Free Downloads Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach To Finding God's Will
Why won’t God reveal his special will for my life already? Because he doesn’t intend to... So says Kevin DeYoung in this punchy book about making decisions the godly way.Many of us are listening for the still small voice to tell us what’s next instead of listening to the clear voice in Scripture telling us what’s now. God does have a will for your life, but it is the same as everyone else’s: Seek first the kingdom of God. And quit floundering. With pastoral wisdom and tasteful wit, DeYoung debunks unbiblical ways of understanding God’s will and constructs a simple but biblical alternative: live like Christ. He exposes the frustrations of our waiting games and unfolds the freedom of finding God’s will in Scripture and then simply doing it. This book is a call to put down our Magic 8-Balls and pick up God’s Word. It’s a call to get wisdom, follow Christ, be holy, and live freely. To just do something.
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Moody Publishers; 40245th edition (April 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802411592
ISBN-13: 978-0802411594
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.4 x 7 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (313 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #7,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #67 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Personal Growth #200 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Spiritual Growth #1775 in Books > Religion & Spirituality
To be honest, I don't know that we really need another book--yet another book--on guidance and the will of God. Having said that, there is probably no genre of book I recommend more often than this simply because experience shows that many Christians, too many Christians, do not understand how God expects us to know his will and how we may expect him to guide us to those things that please him. We are blessed to have some excellent resources at our disposal. The best known of these is Garry Friesen's Decision Making and the Will of God, a book that many of the others depend on, but one that is perhaps a little intimidating due to its size (528 pages in the most recent edition). Dave Swavely's Decisions, Decisions is the one I recommend most often as it serves as a useful condensed version of Friesen's work. Similar titles have been written by John MacArthur, Bruce Waltke, J.I. Packer, Phillip Jensen and many, many others.The author who seeks to add something to this genre is entering into a very crowded field and is going to need a unique angle. Kevin DeYoung takes on this challenge and succeeds admirably, crafting a short but powerful book that really packs a punch. His unique angle is reflected in the title: Just Do Something! "My goal," he says, "is not as much to tell you how to hear God's voice in making decisions as it is to hear God telling you to get off the long road to nowhere and finally make a decision, get a job, and perhaps, get married." He fears that many Christians, because of their unbliblical understanding of knowing and doing the will of God, are wasting their lives doing nothing when they should just be doing, well, something!
When I was in my teens I read a great book (still in print) called Decision Making and the Will of God by Gary Friesen and Robin Maxon. It was a watershed book for me in helping me with how to make wise decisions. Over the years I've recommended the book to many who have who have sought my counsel on the question "How can I know the will of God for my life?". The problem with the book by Friesen and Maxon is it's length (It was based on Friesen's doctoral dissertation at Dallas Theological Seminary). It's a great book, but it's length is prohibitive for many. Here's the distinct advantage of DeYoung's book - essentially the same principles and content - in 300 pages less!DeYoung focuses on the facts of what God has revealed in the Scriptures so that we can best discern wisely what he wants from us. He makes a good case that God never intends for us to know "specifically" what He wants us to do (vocation), where He wants us to live, or who to marry (among many other questions we ask); however, DeYoung shows what God wants us to be like (Jesus) and how this purpose (sanctification) informs our decision-making. In the final analysis DeYoung writes: "Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God...the will of God for your life is pretty straightforward: Be holy like Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, for the glory of God."The author does a wonderful job of using practical illustrations to show how we worry, procrastinate, and flat-out sin by not doing what we know to do, as we put out fleeces, wait for signs, and pray as we wait for God's discernment.
So, I recently finished Kevin DeYoung’s book “Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will OR How to Make A Decision Without Dream, Visions, Fleeces, Impressions, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing In The Sky, Etc.”.The title alone has it’s own paragraph in my post, but I can assure you that this little book is a quick read, and most people simply refer to the title as “Just Do Something”. This review I am writing is on behalf of Moody Publishers, who provided me a copy of the book and the permission to post a review of it. So here goes:Quite honestly, I found this book to be a liberating counterbalance to the hyper-cautious and fearful notion that our day-to-day decisions can screw up God’s plan for our lives. I teach Sunday School at my neighborhood church, and I also am a pretty new Christian (4 years), so I definitely understand the desire to hit the preverbal nail on the head of God’s will– It’s a desire that I’ve found many very “green” or young Christians have. So I am fond of DeYoung’s description of God’s will as more of a circle outlined by scripture, as opposed to a single solitary dot on a massive span of sinful white space.His point is clear: Scripture can point us to universal truths that will help us live within the sphere of God’s Will. We don’t have to wait for a giant sign in the sky to go ahead and apply for a job or declare a major in college. I get that. But while I found this book refreshing and liberating, I couldn’t help but be disheartened and uncomfortable with DeYoung’s downplay of the role that the Holy Spirit has in our lives.One of the book’s key points (it’s stated over and over again, rather redundantly) is that moral decisions matter much more than non-moral ones.
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