The Dream Giver: Pursuing Your God Given Destiny

Product Information

The world will be a richer place if we do those things God places it in our hearts to do. We were created in God's image as creative beings. We were born to create. For the second half, Wilkinson then takes his parable and fleshes out the principles in direct fashion. This is where the book began to drag for me. In fact, the problem with the second half is connected with the quality of the first half. I felt like I already understood the principles after hearing the parable, so the second half seemed redundant. The Dream Giver seems to be a perfect fit for anyone searching for their dream; having unanswered questions or wondering about life itself. It is inspirational, uplifting and helpful, he gives the reader common misconceptions in what keeps people from not pursuing their God-given dreams. "It's so easy to get caught up in the demands of life. And we all take refuge at times in routines and recliners and usual anything!" The purpose of reading The Dream Giver would be to help the reader obtain direction in finding his dream and recognizing his God given talents, then applying them. In Chapter Twelve, he talks about the Dream that has not been surrendered to God, and the pitfalls that can bring; how "Your Dream will become your idol", and how that can "make people 'successful' but not fulfilled" (pg. 133) and further, to face the areas in our lives that need cleansing, where we may be making compromises and have "unfinished business".

The thing I wish Wilkinson had spent time on is knowing and discerning our dreams. Do they come from.... You, too, have been given a Big Dream. One that can change your life. One that the Dream Giver wants you to achieve. Does your Big Dream seem hopelessly out of reach? Are you waiting for something or someone to make your dream happen? I am so encouraged, so emboldened, and so convicted by it that I have no choice but to make a choice. There is more to life than what most of us are living, and God placed us here with the precious gift of life for a reason!Every day was pretty much the same for Ordinary. In the mornings he got up and went to his Usual Job. After work, he ate almost the same dinner he'd eaten the evening before. Then he sat in his recliner and watched the box that mesmerized most Nobodies on most nights.

Everyone has a dream, and author Bruce Wilkinson wants to see you achieve yours. The first half of this book is an imaginative fable about a person trying to achieve his dream. This book is like a map to the blossoming forth of long-cherished desires about things you'd like to achieve. I've thought about all that, too," said Ordinary. "But my Big Dream is too important and too wonderful to miss." Time passed. Then one morning Ordinary woke up with these words echoing in his mind: What you're missing, you already have… The real enemy who seeks to distract us and divert us from a real passion for God (see I Peter 5:8) One thing Ordinary did know for sure: He didn't want to repeat his Father's mistake. He wouldn't waste another day waiting for his Dream to seem possible. He would find a way to pursue it.But on his way to work, Ordinary realized he had a problem. His Big Dream was too big for a Nobody like Ordinary. He would be embarrassed to tell anyone. Even Best Friend would probably laugh. There were some aspects that I found to be helpful...like surrendering your desires to God. But again, what does that look like...how do you do that? And if you are getting this book to maybe learn more about what your dream is (like I did)...you can forget about it. A whole chapter is dedicated to helping you figure out your dream. Spoiler alert: it did not help me figure out my dream! Overall, I thought that the book was fine but unremarkable. It was definitely a notch or two beyond the standard "pursue your dreams, you can do anything that you put your mind to" psychobabble so prevalent in today's culture and church. There was some depth to this book. But I was left with the impression that the book wasn't nearly so significant as Wilkinson thought that it was. I can't say that I heard anything new, just some old ideas freshly reformatted. I was also wondering if Wilkinson would write this same book in 2007, now that his dream for Africa has largely deteriorated.