Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

This is a great book on discipleship in a hostile culture, and I really appreciated many of the thoughts, probably because they chimed with my own thinking on the topic. Larry Osborne also has a way with words, and there are a lot of great one-liners and quotations in the book ("After all, it takes a mess to have a miracle."; "We’re supposed to weep with those who weep. We’re not supposed to smother them with banal truisms, out-of-context Bible verses, shallow advice, and links to our favorite podcasts.")

So the book was very helpful, and very readable: it is divided into short chapters and written in a very accessible way.

Why do I only give it a three-star rating? Despite being very readable and helpful, it doesn't really live up show more to its billing of looking at the life of Daniel and applying it to living in our modern-day Babylon. The writer does touch off from the life of Daniel in most chapters, but then jumps off all over the Bible to make his case, sometimes barely mentioning Daniel. As I'd bought it to help me in preparing a preaching series on Daniel, that was a slight disappointment.

I wouldn't, however, want that to prevent anyone from buying or reading the book: it is a great read, and a helpful book for anyone thinking about discipleship in our current-day world. show less

The author turns to Babylon and the story of Daniel to help us thrive in an increasingly godless culture. He explores: why panic and despair are never from God, What true optimism looks like, how wisdom can snatch victory out of the jaws of the defeat.

This book used the Biblical Daniel during the Babylonian captivity as the epitome of these 3 characteristics. A really great read with Biblical references. 224 pages