This book helped me to understand my relationship with God; all that He wants for me & who I am. It requires quite a bit of reflection and is tremendously helpful in moving you to another dimension in God. ( )

Comes across as plausible and good but puts a Christian back under law (Gal 3:1, Gal 1:6&7). Don't bother. ( )

Christianity 101 ( )

Inspirational ( )

Awesome! Changed my life! ( )

This was a wonderful devotion that my sister and I did together. I definitely recommend this devotion and only read one chapter a day. Also, do the devotion with someone because it's great to bounce thoughts off one another. It really makes you sit and re-evaluate your life, your commitments, and your priorities. But no, it won't tell you what career path to choose. ( )

After much apprehension in starting this book, and reading many reviews and getting opinions, I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least start it and see what I think. In the end, it wasn’t as bad as some made it out to be.

Divided into 40 days, with a purpose to read one chapter a day, reflect, and come back the next day and continue, leading you to find the purpose for you life with Christ.

Since I’m already a believer, most of the book was a refresher course on the basics of faith. I would recommend the book to anyone searching or anyone who has fallen in their faith and are looking for a way back in. It’s very straight forward without feeling too overbearing. Very easy to understand and follow.

must read

A great example of how words in the Bible can be interpreted to mean whatever you want them to mean. I agree that life needs to be lived with a purpose, but none of his stuff seemed to follow anything logically. ( )

Absolute must for every serious Christian seeking to find the fullest potential in life, walking with God. ( )

Envolvente

You know, I've heard from people I trust that Rick Warren's sermons are very good and doctrinally sound. I will assume they are right. If so, I don't know where this book came from.

Most of the points in this book are sound, but a good chunk of it is so incredibly off that they really made me quite angry. Some of the points were small and minor, such as the statement that there is no such thing as Christian music (chapter 8), only Christian lyrics, which is directly opposed to Scripture (Psalm 150, for example -- how else can we "praise with a trumpet"). Then there are huge points, like where we suggests that we can force Jesus to come back earlier by our own actions (chapter 36).

He uses a very wide variety of Bible versions, supposedly because he wants to "compare translations." But he leans most heavily on paraphrases, especially The Messages, which is notorious for being just a terrible version of the Bible, filled with inaccuracies and Eugene Peterson's own theology. Obviously, Warren here is just trying to pick and choose which version of a verse agrees with himself. And then he hides the verse citations in the end notes where it is very difficult to find them so you can check his quotation.

But there are two major problems here. The first is that this is a very man-centered vision of Christianity that hardly seems to seek God at all. It is all about making God make your life wonderful. And that's wrong. Our faith is God-centered, because only He is worthy of it.

The second major problem is that this book is directed to people who don't know any better. Normally, I will give a book a few stars for being "mostly right" or "partially right," but this book is being marketed directly to people who do not know much about Christianity. It is being marketed to small groups that do not read the Bible. Therefore these people do not know better. They cannot test what is said in this book.

If a mature Christian picks up this book, he will recognize the mistakes but learn nothing new. Therefore the book is worthless to him. If a new Christian picks it up, he will learn something new, but not recognize the major mistakes. Therefore it will be harmful to him. Either way, the book should be avoided. Therefore, I must give it my lowest rating and urge everyone to study the Bible (a real translation, not what Eugene Peterson wishes the Bible said); challenge every word you read from any of these books. Look up every reference Warren makes, because half the time, he is either misquoting with a bad version of the Bible or taking the verse completely out of context.

Do this with every book you read, but, most importantly, read the Bible! ( )

Christian life

Started off well. It is repetitive in places but some things bear repeating. I did find the use of different translations irritating at first, but got used to it. Although I disagreed with some of the theological viewpoints he was expressing, it was worthwhile persevering with the book. I suppose the next thing would be to find a group to discuss it with and to start putting it into practice. He rather lost me with the last section, though.

This book DID change my life!! Wonderful. Absolutely amazing! ( )

This book offers 40 devotionals on how to live a life that is pleasing to God by worshipping Him, becoming like Christ, serving others in the Church, and sharing the Gospel with the world. The presentation is simple, but very readable, effective, and applicable. Though I noticed a point or two that I could imagine certain members of my church community quibbling with, I think that by and large Warren presents a message that the modern church needs to hear: that Christianity is not about us, about turning inward and making sure we get what we want out of church, but about God, turning to Him and making sure we give what He wants to the church and the world. If you are a new believer, or a member of one of the many moderate to liberal congregations where this kind of thinking is not so prevalent, this is a message you need to hear and believe. Even if you are a seasoned believer and think you already know the concepts in this book, the "one question a day" presentation is thought-provoking and should lead you to examine yourself and reconsider how well you are doing in certain areas. I was particularly challenged by the idea that career and marriage are not purposes for your life in and of themselves, but things that God could work out for you in any number of possible ways, any of which could help to fit in with His plan. When I picked up the book I was reading in a mindset of not being sure whether my education was leading to the "right career" for God to use me, so this helped me a lot to realise that I don't have to figure out what the right plan for me is, then do it; I just have to do whatever I am doing to God's glory. I enjoyed this book and found it to be a helpful pick-me-up that reshifted my focus where it needed to be, and I think it would do the same for others. ( )

This is a good book. It's not as fantastic as some say that swear by it. It is also not as bad as as some say that curse it. ( )

A Good Plan ( )

Interesting, but IMO very overrated. About 1/4 reads like a promotion for his church (or at least how he runs his church). The rest has tidbits here and there, but nothing that I found earthshattering, and I think my wife stopped reading 3/4 of the way through. ( )

Starts out pretty good....but then gets a little "too worldly" in ideas/thoughts. Not sure it's so Biblically based! (sounds like it is tho...) ( )

I learned a lot. Make sure you take it one day at a time. It's not about the content, it's about the reflection. ( )

I received this book as a gift - otherwise I probably wouldn't have read it. I don't read a lot of nonfiction, and when I do it is not usually self-help or inspirational nonfiction. The Purpose Driven Life is meant to be read slowly over 40 days - one chapter a day. My husband and I read it together and discussed it; and in this regard it was a good experience.

As a Christian, I believe that Christ is our savior and died for our sins. I believe in the power of prayer. I believe there are ways to live our lives which make us better people and give our lives purpose. In many ways, this is what Rick Warren writes about - the problem with the book is twofold:

1. Warren repeats everything again and again and again. At some points, I wanted to scream "Okay, I get it!" Some of the information is so basic I felt Warren was talking down to the reader.
2. Warren presents an exceptionally narrow way of viewing the world which I felt was not inclusive enough. He made me feel that if I didn't subscribe to his interpretation of God's word, than I was not the 'right kind of Christian.' I've always hated that view - it makes me uncomfortable and it doesn't feel correct to me. I didn't appreciate the subtle judgment against other faiths which was woven into the text

On the up side, Warren presents information clearly, concisely and gives the reader a series of questions and meditations to strengthen his points. The book is well organized.

I'm afraid I can't recommend this book to a lot of people - even some Christians (like myself) may feel the book talks down to them and doesn't resonate fully with their beliefs. If you are a person who loves inspirational and religious philosophy, you may want to give it a try. ( )

Shallow and callow look at man from man's own view point.

He can sell a lot of books but cannot understand the Book.

A modern American tragedy that will have eternal consequences for millions of misled souls. ( )

Garbage. ( )