The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
Reviews
The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living As If He Doesn't Exist by Craig Groeschel
mrerickeith's review
4.0
Very inspirational read. There's something for everyone in here. If you're a new believer, quasi-believer, or a bible thumping pro, there's something to take from this book.
shelfreflectionofficial's review
5.0
"My selfish Christian Atheist view was that God existed for me, rather than I for him. If he'd do what I thought he should, I'd trust him more. If he'd come through for me, I'd give him more of my life. If he made my life better and pain-free, I'd believe him more passionately. But anytime God didn't meet my expectations, we had a problem. God created me in his image. I returned the favor and created him in mine. The kind of God I wanted to believe in was this: if he's not what I want, then he can't have my whole life."
A provocative title and important book. It's easy to call yourself a Christian. It's easy to say you believe in God. But it's hard to live like it. Have you ever thought there was no point to prayer? Have you ever questioned if God loves you, cares about you, or fights for you? Have you ever resented that evil people seem victorious and good people are sick, robbed, oppressed, killed? Do you spend time worrying about your kids or your job? Are you resigned to stay the way you are? Is a prominent goal in your life to just be happy? Are you jaded by the ways the church has failed you? Do you largely keep your faith to yourself? Congratulations, you're a Christian Atheist. Just like me.
It's not enough to just say I believe in God. This book challenged me in all the right ways. I can't devote my life to Christ and be okay with worry, okay with prioritizing money, happiness, comfort over faith, okay with criticizing God's church. With each chapter I had to do some self-reflection and ask myself- Is He Lord over this area of my life? Because if he isn't, I don't really believe He is who he says he is.
I love the use of the word 'atheist' because it shocks us. As Christians we scoff that we could ever be an atheist. After all, we believe in God and Jesus, we go to church, we usually pray, we're generally good, nice people. But if we're honest with ourselves we don't live like it. If we really know him for who he is then we wouldn't trust ourselves over prayer; we wouldn't make earthly happiness and a pain-free life our end goal and ultimate achievement; we wouldn't be afraid or resistant to change; we wouldn't treat God like his role is to serve us. And how often do I do that?? I need to take every thought captive and challenge myself daily- am I living or making choices like God exists or not? Do I truly live like I believe?
Let this book make you uncomfortable. And come away with a heart to know and believe in your God.
"'Whatever it takes' became my heart's cry. Whatever it takes to know him. Whatever it takes to live like I truly love God. Whatever it takes to love eternity more than this world. Even if I have to fight, scrape, and crawl away from my Christian Atheism into a genuine, crucified life of faith and radical obedience to Christ, I'll do whatever it takes."
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
A provocative title and important book. It's easy to call yourself a Christian. It's easy to say you believe in God. But it's hard to live like it. Have you ever thought there was no point to prayer? Have you ever questioned if God loves you, cares about you, or fights for you? Have you ever resented that evil people seem victorious and good people are sick, robbed, oppressed, killed? Do you spend time worrying about your kids or your job? Are you resigned to stay the way you are? Is a prominent goal in your life to just be happy? Are you jaded by the ways the church has failed you? Do you largely keep your faith to yourself? Congratulations, you're a Christian Atheist. Just like me.
It's not enough to just say I believe in God. This book challenged me in all the right ways. I can't devote my life to Christ and be okay with worry, okay with prioritizing money, happiness, comfort over faith, okay with criticizing God's church. With each chapter I had to do some self-reflection and ask myself- Is He Lord over this area of my life? Because if he isn't, I don't really believe He is who he says he is.
I love the use of the word 'atheist' because it shocks us. As Christians we scoff that we could ever be an atheist. After all, we believe in God and Jesus, we go to church, we usually pray, we're generally good, nice people. But if we're honest with ourselves we don't live like it. If we really know him for who he is then we wouldn't trust ourselves over prayer; we wouldn't make earthly happiness and a pain-free life our end goal and ultimate achievement; we wouldn't be afraid or resistant to change; we wouldn't treat God like his role is to serve us. And how often do I do that?? I need to take every thought captive and challenge myself daily- am I living or making choices like God exists or not? Do I truly live like I believe?
Let this book make you uncomfortable. And come away with a heart to know and believe in your God.
"'Whatever it takes' became my heart's cry. Whatever it takes to know him. Whatever it takes to live like I truly love God. Whatever it takes to love eternity more than this world. Even if I have to fight, scrape, and crawl away from my Christian Atheism into a genuine, crucified life of faith and radical obedience to Christ, I'll do whatever it takes."
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
bassistbriar2023's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
themtj's review
3.0
Pretty similar to Crazy Love and/or Radical. I don't think it was particularly interesting or helpful, but its easy to read and can provide some good challenges.
genieinanovel's review
5.0
[full review on my blog]
Have you ever read a book that makes you take a hard look at your life and how you’re living it? Well, I hadn’t either, until I picked up this one.
Christian Atheist is a book written by pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv and through this book he explains the difference of how a Christian lives and how a Christian Atheist lives. There is quite a difference there. Unfortunately, a lot of the characteristics of a Christian Atheist were and are ones that can apply to me. Some of them I have grown out of while others, well, I’m still working on (worrying and anxiety being the big ones).
So what is a Christian Atheist? Well, Groeschel defines it simply as, “a person who believes in God, but lives as though He doesn’t exist.”
In other words, someone who tells people they’re a Christian, but lives like any other non-Christian in the world.
Yes, I stated above that I was and am guilty of a few of the characteristics of a Christian Atheist. I worry too much, I’m not great at sharing my faith, and sometimes my actions don’t always reflect Jesus (usually when I’m hungry or pressed for time, but that’s no excuse). There’s plenty more where those came from, as Groeschel covers in the book, and some of these I’ve gotten a lot better with, while others need more work. This book made me really look at my life and every area I need to work on in my life to live a life that reflects Jesus, and I needed that.
Have you ever read a book that makes you take a hard look at your life and how you’re living it? Well, I hadn’t either, until I picked up this one.
Christian Atheist is a book written by pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv and through this book he explains the difference of how a Christian lives and how a Christian Atheist lives. There is quite a difference there. Unfortunately, a lot of the characteristics of a Christian Atheist were and are ones that can apply to me. Some of them I have grown out of while others, well, I’m still working on (worrying and anxiety being the big ones).
So what is a Christian Atheist? Well, Groeschel defines it simply as, “a person who believes in God, but lives as though He doesn’t exist.”
In other words, someone who tells people they’re a Christian, but lives like any other non-Christian in the world.
Yes, I stated above that I was and am guilty of a few of the characteristics of a Christian Atheist. I worry too much, I’m not great at sharing my faith, and sometimes my actions don’t always reflect Jesus (usually when I’m hungry or pressed for time, but that’s no excuse). There’s plenty more where those came from, as Groeschel covers in the book, and some of these I’ve gotten a lot better with, while others need more work. This book made me really look at my life and every area I need to work on in my life to live a life that reflects Jesus, and I needed that.
crizzle's review
4.0
Chapters include: When you believe in God but don't really know Him, When you believe in God but not in prayer, When you believe in God but don't think He's fair, When you believe in God but don't think you can change, When you believe in God but trust more in money, When you believe in God but don't share your faith, When you believe in God but not in His church.
Reminded me of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. An easy yet hard read sometimes- convicting. I'm doing the workbook too for our Sunday School class.
Reminded me of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. An easy yet hard read sometimes- convicting. I'm doing the workbook too for our Sunday School class.
panda_incognito's review
2.0
Although this book did an adequate job of pointing out the differences between genuine Christians and "believers" who have not truly experienced God, it fell short of facilitating genuine heart-change. Since the book was targeted towards nominal Christians, I tried to read it with that mindset, taking in the parts that applied to me, but mostly thinking through it theoretically. The further I got into the book, the more I sensed that something was missing: the gospel. Though the author explained the gospel story and referenced it throughout the book, it was insufficiently applied to the Christian walk, leaving each chapter little more than self-help tripe. If I were a nominal Christian reading this book, instead of feeling convicted that I did not know God at all, I would merely sense that in order to be Varsity-level Christian, I needed to sin less, give more, worry less, and not trust in my money.
The Biblical principles were sound, but by glossing over the truth of gospel change, the book offers nothing more than life advice. While offering a clear view of what constitutes "true believer behavior" and what does not, the book explains nothing about how to have the kind of relationship with God that empowers you to live that way. Although everything the book preached was sound, the missing core message makes it dangerous, threatening both genuine believers and "Christian atheists" by placing the emphasis on their behavior. Someone can have genuine faith without perfectly following the signs outlined in each chapter, and a book which is ultimately nothing more than a well-intentioned to-do list risks leading a true follower of Christ into doubt and insecurity about their faith. On the other hand, a nominal Christian is led away from challenging their presuppositions about Christianity, and will walk away with the misconception that attending church more often and giving more money will qualify them as sincere believers.
The pastor who wrote this clearly expresses throughout the book that faith comes by grace alone, but his practical application does not mesh with his theology. You will find some good insights and spiritual thoughts here, but nothing that explains what it means to be truly transformed, able to sincerely love God and desire righteousness. For an explanation of how to get past works-based behavior and how to really know and experience God, skip this book and read one or all of the following:
"Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary," J.D. Greaar
Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved," also by J.D. Greaar
"Am I Christian?" by Mike McKinley
The Biblical principles were sound, but by glossing over the truth of gospel change, the book offers nothing more than life advice. While offering a clear view of what constitutes "true believer behavior" and what does not, the book explains nothing about how to have the kind of relationship with God that empowers you to live that way. Although everything the book preached was sound, the missing core message makes it dangerous, threatening both genuine believers and "Christian atheists" by placing the emphasis on their behavior. Someone can have genuine faith without perfectly following the signs outlined in each chapter, and a book which is ultimately nothing more than a well-intentioned to-do list risks leading a true follower of Christ into doubt and insecurity about their faith. On the other hand, a nominal Christian is led away from challenging their presuppositions about Christianity, and will walk away with the misconception that attending church more often and giving more money will qualify them as sincere believers.
The pastor who wrote this clearly expresses throughout the book that faith comes by grace alone, but his practical application does not mesh with his theology. You will find some good insights and spiritual thoughts here, but nothing that explains what it means to be truly transformed, able to sincerely love God and desire righteousness. For an explanation of how to get past works-based behavior and how to really know and experience God, skip this book and read one or all of the following:
"Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary," J.D. Greaar
Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved," also by J.D. Greaar
"Am I Christian?" by Mike McKinley