Rating: 
Summary: read if you must but pray for divine objectivity/discernment
Review: looks like there's been a number of positive reviews for this book. so please, forgive me for being one to disagree. i too am a believing psychologist, but i am not writing to defend psychology from dr. crabb. i am a believer first and a psychologist because God has called me and gifted me to do that. yes, there is nothing like a good crisis to shake us up and help us to finally plant both feet in the kingdom. i know. i had my crisis. but, even in our deepest crisis - even in our darkest moments - God is with us, speaking to us in His still, small voice. full of grace. full of mercy. full of provision. for he is God our provider. He blesses us even in the midst of the crisis. He brings us healing as only He can do. He affirms the fatherless. His miracles are fresh every day. there is never a dark moment with God after all. His light gives us light. He is our light shining in the darkness.the idea that God answers prayer is not a conjured up thing. the bible is replete with instance upon instance of God answering prayers. the idea that God is unresponsive is ridiculous. even if He is silent He is responding. not ten years from now. not twenty but now. how did joseph get through twenty years in jail. God gave him the strength and the grace to get through. God was at work answering joseph's prayers every day during those twenty years. He went the distance with joseph until the time was ripe for joseph to come out. God's character is to provide for his children, even as we make mistakes. He lovingly nurtures us to maturity as his sons and daughters. i dont know about circumstances like joni erikson's (His ways are higher than ours ) but im sure that God's grace is sufficent. He has overcome the world and we with Him. there is nothing new under the sun. So says the ancient of days. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. What is this "new way?" The tender mercy and grace of our God sustains us through our difficulties. paul made music with his chains - God's grace! Abba! Father! Jehovah Jireh! i want your voice only oh God!
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly Honest
Review: Thank you Larry Crabb for your blatant honesty! I read every review written before I purchased this book, and even after reading the negative ones -- I still purchased it. Your honesty was refreshing. You can always tell when someone has walked the same path you have through suffering -- they speak words that touch your heart like the tip of an arrow hitting the bull's eye on a target. I have to concur with the words of another reviewer: I too wanted to put the book down many times because Mr. Crabb had me pegged to the wall. I found solice in this book because I realized once again that I am not alone in my suffering nor my shattered dreams. Many others have walked the same path that I have walked -- and I dare to say that many more will do the same. The Word of God tells us to walk along side of those who are suffering the same things that we have suffered so that we can bring them the same type of comfort that we received also. We can't walk alongside of others unless we are willing to share our lives with others and minister from our pain. Thank you Larry Crabb!
Rating:
Summary: changed perspectives
Review: this book had changed my perspectives in pain. it taught me that God uses pain to draw closer to Him, and that we only need to run to Him when our hearts are acheing in pain. Very much recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Pastoral Perspective on the Usefulness of this book
Review: This book is appropriate for both those who struggle and those who are stuck in a rut with their walks with God. Its written in the same vein as Sacred Romance and The Healing Path. Its almost a commentary on the failures of the evangelical church. Instead of worshiping God we are more concerned with making our life comfortable. Instead of our chief end being to glorify God and enjoy him forever, we have made our chief end to feel good and use God for the purpose of making our life comfortable. Needless to say I was repenting! There are several theological holes in the book that are significant. These holes don't have to do with precision so much as that the full benefit of the book can't be achieved without adding some information to it. Namely the solution Crabb offers to his readers who want to endure shattered dreams that the purpose God intends may be brought fourth is not by reading the Bible more or praying more. The answer is to experience the grace of God by knowing He is holy and by knowing we are sinners. This is perfectly true but the only place its talked about is on page 196! That just isn't enough to help people at the most profound level! Add your own knowledge about grace and do a little digging around and God will honor your effort. This book is the product of the effort to launch New Way Ministries. This is a misguided effort and as you read the introduction to New Way Ministries found on pages 209-214 I think that you will see it smacks of the Higher Life movement. As you research this ministry on the web, you will see that its reformation and reformed truths packaged more attractively. You'll also see through Crabb's writing that he is leaning more and more toward a reformed expression of faith (emphasis on man's depravity, God's sovereignty, grace, etc.). He still isn't there but he's moving in a good direction. I would guide people to Dan Allendar's book as a more biblically and theologically accurate help in times of distress. His book is about processing our pain and hurt in such a way that we benefit from it through a closer walk with God. If you can only read one book, read Allendar's. His book is called _The Healing Path_. I have a stronger recommendation for this book to people I minister to because I do not have to preface it or supplement it by correcting the theology, etc. Crabb's book will help you grow in your walk with God and gain a perspective on why Christians struggle. Why do we struggle? Crabb offers a profoundly true answer: We struggle because God wants to take us to a place in our lives where we will encounter Him and will forsake our idols we worship to ease our pain and instead make us rely on Him alone. (By the way, you'll find the same answer in _The Sacred Romance_ and _The Healing Path_) Its good stuff! See for yourself, keeping in mind my aforementioned thoughts and get ready to be spiritually refreshed.
Rating:
Summary: Searching For Answers to Why God Allows Pain and Suffering?
Review: This book is written for people who question God's motives. It attempts to answer the question, 'Why does God allow suffering and and why does He not fix each problem to our satisfaction, when we pray?' Dr. Crabb builds on his ideas by elaborating on the Biblical characterers of Ruth, Naomi and Jesus, and speculates about their thoughts. He uses fabricated monologues of Jesus and Naomi to support his points. This approach makes me very uncomfortable and is one of several reasons I rated this book a 1. The author also quotes Augustine and Martin Luther as supporting his ideas. The book would be more effective if Dr. Crabb explained how they (or anyone for that matter) actually discovered the 'Joy of God' and applied the main points of the book to their daily lives of 'shattered dreams.' In summary, this book does not provider an 'easy answer' to life's pain. It suggests that real joy is possible, but can not be found where most people are looking! This book is not my first choice for a self help book, but it may be helpful to some readers, who can identify with the Dr. Crabb's painful life experiences. If you are hurting, consider reading the Psalms, such as Psalms 1, 23, 30, 32 and others, which I have found to reveal the real 'source of comfort.' I am sure Dr. Crabb would agree!
Rating:
Summary: Say Goodbye to the "Useful God."
Review: With this book Crabb hopes to start a revolution. I am a little suspicious of anyone who actively tries to start a revolution. It seems to me that the people God used to start revolutions in the Bible wanted anything but to start a revolution. It seems that the main thing that qualifies someone to start a revolution is a reluctance to start said revolution. Haivng said that, after revolutionaries are touched by God, they must move out. And maybe that is what has happened here - maybe this is the fruit of years of God's preparaiton of Crabb. This book has some profound insights into the ways of God with man that could revolutionize the way we relate to God. I say "revolutionize" to say that this would change the way we think about God, pray to God and what we expect from God. In saying that, I don't mean to say that our life will suddenly become a bed of roses. Shattered Dreams would make an interesting companion book to Desiring God by John Piper. Crabb says much the same thing that Piper says - our greatest joy is found in God, not from God. It has been several years since I read Desiring God but my recollection is that Piper seeks to foster our satisfaction in God by motivating us to pursue our pleasure in knowing God. Crabb, on the other hand, demonstrates how God fosters satisfaction and pleasure and passion in Him by stripping away all of the lesser pleasures of this earth. IMHO the three most helpful insights that this book offers are: 1. The goal is that God be glorified in us, not that He be useful to us. Crabb says that we have taken the "Holy God of Passionate Wrath," and turned Him into the "Helpful God of Useful Principles." One thought that occurred to me in this regard is that Crabb makes the case that what we need to repent of is our desire for God to make us feel good and give us a sense of well-being. If this is the case, many probably need to re-examine their "salvation experience," since many in our day come to Christ because He has been presented to them as the "useful God." Come to Christ - He is useful to get you out of hell and into heaven, come to Christ, He is useful to give you a happy life, etc., etc.. Could it be that the Christ that many have allegedly "accepted" is not the Christ of the Bible, and could this explain why so many who have allegedly "accepted" Christ fall away? If nothing else, this insight from Crabb should cause all who name the name of Christ to re-examine their hearts to see what kind of "Christ" they are naming. 2. God is committed to bringing us the greatest joy possible, however such joy is only found in Him. Therefore, He allows, and even causes, us to have our most cherished dreams shattered in order that we will quit hoping in them and find our joy in Him. 3. Though we can now claim to be the bride of Christ, we live in the betrothal period of our relationship. The wedding feast of the lamb is yet to come - the relationship has not been consummated yet. Therefore, though we are secure in our relationship with Christ we cannot and will not ever feel as close to Him on earth as we long to. There is distance in the betrothal period that is not present once the wedding has taken place. God feels hidden from us because to a large extent He is hidden from us. Also, Crabb makes some good points about how we treat people who are going through the agony of shattered dreams. We are usually quick to accept those who are suffering as long as they utter all of the proper pious platitudes - "yes, my life is in a shambles but I am trusting God in the midst of this and getting better day by day, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose, etc. etc." But we are less comfortable with those whose today's are worse than their yesterday's and who are honest about their pain and confusion - "my life is in a shambles right now and I don't see God anywhere in this situation, as far as I am concerned it looks like He has forsaken me." We prefer piety, even false piety, to honesty. There are a couple of paragraphs on page 144 that summarize the book very nicely, I believe. "It's hard to hear, but it is important to know that God is not committed to supporting our ministries, to preventing our divorces, to preserving our health, to straightening out our kids, to providing a livable income, to ending famine, to protecting us from agonizing problems that generate in our souls an experience that feels like death." "We cannot count on God to arrange what happens in our lives in ways that will make us feel good." "We can count on God to patiently remove all the obstacles to our enjoyment of Him. He is committed to our joy, and we can depend on Him to give us enough of a taste of that joy and enough hope that the best is still ahead to keep us going in spite of how much pain continues to plague our hearts." Whether or not Crabb's insights start a large scale revolution, they can start an individual revolution as we exchange the "useful God" for the Biblical God, and this book is a good starting point.
Rating:
Summary: Say Goodbye to the "Useful God."
Review: With this book Crabb hopes to start a revolution. I am a little suspicious of anyone who actively tries to start a revolution. It seems to me that the people God used to start revolutions in the Bible wanted anything but to start a revolution. It seems that the main thing that qualifies someone to start a revolution is a reluctance to start said revolution. Haivng said that, after revolutionaries are touched by God, they must move out. And maybe that is what has happened here - maybe this is the fruit of years of God's preparaiton of Crabb. This book has some profound insights into the ways of God with man that could revolutionize the way we relate to God. I say "revolutionize" to say that this would change the way we think about God, pray to God and what we expect from God. In saying that, I don't mean to say that our life will suddenly become a bed of roses. Shattered Dreams would make an interesting companion book to Desiring God by John Piper. Crabb says much the same thing that Piper says - our greatest joy is found in God, not from God. It has been several years since I read Desiring God but my recollection is that Piper seeks to foster our satisfaction in God by motivating us to pursue our pleasure in knowing God. Crabb, on the other hand, demonstrates how God fosters satisfaction and pleasure and passion in Him by stripping away all of the lesser pleasures of this earth. IMHO the three most helpful insights that this book offers are: 1. The goal is that God be glorified in us, not that He be useful to us. Crabb says that we have taken the "Holy God of Passionate Wrath," and turned Him into the "Helpful God of Useful Principles." One thought that occurred to me in this regard is that Crabb makes the case that what we need to repent of is our desire for God to make us feel good and give us a sense of well-being. If this is the case, many probably need to re-examine their "salvation experience," since many in our day come to Christ because He has been presented to them as the "useful God." Come to Christ - He is useful to get you out of hell and into heaven, come to Christ, He is useful to give you a happy life, etc., etc.. Could it be that the Christ that many have allegedly "accepted" is not the Christ of the Bible, and could this explain why so many who have allegedly "accepted" Christ fall away? If nothing else, this insight from Crabb should cause all who name the name of Christ to re-examine their hearts to see what kind of "Christ" they are naming. 2. God is committed to bringing us the greatest joy possible, however such joy is only found in Him. Therefore, He allows, and even causes, us to have our most cherished dreams shattered in order that we will quit hoping in them and find our joy in Him. 3. Though we can now claim to be the bride of Christ, we live in the betrothal period of our relationship. The wedding feast of the lamb is yet to come - the relationship has not been consummated yet. Therefore, though we are secure in our relationship with Christ we cannot and will not ever feel as close to Him on earth as we long to. There is distance in the betrothal period that is not present once the wedding has taken place. God feels hidden from us because to a large extent He is hidden from us. Also, Crabb makes some good points about how we treat people who are going through the agony of shattered dreams. We are usually quick to accept those who are suffering as long as they utter all of the proper pious platitudes - "yes, my life is in a shambles but I am trusting God in the midst of this and getting better day by day, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose, etc. etc." But we are less comfortable with those whose today's are worse than their yesterday's and who are honest about their pain and confusion - "my life is in a shambles right now and I don't see God anywhere in this situation, as far as I am concerned it looks like He has forsaken me." We prefer piety, even false piety, to honesty. There are a couple of paragraphs on page 144 that summarize the book very nicely, I believe. "It's hard to hear, but it is important to know that God is not committed to supporting our ministries, to preventing our divorces, to preserving our health, to straightening out our kids, to providing a livable income, to ending famine, to protecting us from agonizing problems that generate in our souls an experience that feels like death." "We cannot count on God to arrange what happens in our lives in ways that will make us feel good." "We can count on God to patiently remove all the obstacles to our enjoyment of Him. He is committed to our joy, and we can depend on Him to give us enough of a taste of that joy and enough hope that the best is still ahead to keep us going in spite of how much pain continues to plague our hearts." Whether or not Crabb's insights start a large scale revolution, they can start an individual revolution as we exchange the "useful God" for the Biblical God, and this book is a good starting point.
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