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The Pursuit of Excellence
"You and I were designed to press forward, to reach out, to climb higher." Half-hearted Christianity is common because it’s easy. But in The Pursuit of Excellence Dr. George Sweeting explores the nine marks of Christians who pursue and attain excellence, He shares stories of excellence from faith heroes of the past and present. And he’ll teach you how to break down the barriers standing in your way and press on even when it’s difficult. Come and be blessed by the wisdom of an older brother in Christ and walk away inspired to pursue Christ passionately and with your whole self. "Full of practical and compelling principles that will help you do more than just survive, it will help you live with faith-fueled excellence." Mark Jobe, 10th President- Moody Bible Institute
208 pages, Paperback
Published July 2, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2019
Our days are characterized by a general lack of discipline and lethargy. Even many Christians have afflicted by mediocrity and aimlessness. Dr. George Sweeting’s recent book, The Pursuit of Excellenceis a help aide for anyone who is weary of these troubling trends.
Sweeting is the former president of Moody Bible Institute, a true veteran of the Christian faith. I had the honor of sitting under his teaching in my doctoral program in the late 90’s in Seattle. His commitment to the faithfulness to Scripture and allegiance to the lordship of Christ has never wavered. The Pursuit of Excellence is yet an other example of Dr. Sweeting’s influence in the evangelical world.
His recent work begins with a bold challenge that calls Christians to a life of excellence. Such a challenge is grounded in the very character of God who is the source of all excellence: “O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). Sweeting adds, “Excellence is never cheap. It’s costly ... Excellence requires desire plus discipline plus determination.” The remainder of the book is a powerful minder of this fundamental reality.
The author unpacks nine qualities that help define a life of excellence. The qualities include faith, character, action, single-mindedness, love, suffering, prayer, wisdom, and staying power. These combined qualities are the building blocks that followers of Christ must pursue in order to lead a life of excellence. All the aforementioned qualities, of course, are grounded in the grace of God and his sovereign purposes for his people.
The book concludes with an examination of Christians who emulate the qualities set forth in the book. Leaders like William Carey, C.H. Spurgeon, and Joni Eareckson Tada are presented as exemplars of excellence.
Dr. Sweeting has been writing since the early 70’s and continues to encourage and bless the church with his gifts. This book is no exception. It is sure to encourage and equip many followers of Christ and help them pursue a life of excellence!
Sweeting is the former president of Moody Bible Institute, a true veteran of the Christian faith. I had the honor of sitting under his teaching in my doctoral program in the late 90’s in Seattle. His commitment to the faithfulness to Scripture and allegiance to the lordship of Christ has never wavered. The Pursuit of Excellence is yet an other example of Dr. Sweeting’s influence in the evangelical world.
His recent work begins with a bold challenge that calls Christians to a life of excellence. Such a challenge is grounded in the very character of God who is the source of all excellence: “O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). Sweeting adds, “Excellence is never cheap. It’s costly ... Excellence requires desire plus discipline plus determination.” The remainder of the book is a powerful minder of this fundamental reality.
The author unpacks nine qualities that help define a life of excellence. The qualities include faith, character, action, single-mindedness, love, suffering, prayer, wisdom, and staying power. These combined qualities are the building blocks that followers of Christ must pursue in order to lead a life of excellence. All the aforementioned qualities, of course, are grounded in the grace of God and his sovereign purposes for his people.
The book concludes with an examination of Christians who emulate the qualities set forth in the book. Leaders like William Carey, C.H. Spurgeon, and Joni Eareckson Tada are presented as exemplars of excellence.
Dr. Sweeting has been writing since the early 70’s and continues to encourage and bless the church with his gifts. This book is no exception. It is sure to encourage and equip many followers of Christ and help them pursue a life of excellence!
September 20, 2019
I got a lot out of this short but thorough book on the subject of Christian excellence. George Sweeting begins by reminding us that God calls us to excellence in our walk, but that too many have settled for mediocrity. Giving practical steps, using scripture, and citing many examples of believers who have earnestly pursued and reached excellence in their lives and ministries, I found I was challenged to look at my own walk with Christ and my own pursuit to fulfill God's desire for my life. I highly recommend this for new believers and seasoned ones as well.
I received a free copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for my honest review.
I received a free copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for my honest review.
January 7, 2025
Just because you're old and a baptist (= 'bab-stress') doesn't mean you can write a good readable book on this subject. The better books on the same subject are by John Maxwell or other similar Christian preacher-writers. Being a 'hard-boiled, hard-shell' bab-stress, Sweeting talks all around what most real Christians call 'holiness'. And by holiness we mean the pursuit of Christian perfection, or entire sanctification, or perfection in love. But because 'hard-shells' do not have a sound, biblical theology of sanctification, they really don't know how to talk about it; this book illustrates that fact well. As usual the book, handled by this kind of preacher, has a preachy sort of feel throughout the book: you'll feel as if the guy is telling you with a smile to 'try a little harder' on just about every page. 'Sweets' is right that God has done a great deal for us through Jesus Christ. But there is something left for us to do, and 'Sweets' never really gets around to telling you what that is. I have the impression, he doesn't tell you because he really doesn't know. In other words, the old preacher has tackled a subject that he does not fully understand and doesn't know how to explain. Boo! But other books in the Billy Graham series are much better (though they do not attempt to tackle this subject). LBC
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews