Relentless: The Power You Need to Never Give Up

Must Read for any born again believer!

After being shocked by some of the negative reviews (many negative), I compelled to share my thoughts about this book.

First let me start off by saying this is not an easy read. I've had to study the challenging thoughts and ideas Bevere put out there. I think sometimes our biggest challenge is to believe the word of God over our limited understanding and personal experiences, and I'm sure that's where many of the negative reviews came from. People who read the Word of God, not with an open mind, but with limited understanding.

Bevere's book is not only challenging, but once you catch the concept --that as Christians, we have God's grace as a power to overcome any obstacle the enemy throws our way. We are called to not live weak, but victorious as children of an Almighty God -- this instruction manual, when applied, will be completely life changing. We, as Christians, are likened to soldiers and must be trained and equipped, and this book is a great resource and I would recommend you pick it up!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fresh Air

If you are willing to stop reading God's word through the lens of your religion and start taking the bible at face value; this is what you end up with.

This book will challenge your religious mind set and give you the tools to start living the Kingdom life now.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Empowering Read?

WaterBrook Multnomah Press gave me a complimentary copy of John Bevere's soon-to-be released Relentless in exchange for an honest review. Bevere wants to convey to believers that they have been given more than they realize through God's grace. Christians have been empowered through grace to rule over this life, rather than being ruled by circumstances and occurrences. This empowerment is the key to have a relentless faith that leads to the finish line.
Everyone has those days in this life where they find themselves ready to throw in the towel and walk away. But, God has called believers to continue with a tenacity that only could be Christ-powered. Bevere reminds Christians what armor is at our disposal to resist the devil and his ploys. Through wielding the armor, obedience and prayer Satan won't even win a battle. In closing, the author points out for what end and why believers are called to live relentlessly.
This book is not to casually glance over. Relentless is a book that challenged my beliefs and uplifted my spirit in the process. My biggest challenge was figuring out how to apply what John Bevere was teaching me. How do I feel empowered, yet stay humble, without losing my dependence upon the Father? Many of the questions that arose were addressed in the subsequent pages. I would caution readers not to lose sight of Christ. Satan would love to use the teachings in Relentless for his advantage. He did to Eve, he could do it to us.
I finished this book a couple of days ago. I waited to write my review to sort my feelings out. Ambiguity still is plaguing me. I'm not sure if I could ever feel comfortable yelling out loud to command Satan to flee as suggested. Maybe it's just the idea that I am not comfortable with. There were definitely portions of the book that I found harder to swallow. Could it be that the western world's Christianity has been so watered down that we are luke-warm and don't realize it? Is this God's call to live life more abundantly?
Grace is a gift given to us. Many Christians take it, yet don't use it. It's as if someone was given the most wonderful Christmas present ever. The one treasure that they waited years for to receive. Once it is in their hands they set it down on the shelf, only to collect dust. God wants us to live this life with Him. His grace is in abundance and freely given. Relentless is a great tool to use to understand what grace can mean to every Christian in the world. Through Bevere's easily-grasped anecdotes to his personal life and musings to biblical teaching, this book can propel you further in the race, guiding you closer to the finish line. I only hope your faith will be Relentless!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Misses the mark

Earlier this month I received Relentless by John Bevere to review for Waterbrook Press. From reading the excerpts before I got the book I was really looking forward to reading it. Although once I started reading it I was quickly let down. Although John makes some good points throughout the book I feel he used lots of scripture out of context and used a lot of the "name it, and claim it" cult-type philosophies which is scary ground to be walking on. His idea for the book of being relentless and pressing on in our Christian walk I think is fabulous, and very much a needed topic of discussion, but I feel that most of what he's written is self-help, you're in charge of your destiny sort of business.

One quote in particular that really concerned me was, ""GOD IS NOT IN CONTROL" because "he put us in charge of the earth" (Gen 1:27-28). "Who is in charge of the earth? We are! If God were in control of the earth as many of us believe, then"... "God would have intervened and slapped [the forbidden fruit] from Adam's hand" to prevent The Fall of mankind. Yikes! This was also very concerning to me, "You and I, NOT GOD, are in control of how life is run on this planet." Another yikes! It's true that we are Christ's body here on earth until here returns to do his will and love others to Christ's, we are certainly NOT in control of how things are run down here, not one bit! There are lots of other instances in the book where quotes would jump out at me and the Holy Spirit would put a check in my spirit.

This was a difficult book to get through, especially since I was not in agreement with lots of what was written, and I would not recommend it to any born-again Christian. Or anyone for that matter, I feel it is misleading and false, and who wants to be mislead? Exactly.


I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

-100 Stars; COMPLETE HERESY; Author part of "Word of Faith CULT"

Bevere's book is about having a "relentless spirit" and never giving up and trying to live a life well lived - as determined by "the ultimate finish" of "having our Lord say to us at the end, "Well done."" Bevere is urging Christians not to "settle for a fruitless "Christian" life" but to "desperately want to finish well for His glory."

I give this book 0 stars and am throwing it in the garbage. I will not even donate it! It is heresy of the worst kind. John Bevere is part of the Word of Faith CULT. He is a preacher of "the prosperity gospel" or "name it, claim it" and claims that humans are EQUAL to or greater than Jesus Christ and that God guarantees us health, wealth, and a trial-free life IF we can conjure up enough "faith" to claim or grab our "promises/greed". If you aren't familiar with these guys, think the sleeziest worst tv evangelists, think Jimmy and Tammy Bakker, or Jim Jones - this guy and the rest of his NEW CULT are on that level. If you want to see for yourself, look them (Word of Faith) up on wikipedia or youtube Creflo Dollar or Kenneth Hagin and watch his fake "healings"! These guys are SCUM. Multi-millionaires with multiple mansions, private jets, limos, etc.

Proof that Bevere is a member of the cult and his teachings are "Word of Faith" and "prosperity gospel" teachings, see direct quotes from book below:

- "The reltentless believer"... "will forever be known by heaven as one who WARRANTED the Master's hearty "Well done.""
- "Do you realize"... "how much God needs you" and the "Father is depending on you?"
- "the key virtue is relentlessness" in "the Christian walk" per Hebrews 12:1. Bevere replaces "endurance" with "relentless" and this is the basis for this book.
- "GOD IS NOT IN CONTROL" because "he put us in charge of the earth" (Gen 1:27-28). "Who is in charge of the earth? We are! If God were in control of the earth as many of us believe, then"... "God would have intervened and slapped [the forbidden fruit] from Adam's hand" to prevent The Fall.
- "The earth is the Lord's. He is the owner but He has leased it to mankind."
- "You and I, NOT GOD, are in control of how life is run on this planet."
- "Who is Christ?" "When many think of Christ, they think of only Jesus Christ." "You need to see not just the One who died on the cross, but also yourself" as "we are one in Christ" or equal to Christ because "we are... parts of His body" with "Christ's dead and His body are one." Jesus is a Christ and so are humans.
- "The Lord... has unlimited power." "Would you say the very saeme thing about yourself?" "The exact power Christ has, you have!"
- We ARE Christ!"
- Ephesians 2:6 "He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating on the right hand of God with Jesus] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus"
- "Since we are the ones who are to govern here on earth, if things go wrong"... it is "because we are relinquishing or not executing our authority."
- "Our Lord Jesus paid such an enormous price to set them free

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Relentless

Relentless is a great book for anyone who is walking through a struggle or anyone who just needs to know how to push through. In this book Bevere gives practical advice on how to know and understand your struggle and how to walk through it with perseverance. Be warned, it is a slow read.
*Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book to review by WaterBrook Multnomah. I was not required to write a positive review

Highly Recommended

Great book - a bit of redundancy from John's book Extraordinary. Both great books.

Filled with exegetical error

Filled with exegetical error, hubris, eisogesis, and Word-of-Faith prooftexting.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

RELENTLESS A way of life

When you have gone through a difficult, damaging, unfavorable, health or life threatening time and believers have told you "God is in Control" in other words accept the adversity and do not appose it because God will some how turn it around to good. John Bevere the author says that God isn't in control here on earth we (Christians) are, at this point your saying what! No way. He shows from Scripture how we are in charge of the earth because we have been given charge by God, through Christ. Gen. 1:28-.. fill the earth and govern it, reign over the fish, birds, and animals. Ps. 115:16- The heavens belong to the Lord but He has given the earth to all humanity. John 14:12-.whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do only greater.Just to mention three for this review. One example that comes to mind is in Joshua when he and the nation Israel was about to enter the Promised land God told them that it was theirs all they had to do was go any take from the people already there. They didn't fully do that and the result was the people left was the source of Israel's problem. God had done His part Israel had to do hers in order for the victory to be complete. We as Christians have been given the same authority as Christ when He was here on earth and be able to do the same as He did only more and greater. (1John 4:17; Eph. 1:19; John 14:12) The major reason we don't take the bull by the horns in life is because we let or accept our existing conditions instead of being relentless in the fact that God has given us this world to rule and that He desires our good (Rom 5:17) There is nothing new in this book but the author makes his point in that we have to do our part in the Kingdom of God now and that most of the time we let our circumstances determine the outcome. The second part of the book the author gives the how to be a ruler instead of being ruled. Read this book it will change your way of thinking. I will definitely be reading it a second and probably a third time. I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review..

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Relentless

I have been reading Relentless by John Bevere.



I loved the paragraph on the back cover.



Christians were never meant to "just get by." You were created to rise above adversity and display greatness! In this compelling book, best-selling author John Bevere explores what it takes to finish well. More than a strategy for survival, Relentless offers you a fresh new mind-set, one that enthusiastically declares with the apostle Paul, "I delight in difficulties." Its biblically grounded truths will equip you to flourish in every season of life.





John Bevere says, "God doesn't author hardship but uses it to strengthen us for greater conquests. He never leads us into a storm that He doesn't give us the power to overcome."

and he says, "You already have what it takes to finish well!"


When life is hard, it is really difficult to think about finishing well. Sometimes, it is just getting through today.

As a whole, this book was thought provoking and challenging. It was encouraging and uplifting.

I do have to say that I didn't always agree with his wording or his interpretation of scripture. And, at times, I was concerned about the level of power he gives to people and not to God.

But, the simple message of the book is true.

We do need to be relentless in our passion for Christ.

We must press on toward the goal of Heaven and push through even when life is hard.

That is something we all can be challenged with!

Relentless by John Bevere

In Relentless John Bevere teaches you that grace really equals empowerment and how our lives would look if we embraced this teaching. He also states that only 2% of Christians believe this idea. The rest of the book is spent clearing up what the author thinks are misunderstandings we, as Christians, have about things such as humility, being prepared for hardship and prayer.

I had a hard time reading this book. Obviously, I am in the 98% of Christians who don't understand that grace equals empowerment. The author's argument did not sway me from my belief. I had a hard time with the way he used scriptures to back up his teachings. I found myself dreading having to pick up this book to read from it. I finally gave up in frustration after chapter 10.

I cannot recommend this book and regret having to write my first harsh review of a book. I received a free copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah in order to write this review and have shared my honest opinion.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Relentless

As a blogger for Water Brook press, I had the opportunity to review Relentless by John Bevere, scheduled for release 13/13/2011. My copy, an advance reading copy- contained a couple of typos in the first chapter- which will probably be corrected in the final copy- an incorrect biblical reference- that should have been 1John 2:16-17 and not John 2:16-17 on page 3 and the insertion o an extra "e" on page 4, in the middle paragraph. Aside from that, this effectively written book is certain to be uplifting, and possibly life-changing for many readers. In contrast to Bevere's early writing style, this book has significantly more detail, and is more spiritually complex.

Nevertheless, the influcence of prosperity teaching is clear, as the author asserts that with enough faith anything can be overcome- sickness, health issues as well as financial issues. The author states that sickness is not used for a greater purpose and oftentimes those who eventually sucumb to sickness do so as a result of a lack of innner faith or spiritual ignorance, regardless of how steadfast they seem. He goes on to cite cases of miraculous healings in the lives of well known individuals such as Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin and lesser known individuals such as his mother-in-law and others. In the bible, apostles in the letters warned all of us as believers to test any teaching against scripture so as to be sure of its truthfulness and fidelity to God's word. As for Bevere's teaching on this pint, I feel as if it may not entirely be backed by the scriptural message. While God did not intend sickness and poverty and other bad things, in this fallen world they do happen, and one thing is for sure- that unless Jesus comes soon, everyone alive in this generation will eventually sucumb to a physical death. In chapter 7, he apparently redifines and exands the concept of siun to include physical sickness in general. Therefore with the concept of the forgiveness of sin, he includes also the healing of sickness. The author believes just as Jesus healed physical infirmities in the bible, Jesus will also heal physical sickness, and financial poverty- literally- here in the modern day as well. In fact, the author goes on to say that oftentimes, poverty will reduce the credability and authority of a Christian and therefore, poverty is often a poor witness of spirituality and faith. He believes that a poor Christian is less likely to be an effective apostle of the good news than an individual who has enough money to pay his bills, and that "God is not opposed to our having money" page 94. The author's assertions make me wonder if he is applying wordly wisdom or spiritual wisdom. One thing for sure, I do believe that many middle- upperclass readers will feel better to have their lifestyles validated and reconciled with the bible. Paul warns of those teachers who make converts by saying pleasing words that "tickle the ears" rather than spiritual truths.

Never Give up

The last three weeks have been horrible. Everything seems to go wrong. No matter how many times I pray, talk to friends or read, things have been bad. It started three weeks ago when I had 13 seizures, which was accompanied with a week of my email being hacked and having to change all of my passwords( which is a pain) with a dose of major car repairs this week and totaling over $700.


In the process of all this, I have been reading a book called Relentless.
As Christians, we are never meant to get by, but instead we are to overcome anything that comes in our path. God doesn't lead us into a storm that we cannot handle, but has equipped us to finish well. This book has been great, especially in my time of need. It is an encouragement and is firmly based in biblical truths. The book includes many questions and discussion sections. This book does not come out until November, but is definitely worth putting on a Christmas list.
I am learning in this book that the seemingly impossible situation were never meant to stop me, but are used to propel me to move forward. This book is also allowing to embrace the trials and finish strong, which is not easy to do.
I recommend this book to someone who is going through a difficult time. This has a lot of content and one needs to really concentrate when reading this book. I think this book is very helpful when going through a difficult situation.

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