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The Outward-Focused Life: Becoming a Servant in a Serve-Me World
Dave Workman wants to start a revolution that will turn Christians--and the world--inside out. With keen insight and sharp wit, Workman uncovers our self-motivated and self-centered tendencies and shows us how to turn them around in service to others. A collection of short chapters derived from Workman's popular radio program, The Outward Focused Life offers busy people practical ideas that turn their thoughts from themselves to other people. This book gives readers the encouragement and energy they need to change their world one day at a time though generosity of time, money, and spirit.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2008
23 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 26, 2011
Wow! Five stars isn't enough to rate this book. This is what Christianity is all about...serving others. This book is packed full of simple, practical, do-able ideas for serving others in the name of Christ. Oh, and it's interesting to read. Dave Workman has a great sense of humor. This book is simple to read, because it is actually a collection of short segments that he did on a radio program about living the outward focused life. It took me a while to read because I just wanted to absorb what I was reading. I know this will be a book that I will continue to refer to. I highly recommend this book.
November 23, 2008
This is the most inspiring book I have read in a while. I am so on fire for it I bought 10 copies to give to all my family for Christmas. If you want to make God smile buy this book and do as it says!!
June 11, 2011
Loved these short inspirational stories of what it is to live a life of servanthood! Very easy to read, challenging and lots of practical ideas that can actually be used in your life!!
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January 13, 2016Good read, practical. What is written here should be common in our lives as followers of Christ. One to keep followers on track in their relationship with Christ.
March 2, 2015
Although at times this could be repetitive, I love this reminded to be focused on others, not on myself. I loved some of the practical applications for reaching out to those around me.
December 14, 2019
Not a book to simply read. So many thoughts to keep in front of you for years to come. And not just think about but put into practice. This book can be a life changer if you let it. I've been trying and have had a couple neat experiences but praying I'll keep growing and learning to live more outward focused.
Here's my top ten thoughts from the book but it was amost impossible to narrow it down to just 10. I ended up with a list of 65 on my laptop. And they are not all direct quotes... Some of them I tried to summarize them a little.
When we get right down to it, it’s embarrassing to talk about “our sacrifices for God” in light of the one who gave His life for us ungrateful, self-centered knuckleheads.
Love is a verb. There is action connected to it. No action, no real love. What if we exchanged the word “love” with the word “serve?” Try it for a week: substitute the word serve for love, and see what happens. I bet you’ll no longer say, “I serve my car” without thinking… Ouch. I wonder if I really do.
Jesus is all about comforting us, but that’s different than making us comfortable. Serving others is not always comfortable.
I love studying and learning the deep things in the amazing Word of God. But if that doesn’t inspire compassion for others or a broken heart for the lost, I’m just on a theological head trip. As I understand it, when Jesus returns, He’s not going to ask me how much knowledge I’ve gained, but rather, He’s going to ask if I fed the hungry, invited strangers in, clothed the poor, laid hands on the sick, and visited those in prison. Call me crazy, but I think that’s the “meat” God is looking for. And I have a hard enough time simply doing those things.
I don’t think it’s the big things in life that turn us inward in unhealthy ways; they have a way of shaking us out of ourselves. It’s more the little things that slowly turn us into someone we don’t like. The big things are usually out of our control anyway. But the small things -- like tiny rudders on a big ship -- are the things that set the course of our lives.
I’m looking for some evidence of the grace of God among believers. Could it be that our churches are dying because no one can get in the door to receive God’s love unless they look like us, behave like us, and talk like us? Are we identified by our love for the lost -- who Jesus gave His life for? Grace can be expressed in the simplest ways by serving someone who doesn’t deserve it.
Those who are surrendering to Jesus and allowing the Spirit to begin the process of making them more holy will be more and more aware of the badness still inside of them. Conversely, those who are moving farther away from God… becoming worse internally, understands the evil inside of them less and less.
Pay attention to those promptings you get, those intuitive thoughts that pop into your head. If they have the slightest hint of outward focus, they are probably from the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes people mistake the outward focused life and serving others with being nice. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus didn’t come to make us nice people. He parachuted into enemy-occupied territory to liberate us. Until we understand that Jesus confronted a malevolent spiritual force -- and that we are in the same conflict -- we really don’t understand Christianity. That’s why having a “nice” church doesn’t cut it for me. If I’m not seeing people being set free, being transformed, I’m out of there.
Maybe I should stop asking “What’s important?” and start asking “Who’s important?” “Who” is always more important than “what.” The question all of us have to ask is, “How important to us are people who don’t yet know Jesus?”
Satan’s temptation of Jesus was designed to distract him from hearing His Father's voice and diverting Him from His mission. Satan tempts little ol’ you for exactly the same reason. You have the same mission Jesus had. Satan does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view and diverting us from our true calling and mission. Remembering that can have an impact on how we respond to temptation.
Ideas about outward living don’t mean a lot if I file them in my brain and never let them move into my heart. In the heart blood flows in and is pumped out. Similar to inhaling and exhaling, the heart receives and gives. It must, otherwise the life in this shell ends.
OK - I couldn't stop at 10.
Here's my top ten thoughts from the book but it was amost impossible to narrow it down to just 10. I ended up with a list of 65 on my laptop. And they are not all direct quotes... Some of them I tried to summarize them a little.
When we get right down to it, it’s embarrassing to talk about “our sacrifices for God” in light of the one who gave His life for us ungrateful, self-centered knuckleheads.
Love is a verb. There is action connected to it. No action, no real love. What if we exchanged the word “love” with the word “serve?” Try it for a week: substitute the word serve for love, and see what happens. I bet you’ll no longer say, “I serve my car” without thinking… Ouch. I wonder if I really do.
Jesus is all about comforting us, but that’s different than making us comfortable. Serving others is not always comfortable.
I love studying and learning the deep things in the amazing Word of God. But if that doesn’t inspire compassion for others or a broken heart for the lost, I’m just on a theological head trip. As I understand it, when Jesus returns, He’s not going to ask me how much knowledge I’ve gained, but rather, He’s going to ask if I fed the hungry, invited strangers in, clothed the poor, laid hands on the sick, and visited those in prison. Call me crazy, but I think that’s the “meat” God is looking for. And I have a hard enough time simply doing those things.
I don’t think it’s the big things in life that turn us inward in unhealthy ways; they have a way of shaking us out of ourselves. It’s more the little things that slowly turn us into someone we don’t like. The big things are usually out of our control anyway. But the small things -- like tiny rudders on a big ship -- are the things that set the course of our lives.
I’m looking for some evidence of the grace of God among believers. Could it be that our churches are dying because no one can get in the door to receive God’s love unless they look like us, behave like us, and talk like us? Are we identified by our love for the lost -- who Jesus gave His life for? Grace can be expressed in the simplest ways by serving someone who doesn’t deserve it.
Those who are surrendering to Jesus and allowing the Spirit to begin the process of making them more holy will be more and more aware of the badness still inside of them. Conversely, those who are moving farther away from God… becoming worse internally, understands the evil inside of them less and less.
Pay attention to those promptings you get, those intuitive thoughts that pop into your head. If they have the slightest hint of outward focus, they are probably from the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes people mistake the outward focused life and serving others with being nice. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus didn’t come to make us nice people. He parachuted into enemy-occupied territory to liberate us. Until we understand that Jesus confronted a malevolent spiritual force -- and that we are in the same conflict -- we really don’t understand Christianity. That’s why having a “nice” church doesn’t cut it for me. If I’m not seeing people being set free, being transformed, I’m out of there.
Maybe I should stop asking “What’s important?” and start asking “Who’s important?” “Who” is always more important than “what.” The question all of us have to ask is, “How important to us are people who don’t yet know Jesus?”
Satan’s temptation of Jesus was designed to distract him from hearing His Father's voice and diverting Him from His mission. Satan tempts little ol’ you for exactly the same reason. You have the same mission Jesus had. Satan does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view and diverting us from our true calling and mission. Remembering that can have an impact on how we respond to temptation.
Ideas about outward living don’t mean a lot if I file them in my brain and never let them move into my heart. In the heart blood flows in and is pumped out. Similar to inhaling and exhaling, the heart receives and gives. It must, otherwise the life in this shell ends.
OK - I couldn't stop at 10.
November 4, 2024
Pastor and author Dave Workman truly believes that Jesus' message was clear: we are to love and serve others in God's name. As such, we should lead, as the title conveys, an "outward focused life". This means that we should concentrate on helping and serving others.
This "service" can take so many different forms, from small acts of kindness to grandiose acts of service. Workman argues that both are important, but the former -- those small acts of kindness - are much more accessible and make a greater impact on individual lives.
The book is organized in one-to-two page short essays, many of which talk about specific projects that his church and other individuals / organizations have done. These acts include such simple gestures as handing out bottles of water, cleaning windshields, paying for someone's meal, etc. The book is filled with stories of how these acts of kindness have positively affected others and turned many to God.
What a difference it would make if all Christians and churches practiced this "outward focused life."
This "service" can take so many different forms, from small acts of kindness to grandiose acts of service. Workman argues that both are important, but the former -- those small acts of kindness - are much more accessible and make a greater impact on individual lives.
The book is organized in one-to-two page short essays, many of which talk about specific projects that his church and other individuals / organizations have done. These acts include such simple gestures as handing out bottles of water, cleaning windshields, paying for someone's meal, etc. The book is filled with stories of how these acts of kindness have positively affected others and turned many to God.
What a difference it would make if all Christians and churches practiced this "outward focused life."
March 29, 2019
Very thought-provoking book. I was introduced to Dave Workman several years ago when he had a radio spot on our local Christian radio station, where he talked for a couple of minutes each morning on servanthood. It was one of my favorite radio spots, so I was super excited to see he wrote a book about it. I'm not sure why it stayed on my virtual shelf for so long, but the message is timely to me right now. I enjoyed the stories, responses and letters Dave received directly as well as the practical application of being the body of Christ by serving others. Something as simple as a car wash or handing out a free bottle of water can impact someone who needed to know in a small practical way that God loves them. The small box of Tide story was probably my favorite. I would recommend this one for church leaders and any Christian who wants to better understand the outward-focused life.
August 23, 2018
Great read!
Way better than I anticipated! Short stories and to the point and so encouraging. Will get my leaders copies! Thanks Dave!
Way better than I anticipated! Short stories and to the point and so encouraging. Will get my leaders copies! Thanks Dave!
January 12, 2026
Dave is the real deal
May 2, 2015
I reached 14% completion and I just couldn't continue. While having an outward focused life is a concept that I can agree with as it responds to the fact that most American Christians lead a self focused life, the author at times makes leaps in his usage of scripture to justify his point. He is making conclusions that are not supported by Scripture. This is something that I cannot respect and the author is engaging in biblical error.
Additionally, all my warning bells clang when I see "The Message" quoted instead of God breathed scripture from His Bible. The Message is a paraphrase dumbing down the Word of God. It adds to God’s Word. It warps the Word of God. God is quite clear that this is unacceptable:
"You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you."
Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV
"Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar"
Proverbs 30:6 ESV
All believers can read and understand the Bible as the Holy Spirit provides understanding:
“When the Counselor comes, the One I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me."
John 15:26 ESV
"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come."
John 16:13 ESV
I cannot in all good conscience recommend this book.
Additionally, all my warning bells clang when I see "The Message" quoted instead of God breathed scripture from His Bible. The Message is a paraphrase dumbing down the Word of God. It adds to God’s Word. It warps the Word of God. God is quite clear that this is unacceptable:
"You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you."
Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV
"Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar"
Proverbs 30:6 ESV
All believers can read and understand the Bible as the Holy Spirit provides understanding:
“When the Counselor comes, the One I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me."
John 15:26 ESV
"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come."
John 16:13 ESV
I cannot in all good conscience recommend this book.
November 18, 2008
Love this book! It will inspire you to serve, give you a renewed perspective and focus, warm your heart, use up a few tissues, and SO much more! Plus, the proceeds from the sale of the book go to dig wells for water in Nigeria.
May 17, 2015
The stories challenge and delight. Worthwhile.
October 28, 2018
A very unusual book full if inspiration and examples - love the power of testimony!
December 27, 2012
This book really makes you think about doing small acts of kindness to serve others.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews