About book Battlefield Of The Mind: Winning The Battle In Your Mind (2002)
After finishing Battlefield of the Mind- Im left with a sour taste in my mouth or a feeling as if all I heard was the same cut and dry preaching I always hear, the same crap I heard as a kid, the trendy and feel good "name it and claim it faith" aka: "If you had more faith" ... those sentences always ending with, you wouldn't be having trouble, you might be getting healed, getting rich, landing that job, capturing those thoughts. A mindset that is a dangerous precedence to give people and when it comes down to it, an overall clown car of theology opposite of what the Bible says about faith. There is not one scripture (at least not one that I can find) where God tells us if we have enough faith and control we will not battle with our inner thoughts or sin, or if we have faith we will all live this mega-prosperous life on earth. I mean do people really think they can reach a level of faith that ranks them higher than others? Or that ATM Jesus will grant you millionaire status like the Meyers and Osteens of the world, because they have the right amount of faith while the rest of us don't? That's exactly what I mean by dangerous, people get their hopes up about this mega-faith to control thoughts and get rich and when the bucket of cash doesn't fall out of the sky they get mad, bitter and walk away from the church or God altogether.I think the biggest accomplishment we can gain by faith is discovering an inner peace we didn't have before. A strength in how to handle temptations when they arise and knowing how to recover when we fall, because at some point all of us will face trouble, Christian or not....and that is one thing the Bible does guarantee... (Job 5:7)No magic thought process or 7- step program will help you be any less human when it comes to dealing with thought life, sin, or frustration, even though the book claims you can control those things, its really not going to happen by following any set of rules or misquoted scripture. While pieces of this (dealing with bitterness) did have some encouraging tips, I think many of the scriptures that were used mostly the ones out of the Amplified Bible, didn't fit any of the doctrine Meyer was teaching and some were taken right out of context to fit an idea rather than tell readers what the actual scripture was referencing to.Perhaps I've become cynical with all these big name evangelists out there pushing the name it and claim it faith, perhaps Im done with seeing these huge Christian figures (who can no longer relate to the general folks) get rich off of crappy books, or perhaps Im just looking for something authentic and not the standard God shared a word with me and for $19.95 its all yours.
There are some religious books that you read and you agree with most things, but wish it had been written by someone else.That's kind of how I felt about this; Meyer is a fine writer and her work is lovely, but I felt like I was reading a high school textbook. There were little text boxes off to the side to make sure you understood the important parts; there were nice, bold headings so you knew when new ideas were introduced; I half expected a glossary at the back. There were so many great ideas and kernels of ideas here; Meyer really does have some important things to say, and I absolutely believe that the way you think has a tremendous impact on the way you live your life. But that's not all of it, and I think that these great ideas got really simplified in order to fit into these neat, bite-sized, fortune cookie chapters, and great ideas hardly ever fit into fortune cookies. (Some do. But they're rare, and often paired with lucky numbers that aren't lucky in the least in a sort of cosmic scale-balancing.) Writing a book on religion and faith is one thing; this felt way more like a self-help how-to.I'm also really not a fan of how this handled scripture: three cheers for the sheer amount of it, to be sure, but most of the quotations had tons of variants built in or extrapolations within the verses. Other readings are nice, because it's important to remember that translations can totally change what a verse seems to mean, but if you're going to use the Bible as authority, don't add stuff to it. Even if it's in an attempt to clarify, additions are only adding yet another layer of interpretation to something that already has a ton of human personality infused in it.All in all, there are some really solid things in this book, and I'm glad to have read it. I just don't think I can justify keeping it on my shelves.
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I am surviving jail because of this book. I received a DUI and am currently in a work release program. This book is bringing me very close to my lord and Savior. I have always had my faith however it was faltering, at best. I have had such a 180 in my thinking and my life due to this book that I want to come back to this same jail after I am out in August to teach of this book and these principles to others that I see in here that are in very desperate need of these ideals. Thank you and I look for god to direct me in this path if he so sees fit to do such. God Bless!
—EZ Reader
I actually listened to this on audiobook. If you do the same, be advised that is it not Joyce who reads it. Its still a wonderful book, but I am kind of partial to Joyce's no-nonsense way of speaking. I understand why she doesn't read it herself, but I would have liked it better that way.Aside from that, this book offers excellent Biblical insight on how to control your thoughts as opposed to them controlling you. As Joyce so aptly states: stinkin' thoughts produce stinkin' actions. But we don't have to suffer under Satan's strongholds in our minds. Instead, we recognize those thoughts as they come to our mind, capture them immediately and turn them over to God. This book provides some very basic and easy to follow principles for putting this into practice, and winning. I highly recommend this book for your Christian walk.
—Jody
First to know, this is a religious-based book. The author, Joyce Meyer, is a popular Christian author and speaker. Her television and radio programs air in many languages and countries. She has also written many books on Christianity, this being one of the more popular.Battlefield of the Mind is about solving some of the common problems we all encounter in life, such as depression, anger, or worry, by getting you to examine the way you think about things, or as the book puts it, "you need to begin to think about what you are thinking about." And that's basically the goal of the whole book.Other major points include:-our actions are a direct result of our thoughts. -thoughts take place in your mind, so your mind is in essence "the battlefield"-if you have a negative mind, you will have a negative life-on the other hand, if you renew you mind according to God's Word, you will have a positive lifeMuch of the book is devoted to getting the reader to change their thinking and discusses how to tear down the "strongholds" that the devil tries to set up in the mind. Joyce uses parables and many personal examples along the way- which makes the book very interesting to read. I personally found it very helpful in my own battles over my mindfulness.
—Kirsten
