Greater: Dream Bigger. Start Smaller. Ignite God's Vision for Your Life. By Steven Furtick - Founder and Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, one of the fastest growing churches in the country and author of the bestseller Sun Stand Still.
Published by Multnomah, Nonfiction, 205 Pages with Discussion Questions
If you dream of doing greater things…or wonder about your greater purpose…or just need some inspiration for continuing to aim for more, Greater is a book for you.
Struck by the outpouring of love and regard for Steve Jobs after his death was reported, author Steven Furtick tweets, “What a life.” Jobs’ death draws Furtick to this scripture:
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
Furtick realizes he’s nowhere near being the man of God he wants to be.
From this point, Greater takes us on a personal journey of discovering just what it means to be greater, through the biblical journey of the prophet Elisha, found in 1 Kings 19 – 2 Kings. Elisha was working hard, plowing his fields, when God sent the prophet Elijah to call him to a greater thing—becoming the great prophet Elijah’s successor.
What was required of Elisha is required of us if we desire to be greater.
Some of the requirements include:
1. Burning the plow—What do you have to leave behind to move forward?
2. Digging ditches—Start, even if it’s a seemingly small start…Act, talk, pray, be prepared.
3. Work with what you’ve got and give up the “if only.”
4. Believe that God never wastes anything, even setbacks and suffering.
5. Watch out for pride.
6. Renew your determination daily.
7. Trust what God says about you, “What matters is what my Father sees in me and what He says about me.”
8. “Strike” (Read Greater to find out what this means…)
From the beginning, Furtick draws a clear distinction between being greater than Jesus and greater with Him. “He’s calling us to be greater with Him through His Spirit within us.”
A couple of things that stop us from saying yes to greater is:
1. We don’t think big enough.
2. We don’t start small enough.
In the back of the book there are Group Discussion Questions, but you don’t need a group to discuss them. If your reading this book on your own, a journal might come in handy. The questions simply and clearly reinforce the message of each chapter, while offering a “Start Small” step. With a little imagination, you can translate the group step to a personal step, which I highly recommend!
Furtick has a wonderful way with words that jolts us into understanding.
Among my favorites are comfortable complacency, miserable mediocrity, lesser loser life, Captain Awesomesauce. His style is engaging and down to earth. And he uses some excellent real-life stories to demonstrate the path to a greater life.
One of the stories I appreciated most was when Furtick tries to teach his son Elijah how to ride a two-wheeler. The story starts with Dad huffing and puffing as he takes the training wheels off the bike with difficulty. And ends with Elijah not having much success with learning to ride. However, an AhHa moment comes when Elijah asks his dad if he will show him how to preach. Now that’s something Furtick, a pastor of a mega church, can do.
Furtick shares the value of letting go of our limitations and doing the best we can with what we’ve been given. The greater life “…starts where you are. You have everything you need to do all that God is calling you to do right now.”
I am in the midst of many transitions. And with my cofounder, Kimberly, we’ve just started Circles Of Faith. Greater was just the reinforcement I needed to keep moving forward. Greater offers excellent teaching, biblical basis, and practical steps to take toward living the greater life every one of us is called to by God.
To fnd out more about the author Steven Furtick and Elevation Church you can visit their website.
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Elise has been married for 28 years and is mom to four mostly grown girls. She is a writer, editor, writing coach, and blogger. She believes we all have stories that matter--big life bios and small meaningful moments. Elise believes our stories are a reflection of God’s glory and are meant to be shared. They have the power to inform, reform, and transform. She loves God, familly, friends...and really likes travel!