Just no. I hated this book so much that the moment I finished listening to it I felt that there is God somewhere who says to me "I am so sorry for that book, I had nothing to do with that preachy guy".
The book was so preachy, I didn't like the narrative that God has already decided what we are going to do and how we are going to conquer it. This is like Jehovah's witness type of shit. I won't call myself either an Atheist or full on believer, I'm in the middle. Maybe there is God, maybe not. I hope there is one, since that would be cool

2024 reads, #4. DID NOT FINISH. I came across this the other day in one of the Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood, and I thought I'd read it simply because I know it's a popular book that's influenced a lot of people, and I thought I'd see for myself why. Yep, it's pretty much what I expected, 334 pages of "YAY JESUS!!!", which as an atheist was something I could tolerate for only a little bit before reaching my fill. You're getting pretty much exactly what you were expecting beforehand when picking this up, so let that guide your decision whether or not to read it yourself.

Read this with my mom and my brother, and so glad I did. I am super skeptical of books like this. But wow, I loved it. Highly recommend to everyone.

Rick Warren writes on page 239, "Don't settle for just achieving 'the good life,' because the good life is not good enough. Ultimately it doesn't satisfy. You can have a lot to live on and nothing to live for. Aim instead for 'the better life'-serving God in a way that expresses your heart."

I had this book on my shelf for over ten years. A friend of mine said it helped him pull out of a life-slump, so I looked to see what was in it and realized it's set up as a 40 day devotional. I read it with that understanding, over 40 days, and found it to be motivating and inspiring. I hope you will too.

I read this book thinking it would offer something deep and real about the purpose of God and the purposes of peoples in the world. But it offered little more than a worn-out run-a-round of the phrase "God has a purpose for you." I know why this book is so popular - it, like many others, offers Christians the idea that "God's purpose" for you has something to do with getting ahead in life and having more money. It's that lame "name it and claim it" mentality.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

3.5 stars

So, I thought it was high time I read this. The Purpose Driven Life is an evangelical staple. It's one of the best selling Christian books of the 21st century, yet at the same time has been heavily criticised by conservative Protestants (among whom I would count myself). I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Honestly, I thought this book was fine. Good, even. There are minor critiques I could make here and there, but overall, if someone exploring Christianity or some new Christian convert was reading this and seriously wrestling with its contents, I'd be really excited about that.

"It's not about you."

Changed my life.

I took Warren's challenge and found that I was not where I should have been. Paradoxically, I was at that time employed by a Christian ministry highly regarded by many (and vilified by some), but I knew--I knew--that wasn't where I was supposed to be. So, I quit my job and sought a new direction.

Not there yet by a long shot, but thanks to Rick Warren I'm on my way.

حلو بس حسيته تنمية بشرية :D
مش واقعي أوي
بس يخليك تبص للأمور من وجهة نظر تانية

We read this in a weekly meeting at church and I was impressed with this book's simple wisdom. One can read the words easily, but taking them to heart is a different matter.
I can recall reading a handful of books in my life, only a few which were theological in nature, where I got to a certain point and I had to stop, simply because I couldn't go any farther: I could not get my head...or heart... around such a concept as was being presented and I felt that pushing through or on would have been a waste of time. I still feeel that way about really good books.
The first time I read this book, I pushed through without bringing myself to some of those hard decisions, things which would change the way I did things, should I do them. In a sense I had to push onward: there wasn't any time to stop and tell myself that I was unwilling to do something important for my relationship with God. This time I am not stopping and that makes it all the more beautiful.

"A book that magnifies how God loves his people and how he wants us to love him."

This is a book that reiterates that our Father God is God of Love, Perfection, Forgiveness and Relationship.

The author wants to emphasize the Love of God to his creation as it was written in His word that He cares for us even before we are born. He planned everything in our life before we have our own wisdom and understanding about life. He creates every joy and sorrow that we will face. He knows when we will going to make every right decisions and mistakes. He put every flaws and greatness in us. Every person we meet, every places that we put our feet on, He writes it down. He knows everything, in and out, of who we are in his kingdom.
The author stresses out God's perfection. Indeed, our God is a God of perfection. He creates us to be His perfect children. We are not created to be a perfect human. But we are created to be the most unique person. He SHAPE us to be the person He wants us to be not the same with other creation. He wants us to live our perfect lives in his guidance and not to live or to have someone else's life or blessings. We are perfect in His eyes because he is full of joy when He created us. Our uniqueness fits in the puzzle when we are connected to other unique person or people. We are created to be in His perfect masterpiece. Yes, we are human with flaws, mistakes and sins, too many flaws , too many mistakes and too many sins. But it is the beauty of salvation that saves us. These flaws, mistakes and sins reminds us not to run away from God but to go to Him, admit our brokenness and humble ourselves. Being saved and humbled before God does not give us the right to be "higher" than other creations but it gives us a wisdom and understanding to be more accepting and loving to them. We love His creations because He loves His creations.
The author highlights how God forgives us. Even though we have not confess our sins before Him, our God forgives us. What a wonderful truth it is to have a forgiving God. However, this truth does not give us the privilege to do harm to His creation including our own self.
Each one of us wants a loving relationship. A person who understands us. A person who sees us like we are and knows us beyond our own understanding. Someone that listens to our cries and frustrations. Someone who enjoys our company. Someone who is happy and knows how to be happy. The author knows this person. Actually, we all know who he is. He is our Father God. Our God is a relational God. He wants to hear us. He wants to know our needs. Our desires. Our aspirations. Our weakness. Our mistakes. He wants to know everything in our life even though He already knows everything from our past, present and future. There will be times that we feel that He is far away, no presence of Him, but just call Him and He will be there.
God created us to fulfill His purpose in our lives, not our own purpose. Fulfillment of these purposes are the same as how He will develop our character. It will take time and experience. It is a process. Fulfilling these purposes in our lives is not a race towards the finish line. But a matter of answering the question, "Have we fulfill His purpose in our lives?" We are planned for God's pleasure. If we are overwhelmed with these purposes, we just have to take one step for now and that is to praise and honor God for what He has done in our lives.

We are carefully and wonderfully made with His love, who are we not to give love?

4/5 stars

First I must say that I am a Christian. I think me being a Christian will affect how I rate this book. Not that I am gonna be bias and give it a five star. As you guys can see, there's only three and according to my profile where I included how I rate my reads, three stars really isn't that good.

The book is supposed to be read for forty days, one chapter each day. And I tried doing that so many times before. I tried reading it as my devotion but so many times, i never get to finish. So this time I read it in just two days, actually just five hours. The book isn't that long anyway, especially that its font is kinda bigger than usual. Not the novel-type fonts. I would've read it in two hours.

So anyway, maybe I know now why I couldn't finish it before. It's a little boring. I AM SORRY. Maybe Christians will raise their eyebrow to me for what I'm gonna say. It's all Scriptures. Okay, nothing is wrong with all scriptures. Hello??? I am a Christian and Scriptures are food to me and believe me ladies and gentlemen, my fellow readers, I am filled and satisfied every time I read a scripture.

So the all scripture thing is not really the problem, besides it is a Christian Inspirational/educational/instructional book, of course there will be scriptures. Lots of it. But The delivery of those scriptures aren't actually that overwhelming. I think it would've been better if the scriptures were delivered in more appreciative, pleasurable way. Like if a non-christian will read it, he will be glad that he picked this book because he will be overwhelmed by love.

But the book and the instructions there just seemed so commanding. Christianity isn't like that. God isn't manipulative. He is a loving God. In this book, I felt like God was so killjoy and he just want us to do the things that He wants and that will please Him. That if we follow our will, there will be doom and gloom.

But in fairness to Rick Warren, he is very convincing but I am a Christian too. I know my God. It would've been better if he accentuate God's loving nature and how fun it is to follow HIM.

Again I want to apologise to Christians. all my friends love this book. I don't unlike this, i'm not just hundred percent into it.
Sorry Pstr. Rick Warren.
I know... Who am I to tell Rick Warren the should and Should not when it comes to Christianity.

But aside from being a Christian, I am also a Writer and A reader. Not to mention a Book Reviewer. I should be honest to how i feel about every book.

SO there.....