dlsmall's review against another edition
4.0
Nothing like a friend asking to borrow a book to get me to finally actually read it. My pastor Craig wrote this book earlier this year to accompany a sermon series of the same name that had one of my favorite weeks of the last couple of years (Week 2, Weird is Better). When I've seen the messages, I tend to take the book for granted. I'm glad I finally pulled this off the shelf.
The voice is totally Craig's. His message: If you want to be like normal people, think and act the way normal people act. Looking at what is the norm in our culture and the world around me, I'll take "weird" every time (Frustrated side note: You'll hear folks talk about The U.S. being a "Christian Nation." If this is true, something has gone very wrong with Chrisianity.) The book's focus is to be different in the way you handle: 1) your time, 2) your money, 3) your relationships, 4) sex, and 5) your values.
A good read for any Christian who wants something different than the norm, especially young Christians.
The voice is totally Craig's. His message: If you want to be like normal people, think and act the way normal people act. Looking at what is the norm in our culture and the world around me, I'll take "weird" every time (Frustrated side note: You'll hear folks talk about The U.S. being a "Christian Nation." If this is true, something has gone very wrong with Chrisianity.) The book's focus is to be different in the way you handle: 1) your time, 2) your money, 3) your relationships, 4) sex, and 5) your values.
A good read for any Christian who wants something different than the norm, especially young Christians.
cosmicbookworm's review against another edition
2.0
I picked up this book because it is written by the pastor of the mega church that my daughter and son in law have started attending. I wanted to get a feel for what this guy is all about. He is head of a many campus church that people in all locations watch remotely every week.
The goal of the book is to urge us not to live lukewarm and compromising lives as Christians.
The repeated use of calling the Christian life weird got old and annoying. Rather than encouraging us to live pure Christian lives we are encouraged to be weird … I get it….not like current culture. Even so I don’t think God is asking us to be weird.
I didn’t buy the book but read the ebook on Scribd while listening to the audiobook.
I should have read the book in print. The audiobook is read in a sing songy style.
Parts of the book that seemed self promoting seemed even more so because of the style in which they were out loud.
The point that this is not our home is good, and that we are different because we have been changed. And I did appreciate the challenge at the end of the book:
What is the one thing I desire of God?
What one thing do I lack?
What one thing do I need to let go?
What one thing do I need to claim?
The goal of the book is to urge us not to live lukewarm and compromising lives as Christians.
The repeated use of calling the Christian life weird got old and annoying. Rather than encouraging us to live pure Christian lives we are encouraged to be weird … I get it….not like current culture. Even so I don’t think God is asking us to be weird.
I didn’t buy the book but read the ebook on Scribd while listening to the audiobook.
I should have read the book in print. The audiobook is read in a sing songy style.
Parts of the book that seemed self promoting seemed even more so because of the style in which they were out loud.
The point that this is not our home is good, and that we are different because we have been changed. And I did appreciate the challenge at the end of the book:
What is the one thing I desire of God?
What one thing do I lack?
What one thing do I need to let go?
What one thing do I need to claim?
tksimmons02's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent read. It provides plenty of motivation to be a Christian on fire for the Lord. I highly recommend it.
mxbenjaminrose's review against another edition
3.0
There is a lot of good in this book. Groeschel’s motivations for writing it are admirable: to address the lukewarm Christianity so prominent in America today. He advocates for the “narrow gate” - the fact that real Christianity is different, radical, even weird. I think that’s an important principle.
I do have a few quibbles, but before I go into that, I should make something clear. I don’t think this book was written for me. He clearly wrote it with an audience in mind, and that audience understands marriage and parenting and the ebb of flow of middle-class America. Even more importantly, that audience is familiar with many years of church life without experiencing a fire for ministry. My age, worldviews, and my personal passion for ministry created a disconnect for me as I read this book. Nevertheless, it has some great stuff.
My main quibble is this: the format doesn’t really work for me. In my opinion, Groeschel spreads himself too thin trying to cover as many topics as he does. In addressing time, money, relationships, sex, and values, he shows how being weird should affect every area of life - certainly an important lesson. However, there are countless books just like this one that address only one of those issues and are able to do so in much greater detail. With only chapter specifically about marriage, or church, or Sabbath, he doesn’t have much opportunity to break into the depths of those topics.
All that aside, I have some important things to ponder after reading this book. If you feel stuck in American Christendom and wonder if being normal is all there is, give this book a read. Especially if you feel trapped in the middle-class, 2-car, 2-kid, American Dream and don’t feel like you’re connecting to the supposed life-changing Gospel….this book is for you. May it help you become weirder than ever before.
I do have a few quibbles, but before I go into that, I should make something clear. I don’t think this book was written for me. He clearly wrote it with an audience in mind, and that audience understands marriage and parenting and the ebb of flow of middle-class America. Even more importantly, that audience is familiar with many years of church life without experiencing a fire for ministry. My age, worldviews, and my personal passion for ministry created a disconnect for me as I read this book. Nevertheless, it has some great stuff.
My main quibble is this: the format doesn’t really work for me. In my opinion, Groeschel spreads himself too thin trying to cover as many topics as he does. In addressing time, money, relationships, sex, and values, he shows how being weird should affect every area of life - certainly an important lesson. However, there are countless books just like this one that address only one of those issues and are able to do so in much greater detail. With only chapter specifically about marriage, or church, or Sabbath, he doesn’t have much opportunity to break into the depths of those topics.
All that aside, I have some important things to ponder after reading this book. If you feel stuck in American Christendom and wonder if being normal is all there is, give this book a read. Especially if you feel trapped in the middle-class, 2-car, 2-kid, American Dream and don’t feel like you’re connecting to the supposed life-changing Gospel….this book is for you. May it help you become weirder than ever before.
holtfan's review against another edition
2.0
Did you ever attend a purity conference with your youth group in high school?
Because if not, don't worry. This book will provide all the cringe and false cheer without the inability to breathe because the middle school boy sitting next to you is wearing too much Axe. Did I say sitting next to? Ha. Not if you are female. Guys on the left, girls on the right. No purpling.
I see you trying to cross that invisible line, Timmy. And I be judging you.
I'm not entirely sure where to start with this book because I do think its heart is in the right place. It is like "be weird! and by weird I mean don't cheat on your wife!"
And I'm all down for encouraging people not to cheat on their spouses. And for encouraging them to spend time with their kids, avoid crippling debt, and occasionally call their grandma. There is nothing inherently wrong with anything this book encourages you to do, and in fact this definition of being "weird" will probably improve your quality of life considerably.
But none of it is mind blowing and none of it is Gospel.
You can follow everything Groeschel encourages you to do in this relatively short volume, be as weird as you like, and still miss grace.
And I'm not saying this book needed to be Gospel. That isn't Groeschel's goal...I don't think. But for a book that presents itself as a Christian reaction to the world, it really offers very little about heart-change and a whole lot about behavior-change.
I'm also not really sure who the intended audience for this book is. High schoolers? Probably not, since he talks a lot about sex, marriage, raising kids. Parents/couples? If so, the book is more about individual behavior than relational. And also, all the advice about "keeping four feet on the ground" while dating is going to be kind of...moot.
Maybe his comments about sex and porn are to inspire parents to have more open conversations with their kids about these things, but again, it is addressed more personally than "make sure your kid knows this or that..."
It is a weird jumble of advice, personal application, and funny stories about his 6 kids.
Overall, I don't recommend this one. If you want a book on time management, check out [b:Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy|25828439|Breaking Busy How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy|Alli Worthington|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450348645l/25828439._SY75_.jpg|45688152]. And if you want something about how to raise kids or why to avoid porn or what it takes to become financially stable...there are a million other books out there that address the topics in depth and not as a piecemeal "this is how to live your life."
If you want my harshest opinion, this book epitomizes why so many young people who were "Jesus Freaks" in high school end up burning out and leaving the faith once they hit college or young adulthood. Pithy stories and hard and fast rules might read well and motivate you for a month or two, but once you finally come face to face with the realities of life, it won't take you far. Identifying "Weird" because you don't sleep around or watch Say Yes To The Dress or let your kids play Webkinz 7 days a week is all well and fine. But those aren't a foundation for faith or a guarantee of good behavior.
And to be kinder, I don't think this book intends its list of rules to serve as a replacement for faith. It merely presents several suggestions for how to be a good Christian in a sex-saturated world. But it offers very little new and a whole lot of cringe.
I don't remember what I paid for this one but I hope it wasn't a lot because it is going back to Goodwill.
Because if not, don't worry. This book will provide all the cringe and false cheer without the inability to breathe because the middle school boy sitting next to you is wearing too much Axe. Did I say sitting next to? Ha. Not if you are female. Guys on the left, girls on the right. No purpling.
I see you trying to cross that invisible line, Timmy. And I be judging you.
I'm not entirely sure where to start with this book because I do think its heart is in the right place. It is like "be weird! and by weird I mean don't cheat on your wife!"
And I'm all down for encouraging people not to cheat on their spouses. And for encouraging them to spend time with their kids, avoid crippling debt, and occasionally call their grandma. There is nothing inherently wrong with anything this book encourages you to do, and in fact this definition of being "weird" will probably improve your quality of life considerably.
But none of it is mind blowing and none of it is Gospel.
You can follow everything Groeschel encourages you to do in this relatively short volume, be as weird as you like, and still miss grace.
And I'm not saying this book needed to be Gospel. That isn't Groeschel's goal...I don't think. But for a book that presents itself as a Christian reaction to the world, it really offers very little about heart-change and a whole lot about behavior-change.
I'm also not really sure who the intended audience for this book is. High schoolers? Probably not, since he talks a lot about sex, marriage, raising kids. Parents/couples? If so, the book is more about individual behavior than relational. And also, all the advice about "keeping four feet on the ground" while dating is going to be kind of...moot.
Maybe his comments about sex and porn are to inspire parents to have more open conversations with their kids about these things, but again, it is addressed more personally than "make sure your kid knows this or that..."
It is a weird jumble of advice, personal application, and funny stories about his 6 kids.
Overall, I don't recommend this one. If you want a book on time management, check out [b:Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy|25828439|Breaking Busy How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy|Alli Worthington|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450348645l/25828439._SY75_.jpg|45688152]. And if you want something about how to raise kids or why to avoid porn or what it takes to become financially stable...there are a million other books out there that address the topics in depth and not as a piecemeal "this is how to live your life."
If you want my harshest opinion, this book epitomizes why so many young people who were "Jesus Freaks" in high school end up burning out and leaving the faith once they hit college or young adulthood. Pithy stories and hard and fast rules might read well and motivate you for a month or two, but once you finally come face to face with the realities of life, it won't take you far. Identifying "Weird" because you don't sleep around or watch Say Yes To The Dress or let your kids play Webkinz 7 days a week is all well and fine. But those aren't a foundation for faith or a guarantee of good behavior.
And to be kinder, I don't think this book intends its list of rules to serve as a replacement for faith. It merely presents several suggestions for how to be a good Christian in a sex-saturated world. But it offers very little new and a whole lot of cringe.
I don't remember what I paid for this one but I hope it wasn't a lot because it is going back to Goodwill.
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