How People Change

Really loved this book. Us Christians often hear the gospel, see how God forgives our sin and rescues us for an eternity with him in heaven, but then live spiritually with our hands in our laps waiting to die and go to be with Him. This book addresses the 'gap' between now and then and how the gospel practically changes us now. I can't stress enough how PRACTICAL and relevant this book is...it's awash with examples and explanations of how the gospel addresses real situations. Brilliant reading for any Christian...essential for anyone in a role of pastoral oversight/care! :)

I read this book some time ago, and thought ho, hum, heard it all before... But now, reading it as part of a Christian Counselling course my opinion of the book has been transformed. I guess it makes more sense now that I can place it within the context of change within myself and within helping others through the change process.

A very thoughtful book about how Christians grow in their faith and how their experiences and circumstances can be better understood so that they can be positive experiences of personal spiritual growth rather than dead ends of frustration and disappointment. One of the best and most practical books I've read on this subject and great value for money.

Let's get three gripes out of the way first. Firstly, the title of this book is overgeneral. It should more accurately be called "How evangelical Christians change", because it's written unashamedly from within that world view: it's assumed that the Bible is the infallible word of God in a fairly literal sense, so Paul wrote Colossians, Peter the semi-literate fisherman wrote the very polished and clearly second-century 2 Peter, and all the different voices in the Bible speak in agreement, no matter what the vast majority of critical scholarship might say. Unless you subscribe to, or at least can live with, that version of reality, you might find the book hard going. Secondly, despite being written by two people, the book disconcertingly uses the first person singular throughout, with no indication of who "I" refers to in each anecdote. Maybe it doesn't matter much, though; the back cover reveals both authors to be middle-aged gentlemen wearing dark jackets and open-neck shirts, each with a wife, four children, an M.Div and a D.Min. Indeed their only obvious distinguishing feature is that one has glasses and a moustache and the other one doesn't. I even wondered if those adornments are just a disguise, and it's really one person pretending to be two in order to get a better deal from the publishers; but then that person would have to have two wives, which would be a definite no-no, despite the many Old Testament precedents. Thirdly, and most bizarrely, one of the items on their list of types of "Christian externalism" -- superficial forms of faith that don't lead to real change -- is something they call "mysticism", by which they seem to mean some kind of addiction to superficial emotional highs. I don't think Evelyn Underhill or Thomas Merton would recognize that use of the term, and it's a shame, because the unsuspecting reader might be put off it altogether, and the whole point of mysticism (properly understood) is that it's a process of deep transformation of the personality from within -- just what this book is about, in fact. So what's good? Well, in the end, none of the above criticisms are that important (especially the one about the shirts). What the authors do superbly well is to bring an interpretation of Christianity based largely on the more gnostic regions of the New Testament -- the (pseudo-) Pauline letters, especially Ephesians and Colossians, and the gospel of John -- to bear on the thorny problems of living in the real world: relationships, money, addictions, work, pressures of all kinds. In their view, true change can only come through a relationship with Christ actively pursued and developed; mere cognitive or emotional adjustment just doesn't go deep enough. The stress throughout is on what's going on within us: we are responsible for how we respond to the heat of life's trials and blessings, for whether we yield thorns or fruit in response to them. But we're not on our own: the cross, and the new identity it opens up to us in Christ, makes all the difference because the power of Christ to live his life through us is what really enables change. This "heat-thorns-cross-fruit" model forms the backbone of the book, and its real strength is the way the authors combine it with their obviously extensive experience of counselling to produce insights that are direct and often extremely challenging, especially in their demands for honesty with oneself and others, while never leaving the reader feeling hopeless. It could be described as a practical application of the writings of Watchman Nee. In summary: if you believe in the reality of Christ but are impatient with how little that reality seems to impact who you are and how you live from day to day, read this book and do what it says. You will be in good hands.

This book is a book that, if applied, can change your life experiences. The biblical view of the heart and how we can change at heart level for good in trial is clearly explained and exampled and backed up with the bible.

Recommend this book to every Christian who desires God to show them their heart and how to identify the root idols that we really allow to control our behaviour.The authors clearly lead the reader through scriptural truth centred on Christ to show how change can happen.The result is viewing every situation and relationship in a new way-my dross to consume and my gold to refine.

I recommend this book as essential reading for every Christian who is in a difficult place. This book can change your life and provide real insight into our sinful behaviour. .

I have not finished he book yet, but so far it has given plenty of food for thought. Built around scriptures which he unpacks in ways we can apply to the nitty-gritty of life. We are using it in a group Bible study time.