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Good book.

Customer Rating:
Good stories of people finding what they were discontent with, pursuing it, and making a difference around them. Not as much application as I would like to have seen however.

It Only Takes a Spark

Customer Rating:
When it comes to articulating a passion, few do it better than Bill Hybels. It was with anticipation that I ordered Holy Discontent - I needed to hear someone like Hybels both give me direction and inspire me to fuel the fire. The book is a good combination of personal stories from Bill's life, stories and teachings from Scripture, and stories of some of my favorite characters - Bono, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Pierce. I read through the book quickly, mostly because I was very eager to find out what Hybel's was suggesting. I'm planning on reading it through again more slowly in order to absorb and reflect on what my Holy Discontent is, and how to take action on it.

Life Changing

Customer Rating:
I read this book in the summer of 2007... and still refer to it regularly when faced with issues of the world. It has changed the way I view serving others, career options and what direction I hope the Lord leads me in. I've purchased copies for several friends and have used this book - to find my firestorm of frustration - and let God use that to set me into motion for Him. Definitely well written, easy to read and hard to put down! I think every Christian should read this book. 2 thumbs up!

Not what I hoped for...

Customer Rating:
"Holy Discontent" didn't turn out to be what I was hoping for. It was well written, Bill Hybels made some very good points, and it's not a book that you should bypass if it catches your interest. But...

I didn't come away from this book knowing anything I didn't before I picked it up. I was not excited about going out and doing anything about my holy discontent.

My main complaint with this book is that I already knew what my "holy discontent" was before I bought the book, and it didn't encourage me that I was doing the right thing, and it sure didn't help point me in any directions with where to go with my discontentment.

The other issue that I had with this book was that it didn't seem like a "Christian" or "Churchy" book. It's something that anybody off the streets can pick up and use as life or businness advice, but it doesn't talk about using holy discontent to glorify God or grow the church the way that I was looking for it to.

I was disappointed with "Holy Discontent", but I have already reccommended it to a friend who I think will get a great deal out of it. So think about what you want from this book before you buy it. If it's just to do good but you're not sure what your niche is, go ahead and give it a shot. If you're looking for a way to get your congregation itching to storm the world for Jesus, turn elsewhere.

Strong idea

Customer Rating:
The power of this book is again what we've come to expect from Bill Hybels. It is a powerful, easily communicated idea that motivates ministry. The idea is that there is in the life of every person some burning passion that fuels one's desire to change the world. With the urgency that typifies Hybels writing, speaking, and ministry, he seeks to motivate people into ministry by urging us to discover and develop our holy discontent with those things that most need changing.

Hybels uses the line from the Popeye cartoon to communicate the concept: "I've had alls I can stand, and I can't stands no more!" There is in any given person's life something that makes them desire change. For Hybels, he could not stand stale churches that failed to communicate the gospel effectively. We are not wholly content in this world, because this world is not yet what God wants it to be. By stoking our own awareness of and frustration with that given problem that most gets under our skin, we can find our calling and build a ministry. The book would be a good motivator for churches looking for ways to encourage volunteerism.

There are two significant weaknesses to the book. First, after explaining the cleverly-termed concept, the rest of the book is a series of fairly pat illustrations, including the overused examples of Billy Graham and Mother Theresa. The string of people who found and followed a holy discontent is not surprising, which might have been remedied by more detailed research and more personal illustrations. Secondly, at a more profound level, Hybels never tells us exactly why calling should be based on a negative reaction to the world rather than a positive expression of love or the use of one's spiritual gifts. In fact, the whole sense that calling springs from complaint seems to be a limited explanation for calling, making one facet of calling the whole story. He describes David being motivated by his anger towards Goliath, but the book wouldn't be able to account for instances like Jonah being called against his will or Zacchaeus being called by Jesus' love and acceptance.

It's a pragmatic book that would be a worthwhile motivator for congregations. It only lacks a more thorough exploration of how God motivates us to the places where he wants us, but that is not a fatal flaw.

James W. Miller is the author of God Scent.