Jason Delgado says:

Growing up in a hyper-Word of Faith/Charismatic type church, I heard time and time again that we must constantly be looking for the things above to help us find God's will, and if we didn't, then we weren't in God's will, and... well that is just plain bad!

Once I went over to the "Reformed Side" I found it very liberating to see throughout history how others would "find" God's will for their life, though it was a slow process but very freeing. I wish I would have read this book years ago, because it puts it all together in a single tome.

No doubt, no matter what church you are in you will find people struggling to "find" God will for their lives. In this book, Kevin DeYoung exposes all the myths surrounding "finding" God's will for one's life. Also showing how many hyper-spiritualize everything and wind up doing nothing, or how doing nothing, being lazy and saying "I'm just trying to figure out God's will" is NOT God's will. Indeed no matter what your background your toes are bound to get stepped on, but that is good if our toes are not walking in accordance with the Word of God.

The author doesn't just show what's wrong with so many modern day (even superstitious) ways of finding God's will but sets out to show you what God has given us so that we can do His will. He also shows plainly from Scripture that there are things God has not revealed to us and how rare it was that He did reveal future things it to saints of old, and how NOW God speaks to us through His Son Jesus Christ, through His Word (Hebrews. 1) and how we are not told to be searching for the hidden will of God.

He also shows what God has revealed to us that His will is for us for our lives, things like walking in Christ-likeness, by the power of the Holy Spirit, being filled with thanks, hope, and joy in any situation and being conformed more and more into the image of Christ.

It is almost so simple that people will not like it cause they want the "mystical" way.

A few comments on the audiobook version,... the narrator is great and expresses Kevin well. I know this cause I have seen Kevin speak in person and heard some of His sermons online. I don't know whether or not the narrator has heard Kevin before, but he is good at reading his book and expressing the humor in the book well.

The book itself it also full of Scripture proofs for the case that the author makes and is full of practical ways to pray and live this book out, plus is an easy read.

He also did a 1 hour talk on this at a conference which you can hear here: http://sgm.edgeboss.net/download/sgm/next/2009/next09.m_deyoung.mp3

Though I do recommend the entire book if you are looking for more clarity or examples.

soli Deo gloria #

1 person found this review helpful. Do you agree?

Sign in to vote.

Josh Morgan says:

This review was originally posted at http://jacobscafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/just-dont-read-just-do-something.html

This review of Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung was made possible through a complimentary copy of the audiobook through christianaudio's reviewer program.

I was looking forward to this book, expecting a bit of an incarnational perspective on finding God's will. That was there, but not in the way I expected. It presented nothing useful and was possibly the worst religion book I've read (or listened to). In fact, I think it can be quite spiritually, relationally, and psychologically damaging.

It seems appropriate to start the review with the title. Compared with other books I've reviewed recently, this title is very appropriate and accurate. In fact, it tells you exactly what the book is about. DeYoung's answer to God's will is don't worry about it; just do something. Anything. As long as it is not morally reprehensible.

This is where I started having problems. DeYoung discusses valid problems in today's society, namely indecision. But his solution is too extreme of just doing something. I do not believe that is the answer, nor is it God's desire for us to just act. I could probably go line-by-line with counterpoints to DeYoung's assertions, but that would make another book, and it's hard to do with an audiobook.

Here's a couple of his main points, though. One is that we do not really need to seek counsel in most any situation. That's what God gave us a brain for. Okay, that's true that we should use our minds, but that's also what the Holy Spirit is for. DeYoung's way of dealing with God's will does not require any real relationship with God; it just requires a knowledge of Scripture. He states that the Spirit speaks to us through Scripture. Fair enough. But he also speaks to us in other ways. True, they're subjective at times, as DeYoung says, but that does not mean they're unhelpful. Frankly, biblical interpretations are subjective, too.

He argues decisions need to be made in alignment with God's goals for our lives. I couldn't find the quote again in the audiobook, but the first two goals are moral purity and theological fidelity. Compassion was in the list, but it almost seemed an afterthought. While moral purity and theological fidelity are nice, Jesus did say the greatest commandment is to love God and love others. I think love is the primary purpose.

DeYoung argues that we do not have to worry about what we do because whatever we do will be what God's will is. Sorry. Completely disagree there. There's many examples everyone could come up with of ways that we act that are not in alignment with God's will.

He also asserts that we should never worry because that is a sign of little or no faith. True, God does not want us to worry, but we do. That's normal and not necessarily a sign of spiritual frailty. I could go on on this topic for hours from my psychology profession...

Then there's the real juicy stuff. It seems one of the primary reasons he wrote this book is because people are waiting to get married. He stated that in most cases, people should be married and own a house by 30. He sees a lot of problems as due to delayed marriage. That may contribute to some social problems, but there may be other, better solutions than just getting married earlier.

He almost argues that everything will be solved by marriage and mentions many "problems" due to and causing delayed marriage. Frankly, many of them seem like no big deal and not problematic. While he states there is nothing wrong with singleness, I just simply do not believe him. He pushes people to get married, saying things like, "Getting married is good for your sanctification."

He tells men that if you like a girl (and she likes you), you're both Christian, and no one has major problems, get married. This is one of the worst pieces of advice I've ever heard. This is the kind of thing that causes needless divorce or horrific marriages.

He goes on to say that women start a career, "which is not necessarily wrong, when they would rather be married and having children." He says, "Men, if you want to be married, find a godly gal, treat her right, talk to her parents, pop the question, tie the knot, and start making babies." I couldn't even believe I heard him say these things.

Not that these aren't important, but marriage and kids don't have to happen immediately. And they definitely do not solve all problems. There's also a lot more to life than that. DeYoung does not think so, arguing that fulfillment is selfish and not in God's plan. He needs to read the psychological literature on it, though, starting with Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In a situation, like many of my generation's grandparents grew up in, the focus was on a lower level of needs (like food and shelter), which were not guaranteed. Now for most Americans, those are not a struggle, so we can address higher level needs, including self-esteem and self-actualization. They are critically important.

My wife listened to this section, and she was shocked, also saying this book is awful, damaging, and offensive to women. She adds, "this is exactly the kind of crippling fear that so many single women feel today... that there's something wrong with them because they're not married yet.. this just adds to that feeling of inadequacy! The author is basically saying that we as women are all just waiting around for a man to come along so our lives can finally start. That's sickening." I completely agree.

DeYoung relies too much on his grandfather's perspectives as fact. We need to look to our elders for wisdom, but not all of them did things perfectly nor do they understand everything perfectly. My grandpa would disagree with his. So does that mean I can write a book arrogantly asserting that I know all Truth about God's will based on my grandpa?

The narrator, Adam Verner, was fine. He had good tone and intonation and made the book relatively interesting. Frankly, he was the best part of the book.

Better books dealing with God's will are John Eldredge's Walking with God (DeYoung criticized an unnamed book, but I think it was this one) and Francis Chan's Forgotten God. If you want a contrary opinion to those books or want to explore perspectives on God's will, this could be useful. Otherwise, don't waste your time on this book. I think it's unhelpful at best, spiritually and psychologically damaging at neutral, and possibly borderline heretical at worst. #

Was this review helpful?

Sign in to vote.

Andrew Wencl says:

Kevin DeYoung presents a practical, down-to-earth presentation of what it means to find and follow God’s will. Or should I say “make decisions?” He presents a strong and common sense argument against over-spiritualizing our directionless meandering through life and just applying scriptural principles to our decision-making. His message is simple: Just do something. Through the course of the book he explains that there’s more to following God’s will than arbitrarily doing whatever you want, but he makes finding God’s will easier and more difficult at the same time.

It is easier in the sense that we don’t have to wait for God to give us an unmistakable impression that we need to go and do something. What God has chosen to tell us about His will is evident in the Bible. It is harder in the sense that we are called to live godly lives, not to wait for God to reveal our next step to us.

The narrator reads the book the way it should be spoken. He adjusts his tone, pitch, and inflection, so a question sounds like a question, and sarcasm, well, let’s just say I love this book.

Mr. DeYoung presents his arguments and then carefully qualifies them, which I found to be a “page-turner” (so what if it’s an audio book). He’d say something and I’d think to myself, “That sounds right, but I have a reservation or two.” He’d then go on to explain exactly what he means and what he doesn’t mean, clarifying it with Scripture and clearing up misconceptions. This is a great book, especially for people who are waiting for God to show them what to do. Just do something! #

1 person found this review helpful. Do you agree?

Sign in to vote.