Rating:  Summary: Examine your own Heart Review: As a husband and father, this book and the ideas presented really made me think about what I was doing in my life to make certain that I did not let the world dictate my circumstances, but rather used all my God-given abilities as a Man to be the Godly husband and father that the Bible presents. If you are a husband or father or both, and are not sure whether you are doing your best and not just doing your "duty", you must read this book. Meditate on it. Get it down in your soul, where God can use it and you together.
Rating:  Summary: Manual For Raising Boys Review: I thought this was a very thought provoking book. I did not agree with everything he wrote from a theological viewpoint, but found that it was still very interesting reading and helpful. If you are trying to raise boys, this book is for you. It might help you better understand where they are coming from. My wife always has a fit when she sees boys hitting each other. I think Eldredge gives great insight into this interesting phenomenon. All fathers should read the book to help themselves avoid wounding their own sons through words or deeds. They may also find themselves dealing with wounds that have been given to them in the past.
Rating:  Summary: Ignore Ryan George for your own Benefit Review: This book is sensational and extremely helpful. Most reviewers here have given it five stars. Of the three negative reviews that I read through (including Ryan George) the reviewers show an almost intentional desire to misunderstand what Eldredge has written. God is right at the heart of this book, in my opinion, and I've been a Bible believing Christian for over 16 years. Further to this, in my opinion, reviews such as that of Ryan George are indicative of the ideologically closed and intellectually sterile atmosphere penetrating the Christian church in the west, particularly in the US. It is creating a hierarchy of an extremist political elite governing a swathe of God's Geldings in the pews. Read this book if you know what's good for you, and know that God is right there beside you encouraging you on.
Rating:  Summary: Good book, would first recommend "Waking the Dead" Review: Wild at Heart is solid book. While John doesn't get super deep theologically and there are a few points that could be presented a bit better it is definitely true to what he set out to write: a book that spoke to the core (not all inclusive or exclusive) of what a Christian man's heart truly is supposed to look like. I do think that John takes his writing to a whole other level in "Waking The Dead" and would recommend reading it first and then "Wild at Heart."
Rating:  Summary: Most influential book I've read Review: Thanks Byron Horton for your review that sums up how I feel too. The theologians have picked apart the book and the legalists like Ryan George in the first review have torn Eldredge's message to pieces. I've been saved for eight years now and I needed a refreshing look into my faith. For years I thought my faith's ultimate goal was being a 'nice guy'. Is that going to win anyone to the Lord? Eldredge showed me thru example that the "kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force". Is this bad? No it's biblical and too many christian men are suffering from the 'nice guy' syndrome. What the world needs is men who take after the warrior heart of the Father. Western christians are too concerned about staying in between the morally correct and respected religous lines of guidance than what God is pulling on our own hearts to do. God forbid that we don't do exactly as the pastor or preacher says. I've been down the fundamentalist paths, the conservative paths, and have always wondered who and which paths are the correct ones? Elderedge has given me the courage to follow the Lord as best as I see Him leading me. I now have the courage to stand strong in the Lord if it takes me outside of someone elses perscribed and recommended path for me.
Rating:  Summary: Ryan George needs to pay attention while he reads. Review: (...) Good old taking it out of context. Referencing pages instead of chapters or the whole book. I have read this book, and it's the best book I've ever read. I have read all of John Elderedges books, and it would be good for anyone to do the same. That would really put everything in context. This book empowered me to be who I always wanted to be, what I always knew myself to be. It didn't tell me much that is new but put words to what I've always known instead. I lived life at one point following all the rules. That did not fulfill me. I crushed my hearts desires. (...) John Elderedge explains in the totality of his books, specifically The Sacred Romance and furthermore in The Journey of Desire, that the answer is to take our desires to God. Taking the understanding of a quote from one of his books that "Prayer is to begin in the mind, and descend into the heart where we stand face to face before God", we should take our desires to Him. This is where freedom in Christ is found. Stand naked before God and allow Him to clothe us with skins. This book is freedom. Read it.
Rating:  Summary: Not the John Eldredge I'd Heard About Review: I'd head a lot about John Eldredge and was excited to get going through the book, however once I started reading it...I couldn't finish it. I had several problems with the book, but the main one is that the entire book is based off of a bad theological premise. Eldredge makes the assumption that since the Bible says that Adam was placed in the garden, that he was created outside of the garden of Eden (not a bad assumption at all). But because of that, all men have always longed for the outdoors, wilderness and adventure. That seems to be a pretty big jump to me. Besides the fact of the many guys I know who are incredibly Godly men who don't long to be in the wilderness...this book implies that they aren't really living like the man God created them to be. I've heard great things about Eldredge's other books, including Waking the Dead, but I'm aphrehensive about spending my money on them after my disappointment with this one
Rating:  Summary: Eldredge Hits Homerun with Wild At Heart Review: It seems like I have purchased every book on the market that offers you an endless list of tips and techniques on how to be a better Christian. After so many years of "trying harder just one more time", I was stunned by the simplicity of Eldredge's message: Our heart is not wicked, it is good. God's intentions toward us is not to punish or elicit obedience, but to have a relationship with us. HE craves intimacy with us. There are 96 million men in this country, approximately 77 million believe they don't have what it takes, or that they don't measure up. This is a direct result of the wounding that occurs throughout our life. Only by inviting Christ into this area of woundedness can healing begin. Eldredge says once that happens, a man can start living from his heart and he frees himself from living a life of pretending to be someone he's not. (He calls this "posing") Unknowingly, Eldredge has created a movement among Christian men in this country. His message resonates their desires to find the freedom and the life that Christ promises. I do believe men are wired to have a battle to fight, and adventure to live and a beauty to rescue. Most of the men I know have given up ever finding their heart, in fact, most don't even know they've lost it. Our society defines a man by what he owns, what he does, and what he knows. Eldredge says God created man to step up and engage as the leader of his family. He is to give his strength away to those who need it. A real man plays a vital role in the lives of his wife and children. A real man looks to God for his identity. And when he learns to hear (really hear) from God he will become a dangerous man for the Kingdom. There is a battle raging in this world that we cannot see, and we cannot fight for the hearts of others if we have not found ours. Eldredge has found his heart and shows us how to do likewise.
Rating:  Summary: Eldredge Hits Homerun with Wild At Heart Review: It seems like I have purchased every book on the market that offers you an endless list of tips and techniques on how to be a better Christian. After so many years "trying harder just one more time", I was stunned by the simplicity of Eldredge's message: Our heart is not wicked, it is good. God's intentions toward us is not to punish or elicit obedience, but to have a relationship with us. HE craves intimacy with us. There are 96 million men in this country, approximately 77 million believe they don't have what it takes, or that they don't measure up. This is a direct result of the wounding that occurs throughout our life. Only by inviting Christ into this area of woundedness can healing begin. Eldredge says once that happens, a man can start living from his heart and he frees himself from living a life of pretending to be someone he's not. (He calls this "posing") Unknowingly, Eldredge has created a movement among Christian men in this country. His message resonates their desires to find the freedom and the life that Christ promises. I do believe men are wired to have a battle to fight, and adventure to live and a beauty to rescue. Most of the men I know have given up ever finding their heart, in fact, most don't even know they've lost it. Our society defines a man by what he owns, what he does, and what he knows. Eldredge says God created man to step up and engage as the leader of his family. He is to give his strength away to those who need it. A real man plays a vital role in the lives of his wife and children. A real man looks to God for his identity. And when he learns to hear (really hear) from God he will become a dangerous man for the Kingdom. There is a battle raging in this world that we cannot see, and we cannot fight for the hearts of others if we have not found ours. Eldredge has found his heart and shows us how to do likewise.
Rating:  Summary: It could change your life Review: Wild at Heart gets to the center of what men fear, need, and dream. Every man who is struggling to find out why life is so boring or meaningless or difficult should read this book.
|