The Purpose Driven Life

This is an interactive book...if you read it as intended. The lessons are devotionals and applications all in one.

1 You were planned for God's pleasure
2 You were formed for God's family
3 You were created to become like Christ
4 You were shaped for serving God
5 You were made for a mission

This is not a difficult book. You don't have to have knowledge of the Bible or religion. This is for anyone seeking more purpose in life...even if you don't believe in God he believes in you. ( )

Good Book! ( )

About 9 years ago my sister in law gave me her copy of 'The Purpose Driven Life' by Rick Warren. I have to admit that I read the first few chapters (days) and then it sat on my bookshelf and it is still there today. So when I was given the chance to receive a copy and to give an honest review I was very interested. I was interested for two reasons. One was because I wanted to see what all the hype was about and two was because my sister in law really wanted me to read this book. So that is how I came to post this review of The Purpose Driven Life.

The Purpose Driven Life, What On Earth Am I Here For, New Expanded Edition by Rick Warren is celebrating its 10th year anniversary. In this anniversary edition there are 2 new chapters, The Envy Trap & The People Pleaser Trap, online video teaching by Rick Warren as well as an online community to discuss the book with.

In the back of the book there is an Appendix of Discussion Questions and Resources, notes with the book and verse of the bible that they were taken from. This anniversary edition represents a new approach for a new generation incorporating a new understanding of barriers that keep people from finding their purpose.

I am sure that if you read The Purpose Driven Life years ago that you already know what the book is about. The book is broke up into 42 days of lessons and at the end of each day there is points and verses to ponder. You can study the book alone or as a group. Mr Warren offers a packet that includes DVD's, the book, training materials and online resources. This book is supposed to help people that are Christians become better christian and ones striving to find there purpose in life.

The book is set up to answer the questions:

1. Why am I alive?

2. Does my life matter?

3. What on earth am I here for?

In this book there are 5 concepts to help you discover your purpose and live far beyond just surviving day to day life.

1. It will explain the meaning of your life.

2. It will simplify your life.

3. It will focus your life.

4. It will increase your motivation.

5. It will prepare you for eternity.

My Thoughts

The Pros

I have only been reading this book for about 2 weeks now, so these are my opinions and views of the book so far. Right off the bat you notice that each day is easy to read and Mr Warren uses simple language that anyone can understand. The book is arranged by 42 days and the teaching for each day is short and gives you many verses from the bible that match the topic being discussed.

I liked the fact that each day has an online video chapter summery for that day, and if you have any questions or just want to talk about the book you can go to the online community. There is a message to be heard video by Rick Warren that is a little over 40 minutes long, but to me in has really nothing to do with the day you are on.

I like the fact that one of the themes throughout the book is that we were made 'for Gods pleasure'. That God made us for a reason and not to just exist and to survive day to day life. If you are at all like me, there are days that I feel like I may know what my purpose is and days that I have no clue.

Many feel that the bible is a mystery, but I don't think so. Even though I have days that I question everything in my life, I know that we were created by God and for a purpose. When I was younger I would say, "I wish God would just come down here and tell me what to do"! One day it hit me, He did give me that answers on how to live and answer many of my questions, in the Bible.

There are some points in the book so far that have got me to thinking, like What is the driving force in your life? He also brought up a good point, some of us want more material things to make us happy, more important and more secure. In truth the happiness that we feel in material things only last a short while and fade and then we need more to give us that happy feeling again. In truth acquiring more possessions and power can cause us unnecessary stress, to feel unfulfilled, empty and exhausted and therefore we do not live up to our full potential. I have been guilty of this, just as I am sure many of us are.

The Cons

There are a few issues I had with this book such as the bible versus quoted in it are paraphrases, and in my opinion this can be dangerous. If you read only a portion of the verse you may not get the whole meaning. In other words the paraphrase may not be the meaning of the scripture at all. You have to read the whole scripture to get the meaning and to understand fully what is being said.

I also did not care for the many translations of the bible that were used. There are 14 bible translations that were used to quote scripture from. I prefer the King James Bible and the New International Version. These 2 bibles basically say the same thing and the main difference is that the NIV Bible does not contain words such as thee, thou, etc. There is no drastic changes in the verses as other bibles have. There is one translation used, The Message, that I found I had reread the verse paraphrase and it did not even say the same thing as the Kind James Version.

Another thing I did not care for was that in some parts of the book Mr Warren states some things as fact, when in truth they are his own thoughts.

All that being said, I believe that The Purpose Driven Life, Expanded Edition as a whole is a good book to help guide you in the direction of serving God and finding purpose in your life. It is a good tool to help guide you, but is in no way a substitute for your bible. When a verse is referred to in the book, please find it in your bible and read it. I am not saying that Mr Warren says to replace your bible with his book. I am just saying to go to your bible for confirmation of the verses.

I will be finishing the book because I am curious to see what else it says.

*This book was given to me to review by Book Sneeze on behalf of the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own and I was not further compensated in any way, besides the book. ( )

The Purpose-driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren (?)

It's not the heresy people make it out to be. It's also not particularly inspired, life-changing, or gospel-focused. ( )