Let God Change Your Life

Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California has a new book out titled Let God Change Your Life:  How To Know And Follow Jesus.  Audra Jennings, publicist with B&B Media Group sent me a copy for the purpose of review.

The book is divided into three parts:

1. How to know God
2. Discipleship
3. Making Him known

In the introduction, Laurie cites this quote from Ray Stedman:

"The chief mark of the Christian ought to be the absence of fear and the presence of joy.  We have often quoted the description of a Christian as one who is completely fearless, continually cheerful, and constantly in trouble.  It is that presence of joy and absence of fear that marks our genuine Christianity and proves that we really are what we claim to be."

The Laurie makes these remarks in response:

"That is what the world needs more of today:  Christians who are full of joy and completely fearless.  After all, how can we expect to fulfill the Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples if we don't even know what it is to be a disciple ourselves?  As the saying goes, it takes one to make one."

In Let God Change Your Life, Laurie issues the call to all Christians to radical New Testament living by studying Jesus' teachings regarding discipleship and then earnestly applying them to our lives.  Laurie does an exemplary job of carefully looking at scripture and then sharing the important process of application.  I especially appreciated how in part three of the book (Making Him Known), Laurie gave a clear and very biblical picture of the gospel, including an exceptional presentation of  regeneration, repentance, justification, and sanctification.  

You might stereotype Laurie as a liberal and "culturally relevant" pastor of a large California church, but you would be mistaken.  This is what he has to say when addressing the issues surrounding sharing your faith with others:

"People can not fully appreciate the good news until they understand the bad news.  When you talk to people about the Lord, they might ask you whether they have to give up a certain lifestyle.  Sometimes Christians are afraid to deal with that truth.  But it is best to be honest and say, 'Absolutely, you need to turn from that lifestyle, because it's a sin.'  That might offend the person, but it is the truth.  Do it lovingly and do it with grace, but don't back off.

I would highly recommend this book whether you are new in your Christian faith or have been a believer for some time.  The book is clear and well written and would be an excellent choice for use in a mentoring/discipleship relationship with a new believer.

You can visit Harvest Christian Fellowship's website by going HERE.  There you will find a link to Pastor Laurie's blog.

Let God Change Your Life can be purchased by following the link below to Amazon.com:














Blessings,
Jennifer