http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au/rsdiscuss/bookreviews/ http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au/rsdiscuss/bookreviews/topic-13/?recent=19 a box of chocolates it is like a city, and to be able to navigate it successfully we need to have a ‘helicopter view’ of it and not a set of directions (go left, left, right). With a set of directions we can easily get lost if we make the wrong turn but with a ‘helicopter’ view we can re-set our course if we get lost and reach our destination with ease. Tripp and Lane are trying to imbibe us with a helicopter view and help us to make sense of life ‘from God’s point of view’. \"How People Change\" doesn\'t just tackle surface issues such as outward behaviour; it reaches into the deepest depths to transform the very being of your heart. Tripp and Lane believe that our temptation is to seek fullness and fulfillment in something or someone other than Christ. To counter this idolatry, they encourage us to apply the grace of Christ to the everyday details of our lives, not merely the big problems that we face. The rest of the book spells this theme out more clearly - how to apply grace to everyday life. After these introductory chapters, the book moves to a series of chapters that explain a framework for understanding and pursuing change. The basic model is Heat ->Thorns -> Cross -> Fruit -> (repeat). The model focuses on getting to the central issues that our external sins grow out of and then points to Christ and the sacrifice for our sin and the source of the grace we need to live out the life that God calls us to. I never really used a model to frame my world view… with maybe the exception of Two Ways to Live. I believe the reason that I found this book repetitive is that it kept talking about things I already knew but had never really organised it into a model for life. But the model presented in this book can be quite helpful for several reasons as it says: 1.Contrary to popular psychology, the circumstances of life are not the cause of my sin. I am. That helps me stop ignoring it or making excuses for it. 2.Look at my heart, not just the external behaviours that I want or need to change. Change starts in the heart, not the external circumstances. 3.Look to Christ as the one true solution. I cannot change myself but must cast myself upon the One who can.> 4.It frees me to live differently by dwelling in the gospel rather than by a doing-more-trying-harder perspective. 5.Recognise that failure is part of the process. That gives me hope that God will use my sin to show me what\'s in my heart so I can put it to death by the Spirit and become more like Christ. I can own my sin without feeling like I should be \"past it\". *This review is an amalgamation between my thoughts and a few amazon reviews.]]> generator=rsdiscuss&baseurl=http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au&feed=forum&forum=bookreviews&topic=13&post=19 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:33:45 +0000 http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au/rsdiscuss/bookreviews/topic-9/?recent=14 generator=rsdiscuss&baseurl=http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au&feed=forum&forum=bookreviews&topic=9&post=14 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:15:14 +0000 http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au/rsdiscuss/bookreviews/topic-10/?recent=13 generator=rsdiscuss&baseurl=http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au&feed=forum&forum=bookreviews&topic=10&post=13 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:35:56 +0000 http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au/rsdiscuss/bookreviews/topic-9/?recent=14 generator=rsdiscuss&baseurl=http://tradenews.localchristianbooks.com.au&feed=forum&forum=bookreviews&topic=9&post=12 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:46:30 +0000