Rating: 
Summary: Great book of a great bible Hero by a great bible teacher
Review: By using the bible as a point of reference, Charles Swindoll using his sense of humour, Chuck lead us through the life of Paul. Charles Swindoll not only telling us what kind of a christian Paul was, but to teach the reader to become like Paul. Another great work from Chuck!
Rating:
Summary: Practical Applications and Insight from the Life of Paul
Review: Charles Swindoll presents not just a biography of Paul, but also gives practical examples and applications of the principles that guided Paul's life so that the reader can also examine his or her own life, and apply these principles. Paul is introduced as a brutal persecutor and enemy of Christ. Yet by Grace he was redeemed and became the gentle apostle. This shows that no matter how dark our past is, how wretched we are, we are not outside the reach of God's wonderful and amazing grace. No one is beyond hope and no matter what you've done you can have a new beginning in Christ. Swindoll also tells of the seemingly insignificant people in Paul's life, the Ananias who was called to go to Paul while he was blinded, and the unnamed disciples who helped him escape Damascus in a basket, Aquila and Priscilla, two tentmakers who shared Paul's trade as he made his way on his journeys. Each of these people are part of the fabric of God's plan and purpose making a difference in someone else's life. God can use the most humble, broken vessels and do great things with them because it is His work and purpose. Therefore a lesson is that you never know whether the little act you did had a place in a much larger purpose, such as lowering Paul over a wall in the basket resulting in bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles and to the uttermost parts of the world. Be faithful in the little things and let God work the big picture.These and other examples, such as leadership, contentment, facing extreme circumstances, leaning on God's strength, etc., can all be gleaned out of Paul's life. Charles Swindoll does a wonderful job of weaving the biography with these insights. The best way to read this book is alongside your Bible. Before you're done with this book, you'd also be through the book of Acts, parts of each epistle, and end with 2nd Timothy, as you'll appreciate what was going through Paul's heart as he is waiting for his homecoming. 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From a self-righteous persecutor to the humble apostle, Paul's life shows how anyone can be redeemed by grace, and fight the good fight through grit, where God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. 2nd Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Rating:
Summary: A challenging portrait of a man devoted to Christ
Review: Charles Swindoll's Paul: A man of grace and grit is a fascinating look at one of the New Testament's biggest
contributors. Saul of Tarusus or better known as Paul the apostle is truly a man of grit. Born in a Jewish family.
A devout follower of Judaism. A man devoted to Jewish law and persecuting Christians. Swindoll fleshes out Saul from the book of Acts
in great detail. Saul persecuted Christians as Hitler persecuted Jews during the 1940's. Saul was a man who violently
opposed to Christ, his teachings, and his followers. He hunted them down. Tried them, and stoned them.
Odd that such a man would end up not only worshipping Jesus, but also writing some of the most beautiful words in the New Testament and spreading the gospel.
How strange that such a man who spewed forth such hate toward Christians would turn around and write such a beautiful
testament to love (Letter to Corinthians). Swindoll's Paul is presented in 22 chapters, that cover everything from Paul's beginnings, meeting with Christ risen, to his ministry, and finally his death. Each chapter refers and reflects to appropriate bible passages, mostly those from Acts.
What was surprising was that each chapter also ended in a reflection. For example, chapter 2: The violent capture of a rebel will, covers Saul's encounter with Christ. Here a violent man is converted into a spokes person for the very person Saul hates the most. Amazing really.
Swindolls refers to this change as "Kicking against God's goads". "To kick against the goads" was a common expression found in both Greek and Latin literature, which rose from the practice of farmers goading their oxen in the fields. Goads were typically made from slender pieces of timber, blunt on one end and pointed on the other. Farmers used the pointed end to urge a stubborn ox into motion. Occasionally, the beast would kick at the goad. The more the ox kicked, the more likely it would stab into the flesh of it leg, causing pain.
Saul's conversion may not have been quick, but with Saul's previous violent lifestyle and Christ haunting words, those words may
have been the "goad" that pushed Saul into Paul and a past of hate into a future of preaching the gospel. Swindoll ends the chapter on a wonderful reflection on what "goads" you? Is God goading you perhaps?
Are you holding onto some rebellious attitude that perhaps the Lord is goading you to let go of?
Each chapter has a reflection like this. Each chapter not only brings us closer to how Paul lived, but also asks us to examine our relationship with God, our loved ones, and even ourselves.
This book is # 6 in the series. I'll have to pick up the previous books, and sincerely hope that Charles Swindoll adds a #7 in the series.
Rating:
Summary: A challenging portrait of a man devoted to Christ
Review: Charles Swindoll's Paul: A man of grace and grit is a fascinating look at one of the New Testament's biggest
contributors. Saul of Tarusus or better known as Paul the apostle is truly a man of grit. Born in a Jewish family.
A devout follower of Judaism. A man devoted to Jewish law and persecuting Christians. Swindoll fleshes out Saul from the book of Acts
in great detail. Saul persecuted Christians as Hitler persecuted Jews during the 1940's. Saul was a man who violently
opposed to Christ, his teachings, and his followers. He hunted them down. Tried them, and stoned them.
Odd that such a man would end up not only worshipping Jesus, but also writing some of the most beautiful words in the New Testament and spreading the gospel.
How strange that such a man who spewed forth such hate toward Christians would turn around and write such a beautiful
testament to love (Letter to Corinthians). Swindoll's Paul is presented in 22 chapters, that cover everything from Paul's beginnings, meeting with Christ risen, to his ministry, and finally his death. Each chapter refers and reflects to appropriate bible passages, mostly those from Acts.
What was surprising was that each chapter also ended in a reflection. For example, chapter 2: The violent capture of a rebel will, covers Saul's encounter with Christ. Here a violent man is converted into a spokes person for the very person Saul hates the most. Amazing really.
Swindolls refers to this change as "Kicking against God's goads". "To kick against the goads" was a common expression found in both Greek and Latin literature, which rose from the practice of farmers goading their oxen in the fields. Goads were typically made from slender pieces of timber, blunt on one end and pointed on the other. Farmers used the pointed end to urge a stubborn ox into motion. Occasionally, the beast would kick at the goad. The more the ox kicked, the more likely it would stab into the flesh of it leg, causing pain.
Saul's conversion may not have been quick, but with Saul's previous violent lifestyle and Christ haunting words, those words may
have been the "goad" that pushed Saul into Paul and a past of hate into a future of preaching the gospel. Swindoll ends the chapter on a wonderful reflection on what "goads" you? Is God goading you perhaps?
Are you holding onto some rebellious attitude that perhaps the Lord is goading you to let go of?
Each chapter has a reflection like this. Each chapter not only brings us closer to how Paul lived, but also asks us to examine our relationship with God, our loved ones, and even ourselves.
This book is # 6 in the series. I'll have to pick up the previous books, and sincerely hope that Charles Swindoll adds a #7 in the series.
Rating:
Summary: You'll think it was written just for you
Review: Do you find yourself needing encouragement in your current condition or a good dose of resolve? Follow along with biblical profiler Chuck Swindoll as we learn how Jesus graciously chose His most violent dissenter and transformed him into perhaps His most passionate and effective apostle. Whether you're in the midst of career upheaval, a life change or simply need to answer your own "why", you will find out how God chooses to mature us through a period of preparation and then is always there so we're not alone in our suffering. Trust me, regardless of your situation, you'll be convinced this book was written just for you.
Rating:
Summary: Paul: A Man Of Grit And Grace
Review: I have had few heroes in my life. This book has brought one home to me. I hung on every word. My book is filled with tabs and notes. The world of Paul is not so much different from what we live today. Searching for God and the Truth, this one book has given me new hope and reinforced the faith I am growing in. Charles Swindoll was able to blend his experience and the experience of others in the study of Paul without distorting the word of God. At the end of 22 chapters I found a new beginning to my life.
Rating:
Summary: Paul: A Man Of Grit And Grace
Review: I have had few heroes in my life. This book has brought one home to me. I hung on every word. My book is filled with tabs and notes. The world of Paul is not so much different from what we live today. Searching for God and the Truth, this one book has given me new hope and reinforced the faith I am growing in. Charles Swindoll was able to blend his experience and the experience of others in the study of Paul without distorting the word of God. At the end of 22 chapters I found a new beginning to my life.
Rating: 
Summary: Another great resource from Charles Swindoll
Review: I heartily recommend this book. It is an insightful biography, and the contemporary applications Swindoll gleans from Paul's life are helpful. Swindoll is one of the great expository writers of our time and this book certainly adds to that legacy. I appreciated this volume more than his biography of Moses and almost as much as his book about the life of David.
Rating:
Summary: Surprise to Me!
Review: I purchased this book with reading about the life of Paul nothing more- I found from the very beginning how everything in the book is directed toward me or should I say all Christians. Most of the books I seem to buy sound real good in the first few pages but then I lose interest, and end up not finishing the book- but not with this book- each Chapter was a unique learning experience in itself. I plan on re-reading the book to see what I may have missed.
Rating:
Summary: Yo, Dear consumer, Fellow
Review: oh yeah, this book is wonderfull. Turned me into something like a Pauline. It gives great illustrations and its quite a good read; what I really got out of it was how Swindoll shows you a real person. Not just Paul the Apostle, not just him as one of the sons of judaism of that time, no beyond that. The man that we read about that filled his letters with so much understanding and knowledge, to be flesh. You read this book and I guarantee you, it will change how you look at him and Christ, and especially what kind of peoples Christ uses. from a man you read of in Acts through Philemon as a character into a man that struggled with his faith and had to take a shower at the end of the day just like all of us. Oh yes, it is really great, I encourage anyone to tear into this mug, and I hear its one of many books- so I really am encouraged to pick up one of Swindoll's other books. Hes a magnificent writer. 5 starsies all the way.
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