religion and spirituality

This book really packs a powerful messages about spiritual warfare and how we are under attack and do not even know it. Like they say in the Two Towers movie when the King does not want to risk open war: open war is already upon you whether you wish it or not! John really shows how true this is for Christians. Please do not pay attention to some of the people who reviewed this book especially in fact one person who apparently only read the first chapter and so doesn't even say what the author says in the book. John is a great writer who really has a gift to sift through the surface dialog and get to the heart and our hearts and what we really struggle with and why. I think his message is one hundred percent what Jesus and the Bible say, he just uses some examples which people don't understand how they could be Christian. But don't be swayed by them, focus on how aligned John is to God and Christ, and you will see past the shallow people who are afraid of looking at themselves the way John does. Read this book and all his books for how great they are at showing the real side of faith and how great God is and what he has done for us. God Bless.

I've just finished reading not only the best Christian book I've ever read, but the most important Christian book I've ever read. John Eldredge's, Waking the Dead, confronts the goodness of our hearts with images and words that will make you hug yourself in relief.
Also, he takes on spiritual warfare better than anyone I've read in 30 years. I've read good books on this subject, but John clarifies extraordinaire. Listen to this from John: ". . . the enemy knows you are trying to walk with God and tune into your heart - he'll play the ventriloquist and try to deceive you there. Any word or suggestion that brings discouragement, condemnation, accusation - that is not from God. Satan's accusation kills our hearts. There is a gravitational field the enemy creates around a person that pulls everyone in her life to do to her what he is doing to her. Remember the enemy fears you - fears your heart coming alive and full and free."
John talks much of what it means to fight for your heart and the glory of your heart. I think you could be flabbergasted in how you are not fighting for your heart and to realize you cannot really fight for the heart of others when you cannot or will not do the same for yourself. John enabled me to comprehend some relationships in my life where I let the enemy deceive me into not believing the goodness of their hearts. So much so that I felt much oozing from my heart in forgiveness for those who have caused me harm.

I was amazed by how anthropocentric this book is. I guess I mean, I wasn't expecting the book to be so self-help oriented by way of telling the reader how great he/she is. Eldridge strokes his readers by pointing how their inherent value and worth. That is, he refers to the glory found in the human spirit and uses that to expand the reader's view of themself.

What's wrong with that? Well, from a Christian worldview as the goodness of the individual goes up the necessity for a savior goes down. What I mean is, if people are so good and if God is essentially a loving God then we're OK, I'm OK, you're OK. Sin? What's that? God as Judge? Why? That would be mean-spirited and we all know God is merely loving. Jesus dieing for the sins of the world? Get out. That's not for today's Christians. We want passion, adventure, and following our own hearts. I want what my heart wants, because the heart is central. I'm on the throne and it's my glory I'm primarily concerned with.

Eldridge's message shows how living from the heart can energize people to love themselves in a way they've never experienced, revealing to them life's purpose: fighting for the passions of their hearts.

But, that's not all! Eldredge fans will find that he has not departed much from the formula that made Wild at Heart so successful; he culls examples from popular culture (The Perfect Storm, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz) and tells vivid stories from his own experience. With that said, there's really not much scripture in the book - and the scripture he does use seems to be proof-texting his positions on the inherent goodness of the human soul.

If you're looking for the classic doctrines of the Christian church like redemption, atonement, justification and a better understanding of the Cross of Jesus Christ -- I'd recommend other books. However, if you want to feel better about your desires and wants and how those desires are good and should not be questioned -- let me highly recommend Waking the Dead.