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 Free Book: I am a fanatic about freedom. And I'm fanatical about coming at you hard in this book. I'm tired of seeing people beaten down by the world's ... lives while their God-given passion dies by Brian Tome
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson, has said, Not every project you start is worth finishing. Sometimes we get into it and realize, “This is a waste of time.” Fine, then give yourself permission to quit. I do this all the time with reading. It’s why I am able to read so many articles and books. Here’s publishing’s dirty little secret: most books are not worth finishing. Most books could be cut in half and you wouldn’t miss a thing. The key is to read as long as you are interested and then stop. There are too many great books to read without getting bogged down in the merely good ones. [Hyatt, Michael. “How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week.” Productivity Magazine 2(2009): 13 Print] If I had not been intent on writing this review I would have taken his advice with this book! I quickly decided that Brian’s latest book was a waste of time. I found very little redeeming qualities for this book. I felt it was poorly written, purposely arrogant, confusing and contradictory. I do not recommend this book. If Brian was clearly presenting a view I disagreed with I might feel differently but in reality, I’m not even sure what his view is! He contradicted himself on multiple occasions. He claims that the book is about finding freedom but it is never clear what this means. Regarding the Gospel – he does not like reducing it to basic components that clearly present the salvation message, “But I never liked those four laws. If the primary thing about figuring out God is learning those laws, then I’d rather not figure out God. Laws restrict. They come with punishment. They are cold and impersonal. These are not the lead characteristics of God.” But yet he does recognize that there are commands and non-options that we are bound to. “God has given us freedom to make decisions in our lives—but He hasn’t given us freedom about whether to submit to authorities. We are bound by this command when we choose to follow Jesus. And the crazy thing is that even when we are bound by commands, they are the kind of shackles that lead to freedom.” So it seems that Brian picks and chooses which “laws” to feel we are under. Some restrict and some lead to freedom. He never gives us a game plan for categorizing them. I found it impossible to walk away from his teaching with any practical concept that I could apply to real life. He was brash and uncaring towards the body of Christ. For example, it seems that Brian was always looking for some opportunity to be cool and talk about drinking beer. I counted at least 6 unnecessary references to drinking. In most cases it seemed he was specifically poking at segments of Christianity who might be offended by it. Apparently he feels freedom to drink but he also feels a need to push it into the face of others. If this was just part of his normal culture and he is totally unaware that it might bother others than I would expect it to possibly come up in some story he might present. But no other aspect of his typical life came up nearly as much or with a seeming “jab” attached. I did not find this book encouraging to Christian community, unity or personal growth. I found it confusing, offensive and divisive. So may I repeat myself: I do not recommend it. View all my reviews >>
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