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Thoughts on the Christian life in a fallen world

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Good Choices Good Life - Michael Nelson

The main point of this book is if you make the right choices, ethical and honest choices, you will have a good life.The subtitle is Becoming the person you were intended to be. Included are real life stories of people, everyone from Randy Pausch and Michael Oher, who have made good choices and had a good life. Inspiring quotes are included from a variety of individuals such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Blake, and Carl Jung.  The author mentions writing this book for his grandchildren. This could have easily been a shorter book, many readers may be overwhelmed at the book's 331 pages.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The author appears to be active in a church, yet God is not mentioned until page 15. The more I read the book , the more impression I got that this was a how to live a moral life book, rather than a help for a stronger spiritual journey.
Among the sources listed in the back of this book I discovered several Stephen Covey books, and several others, while maybe morally correct, are not based on scripture. This was a cause of concern for me. 
 Making right choices is a good thing, however there is more to the Christian life than this.Subjects such as being honest, giving to others, and making the effort are included.  I could only recommend this book for those with a strong Christian background, who would not think just making good choices is enough. It should be made clear that " Becoming the person you were intended to be"  is only possible through accepting God's gift of salvation. The BEST choice anyone can make is to accept Jesus and make choices to live a life pleasing to God. That will lead to a good life, if not now, for all of eternity.

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