Thoughtful, honest, and authentic musings on life and how the Lord molds and shapes His children slowly, with time and surrender. Would definitely recommend.

“I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve…I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve.”

“I love this about Christian spirituality. It cannot be explained, and yet it is beautiful and true. It is something you feel, and it comes from the soul.”

“The first generation out of slavery invented jazz music. It is a music birthed out of freedom. And that is the closest thing I know to Christian spirituality. A music birthed out of freedom.”

This is a hard book to read and review. If you don’t care for books that meander and ramble from page to page, from point to point, then this book is not for you. While Donald Miller makes some good points throughout and while this might be one of the more honest and gritty Christian books you will read, it lacks a lot of focus. Sometimes I would finish a chapter and be like I have no idea what I am supposed to glean from that. And there were times where it grew rather old as Miller continued to judge Republicans and conservatives and church people as judgmental as he was doing the very thing he was accusing of them. A plank vs log thing. You won’t find much doctrine here and you definitely won’t find a mention of baptism. What you will find is honesty, a hodgepodge of selective spirituality, and a chance to ask yourself if we are doing and following the Jesus of the Bible rather than the religious habits we have been taught (honestly the best part of the book to apply). I felt like, while honest in the book, he also did his best to try to convince us all that he is better and smarter and figured it all out when at times it seemed like he was overthinking things to much. So read this with the warning that there are things to make you think and others that don’t quite hold up to a Christian magnifying glass.

I think if I would have read this book 2-3 years ago I would have eaten it up. It's one of those books that would have had to come at a very specific time in my life to get something out of it.

This is an easy read on face value; A journey through the author's struggle with the profound difference between religiosity and spirituality. (Or in a less mystic-sounding sense, ritual and relationship.) Yet, this isn't the kind of book that one can just devour. Well, I suppose you can, but it's not really structured like a novel. It's more of a semi-chronological series of simply written essays strung together in an affable, conversational voice.

It is essentially one man's often humorous personal journey in how he and his relationship with God has developed and changed, and how he has continued to change through it. I found I could only go a chapter at a time or so before I had to put it down and think about it. That, in my mind, is the mark of something good. In confronting himself, he caused me to take a good hard second look at myself. Not something I'm challenged to do often enough, frankly.

While I consider the book to be totally a worthwhile read, I think it's worth noting that it at times feels like an ongoing apology on behalf of 'religious' Christianity. The author grew up in a stiflingly legalistic setting that strangled his faith while pushing 'religion' on him and everyone else. It's understandable that he would eventually run screaming in the opposite direction. And while he doesn't project one iota of hatred or hostility toward any part of humanity, it becomes clear as you go that he still harbors certain misgivings toward his lump-sum perception of 'Republicans.' That alone may be a selling point for some people. If it is, you'll probably like this book. If it's not, read the book anyway. There are still plenty of valid points and thought-provoking concepts to chew on in spite of the bias. It's a good 'check yourself' book for Christians, but not something I would consider an Evangelizing tool due to the subtle but pervasive threads of passive-aggressive resentment.

I don't know if anyone else felt this way, but to me the book seemed somehow incomplete. And not just in a 'life is a continuous journey' sort of way. I felt like it needed one more chapter to tie everything up more neatly, or perhaps expand more on his very briefly mentioned points about the need for Christians to love but not be wishy-washy. (Now that I've read several of Miller's works, I would actually consider this to be one of his more insubstantial books.) I don't think he meant to sound like he considered the Bible to be irrelevant, but his position on its value came across a tad confusing.

Above all, I found tremendous value in Miller's grasp on how badly the point of Christianity has been lost by some, along with the love that Jesus so clearly embodied. Don Miller is all about emphasizing the love of Christ, I'll certainly credit him that.

Donald Miller: You should not believe something based on whether it's cool to believe it or not.
Also Donald Miller: Yo bro, the fundamentalists are just like, mad weird, and uncool man. But me, I'm a hip kind of christian. Not religion. Just spirituality. It's totally compatible with cool people. I'm cool! I go to one of the most liberal colleges in America and I just love the vibe. I love all the wildness and they're so accepting, not like those fundamentalists...
I really liked parts of this book, but I disliked his persistent attempts to be edgy. Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time he not-so-subtly referenced how he goes to church with people who (get this) *cuss* and how he *smokes* I would be on a Caribbean cruise right now.
Uncool bro.
But a lot of the book was actually really great. As someone who has had skeptical moments I
appreciated his candid comments about doubt.
He said good, based things like;
"The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: life is a story about me."
He also said many beautiful things, things that take talent to get on a page.
So overall it was a pretty good book. I just wish he would have followed a couple of his own tips about not building your life around being hip.

I finished this book a few days ago, and I just can't stop thinking about it. It's not a perfect book by any means, but it was perfect for me at this moment in my life. I'm only bummed I waited so long to finally get around to reading it.

Just when you think he's kind of getting borderline heretical, he brings his point to a crunching jab that leaves you murmuring the relevance and beauty of the statement. His overwhelming theme involves the absolute necessity of unconditional love for all people everywhere. One thing that particularly spoke to me is, "Unless people can see that you like them, they will never listen to what you have to say." Simple, but think on the implications.

I was excited about reading this book originally, then I saw what some people had to say and thought it might not be as good as it was hyped up to be. I still expected it to be an enjoyable read. However, I was completely disappointed.

First, you can tell a lot about a book by the first chapter. This books first chapter was terrible. It was like a bad movie that jumped all over the place so much and so often that you come away seasick. There are times where you want to scream out "too much information" but that does not make the author stop. By the end of the first chapter, I knew I was not going to enjoy the book and it would take effort just to make it through the book.

Second, the author is not that gifted an author. There is something special about the use of language to convey ideas. You can have simple, flowing language to express deep truths, such as what you see used by Alan Paton in Cry, the Beloved Country. You can use everyday language to convey conversations without dumbing down the subject, as Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, demonstrates in his literature. You can even jump all over the place from one thought to another like William Faulkner. You can tell that Don Miller, the author, is well read and intelligent, but his attempts at the use of language leave something to be desired. He tries to be too relevant to today's audience, and ends up dumbing down his thoughts. Books should make you think and be a challenge. His book purports to make you think, but it only made me think about how I did not want to be like this guy. I hope this book does not become a classic because it will portray our time period in history as one where we thought we were smart, but we were dumb.

Third, the author seems to be ashamed of the gospel. If a non-Christian reads this book seeking an understanding of Christianity and Christ, the non-Christian is going to see Christians as a bunch of self-loving whiners who do not know who God is. I was hopeful when I reached the last chapter that purports to be about Jesus because I thought maybe the author was building up to a presentation of the gospel. However, he did not communicate who Jesus was in the chapter. He just communicated that Jesus was someone to find. It left me thinking about Romans where it is made clear that no one seeks after God. No one can come to a saving knowledge of God without being told the gospel. Miller almost seems to be ashamed of this. The gospel would have been a wonderful climax to the book, but it was missing. The lack of gospel left a feeling of emptiness at the end of the book. If what Don Miller portrayed is the gospel, I want no part of it. Give me the cross of Christ where He took on my sin and imparted His righteousness to me instead. Once I have accepted the real gospel, then maybe I will not whine and complain about the church not doing this and not doing that, but be a part of the change motivated by my desire to live for God's glory.

Overall, I thought this book was based too much on feelings. Feelings change too much, as evidenced by the author being all over the place throughout the book. The Christian life has to be grounded on something bigger than feelings and emotions. It must be grounded on God's Word. I felt that the author lacked being grounded in something. Even chapters that purported to be about God (such as the chapters on love, worship and Jesus) ended up being about the author. Christianity is not to be self-centered but Christ-centered. This book lacked conveying that idea.

I seriously do not recommend that people read this book. Even more, I am disturbed that non-Christians are reading this book and thinking that this must be what Christianity is about. I know this review is a bit on the harsh side, but I think that the church needs to be more discerning about what it promotes to the world. A watered down gospel is no gospel at all. It is time to stop being ashamed and start living for God's glory.

A gentle look at the Christian faith welcoming to those of all religions. I love the storytelling Donald uses. One of my favorite memoirs!

2.5 stars. Read it because it was one of many book recommendations from other ppl. Sweet story of a guy coming to follow Jesus and the various struggles along the way. Good easy read, that touches on the need for a personal relationship with Jesus! Low rating just bc I probably wouldn’t read beside the fact it was recommended, good book to know to recommend to ppl working through concerns with legalistic religion.

It seems like both the suspicious atheists and the self-righteous evangelicals writing reviews here forget that this is not John Calvin's America anymore. No one is forced to listen to a blowhard, rich, white old guy pounding on a pulpit and screaming that you're sinners and God hates them. I'm sorry if you still think that this is how Christianity behaves, atheists, and I'm sorry if you think that this is how Christianity should behave, evangelicals - but you catch more flies (or fish, as we are Fishers of Men) with honey, not vinegar.

Atheists - you're right, Miller has an agenda. No lies - he does want you to become a follower of Jesus. But in the same way that Israel has "Messianic Jews" living in it that are Christians in every way but name, he understands that the very word "Christianity" can invoke a dozen different meanings depending on a person's experience with it. Does he seem like he's judging you? It didn't seem that way to me. It seems like this book (or blog?) is written in a very personal way; a man nearing his 40's, musing about his life and relationship with Christ.

Evangelicals - Sorry, but if you want to spread faith with a message of sin and judgement, you might as well just stay in your pews and jump up and down. 21st century America is filled with people who are either just like you, or enraged by you. This book is not for either of those groups, but for people who are curious and tentative. A book like this speaks to those people because it's welcoming, loving, and friendly - the best aspects of Christianity. It certainly is true that Miller doesn't mention hell more than once, and then just metaphorically, but you've seen how effective talking about that to 21st century young people can be. They need to learn about the more terrifying aspects of God, of course - but that should come after meeting pastors and Christians like Miller and his friends. Like any relationship, if your relationship with Christ starts off on a bad foot, what incentive do you have to come back?

This book is arranged in chapters with names like "Love (for Yourself)" and "Love (for Others)" and Romance, and Money, and Worship. Miller has no distinct timeline; he appears to jump around all over his life and his experiences with friends to any particular incidents that pertain to the chapter titles. It was a bit jarring and I found myself attempting to piece together an actual timetable (or look in the back of the book for one) to see whether he was in his hippy stage, or militant Christian stage, or introvert stage, etc etc. The writing style isn't the best, I'll be the first to admit - but if you're reading this book for the writing style you should probably rearrange your priorities.

Miller's sense of humor; wry yet pleasant, was enjoyable. As a liberal Christian myself in a liberal area, I found myself nodding in agreement with a lot of his stories. How do you reconcile the two parts of you, the parts that want to serve God and Jesus and interpret the Bible more literally, with the parts of you that recoil in horror at all the hatred the modern Church spews? Miller has done it, and I think I'll be reading more of his work in the future.

One of my favorite books about spirituality - even after a third read. Feels like there is always something different about this book that stands out to me, and I'm sure the next read-through will be the same. The greatest part about this book is the challenge towards typical Christian philosophies that I find myself struggling to believe. Would recommend to anyone.