Thank you so much to NetGalley and Baker Books for my copy of World Changers by Greg Laurie in exchange for an honest review. It published September 1, 2020.
I have to admit, I came into this book a little skeptical. Although I have enjoyed Laurie's previous books, the most recent one I had read just wasn't my cup of tea. So after putting this off for way too long, I finally decided to give it a try. And I wish I hadn't waited. I really enjoyed this book on many levels. First off, it was great to have Hebrews 11 broken down and all the stories told. Especially with extra context given. Secondly, I felt like it was relevant without being condemning or dismissing regarding sin. I also found it to be an encouraging read. I have multiple people I plan to recommend it to.
I think this would make a good read for a Christian book club, and I think ages 12 and up could handle this.

World Changers is a book that feels like sermon notes were turned into a book. The book focuses on Hebrews eleven or “the hall of faith” chapter. The author does a decent job using the examples of world changer in Hebrews eleven and relating them to modern day lives. The author also does a great job interweaving personal stories into the book. The cover of the book is also a major win for the book. I love the font choice and colors of the book. Despite the amazing cover and decent job handing the topic the book felt cheesy. Obviously, I knew this was a book dealing with Christian themes since that is why I chose it but the book has a feeling that is just slightly off. I think this issue comes from the fact that the book is written by a 68 year-old pastor to, what appears to be, a millennial audience. Truthfully I’m not sure who I would recommend this book to.

Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars
Greg Laurie is one of my favorite Christian speakers, so when I heard that he had a book coming out, I knew I wanted to read it. I was not disappointed.
The writing was easy to read and also engaging. An issue I've had with Christian books in the past is they aren't very engaging and I lose interest easily, but Laurie's writing was interesting. This book would be fantastic in a Bible Study setting, for men or women. I enjoyed learning about each of the "heroes" presented and I have a better foundation in the stories of Noah, Moses, Mary, etc.
"World Changers" gets a ten in the relatability factor category. I could relate to Greg's story and the stories of the Biblical heroes.

The key is faith
Pastor, author, and speaker Greg Laurie talks about ordinary people in his book "World Changers. How God Uses Ordinary People to Do Extraordinary Things", published by Baker Books. He defines a World Changer in the introduction of the book: "A world changer is simply an individual—man, woman, or even a child—who makes the daily choice to allow God to use him or her in whatever way He sees fit. And believe me on this, that sort of determination can lead you into places and situations and conversations you never would have dreamed possible!" Laurie explores the people in the "Hall of Faith" in the Bible (Hebrews 11) and shows the readers what they can learn from their walk with God (e.g., keeping your appointment with God like Enoch; or the choices to make like Abraham and Lot). I highly appreciated that Laurie reminds readers already in the introduction that "these people were far from perfect. They didn’t end up in this New Testament honor roll because they were such holy, wise, or super-talented men and women. No, they have become examples to us for one reason. At some point in their lives, in some situation or crisis in which they found themselves, they chose to step out of their comfort zones, exercise their faith, and make themselves available to the almighty God."
Laurie included personal examples of himself and his wife in the book and addresses the book to people who want to be change agents. He included also quotes from other well-known Christians (e.g., Eugene Peterson) or other leaders (e.g., Bill Gates). It is for the readers who want to be World Changers that I recommend this book. The notes at the end of the books are a help to verify its content and to dig deeper if so desired.
The complimentary digital copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge, but I have also bought a printed copy for myself. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#WorldChangers #NetGalley

World Changers is a book that gives an overview of the different people in the Bible who God used to impact the world around them. By looking at their characteristics and actions Greg Laurie encourages the reader to emulate and follow their example.

#World Changers# by Greg Laurie is a nonfiction Christian book. Greg Laurie is a Senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship. Harvest Christian Fellowship is in California and Hawaii. He became a pastor when He was 19 years old. He is also an author. He wants to disciple Christians and teach ,them that they can change our world. He writes about different people that have changed the world in the Bible . He talked about the character and then shows how we can apply what we learned about the character to our life and in the end change our world. The book is written in a personal style and is very well written. It is a good resource for a pastor for sermons, for any Christian. Thank you to netgalley, the author, the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book It is well written and a helpful resource. I will share my review with facebook , Amazon, bookbub, CBD.com , Books a million, my blog and with church staff.

I wanted to like this book. I did. The idea of looking at the Hall of Fame of Heroes - Hebrews 11 - and seeing how we could glean insights from the lives of ordinary men and women in our desire to become more open and usable by Christ... The idea is incredible. Unfortunately, the idea crashes on arrival.

This book is pure Christian bubble gum. It's sweet and makes you feel good but has no substance to it. Considering Laurie has written several other books (this is the first I've read) I was shocked at the truly juvenile tone of his writing. It almost felt like a book written in two acts - the first few chapters talk little about the person they are highlighting. Laurie has a huge challenge w/ staying on topic and jumps all over the place without ever getting to the heart of the person he's highlighting. His antidotes are superficial and, again, Christian bubble gum. In the second half, he actually gets into the lives of the "hero" he is focusing on, but again the takeaways get lost in poor writing and watered down application. Laurie tries too hard to be "relevant" and "trendy" rewriting portions of conversation within scripture to make them more applicable (I think), but comes off sounding like a middle schooler talking to his friends.

There are some nuggets, but the sugary Christian fluff makes it hard to read. I do not know what Laurie's book brought to the table that you cannot glean by just reading the stories of these "heroes" and taking notes. I really wanted to like this book. The premise really resonated. But in the end, I couldn't take the sugary bubble gum.