Free Thriving In Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, And Wisdom Matter In A Godless Culture Ebooks Online
Meet a man forced to live in a fast changing and godless society. He faced fears about the future, concern for his safety, and the discouragement of world that seemed to be falling apart at warp speed. Sound familiar? His name was Daniel, and with the power of hope, humility, and wisdom, he not only thrived, he changed an empire while he was at it. Though he lived thousands of years ago, he has a much to teach us today. Even in Babylon, God Is in Control In Thriving in Babylon, Larry Osborne explores the “adult” story of Daniel to help us not only survive – but actually thrive in an increasingly godless culture. Here Pastor Osborne looks at: - Why panic and despair are never from God- What true optimism looks like- How humility disarms even our greatest of enemies- Why respect causes even those who will have nothing to do with God to listen- How wisdom can snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat For those who know Jesus and understand the full implications of the cross, the resurrection, and the promises of Jesus, everything changes – not only in us, but also in our world.Dr. Larry Osborne has served as a senior pastor and teaching pastor at North Coast Church—one of the ten most influential churches in the country—since 1980. Dr. Osborne is the author of numerous books, including Accidental Pharisees. He and his wife live in Oceanside, California. They have three grown children.
File Size: 5907 KB
Print Length: 224 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook (April 1, 2015)
Publication Date: April 1, 2015
Sold by: Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00RKTCXEU
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Another gem from Dr. Larry Osborne. Most authors exhaust hundreds of pages of text with complaining and pointing out problems. They tend to pose questions and elicit anger for the reader on how godless our world has become. You will finish hundreds of pages frustrated but void of answers. Thriving in Babylon is not that kind of book. Larry has a unique way of taking a pragmatic and progressive approach to actually solving the issues in a writing style that is full of anecdotal and illustrative examples; making it very difficult to put his books down. This one took me 48 hours, but it will remain on my shelf as a reference for decades to come. THIS IS A MUST READ FOR LEADERS AND PASTORS ALIKE!
Loved 1st half but had problems with last half where Osborn criticizes politically active Christians. His cautions about not trusting in politics but trusting God are good but he sets up sterotype 'Rush Limbaugh types' as a strawman to rail against. I think we can encourage Christians towards greater political activity because in the USA we have responsibilities to use our citizenship to serve God. A believer who has been neglecting his Christian-citizen responsibilities could find much cover in how Osborn addresses this subject. He makes many excellent points about Daniel being a faithful man in a pagan nation that were great, but he does not address the vast difference in Daniels context and ours in the USA which are very significant. Daniel was a captive in a authoritarian pagan state. We are citizens of a democracy that was founded on Christian principles. He pretty much ignored the contextual differences.Also I have a problem with some of Osborns assumtions about Daniel. He writes that "Daniel never forced his righteous lifestyle on others" - it may or may not be reasonable to infer this but its incorrect to make such absolute statements when the Bible says no such thing. Thats a fundamental teaching error. And to the point he was making; was it a bad thing that freedom for blacks was forced upon the southern states in the civil war? Or that civil rights for blacks were forced through legislative action? Osborn goes too far in discouraging responsible Christian political action.At one point I was sure I was going to buy many copies for friends, but I'm not sure about that now, unless I wrote my own forward to caution them about the above. There is a lot of great stuff in this book and I love his writing style. Its a shame.
A cutsie, schizophrenic book on what should be a more serious topic. Mr. Osborne starts each chapter with some cute homily that is supposed to prove his point. It ends up being some trite example of what are serious issues. He says that most responses to our deteriorating culture is fight or flight. Well, he is definitely on the side of flight. Don't fight back against the culture; just go with the flow. Blend in with them; that way we can win more to Christ. Watch all the TV you want; hop all the bars you want; eat whatever you want.Some of this might be all well and good for the solid Christian as Daniel was. But how about the new Christian, your children, the non-Christian? They are tremendously influenced by the culture (politics, media, education, etc.). Should we not provide a clear alternative? Should we not speak against the evil in this generation. Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.I do agree with him in that we have lost the culture war in this post/anti Christian American society. We are following Europe in the unraveling of our Christian heritage. The question is how do we respond? Circle the wagons like the monasteries did during the Dark Ages? Try to convert the powers that be like Constantine? Wait for the bye-and-bye in heaven and abandon this earth? Mr. Osborne says don't worry today because "we win in the end". Nice to say, but does not address the issues of the present reality.
Thriving In Babylon is a timely message for the times in which we live. Osborne uses the Biblical story of Daniel as the foundation of the thoughts he shares in the book."We live in a world gone haywire. Our moral fabric seems to be decaying at breakneck speed. Things that were once shamefully hidden are now publicly celebrated. The previously unimaginable has become common place. In a few short decades our culture's response to Bible-believing Christians has gone from grudging respect, to a patronizing pat on the head, to a marginalizing indifference, to outright hostility. Yet Daniel steps into our confusion and fear with a book that contains the life-changing rebukes, correction, and training i righteousness we so desperately need. He offers us a model for not only surviving but actually thriving in the midst of a godless environment."Osborne spends the nearly 200 pages of his book helping readers understand Daniel as a man of hope, humility and wisdom and how his example can help believing Christ followers have courage, credibility and perspective in the most troubling of times.Osborne has lots of good and biblically sound things to share in his book. I appreciated how his thoughts on almost every page were directly linked to Scripture in the footnotes so readers have the chance to go to God's Word themselves to see that Osborne's thoughts are lining up with Scripture.The only real criticism I have is Osborne's writing style. Much of what he shares is given in a very sarcastic tone, which for me was off putting enough to give the book 4 stars rather than 5. I just felt his sarcasm at times took away from the serious nature of the very important points he was attempting to get across. If this type thing doesn't bother you, you will be greatly encouraged and equipped by reading Thriving In Babylon.*I was given a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of giving this review. all opinions are my own.
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