Holding On To Your Dream When You're Living A Nightmare

By Paul E. Sheppard

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159467132X
• ISBN13: 9781594671326
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Xulon Press
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Joseph Teaches Us How to Hold On

This is an excellent book by Pastor Paul Sheppard, senior pastor of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Mountain View, CA. In 5 very short but powerful chapters, he encourages Christians to learn important lessons from the life of Joseph. To give the potential buyer a general overview of the pearls of wisdom to be gleaned from the book, I will list each chapter and give a synopsis with selected quotes from the book. Chapter 1: You have A Date With Destiny Pastor Sheppard starts this wonderful little book by introducing Joseph, the favorite son of Isaac and Rachel. Joseph is introduced in Egypt, where his brothers are bowing down to him seeking grain because of a severe famine that came to the land. But why was there grain in Egypt while famine was all around? God had granted young Joseph a dream in which it was interpreted to mean one day his mother, father, and brothers would "bow down" before him. Joseph was even rebuked for his dream by his father (Genesis 37:10), but God had a plan. Yet God didn't bring this dream to pass quickly. It took many years. But nothing would stop the sovereign God from bringing His plans for Joseph and his family to pass. Pastor Sheppard makes some good points in this introduction. He keeps us grounded in the Biblical truth that all things are not caused by God, but God does allow evil to happen. Pastor Sheppard says, "Thus, the popular notion that everything happens for a divinely orchestrated reason is simply untrue. However, God's people can rejoice in the knowledge that He is indeed at work in us `to will and to act according to His good purpose' (Phil. 2:13)." (p. 12). I found no serious theological problems in this book. However, I would like to mention that I feel pastor Sheppard was perhaps mistaken to argue that Joseph was "bratty" and "full of pride" as he does on page 13. Just because he reported back to his father, this does not prove he was "bratty" or a "tattletale," which is what the good pastor seems to assume. For example, in Genesis 37:14 it appears that Joseph's father was the one who appointed him a "watchman" over what his brothers did. As someone who can relate almost exactly to the story of Joseph because of my own "Joseph experiences" in life, I find it hard to believe he was "full of pride" in any way. Nothing in the whole of Scripture gives us this indication. And I have learned that trials like those Joseph went through do tend to keep one humble. Sure, he "seems" to have worn his special robe that his dad made for him constantly, but this does not mean it was a source of harmful pride for him. He could have also worn it out of appreciation and love for what his father did. So I think the good pastor may have stepped too far into speculation on these issues. Next pastor Sheppard gives us what he calls the "ABC's of Discovering God's Will." They are listed as Ask, Burden, Conferral, Dreams, Exposure, Faith, and Gifts. I encourage readers of this review