Open Letter to Bruce Wilkinson #1.012 – You were Born for This: 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles
(Click here to download the first chapter of Bruce Wilkinson’s book, You Were Born for This.)
Chapter 1 – Page 12b
Doing what God wants done
? “You might be like Jimmy, completely unprepared and unqualified but ready to try something different. You may have grown up in the church and have a long list of religious accomplishments to point to. You may be like Nick, uncertain that God exists or that He cares for you. But Heaven works in ways that seem to apply no matter what our spiritual mind-set happens to be.”
“Heaven works in ways that seem to apply no matter what our spiritual mind-set happens to be.”
What does this even mean?
This reminds me of a mystical character in one of my favorite movies, “Mystery Men,” a story about a group of would-be super-heroes. The Sphinx was a guy who could cut guns in half with his mind. He led the team, but always spoke in riddles.
“He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions.”
“When you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you can head off your foes with a balanced attack.”
“When you care for what is outside, what is inside cares for you.”
But at one point, Mr. Furious, one of the team’s founders, sees these quotes for what they are: absolutely worthless.
Mr. Furious: “Okay, am I The only one who finds These sayings just a little bit formulaic? “If you want to push something down, you have to pull it up. If you want to go left, you have to go right.”
The Sphinx: “Your temper is very quick, my friend. But until you learn to master your rage – ”
Mr. Furious: “ – Your rage will become your master? That’s what you were going to say. Right? Right?”
The Sphinx: “Not necessarily.”
- “Perhaps you’ve heard about my book The Prayer of Jabez.”
You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve been asking for chapter and verse (from God’s Word, to be clear) for weeks, and now you’re going to use your own book, The Prayer of Jabez, for support?
This is what the FDA does when it allows big pharmaceutical companies to manage “independent studies” of their newly-manufactured drugs that they want to sell. They call it big business, but we should understand that all credibility goes out the window at that point.
Bruce, you just lost all credibility with this reader, and probably with other readers. I don’t see your new book climbing any top 10 lists (not that a valuable book has to do that, but hear me out). I don’t read that people are eager to get this book in the way that they’re eating up Lucado’s Fearless, or anticipating Warren’s next opus. And this is why:
You’ve completely abandoned all truths biblical.
(I’ll have more on You Were Born for This by Bruce Wilkinson next Thursday. For past responses to You Were Born for This, click on the following posts: Title & Table of Contents, Table of Contents addendum, Testimonials, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.)
(For new readers, I’ve compiled my earlier analyses of Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile (by Rob Bell and Don Golden). Simply click on my title, Clear as a Bell, and download for your own instruction.)
