They Found the Secret

Rating:
Summary: Abiding in Christ is the Secret to Abudant Living!
Review: Edman has written an excellent title that documents the various struggles 20 Christians faced in moving from despair and depression based on self-effort to the abundant life found by letting Christ live His life through them.

Among the people mentioned include: Oswald Chambers, Hudson Taylor, John Bunyan, Amy Carmichael, Dwight Moody, Ian Thomas, and Andrew Murray. While these people were and are well-known in Christian circles, the author also includes other folks who while not as well-known, were also able to experience the abundant life.

Read and be challenged to stop trying to live the Christian life and instead let Christ live His life through You!

Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful sampling of authors who Abide in Christ
Review: How often do you get to find a dozen or so new favorite authors, all in one book?

A very balanced book with authors from every type of ministry and experience but similar messages told in their own ways...

Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener for anyone hungry for more of God
Review: I come from a non-charismatic background so I was cautious about anyone offering special solutions for the Christian's spiritual life. But Edman presents case after case of people whom God touched in unique ways but all had these three things in common: they were hungry for more; they had a second experience AFTER conversion and this experience with God proved to be a turning point in their walk with their Lord. A great book for people who are open to more of God. Is totally unbounded by denominational lines. Shows that while God deals uniquely with the searching heart, he is predictable and faithful. If I may add a personal word, this is one of the top 10 books that have influenced my whole life. I am glad to see it is still in print! You will be too! If you are hungry for God and His kingdom, this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: Overdone hagiography
Review: I had a really hard time getting through this book. I had to read it for a class, so I had to finish it, but I found that it irritated me more than it uplifted me. I am a believer and I believe that God does work in many ways, but this book was very onesided. One reads of all these people who all of a sudden in their lives found God in a powerful way. The Holy Spirit came to them and changed their lives and that's all we hear about. While I know that the Spirit can do wonderful things, this book ignores the fact that these people were also human. It makes it seem that once these people had found the secret they never had problems again. God seemed to bless their ministry and their faith remained strong. But it never tells about their home life. How did they treat their wife and kids after this experience? Were they kind at home, or did they all but abandon their family so as to serve God better? I dislike the image that if you are serving God, prior commitments, such as family don't mean anything anymore. I doubt that their lives were perfect in every way or that they never struggled again. Perhaps Edman did not intend to convey that message, but he did nothing to present a more balanced picture either. I cannot be uplifted by these stories because they feel too false - I know there is more there. Onesided stories do not uplift me; my life is nothing like that. I have encountered God and have been blessed with the Holy Spirit, but I still struggle with sin and doubt- which I see as a necessasry part of a healthy Christian life. I would find more hope in the story of someone who was a real person dealing with everyday life who still managed to serve God and be blessed. Books by Philip Yancey or Anne Lamott are more realistic and therefore much more uplifting.

Rating:
Summary: From Performing to Abiding
Review: If you've reached the place in your Christian walk where you find you're running on a tiring performance treadmill offering no end and no rest, then V. Raymond Edman's They Found the Secret is the book for you, because it certainly was for me. I was prompted to get this book after hearing Charles Stanley speak and write about it on several occassions. In my own walk, I had no peace, no rest. Ministry was just work, work, work. If I could have transferred certain people to the Aleutians, I'd have done it. That's when this book came around. Through very simply written mini-bio's, V. Raymond Edman explains how each person literally "stumbled" into the abiding life (John 15), and how after stumbling into it, their Christian walk and life was revolutionized. Such is my own testimony. Regardless of your personality type, in one or more of these sketches, you'll see yourself and what you need to let go of. Once you do, then you, too, will have found the secret.

Rating:
Summary: Abiding
Review: My husband read this book about 15 years ago. I just recently picked it up again and have fallen in love with it. It explains so well the fact that to walk with the Lord, we just have to let go and let Him have control -- in every area of our lives. It's amazing to me how we can trust God with our eternal soul, but it's so hard to trust Him with today.

Rating:
Summary: Should be a must-read for anyone who loves the Lord.
Review: Next to the Bible, the Secrets book has had a huge impact on my life. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a deeper relationship with Christ.

No where in the book did it claim that these people went on to leave perfect lives once receiving the Holy Spirit, that would mean they were without sin, which is, of course, an impossibility. It does claim, however, that there IS more than Sunday Christianity. The book shows how these saints wanted a more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. They realized that there must be more to Christianity than what they felt in themselves and saw in their churches.

The Secrets book introduces you to the third person of the Triune God: the Holy Spirit and the work he will do in your life.

This is NOT a charasmatic book. It is one you will not want to put down and one that you will re-read many times over. You will find yourself praying for the presence of the Holy Spirit in your own life as it convicts you of unbelief and neglect of allowing the Holy Spirit to move in your life.

I would urge anyone seeking a closer walk with Christ to read this inspirational book. I would pray it make as large an impact on your life as it has on mine.

Rating:
Summary: Should be a must-read for anyone who loves the Lord.
Review: Next to the Bible, the Secrets book has had a huge impact on my life. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a deeper relationship with Christ.

No where in the book did it claim that these people went on to leave perfect lives once receiving the Holy Spirit, that would mean they were without sin, which is, of course, an impossibility. It does claim, however, that there IS more than Sunday Christianity. The book shows how these saints wanted a more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. They realized that there must be more to Christianity than what they felt in themselves and saw in their churches.

The Secrets book introduces you to the third person of the Triune God: the Holy Spirit and the work he will do in your life.

This is NOT a charasmatic book. It is one you will not want to put down and one that you will re-read many times over. You will find yourself praying for the presence of the Holy Spirit in your own life as it convicts you of unbelief and neglect of allowing the Holy Spirit to move in your life.

I would urge anyone seeking a closer walk with Christ to read this inspirational book. I would pray it make as large an impact on your life as it has on mine.

Rating:
Summary: Very well written, fast paced mini-biographies.
Review: This book brings one truth to light clearly and repeatedly form twenty different angles. That truth is that the Christian life is difficult, wearisome and failure prone if all the believer has to rely upon is self-discipline and determination. But the life we see illustrated in the history of these 20 people is one which is empowered by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. The stories of each persons life is going from struggle to rest and fruitfulness. Each one teaches in their own words the truths of "how they found the secret".

As a side note. Charles Stanley in his book "The Wonderful Spirit Filled Life", shares that it was this book that God used to radically change his life in the Spirit.

Rick Welch, Pastor, Christian & Missionary Alliance

Rating:
Summary: I would give it 10 stars if I could (GREAT spiritual food)
Review: This is the type of book that one should not be in a hurry with but rather read, digest, contenplate, then read some more. This is an excelent book for anyone looking to deepen thier spirtual walk with the LORD.