Book Report: Road Trip Essay

II. Theme The book is basically all about having God in your life. The book determines how great is our God, what would our life be with God on our side, what would happen if we let God control our life, what is christian life, how to live a christian life, how to overcome problems, how to overcome temptations and how to trust God. The book is dedicated for me, you, and all of us. Preferably, this book is for teenagers, as I’ve read the book, the use of words, the structure of the sentences, and the concepts are for teen-agers. It can be assumed that the author chose these methods to catch the attention of the teenagers. Technically this is for teenagers; however, the author stated that â€Å"This book is dedicated to you. I have been praying for you even before I started writing this book. Here I am, wishing that you find where you need to be in life’s journey† (Dela Torre, 2009). This statement would prove that this book is suitable for all ages since the author wanted everyone to read his work for them to experience God. This book is literally made for all of us. Every Christian’s burden is to introduce God to the unbelievers and to save their souls through Jesus Christ. This is the author’s purpose of writing this book, to bring hope for the people, to bring happiness to the people and to give Jesus to them. The author desires every reader to accept Jesus Christ in their life through this book for them to have a better life and for them to be saved from all their sins. There are three major matters that author wanted to pin point. First, teaching Christians and the New Christians how to live a God-Centered life; to let God be in the â€Å"Driver seat† of their life by letting God be in full control of their lives. This can only be done by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior and by repenting from all your sins; everything will follow after receiving Jesus. Second is, overcoming trials and temptations. There are no doubts that problems and temptations will occur so often when you become a Christian, this is because the enemy wanted to take us away from God. Though the enemy is persistent from his temptations and lies, God is still more powerful, way more powerful than Satan. This is the reason why we should cling and trust more to Jesus in times of trial for this will make us stronger Christians. And lastly, trusting God in everything. As Christians, we should trust God in our everyday lives, we should trust him in his timing, and we should trust him in times of trials and pain. We should trust God on each step we make as we draw closer to Him. III. Chapters Intro: Ready for road trip? – This chapter describes a typical teenage life. Having all the means, all the gadgets, all the technology to make things simpler, easier, entertaining and especially fun and yet they find their lives boring and unproductive. This is what most teenager life is; having everything they could ask for and yet they are incapable of noticing it until they realize that it’s gone. Chapter 1 (Out of the Driver’s seat) – Having everything won’t make us complete. Even the richest man in the world would still feel empty and blue even if he could have everything. Ever wondered why? The chapter shows that life without God is nothing and money can’t buy everything. Chapter 2 (Need Directions?) – God knows best, life with God means giving up everything to God and allowing Him to take control of your life. What the author wanted to point out is, God’s plan for us is better than ours, we should trust God in his plans for He will let us prosper and grow. What God is asking for us is to have faith in him; put Him first in everything we do, and glorify him in every step we take. Chapter 3 (Through Smooth and Bumpy Roads) – Being a Christian doesn’t mean having problem-free and stress-free life. Being a Christian gives us hope in trials and strength to face it unlike the unbelievers who would just fold and quit in life. People asks favors from God and God has three responses for every person’s favors. First is yes, second is no and third is wait. Just like the previous chapter (Chapter 2), we Christians should realize that God won’t give us everything we ask for if this will harm us in the future and we should hold on to God’s promise that his plans for us will make us prosper. Chapter 4 (Travel Light) – â€Å"Travel Light† in this chapter, the author tells us that letting go of your pride is letting your heart be free of anger and grudges that you are holding against the other. Forgiveness in one form of love, Christians learned how to forgive because God became a great model of forgiveness. He gave His only Son to forgive us from our sins and this what every Christians should do, forgive others just like how God forgave you. Having a heavy heart because of pride, anger, hatred and grudges will be a barrier to experience a happy and light heart with God. Chapter 5 (When the Sign Says Yield) – How to express our love to God? This chapter explains us how to show our love for God and this is by being obedient with everything God told us, by being committed to God and giving up everything to God. Chapter 6 (Warning: Potholes ahead) – Since we became Christians, the enemy worked double time to tempt us with his lies just to bring us back to him and to drag us away from God. This is why our mind is the battlefield between the Good and Bad, and the only solution to overcome the enemy is by asking God’s guidance for we all know that â€Å"Greater is He that’s in me than he that is in the world†. Chapter 7 (Read the Manual) – This chapter reveals the value of reading and meditating God’s word (The Bible). The Bible gives every Christians strength each day, gives them more promises that God has in store, and give them knowledge on how great is the God they are serving. Chapter 8 (Gas Up) – Praying will keep us going in our Christian life. Without prayers, life would be miserable, out of focus and nowhere to go. Not praying is one way of saying that we don’t need God’s guidance and this is a bad sign for a Christian life for this may cause â€Å"coldness† with your relationship with God. This is the reason why we should pray day and night for us to be filled with God’s grace and to know Christ more and more and deeper and deeper. Chapter 9 (Reverse and Look Up) – This chapter shows how Jesus died on the cross and why Jesus died on the cross. The main reason why Jesus was nailed on the cross is because of us, to free us from our sins. That’s how much God loves us; he sacrificed his only son to free us from our sins. With these things being said, the author also gave the reasons why we should worship God for the things He had done for us. Chapter 10 (Notes From Your Fellow Road Tripper) – This chapter wraps up the whole book and telling all the readers that this is only the beginning and the best is yet to come. We should expect more from God and we should be eager to know Him more and more. IV. Personal Perspective I definitely enjoyed the book; it taught me how to be close to God in a â€Å"cool† way, how to deal with problems, how to live a Godly life, what are the do’s and don’ts of being a Christian, how to glorify God and it gave me more reasons why I should praise God when in fact, we can’t count the reasons why we should praise Him for it is endless. This book brings back the â€Å"fire† in my heart to be close again with God. This book brings up the common problems of teenagers that why I easily relate what the book says and the author’s writing style is a bit humorous and fancy that causes me to read it more. This book helped me a lot. I agree on everything the author said but what struck my heart most is when the author talks about God’s love for us. I just feel so blessed that we have a God like Him that love us unconditionally and unfailing, I can’t argue that God love us for I feel God’s love for me in every way. The three principles that I would apply in my life are; to always obey God; never forget to pray, and worship Him and glorify Him in everything I do. Obeying God is a form of love that’s why I want to show Him my love by being obedient on anything He says. His plans for me are better than mine that is why this assures that everything He asks me to do will prosper me and make me better. Having communication with God is a must for me, this will make me closer to Him and I can do this by prayer and reading the bible. This is just like every relationship, every relationship need communication in order for it to be deeper. Having communication with God every now and then will make your faith grow even more. Worshipping God must be my lifestyle, it just feels good to worship God it is indescribable. Life seems all better when you anything you do is for the glory of God. This is what every people in love with God should do. I would definitely recommend this book; this might change lives of other people just like what happened to me. I believe that God blessed this book to change the lives of the unbelievers and to revive the â€Å"stagnant Christian†. We can learn so much from this book like how God loves us, how to deal with problems, what to do in life, how to be happy and a lot more. I’m not sure if the author has any other book but if he does, I will definitely read it. I’m sure that his other books will make me grow more in my Christian life and I will learn more of God. V. Conclusion This book changed my life; it made my Christian life alive again and revived my relationship with God. I was once a Christian but I walked away from God because of sins, temptations and all the lies of the enemy. While I was reading this book, it seems like I’m a new Christian, I’m so eager to know more about God and how to worship him. It brought back the old me that love God so much and willing to serve our Lord in every ways. Even though I’m an old Christian, remembering how God paid for our sin still makes my heart cry out. We are so blessed that God loves us so much, and with that, we should give Him back all the glory by giving our hearts to Him and to worship in every breathe we take. To God be all the glory!