christianaudio
- Description
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Having every one of us been in bondage to sin, we readily believe that sinful things are Satanic; but do we believe equally that the things of the world are Satanic? Many of us, I think, are still in two minds about this. Yet how clearly Scripture affirms that "the whole world lieth in the evil one" (1 John 5:19). Satan well knows that, generally speaking, to try to ensnare real Christians through things that are positively sinful is vain and futile. They will usually sense the danger and elude him. So he had contrived instead an enticing network, the mesh of which is so skillfully woven as to entrap the most innocent of men. We flee sinful lusts, and with good reason, but when it comes to such seemingly innocuous things as science and art and education, how readily do we lose our sense of values and fall a prey to his enticements!
Customer Reviews
- Excellent deep
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I thought the book excellent. As usual nee has tremendous and difficult insiggts. I find I need to listen several times carefully and allow God to bring revelation and with Nee there is much revelation. This book is for now as we clearly seethe world system taking on more prominent roles on earth
Overall - A Warning About Loving The Things In The World
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Love Not The World by Watchman Nee is quite a hard hitting book about being in the world but not of the world. It was written quite a while ago and it is fascinating to see the differences both good and bad between the church and its involvement with the world in that time. It contains a lot of challenging passages regarding the amount of time many Christians spend doing world based activities that have little or no kingdom purpose.
Personally I found this book really hard to focus on because I seemed to constantly drift off and miss bits. I think it is partly due to the book being older, so the language is a bit harder to follow or maybe I just wasn't interested in the content. I disagreed with certain parts of the book but I found it very challenging in a world where there are more distractions than ever before with television and internet improving life but also consuming a lot of leisure time that could be spent for prayer, Bible reading or Christian activities.
The narrator was quite good, I think it was more the older style language of the book that made it hard to focus rather than the narration.
This book would be great for anyone wanting to challenge themselves about their commitment and examine their current participation in worldly activities.
This audio book was gifted as a part of the christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. More information can be found about this and other Christian audio books at christianaudio.com.Overall - Interesting
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My thoughts:
I listened to the majority of this book as we were traveling on our vacation. At times I had trouble following along and paying attention...I do not know if that is due to the fact I was tired or what.
I am not familiar with Wathchman Nee. I found interesting that this book was from speeches done many years back. The thoughts he presents will make you stop and think. One chapter I liked was about being lights and what this means.
The book was narrated by George W. Sarris. He did fine with the narration.
I did not enjoy listening to this book overall so I did not give it more stars. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it myself and could focus more on the text.
I received this audio book from the christianaudio Reviewers Program for my review.
Overall - Show ALL Reviews
- Troubling and compelling
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Watchman Nee is certainly a challenging and controversial figure on the spiritual landscape of 20th century Christianity. I know people who love Nee and his writings, and I know people who avoid his books like the plague. One thing is for certain, though, Nee was a devout man. He was a man whose convictions about Christ overcame him, spilling into every practical area of his life.
I found Nee’s book, Love Not the World, to be both troubling and compelling for this very reason. It is hard-hitting and painfully practical. For Nee, nothing is neutral, and no worldly activity can be considered benign. There is only FOR God and AGAINST God. Nee believed that the world and everything in it is orchestrated by Satan to be anit-God. According to him, Christians living in the world must tread lightly and with fear lest we be turned against God also.
This book is actually a collection of addresses given by Nee during the period of 1938-41, and the cultural references are bit dated. However, neither of these realities lessen the impact of the message. It reads like an impassioned sermon. Even when I found myself disagreeing with Nee, his words still got to me. This book made me wrestle with ideas I have uncritically accepted as I have grown up in the Christian faith. What does it really look like to “love not the world?” Even if I’m not sinning, does the filthy mindset of the world negatively affect my walk with Jesus?
The final chapter—and the most controversial for me, personally—concerns money. Nee believed that money itself was inherently evil. As an American surrounded by incredible wealth and prosperity, is it possible my money is far more dangerous to my relationship with Jesus than I ever imagined? Even if I strive to be generous, has consumerism gripped my soul, and I have become desensitized to it? This is provocative stuff. Even if you don’t agree with all of Nee’s thoughts, you have to admit he is correctly identifying where the real tension points are when it comes to following Jesus.
I recommend this book not because I agree with everything in it, but because I think we all need a prophet to come along once in a while and shake us out of our stupor.
George W. Sarris does an excellent job with the narration of the audiobook version.
Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.Overall
