My Journey: From an Iowa Farm to a Cathedral of Dreams

by Robert H. Schuller

Dr. Robert H. Schuller's career has spanned more than five decades, and his ministry of hope has touched the hearts and souls of millions around the world. From one great story to the next, this disarmingly honest autobiography shows us a side of the great preacher that we haven't seen before. My Journey is Dr. Schuller's moving account of his rise from his family's struggling farm in a small Dutch community in Depression-era Iowa to the leadership of a multimillion-member international ministry. With warmth and candor, Schuller tells the stories of the events, the people, and the encounters that shaped his inspiring life and made him the ultimate possibility thinker. Educated in a one-room schoolhouse, Schuller knew from his earliest days that he wanted to be a preacher. He describes times as a boy on the farm when the entire family worked to survive droughts, a tornado, and the Depression. He tells about working his way through Hope College and Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, where he discovered a message of joy and hope in (of all places) the works of John Calvin. He recounts the excitement of his wedding, the challenges of his first small church in Chicago, and the dramatic story of his coming to Garden Grove, California, in 1955 to found a church in a drive-in theater. Beginning with $500 in assets and his wife, Arvella, as organist, that congregation's phenomenal growth ultimately led to the development of "Hour of Power," the first worldwide television church, and the building of the internationally acclaimed Crystal Cathedral. Dr. Schuller steps down from the pulpit to share the intimate details of the key moments that gave his life and vision their uniquely inspiring character. Using his legendary storytelling ability Dr. Schuller evokes the strict Dutch Calvinist culture of his youth, where dancing was a sin and people really kept the Sabbath. He describes his early sermons and successes evangelizing from the roof of the snack bar at the rented drive-in theater where his ministry took off, and how he was shunned by traditionalists in his denomination for daring to take Christian preaching where it had never gone before. Dr. Schuller shares insights on how his positive-thinking philosophy helped him through the difficult moments of his life, as well as the huge challenges he took on. He recounts meetings with great world teachers such as preachers Norman Vincent Peale and Billy Graham, psychiatrists Karl Menninger and Viktor Frankl, global figures Mikhail Gorbachev, William Clinton, Armand Hammer, and actor John Wayne. Dr. Schuller shares his own spiritual journey as he reflects on his personal life and relationships, charting how he blended the good news of the Gospel with the best of modern psychology. My Journey is a genuinely inspirational and quintessentially American story.

Genres: Biography, Autobiography, Inspirational, Nonfiction, Spirituality

544 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Robert Harold Schuller was an American Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. He was ordained as a minister, who rocketed to stardom in 1955 preaching from the roof of a concession stand at the drive-in movie theatre, displaying a passion and a marketing towards other people.He had been incorporating elements of psychology, into each of his messages and for many in the Christian community, he was serving up a "feel-good gospel" and that the money he was spending on buildings was to be put to better use by giving it to the poor.

Reviews

[Christopher Lewis Kozoriz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Healthy pride is every heart's hunger!" (Robert H. Schuller, My Journey, Page 503)

As a child Robert Schuller had an uncle that was a missionary who came to visit him on his farm. This missionary prophesied that Robert Schuller was to be a minister of the Gospel. This young boy kept this in his heart and believed this to be true. He says, "I was born at the dead-end of a dirt road that had no name and no number...".

He excelled at public speaking even as a child and was a dreamer. Even through he lived on a farm, he was never good at it. He was an encourager even as a child and all throughout his life. His main dream was to become a preacher and things lined up, so that he went to college to take theology and become an ordained preacher. He was sent as a missionary to Orange County, California, recommended partly by Norman Vincent Peale. He had no place to hold his services in Orange County, other than a drive through movie theater where he preached on a snack bar rooftop. Things began to expand from there and he tells the story of creating the many architectural buildings, raising funds, the troubles he encountered and the positive thinking and people who supported him. He tells of being the first preacher ever to be able to preach on live television by the atheist government of then Soviet Union.

Robert Schuller is an example of a man who worked with God and God worked through him.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite autobiographies, in which I felt a person's own story of faith was honestly and enlighteningly laid out. It is an encouraging faith story about the power of faith and all it can do. Even in light of the eventual need to sell the Crystal Cathedral, it is a story of God's work in someone's life and someone's life in God's work. Incidentally, it is a lovely sort of afterward that a grandson is now carrying on the work his grandfather began.

[Asher Wen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book laid out Dr Schuller’s life from an Iowan farm to the Crystal Cathedral in Orange Grove, and his work during the Cold War. It was inspirational and showed how one can do great things if he had faith in its possibility. In hindsight, that sentiment has since been stretched in nefarious ways by many tele-evangelists and megachurch founders, but the sentiment seemed pure in Robert Schuller’s telling.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, mine has a gold hard cover which adds to the beauty. It starts with the words: "You can go anywhere from nowhere" and tells the story of his life. It is written with love as you can read his love for his wife Arvella as he describes his decision to ask her to marry him and how proud he was when she walked down the aisle.

It is full of inspiration and believing the impossible is possible. I did not think I would have enjoyed this book as much as I have, as I really am not a follower or fan of Rev. Schuller.

Great story!

[Corgi Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You can go anywhere from nowhere. I was born at the end of a dirt road that had no name and no number." Thus begins the Rev. Robert Schuller's life. And what a life it has been for the man who helped create the Crystal Cathedral. I was deeply affected by all the miracles that occurred on along the way in the building of the Cathedral. God's hand is clearly evident in this story. A very good story about Schuller's life and his church.

[Laura]

Poignant ... all things considered ...