September 03, 2011

God's will/guidance/decision making: Decision making and the will of God by Friesen

Today I'm adding 'Decision making and the will of God' by Garry Friesen (Available from Amazon) to the Master Reading List under the category of God's will/guidance/decision making.

Books on God's will abound and the teachings contained within them are diverse.  After reading a number of them you almost come away thinking that no two books agree on the subject.  What makes Friesen's work better than others is that it doesn't just add another view to the bundle, it spends a long time tackling unbiblical views of God's will before it then uses a Biblically saturated argument of what God's will actually is.

Firstly Friesen spends Part 1 and 2 of the book primarily critiquing the popular view that God has one special will for you that you must find above all else.  Then Part 3 explains the true way of wisdom as contained in God's word.  Then Part 4 applies this way of wisdom to the big decisions in life such as marriage, ministry, missions and vocations.  As an added bonus there are a few excellent appendices - one being mini reviews of current popular books on the will of God.

The book has stood the test of time and been revised for the 20 year anniversary by tightening up the arguments and providing answers to Frequently Asked Questions that Friesen has received over the years.

My only criticism has to do with the headings throughout the chapters.  They are often designed to be witty, but if you use this book as a reference work, the headings become unhelpful.  They don't really explain what the section is about and so simply grab your eye and then confuse you.

But I do think that this is currently 'the' book to read on God's will.  It is long, but I think a good book on this subject has to be long considering how much confusion there is on the issue.  And if you are serious about discerning the will of God, you will happily plough through it.

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