The tag:
How to hack the equation without formulas
From the back cover:Do you struggle with knowing God's will for your life? For years, the subject of God's will has been presented more like a mathematical equation rather than the extraordinary, liberating, challenging — even risky — journey that it actually is.
In
Understanding God's Will, pastor Kyle Lake takes the fear and the mystery out of pursuing your life dreams and reveals simple and practical ways you can live in God's will on a daily basis. So quit pulling your hair out. If you're ready to get answers, take a seat. Class is about to begin...
About the author:
Kyle Lake was the pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, for seven years. He passed away in October 2005 at age 33 and is survived by his wife Jen, and their daughter and twin boys. Lake also wrote a follow-up book called
(re)Understanidng Prayer.
(For David Crowder*Band fans, the name may be familiar. He was the pastor of David Crowder's church and died right before DC*B's tour for the A Collision album.)
My Take:
Overall, a well-written, funny, easy to read, relevant, and honest book about God's will and what that really is. Lake has a gift for clearly teaching a topic as complex as the will of God. On top of that, he's very funny, sarcastic, and a little self-deprecating. This isn't a stuffy exegesis on theology and scripture written by some guy who's long gone. He wrote this for Christians of today's generation, using examples that we can all relate to and jokes that keep the tone light. Yet he doesn't water down his message, and manages to tackle the topic seriously.
To be clear, this book is not going to give you a step-by-step guide on how to discover God's specific will for your life. It's not like a "get rich quick" scheme or late-night infomercial. The short of it is that God's will is for us to become more and more like him. That may sound like a cop-out answer to some of you, but I hope you'll take the time to read this book to see how Lake comes to this conclusion. I found it very eye-opening as it caused me to examine my own life, decisions, and hopes to determine if I was living in God's will.
The aftermath:The book had an especially powerful effect on me because of my current situation; being inbetween jobs and trying to figure out what to do with my life sure makes a girl wonder about God's will a lot. Have I figured everything out after reading this book? Of course not. But it took me one step closer to understanding God a little bit better. And I have something new to mull over and work out as I make more decisions and consider my hopes and dreams for the future. It also lead me to listen to more sermon/podcasts on this topic and investigate what other pastors had to say on the matter. All in all, I'm glad I read it.
Buy Understanding God's Will at Amazon.com
Comments (2)
Have you read Jerry Sittser's The Will of God as a Way of Life? Or, for that matter, any other evangelical writing on the will of God? If so, of if you do, I'd be interested to hear your take on it.
@sirnickdon - no i haven't, but thanks for the suggestion! i will try to pick it up and let you know. it might take a while though, i'm a slow reader :P