real and not inconsequential repercussions to the soundness of the text for Christian reflection. Certainly not a reason to avoid it, but rather a reason for churches to engage it critically and with prayerful hearts.
February 25, 2012
Okay sinners, here is a book for you. Todd D. Hunter, author, Anglican bishop, adjunct professor, and authority on sin has written a helpful book on dealing with the problem of temptation (or dealing with the problem of ‘not dealing with temptation).
What makes this book so good is Hunter eschews strategies for handling sin that don’t go to the root of the problem. He isn’t interested in simply helping you modify your behavior; rather he want you to do the hard inner work of looking at where your desires are disordered and are causing you to be tempted in certain ways. He writes:
Disordered desires are a tyrant. This is why we struggle against them, striving to overthrow them in our hearts like the little despots they are….Our disordered desires are ruling our hearts and minds, and we don’t know what to do about it (7)
Hunter is adamant that we can only be tempted when a desire that we already have in side matches something that comes to our attention. Thus temptation is not an outside problem; it’s a heart problem.
Using research from the Barna group, Hunter addresses the five chief areas where contemporary people are tempted: anxiety, procrastination, overeating, media addiction, and laziness. While he has some practical insights into each temptation, he primarily uses these issues as case studies to explore how various strategies do not really get at the core of our sin problem.
Hunter’s proposed plan for dealing with sin involves the recovery of ‘Ancient and Fruitful’ practices such as the abstaining disciplines of silence and solitude, retraining your desires to desire the Kingdom first, liturgical prayer & the daily office, the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist and the Lectionary. He urges us to hold on to hope, carry a vision and make a plan to overcome temptation, but also to make use of the resources we have in Christ and the Holy Spirit. The bottom line is that overcoming temptation will require inner-work retraining disordered desires and cultivating a vision and hope for the Kingdom and a relationship with the triune God.
Each chapter closes with a prayer exercise taken from one of the prayers from the Book of Common Prayer or the Celtic prayer book. I really appreciated these prayers (they also feature prominently in several chapters). This made this book more formational than merely informational for me. The book is an invitation into cultivating the sort of inner life which can stand up in the time of trial. There is a lot of wisdom in Hunters words. His reliance on prayer, sacraments and spiritual practices point the way to victory from the sin that so easily entangles us.
One question I would have is what role does the community have in helping us pursue holiness. It is true that some of the practices he commends are communal (liturgical prayer, the sacraments, etc.) but the theme of mutual accountability is underdeveloped. Maybe he’s right that wrestling with sin is personal inner work but I also crave the intercession of the saints, particularly those who know me as I am (not just a general confession). I also have experienced hearing the words of absolution from those who knew my tangled heart in all its tawdry details and it broke the power of my shame. It seems like an important dimension of this.
The appendix of the book includes Barna’s survey which provides the statistic data used by Hunter in the chapters. Frankly I am not sure that the Barna study adds a whole lot. Hunter makes use of the statistical data, but on one level he’s rather ambivalent to them. He hones on the five particular areas of temptation that most of the respondents struggled with but he is clear that even if these are not your areas of struggle, the remedy of inner work, spiritual disciplines, prayer, sacraments and the larger story of redemption provides you the way to freedom.
These small caveats aside I highly recommend this book for you if you are self aware enough to know your struggle with sin and temptation. Otherwise I’m sure you know someone particularly sinful whom you could probably gift this book too. Give it to them and say, “When I saw this book, I thought of you.”
Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a copy of this book. I was asked to give a fair and honest review, and that is what you just read.
What makes this book so good is Hunter eschews strategies for handling sin that don’t go to the root of the problem. He isn’t interested in simply helping you modify your behavior; rather he want you to do the hard inner work of looking at where your desires are disordered and are causing you to be tempted in certain ways. He writes:
Disordered desires are a tyrant. This is why we struggle against them, striving to overthrow them in our hearts like the little despots they are….Our disordered desires are ruling our hearts and minds, and we don’t know what to do about it (7)
Hunter is adamant that we can only be tempted when a desire that we already have in side matches something that comes to our attention. Thus temptation is not an outside problem; it’s a heart problem.
Using research from the Barna group, Hunter addresses the five chief areas where contemporary people are tempted: anxiety, procrastination, overeating, media addiction, and laziness. While he has some practical insights into each temptation, he primarily uses these issues as case studies to explore how various strategies do not really get at the core of our sin problem.
Hunter’s proposed plan for dealing with sin involves the recovery of ‘Ancient and Fruitful’ practices such as the abstaining disciplines of silence and solitude, retraining your desires to desire the Kingdom first, liturgical prayer & the daily office, the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist and the Lectionary. He urges us to hold on to hope, carry a vision and make a plan to overcome temptation, but also to make use of the resources we have in Christ and the Holy Spirit. The bottom line is that overcoming temptation will require inner-work retraining disordered desires and cultivating a vision and hope for the Kingdom and a relationship with the triune God.
Each chapter closes with a prayer exercise taken from one of the prayers from the Book of Common Prayer or the Celtic prayer book. I really appreciated these prayers (they also feature prominently in several chapters). This made this book more formational than merely informational for me. The book is an invitation into cultivating the sort of inner life which can stand up in the time of trial. There is a lot of wisdom in Hunters words. His reliance on prayer, sacraments and spiritual practices point the way to victory from the sin that so easily entangles us.
One question I would have is what role does the community have in helping us pursue holiness. It is true that some of the practices he commends are communal (liturgical prayer, the sacraments, etc.) but the theme of mutual accountability is underdeveloped. Maybe he’s right that wrestling with sin is personal inner work but I also crave the intercession of the saints, particularly those who know me as I am (not just a general confession). I also have experienced hearing the words of absolution from those who knew my tangled heart in all its tawdry details and it broke the power of my shame. It seems like an important dimension of this.
The appendix of the book includes Barna’s survey which provides the statistic data used by Hunter in the chapters. Frankly I am not sure that the Barna study adds a whole lot. Hunter makes use of the statistical data, but on one level he’s rather ambivalent to them. He hones on the five particular areas of temptation that most of the respondents struggled with but he is clear that even if these are not your areas of struggle, the remedy of inner work, spiritual disciplines, prayer, sacraments and the larger story of redemption provides you the way to freedom.
These small caveats aside I highly recommend this book for you if you are self aware enough to know your struggle with sin and temptation. Otherwise I’m sure you know someone particularly sinful whom you could probably gift this book too. Give it to them and say, “When I saw this book, I thought of you.”
Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a copy of this book. I was asked to give a fair and honest review, and that is what you just read.
May 2, 2012
Description:
Our Favorite Sins is the sinner's guide to beating temptation using practical bible-based tools. Anglican bishop and founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Todd D. Hunter, uses his 30+ years of experience to teach valuable skills for decreasing daily temptation, as well as for prioritizing whats really important in life.
Review:
Let's face it, we are all guilty of something. We have all been tempted in some way or another, and many of us choose to break God's rules; knowing of the consequences, but still compelled to commit - like an addiction. How many times have we done something we regretted, hurt ourselves and the ones we love, and casually forgotten - just to do it again? Are we inept at taking cues and learning lessons? Have we fallen so far that our faith and fear in God no longer stand as a deterrent? Or are these just excuses to keep our desires in charge?
These are some of the thoughts I had while reading Our Favorite Sins: The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit. We have all heard of the seven deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony, but how seriously do we take them? Todd D. Hunter takes readers through the modern world of temptations including: anxiety, procrastination, pornography, over-indulgence (food, electronics, alcohol, drugs, sex...), and adultery, to expose readers to the truth - we are all guilty of sin, but there are ways to beat it. I was skeptical at first, unsure of how to approach the book - everybody sins, but that doesn't mean we all want to face it. Who likes to be told that what they are doing is wrong? However, once I started reading, I was surprised to find that it is not a book that blames the sinners, but one that allows them to judge themselves and admit their own flaws, leading to realization and ultimate "recovery" from temptation and sin. The author's methods are clear, concise, and backed-up by the Book of God - The Bible. The 259 page guide is written as a discussion of sorts with around fifteen chapters and room for the reader's own contemplation. I equate it to a spiritual therapy session; a couple pages a day, as well as the completion of a few interactive exercises, and the reader, (in this case - me), begins to feel lighter, more in touch with God, and strong enough to say "NO" when it comes to temptation and the devil's influence. I like how the author set up each chapter, the prayers, and the methodology behind his approach. There were a lot of points made that I have never thought of, and I will definitely be referring to this book again in the future. Highly recommended for all readers interested in Christian-based spiritual growth and the ability to shut-out sin.
Rating: On the Run (4.5/5)
* I received this book from the author (Thomas Nelson, Inc.) in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Our Favorite Sins is the sinner's guide to beating temptation using practical bible-based tools. Anglican bishop and founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Todd D. Hunter, uses his 30+ years of experience to teach valuable skills for decreasing daily temptation, as well as for prioritizing whats really important in life.
Review:
Let's face it, we are all guilty of something. We have all been tempted in some way or another, and many of us choose to break God's rules; knowing of the consequences, but still compelled to commit - like an addiction. How many times have we done something we regretted, hurt ourselves and the ones we love, and casually forgotten - just to do it again? Are we inept at taking cues and learning lessons? Have we fallen so far that our faith and fear in God no longer stand as a deterrent? Or are these just excuses to keep our desires in charge?
These are some of the thoughts I had while reading Our Favorite Sins: The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit. We have all heard of the seven deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony, but how seriously do we take them? Todd D. Hunter takes readers through the modern world of temptations including: anxiety, procrastination, pornography, over-indulgence (food, electronics, alcohol, drugs, sex...), and adultery, to expose readers to the truth - we are all guilty of sin, but there are ways to beat it. I was skeptical at first, unsure of how to approach the book - everybody sins, but that doesn't mean we all want to face it. Who likes to be told that what they are doing is wrong? However, once I started reading, I was surprised to find that it is not a book that blames the sinners, but one that allows them to judge themselves and admit their own flaws, leading to realization and ultimate "recovery" from temptation and sin. The author's methods are clear, concise, and backed-up by the Book of God - The Bible. The 259 page guide is written as a discussion of sorts with around fifteen chapters and room for the reader's own contemplation. I equate it to a spiritual therapy session; a couple pages a day, as well as the completion of a few interactive exercises, and the reader, (in this case - me), begins to feel lighter, more in touch with God, and strong enough to say "NO" when it comes to temptation and the devil's influence. I like how the author set up each chapter, the prayers, and the methodology behind his approach. There were a lot of points made that I have never thought of, and I will definitely be referring to this book again in the future. Highly recommended for all readers interested in Christian-based spiritual growth and the ability to shut-out sin.
Rating: On the Run (4.5/5)
* I received this book from the author (Thomas Nelson, Inc.) in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
April 10, 2012
The subtitle “The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit” tells us both what we do not want to talk about as well as what we have all given thought to often. It’s uncomfortable to think about the sins that we not only commit, but actually fail in regularly. Fortunately, since Mr. Hunter stirs up such subjects for us to face, he goes on to tackle what we should do to overcome these temptations that follow us all through our lives.
In launching into his subject, Mr. Hunter admits the battle that we all face with temptation. He never hides the fact that the battle has been as fierce in his own life as he knows it is for we readers. Quickly he establishes that our wrong desires, springing from pride, are deep inside us and are the ultimate problem in the sins we commit. He makes an understandable and strong case here. I was convinced.
He explains how well we rationalize our sins. His description is really uncanny as I know I have rationalized the way he describes. Then he describes the all too common situation of living years as a Christian and never quite getting victory. In that many of my failures are similar to what they were years ago, I too well know what he means. Add to that the fact that temptation is here to stay, and we are discussing one of the biggest issues of the Christian life.
In probing this issue for us he recognizes that what tempts me probably is not what tempts you. Based on those deep “disordered desires” He ties it together in a clear way the process of desire, rationalization, and then failure. We become creatures who live to feed our desires. We feel helpless and only fail more. He analyzes survey respondents on how they handled temptation and shows that if we even try at all, our pathetic responses are doomed from the beginning.
Then he takes us on an expose of the most common temptations of our times. There’s worry, procrastinating, over-indulgence, social media addiction (Let’s look out as I write on here as you read on here), and laziness. In chapters 9 and 10 he takes these common temptations and brings us back to his premise that our desires must be re-ordered though the power of Christ. It’s helpful stuff.
He has 2 chapters on Sacraments and the Lectionary that I found of little use. He’s an Anglican who uses these things though you would never know it outside these 2 chapters.
This is a great read that highlights the need of a transformational approach rather than the pitiful failing attempts we have used for years. This book can help us.
I received this book free from the publisher. 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 .
In launching into his subject, Mr. Hunter admits the battle that we all face with temptation. He never hides the fact that the battle has been as fierce in his own life as he knows it is for we readers. Quickly he establishes that our wrong desires, springing from pride, are deep inside us and are the ultimate problem in the sins we commit. He makes an understandable and strong case here. I was convinced.
He explains how well we rationalize our sins. His description is really uncanny as I know I have rationalized the way he describes. Then he describes the all too common situation of living years as a Christian and never quite getting victory. In that many of my failures are similar to what they were years ago, I too well know what he means. Add to that the fact that temptation is here to stay, and we are discussing one of the biggest issues of the Christian life.
In probing this issue for us he recognizes that what tempts me probably is not what tempts you. Based on those deep “disordered desires” He ties it together in a clear way the process of desire, rationalization, and then failure. We become creatures who live to feed our desires. We feel helpless and only fail more. He analyzes survey respondents on how they handled temptation and shows that if we even try at all, our pathetic responses are doomed from the beginning.
Then he takes us on an expose of the most common temptations of our times. There’s worry, procrastinating, over-indulgence, social media addiction (Let’s look out as I write on here as you read on here), and laziness. In chapters 9 and 10 he takes these common temptations and brings us back to his premise that our desires must be re-ordered though the power of Christ. It’s helpful stuff.
He has 2 chapters on Sacraments and the Lectionary that I found of little use. He’s an Anglican who uses these things though you would never know it outside these 2 chapters.
This is a great read that highlights the need of a transformational approach rather than the pitiful failing attempts we have used for years. This book can help us.
I received this book free from the publisher. 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 .
March 10, 2012
How many of us have had an experience where we know we need to do one thing, but end up foolishly doing exactly the opposite? Or similarly, not done the right thing at the right time?
This book provides an analysis of why all people behave in this way.
In short, the author claims that disordered desire leads us to poor behavior. If we reorient our desires appropriately, it becomes more natural to do the right thing.
This conclusion is based upon the findings of a comprehensive survey by the Barna Group, well-known for its high-quality surveys on a variety of current topics in the church.
Most surprisingly, about 50% of respondents say that they really don’t know why they sometimes give in to temptation and do the wrong thing.
Although I really enjoyed reading this book and found its conclusions valuable, it did not feel like a coherent whole. The author starts with some relevant passages from the Bible and personal stories, transitions into the details of the Barna study, and then abruptly shifts to his experiences with liturgy as an Anglican bishop.
But other than this one flaw in structure, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about how to respond to our natural tendency to do the wrong thing, even when we know that we ought to do the right thing.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review.
This book provides an analysis of why all people behave in this way.
In short, the author claims that disordered desire leads us to poor behavior. If we reorient our desires appropriately, it becomes more natural to do the right thing.
This conclusion is based upon the findings of a comprehensive survey by the Barna Group, well-known for its high-quality surveys on a variety of current topics in the church.
Most surprisingly, about 50% of respondents say that they really don’t know why they sometimes give in to temptation and do the wrong thing.
Although I really enjoyed reading this book and found its conclusions valuable, it did not feel like a coherent whole. The author starts with some relevant passages from the Bible and personal stories, transitions into the details of the Barna study, and then abruptly shifts to his experiences with liturgy as an Anglican bishop.
But other than this one flaw in structure, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about how to respond to our natural tendency to do the wrong thing, even when we know that we ought to do the right thing.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review.
February 28, 2015
At first I didn't enjoy it but after a while, began to understand the author's true intent. Once done, it opened me up to experience the book on another level. Changed my spiritual perspective on many things...especially in understanding why we continue to do that which we do not want to do...selfishness and disordered desires. A good read. Plan to go back and review over and over again.
October 14, 2015
Helpful book, with some important truths. One of the most important for me is from chapter two:
"Temptation doesn't derives its power from what I already see with my eyes, I can only be tempted when a desire I already have within me matches something that comes to my attention."
At times a bit dense but worth reading!
"Temptation doesn't derives its power from what I already see with my eyes, I can only be tempted when a desire I already have within me matches something that comes to my attention."
At times a bit dense but worth reading!
June 3, 2012
Endorsements by John Ortberg, Margaret Feinberg, and Bill Hybels, also a forward by Dallas Willard inspired me to purchase this book. A great read!
July 28, 2016
Great thinking on overcoming temptation. Good helpful stuff from a high church guy, but still thoughtful and a good read for a low church guy.
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