Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring book on livng a passionate Christian life
Review: Anytime you need a spark in your passion for Christ, a John Piper book is a dependable igniter. Don't Waste Your Life targets Christians desiring to live a meaningful life that produces lasting fruit. Piper is a prodigious Christian writer who has authored more than twenty books. He pastors Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. I have read several of his books, and he continually offers solid, refreshing Christian teaching. In Don't Waste Your Life, Piper tells the reader about his personal discovery of the single passion worth pursuing in life. He writes, "It was not always plain to me that pursuing God's glory would be virtually the same as pursuing my joy. Now I see that millions of people waste their lives because they think these paths are two and not one." He describes a typical married couple working through life to accumulate wealth so that they can retire and leisurely collect seashells in Florida. He calls this course of life a waste. Any life that treasures anything above Christ is a tragedy, writes Piper. According to Piper, we were created for more than merely providing for a family and trying to live a good life. For Christians, Piper writes of a cause that is paramount to all others. He encourages us to consider the cause of Christ, the greatest king who ever lived. He writes, "The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the treasure he is." Piper avoids rules, formulas and steps to living a fruitful live. He proposes becoming single-minded in possessing a passion for Christ and for glorifying him above all else in our lives. As we do this continually, we are sure to live satisfying, fruitful lives, says Piper. Piper accomplishes more than covering the basics of living the Christian life. Using personal stories, quotes from other writers, and many scriptures, he emphasizes the values of Christ and his calling upon our lives. Piper summarizes his view of Christ's calling upon our lives, "God seldom calls us to an easier life, but always calls us to know more of him and drink more deeply of his sustaining grace." The book consists of ten chapters with each chapter having several sections. A theme that runs through the book is the virtue of taking risks in life for the glory of Christ. Piper emphasizes courage as characteristic to the Christian-courage to take steps of faith, to risk losing life to gain glory for the name of Jesus. He writes, "There can be no weary resignation, no cowardly retreat, and no merciless contentment among Christ's people while he is disowned among thousands of unreached peoples." Piper calls Christians to arms in a battle that we can join no matter who we are or where we are. We can advance Christ's kingdom in the workplace or on the missions field. If we become passionate about living for Him, we will experience his passionate joy and avoid wasting our lives. Don't Waste Your Life succeeds in creating passion and purpose in the reader. Piper concludes the book with a prayer that will help the reader communicate the desires of his or her heart to God.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring book on livng a passionate Christian life
Review: Anytime you need a spark in your passion for Christ, a John Piper book is a dependable igniter. Don't Waste Your Life targets Christians desiring to live a meaningful life that produces lasting fruit. Piper is a prodigious Christian writer who has authored more than twenty books. He pastors Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. I have read several of his books, and he continually offers solid, refreshing Christian teaching. In Don't Waste Your Life, Piper tells the reader about his personal discovery of the single passion worth pursuing in life. He writes, "It was not always plain to me that pursuing God's glory would be virtually the same as pursuing my joy. Now I see that millions of people waste their lives because they think these paths are two and not one." He describes a typical married couple working through life to accumulate wealth so that they can retire and leisurely collect seashells in Florida. He calls this course of life a waste. Any life that treasures anything above Christ is a tragedy, writes Piper. According to Piper, we were created for more than merely providing for a family and trying to live a good life. For Christians, Piper writes of a cause that is paramount to all others. He encourages us to consider the cause of Christ, the greatest king who ever lived. He writes, "The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the treasure he is." Piper avoids rules, formulas and steps to living a fruitful live. He proposes becoming single-minded in possessing a passion for Christ and for glorifying him above all else in our lives. As we do this continually, we are sure to live satisfying, fruitful lives, says Piper. Piper accomplishes more than covering the basics of living the Christian life. Using personal stories, quotes from other writers, and many scriptures, he emphasizes the values of Christ and his calling upon our lives. Piper summarizes his view of Christ's calling upon our lives, "God seldom calls us to an easier life, but always calls us to know more of him and drink more deeply of his sustaining grace." The book consists of ten chapters with each chapter having several sections. A theme that runs through the book is the virtue of taking risks in life for the glory of Christ. Piper emphasizes courage as characteristic to the Christian-courage to take steps of faith, to risk losing life to gain glory for the name of Jesus. He writes, "There can be no weary resignation, no cowardly retreat, and no merciless contentment among Christ's people while he is disowned among thousands of unreached peoples." Piper calls Christians to arms in a battle that we can join no matter who we are or where we are. We can advance Christ's kingdom in the workplace or on the missions field. If we become passionate about living for Him, we will experience his passionate joy and avoid wasting our lives. Don't Waste Your Life succeeds in creating passion and purpose in the reader. Piper concludes the book with a prayer that will help the reader communicate the desires of his or her heart to God.
Rating:
Summary: Very Encouraging Work
Review: As with most of Piper's books, DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE is an urgent call to live for Christ seriously. Chapter 7 is one of the most convicting pieces of Christian literature that I've read in years. I hope many wishy-washy believers read this...it may change their lives.
Rating: 
Summary: Most Impactful Book of My Life
Review: Besides the Bible, this book has had 10x more impact on me than any other I've ever read. This is my 7th time through and this book study is currently a repeated Sunday school class at my church. Every American Christian needs to hear this message! Piper does an outstanding work in calling us to live out Mark 8:34-35 (deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him) in areas of our freetime, use of TV, missions, our vocation, how we view pain, suffering and death, our money and possessions, and a great chapter on taking risks for Christ. Even your anticipation and excitement about heaven will grow while reading "Don't Waste Your Life"!!
This book is so convicting and it gets me excited about The Lord everytime I'm in it!
Some of my favorite quotes: "It is better to lose your life than to waste it" "Either you glorify God or you pursue happiness" "If we do not embrace the path of joy-laden, painful love, we will waste our lives" "Every loss we risk in order to make much of Christ, God promises to restore a thousandfold with his all-satisfying fellowship" "Your mind was made to know and love God... Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV" "..any good-hearted goal, without the desire to give people eternal joy in God, is condemnation with a kind face" and "Help us to see that if we try to guard our wealth, instead of using it to show it's not our god, then we will waste our lives, however we succeed" "Christ must be explicit in all our God-talk" and "God loves us by liberating us from the bondage of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring him forever."
The best part of the book is that it describes practically in many ways how to prove to the world that Christ is indeed our Treasure. He implies that believers who do things that merely "look" Christian are wasting their lives and Piper calls that "tragic." Am I using Him and His gifts to make much of me, or am I truly about making much of Christ in my one short life?
There are many "oh my, I never thought about that before" moments in these 10 chapters.
Read this book! You will be greatly inspired and in the end, your life will make more of a lasting difference for Jesus Christ!
Rating:
Summary: Just Because I Didn't Like It, Doesn't Mean You Won't!
Review: I admire John Piper and have grown tremedously through his ministry. He is a gifted teacher and one I deeply respect. Yet for some strange reason I do not enjoy his books. I have tried reading several of his books several times and have never enjoyed doing so. I don't know why this is, but I suspect it may be his style of writing. He employs many short sentences and writes in flowery prose I usually find only in the writing of Victorian authors. Maybe there is another reason that is hidden to me. What I do know is that, as tragic as this may be, it will probably be a long time before I read one of his books again. I feel guilty about this, especially when I read other reviews where people praise this as being one of their favorite books and one that has done so much for their spiritual formation. Perhaps I will pick one up and try again next year.
Now despite my difficulty in reading this book, there is much of value within it. Piper has many good things to say about living a life that is sold out to God. He gives a lot of useful, practical guidance on living a life passionately devoted to displaying God's excellence in every area of our lives. As you would expect if you have read any of Piper's previous books or articles, the teaching that "He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" appears frequently. The standout chapter for me was the one dedicated to risk. The author teaches that to avoid risking it all for Christ is to waste one's life. Of course this is not foolish, irrational financial or physical risk, but a calculated, spiritual risk that may expose one to the risk of injury or suffering. He supports this claim with many examples from the Bible - Joab, Esther, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and of course, Paul. To become a Christian was a risk, but the risk must continue through the believer's life.
Other topics the book covers include: the goal of life, living to prove Christ is precious, the majesty of Christ in missions and magnifying Christ through pain and death.
So what can I say? While I benefitted from the teaching of this book and know many others have as well, I simply did not enjoy reading it. However, I know that the fault for that lies with me. Therefore, I will recommend this book, knowing that so many have benefitted from it.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible, challenging read
Review: I agree with the gist of the other reviewers. I would also like to add that this book is probably a bit more hard hitting than his other stuff. He comes right out and calls people to bigger and better things. I can imagine some people actually being offended by some things that he says - that simply going to work and raising your kids aren't all that God has called you to. There's a great calling to consider cross-cultural missions work. :) He says things like: "Oh, how many lives are wasted by people who believe that the Christian life means simply avoiding badness and providing for the family. So there is no adultery, no stealing, no killing, no embezzlement, no fraud - just lots of hard work during the day, and lots of TV and PG-13 videos in the evening (during quality family time), and lots of fun stuf on the weekend - woven around church (mostly). This is life for millions of people. Wasted life. We were created for more." and "God does not promise enough food for comfort or for life - he promises enough so that you can trust him and do his will." All in all, it's a great book, and a little more application than Desiring God. A little easier read, in that it's not as theologically heavy, I think. Definitely quality
Rating:
Summary: Lay aside every encumbrance...
Review: I can't believe I'm the first person to review this book, so I'll get that little bit of excitement off my chest. The heartbeat of this book, and this man, is not to waste your life. You have one life to enjoy God and invite others to be glad in Him. Lay aside every encumbrance that you might win the prize, the upward call of Jesus Christ. Specifically, this book aims to convince you that there is ONE thing in life worth pursuing, ONE thing in life worth giving everything for, ONE thing in life worth radically pursuing, and that is, the glory of God. Piper has, in other books, argued for this very thing. But I get the sense in this book that he is desperately pleading with this generation to throw away mediocrity and to be devoted wholly and completely to the Treasure of the universe, and that anything short of a total sell-out to Him will result in our saying in the end, "I've wasted my life!" He is urgent. This is a dangerous book that, if read carefully, will cause you to rethink and reshape not only what you're basing your life upon, but challening you to build what will last on it. Written with a popular audience in mind, Piper sums up many of his other great books in a clear, passionate cry to be most satisfied in God, whether you're a missionary or a mail man. How can you, whoever you are and whatever you do, gladly make others glad in God? This book seeks to answer that question and urges you to take whatever steps necessary to secure your happiness in Him. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Only what's done for Christ will last
Review: I find this book a modern day call equal to William Law's,A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. Dr. Piper's passion for the essence and main point of life are evident in this work of challenge. I was actually sad when I finished the book because I didn't want the book to end. When I read Dr. Piper's words, scripture is clearer and I am refueled and ready to offer Christ my whole life. It is ALL by grace but here is a man who is not afraid to give us guidelines to what a Christian might look like. His challenge is for both the "young" and "old." He addresses those who would serve God in their jobs and those that God might call to missionary service. You will also be challenged in your use of money and whatever "shells" you might be prone to collect. I know God will be honored by this book. Do you want to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? Please, read this book.
Rating:
Summary: read it, read it again, then give it to someone else to read
Review: I haven't read a John Piper book that I didn't like, but I agree that this one in particular is a must read. Although Piper says that he wrote this for both the Christian and non-Christian reader, the real challenge here is for the Christian who is leading a sort of ordinary, mediocre Christian life. It will have an impact on anyone who has a desire to be the man or the woman God created them to be. And, as with all of Piper's books, the focus is on glorifying God with our lives by finding our satisfaction in him.
As a youth group leader, I would especially recommend it for teenagers and college students (though Piper specifically speaks to older, even retired, Christians as well). It will help them get a God-centered perspective on life--and eternity--and may very well be instrumental in helping them with regard to important decisions that they have to make.
What I would like to see is a review of the DVD. I bought the book by itself (because I didn't know you could get it with a DVD), but I'm thinking of getting it with the DVD as a present. Can anyone tell me what it's like?
Rating:
Summary: Good Book but not the best
Review: It seems that Christian publishers tend to simultaneously release books that deal with similar themes (work of the Holy Spirit, grace, etc.). The latest trend appears to be on rising above the ordinary and living passionately for Christ. "Don't Waste Your Life" is a stand-out book among this crowd. John Piper is one of the giants of modern Christian writing, and this book is another showcase of his gifts. Movies and TV series like "Office Space" and "The Office" strike a nerve because we identify with their main theme - the futility of the average life. How many of us feel that we've somehow managed to settle for complacency and boredom instead of the risk and passion that we dream about? In the Christian's case, how many are just playing it safe by focusing on the 'thou-shalt-nots' instead of actually stepping out in faith to DO God's will? These are difficult questions to answer honestly, but we must do so for our own eternal good. For as Piper states, "only what's done for Christ will last." Each chapter of "Don't Waste Your Life" deals with different aspects of magnifying Christ. Risk-taking, suffering, and the workplace are all arenas where we can glorify God and enjoy Him as we lead our daily lives. However, the last chapter reveals Piper's heart: missions. Ultimately, the overarching theme of this book is winning others to Christ by our lives, and if necessary, by our words. To that end, Piper implores the reader "in the name of Jesus to wake up, and enlarge your heart, and stretch your mind, and spread your wings." For when all is said and done, what really matters is that those who are lost are lost no more.
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