Scan barcode
Reviews
The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus by Rich Villodas
booksrachelreads's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
francwoods's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
rei_terblanche's review
3.0
Rich Villodas has a lot of great insights into how Christians can practice the way of Jesus in an Urban, multicultural context. But to be honest this book felt a bit like "more of the same" for me after having read the work of Dallas Willard and John Mark Comer this year. I think this book is great but I think there might be better ones out there dealing with the subject of spiritual formation.
I recommend:
Dallas Willard - The Divine conspiracy
John Mark Comer - The ruthless elimination of hurry
I recommend:
Dallas Willard - The Divine conspiracy
John Mark Comer - The ruthless elimination of hurry
missyjohnson's review
4.0
Well done and easy to read. good discussion book. I did a lot of highlighting in this book. Spiritual practices and the examinations that get us to there. The need for community is emphasized. In a section about racial reconciliation is a statement that racism is the lie that some people are superior or inferior to others. I have come to realize this in the past but the examples that Villodas gives are excellent. another area on interior examination is the statement that " we often belong to church communities that reinforce a lack of introspection. so true.
emmy_readz's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I loved this book. 4.5 stars rounded down.
There were a couple pieces here and there that I felt were contrite. The practical section on sexual wellness was a bit lacking and other areas could have been expanded on significantly more.
Overall, the way this book was organized made me very happy. Each of the 5 values Villodas wanted to discuss had an intro chapter followed by an application chapter. I loved how he introduced topics, backed them up with biblical truth, and then explained how to put them in practice. Very insightful. The section on work is really working on my heart right now. Pun intended.
There were a couple pieces here and there that I felt were contrite. The practical section on sexual wellness was a bit lacking and other areas could have been expanded on significantly more.
Overall, the way this book was organized made me very happy. Each of the 5 values Villodas wanted to discuss had an intro chapter followed by an application chapter. I loved how he introduced topics, backed them up with biblical truth, and then explained how to put them in practice. Very insightful. The section on work is really working on my heart right now. Pun intended.
hwolfram's review
3.0
This book had some good aspects and aspects that frustrated me very much.
I will begin with the good.
- Rich is very passionate about what he is saying in this book and truly does believe it. I especially appreciated when he used personal stories with his wife and kids as that gave the impression that he lives this out or, as he admits, tries to to the best of his ability.
- The discussions I had around this book have been very helpful and fruitful for me
- Some sections were quite insightful. I especially thought the contemplative rhythms and the interior examination sections were the most helpful and my wife and I actually implemented technology boundaries following our discussion of the content in the first chapter. Without spoilers, I think that this chapter offers great thoughts and was a good launching point for the rest of the book
Now the not so good
- It is clear that this book is made to be easily quotable, because lines that are most likely to be quoted are sectioned off in between paragraphs many times per chapter. This annoyed me greatly and took some practice to read around. It is more of a publishing decision, but still annoying.
- The most frustrating thing is the lack of clarity with some of the lines. On a number of occasions, he mentioned something that doesn't make sense or I wished he would explain more and just moved on. Some lines just lack clarity, even though they can make big, definitive statements. (Sometimes conversations afterward helped me understand these lines better, but not always)
- I noticed that some of Rich's influences were New Age false teachers, such as Richard Rohr (who coauthored a book that was quoted) and Brian Zahnd, who endorsed Rich's book. This plays itself out most, imo, in a serious lack of talking about sin and how God redeems us from His judgment through the Cross. In some places there is actually an intentional downplaying of the soteriological effect of the cross.
These are just my thoughts. Overall there was a lot of helpful stuff. The unhelpful stuff was glaring when I went through it, however, which is why I am rating the book a 3/5
I will begin with the good.
- Rich is very passionate about what he is saying in this book and truly does believe it. I especially appreciated when he used personal stories with his wife and kids as that gave the impression that he lives this out or, as he admits, tries to to the best of his ability.
- The discussions I had around this book have been very helpful and fruitful for me
- Some sections were quite insightful. I especially thought the contemplative rhythms and the interior examination sections were the most helpful and my wife and I actually implemented technology boundaries following our discussion of the content in the first chapter. Without spoilers, I think that this chapter offers great thoughts and was a good launching point for the rest of the book
Now the not so good
- It is clear that this book is made to be easily quotable, because lines that are most likely to be quoted are sectioned off in between paragraphs many times per chapter. This annoyed me greatly and took some practice to read around. It is more of a publishing decision, but still annoying.
- The most frustrating thing is the lack of clarity with some of the lines. On a number of occasions, he mentioned something that doesn't make sense or I wished he would explain more and just moved on. Some lines just lack clarity, even though they can make big, definitive statements. (Sometimes conversations afterward helped me understand these lines better, but not always)
- I noticed that some of Rich's influences were New Age false teachers, such as Richard Rohr (who coauthored a book that was quoted) and Brian Zahnd, who endorsed Rich's book. This plays itself out most, imo, in a serious lack of talking about sin and how God redeems us from His judgment through the Cross. In some places there is actually an intentional downplaying of the soteriological effect of the cross.
These are just my thoughts. Overall there was a lot of helpful stuff. The unhelpful stuff was glaring when I went through it, however, which is why I am rating the book a 3/5
utalan's review
4.0
This was a good read and I agreed with most of it (though the "social sexuality" part was kinda weird). That said, I thought it was a weird choice of 5 things for a deeply formed life - particularly the racial reconciliation and sexual wholeness chapters.
Still gave it 4 stars because I did get a lot out of it.
Still gave it 4 stars because I did get a lot out of it.