≡ Read Free Your Best Life Now 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential Joel Osteen 9780446532754 Books

Your Best Life Now 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential Joel Osteen 9780446532754 Books

Download As PDF : Your Best Life Now 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential Joel Osteen 9780446532754 Books

Your Best Life Now 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential Joel Osteen 9780446532754 Books

Chewing through this big, sweet, bunch of fluff for a book is sort of like eating an angel food cake. You (if you're anything like me) just want to eat more and more and more, and it goes down great, doesn't it? In fact, you can rationalize your gluttony by telling yourself that egg whites are good for you anyway, right?

I agree with most of what Joel Osteen writes. Certainly postive thinking and behaving with integrity will lead to better results than being cynical, negative and expecting the worst. If you have never read a Christian positive thinking book, you may as well read this one.

I have three problems with this book, however, that account for my relatively low rating.

First, why did this book need to be written anyway? Are there not enough Christian postive thinking books, tapes, TV shows, etc. out there already? The multitude of little anecdotes in this book read like so many regurgitated self-help sermon notes from thousands of three-point self-help sermans that have been preached for the last several decades. The copyright date on this book is 2004, but it just as well could have been 1994 or 1984 or 1974. Solomon was right; there is nothing new under the sun, and it would seem nothing new in Christian postive thinking books.

Second, Joel Osteen blew it right up front (page 25) for me when he explained how he inherited his father's ministry. So, his father built a successful ministry, and Mr. Osteen inherited it, and now he can sit back in his office in his mega-church and write books about positive thinking. Not exactly an inspiring story of triumphing over adversity.

On page 85 and 86, Mr. Osteen describes his father's salary of "only $115 a week", and then goes on to describe how his father was unable to accept a gift for "a thousand dollars, tantamount to ten thousand dollars today!" Well, that means his father's salary was tantamount to $1150 a week, or $4600 a month, or about $55,000 a year in today's dollars. Not rich by a stretch, but not exactly poverty either. The story was worded to make it sound like the gift his father refused was vastly more than his salary, but that really didn't seem to be the case.

Third, there's the out-of-context stuff. Imagine stuffing that fluffy, sweet angel food cake into your face and then encountering an anchovy in your cake. It would be quite out of context and would thoroughly break the mood, wouldn't it?

That's what it's like with Mr. Osteen's use of scripture. I knew I was in trouble by page 6, where Mr. Osteen writes, "Interestingly, when Jesus wanted to encourage his followers to enlarge their visions, He reminded them 'You can't put new wine into old wineskins'"

Encourage his followers to enlarge their visions? Was Jesus just trying to say "think bigger" with this illustration? Anyone who has read the Gospels knows that this wasn't the case. Mr. Osteen also has the common habit of some preachers of taking Old Testament passages directed to Israel and applying them out of context to us as individuals today. That really gets old fast.

Finally, anyone with even a cursory knowledge of scripture knows that sometimes thing just don't go well when we decide to follow Jesus. We are supposed to take up our cross daily, and for some this doesn't lead to bigger houses, but to being martyred. Joel Osteen's positive thinking seems to be a very American kind of Christianity.

So, my bottom line is if you need some encouragement, go ahead and read this book. Just don't take it as gospel.


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Your Best Life Now 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential Joel Osteen 9780446532754 Books Reviews

Joel Osteen's book, Your Best Life Now, is truly one of the best motivational books I've ever read! When he replaced his father, John Osteen, as the principal pastor of the Lakewood Church, which is in Houston, TX, he was kind of "backed" into it! You see, his father died of a heart attack, and Joel's mother had no idea of who to ask to be the speaker at the next Sunday's service. So, in desperation, she asked Joel if he could do it. Joel had great fears of doing that, because he had never done anything like that before! As a matter of fact, his only role in the church was "behind the scenes," in that he was involved only in the TV production for his father's program. Still, Joel accepted his mother's request.

However, much of the media predicted complete failure for him! Yet, he greatly succeeded in his efforts, and has become one of the greatest motivational speakers known to mankind!

If you would like to know more about Joel and the Lakewood Church, I invite you to go to the Web site, [...], which is the official Web site for that church.

To me, Joel is a hero! He has helped me immensely, and I've bought his book for many of my friends!
i Like Joel so was eager to read this. It was very uplifting and helpful. A good easy read. Easy to relate to what he was writing about. Helps when you need to refocus on yourself. Great start to a new perspective. Positive stuff and a helpful push into the right direction. I would recommend this book. Ive bought it for a friend and she loved it too.
Spiritual and motivational book. I purchased this book while soul searching. I was at crossroads in my life, personal and professional and trying to become a better person. I knew I needed help. My world has turned right side up and it keeps getting better. He's a great motivational speaker and he can hit home on some of your weaknesses. I am Christian, nondenominational, if that matters to reviewers. I have purchased this book for 3 others because it has been so helpful. My husband borrowed my book and he enjoys listening too. This is a book I have listened to more than once and I usually don't listen to books more than once (I bought the audio cds).
Omg ! This book is amazing. If your welling to receive the message as rerseved in the words of this book. You can start your life over just by the positive thoughts that we program in our hearts and minds. This book was referred to me by a friend over 10 years ago. I have read this book over 3 times and the postives testmoniees as human beings that we deal with day-to-day makes you feel born again. It's makes you believe that your life will be great it's all about what we make of it. Love The best read EVER!
Feel good crap. I bought five copies for my friends, then became disillusioned by the reality that Jesus never called you to be rich. He called you to be godly, and to be persecuted, and to crucify your flesh. Osteen is a hack and a charalatan who travels on a private jet and spends his days writing lies about how to enter the kingdom of God. He cherry picks scripture like a champ, creating a false image of Jesus and His father. I'm sorry I bought this wonderful-sounding but truly awful collection of rubbish. If you have itching ears then this is your guy. If you want to hear the truth then read TL Osborne, Hudson Taylor, and George Mueller.
Before you do anything negative read this book. No matter what is said about my brother Joel, listening to him on SiriusXM has woken up faith in me like never before. Follow God and not man....if you live with that in mind, this is the book for you.
Chewing through this big, sweet, bunch of fluff for a book is sort of like eating an angel food cake. You (if you're anything like me) just want to eat more and more and more, and it goes down great, doesn't it? In fact, you can rationalize your gluttony by telling yourself that egg whites are good for you anyway, right?

I agree with most of what Joel Osteen writes. Certainly postive thinking and behaving with integrity will lead to better results than being cynical, negative and expecting the worst. If you have never read a Christian positive thinking book, you may as well read this one.

I have three problems with this book, however, that account for my relatively low rating.

First, why did this book need to be written anyway? Are there not enough Christian postive thinking books, tapes, TV shows, etc. out there already? The multitude of little anecdotes in this book read like so many regurgitated self-help sermon notes from thousands of three-point self-help sermans that have been preached for the last several decades. The copyright date on this book is 2004, but it just as well could have been 1994 or 1984 or 1974. Solomon was right; there is nothing new under the sun, and it would seem nothing new in Christian postive thinking books.

Second, Joel Osteen blew it right up front (page 25) for me when he explained how he inherited his father's ministry. So, his father built a successful ministry, and Mr. Osteen inherited it, and now he can sit back in his office in his mega-church and write books about positive thinking. Not exactly an inspiring story of triumphing over adversity.

On page 85 and 86, Mr. Osteen describes his father's salary of "only $115 a week", and then goes on to describe how his father was unable to accept a gift for "a thousand dollars, tantamount to ten thousand dollars today!" Well, that means his father's salary was tantamount to $1150 a week, or $4600 a month, or about $55,000 a year in today's dollars. Not rich by a stretch, but not exactly poverty either. The story was worded to make it sound like the gift his father refused was vastly more than his salary, but that really didn't seem to be the case.

Third, there's the out-of-context stuff. Imagine stuffing that fluffy, sweet angel food cake into your face and then encountering an anchovy in your cake. It would be quite out of context and would thoroughly break the mood, wouldn't it?

That's what it's like with Mr. Osteen's use of scripture. I knew I was in trouble by page 6, where Mr. Osteen writes, "Interestingly, when Jesus wanted to encourage his followers to enlarge their visions, He reminded them 'You can't put new wine into old wineskins'"

Encourage his followers to enlarge their visions? Was Jesus just trying to say "think bigger" with this illustration? Anyone who has read the Gospels knows that this wasn't the case. Mr. Osteen also has the common habit of some preachers of taking Old Testament passages directed to Israel and applying them out of context to us as individuals today. That really gets old fast.

Finally, anyone with even a cursory knowledge of scripture knows that sometimes thing just don't go well when we decide to follow Jesus. We are supposed to take up our cross daily, and for some this doesn't lead to bigger houses, but to being martyred. Joel Osteen's positive thinking seems to be a very American kind of Christianity.

So, my bottom line is if you need some encouragement, go ahead and read this book. Just don't take it as gospel.