How to Break the Destructive Patterns in Your Life
by Jason Frenn
Self-Help/Inspirational
Release Date: October 2010
Description from Publisher’s Website:
Evangelist and author Jason Frenn details five steps accessing Christ’s power to break the chains of destructive patterns that afflict generation after generation. Many families suffer from dysfunction and conflict handed down from one generation to the next, and the cycle repeats itself with greater and greater severity. Parents struggle to keep their families from eroding as they helplessly watch their kids, teenagers, and adult children fall into overwhelming patterns of self-destruction. But there is a power that can set these families free and change their future.
In this book, readers experience the story of the author and his family, and how he was rescued from destruction. Each reader can find the POWER TO REINVENT YOURSELF and obtain a life of significance, success, and victory!
My Thoughts:
Yeah… the descriptive copy doesn’t exactly make it sound appealing, does it? The back cover copy is much better, but really long, and I don’t have 20 minutes to re-type it out. Needless to say, I agreed to read the book on the basis of the back cover copy, not the gimmicky-sounding tripe in the publisher’s description.
Anyway… moving on…
I’ve read a lot of Christian “self-help” style books. Like a lot of creative people, I have my own struggles with anxiety, and I like to read books that help me to feel inspired, hopeful, and that offer real tools for change. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes the tool will work for a little while but isn’t realistic long-term.
This book, while it’s an interesting read with some heartbreaking anecdotes (I love anecdotes), there’s not much new material here. It’s common sense, rehashed with some fancy phrases like “unleash power” and “overcome destructive patterns”. Sure, that all sounds nice, but I already know about the importance of things like prayer, forgiveness, and delegating tasks to others when I’ve taken on too much.
I think this book is perhaps directed at people who are set in more extreme situations of destructive behavior, or who respond well to hyperbolic statements… whereas I find hyperbolic statements a real turn-off and an excuse to put the book down (or roll my eyes in a dramatic fashion).
If you’ve not read ‘change your habits / change your life’ themed books before, maybe this is one you could start with and get something out of. However, I didn’t find that it added anything to the already well-established plethora of inspirational self-help books on the shelves (yep, this is another plug from me for Dr. Leman’s books, a psychologist who combines his professional training with personal experience, and who does it WELL).
Sorry, Jason Frenn, but your book just wasn’t for me.
About the Author
Jason and Cindee Frenn are missionary evangelists and conference speakers who travel throughout North and South America holding citywide crusades. Together with their team based in Costa Rica, they help people find freedom in Christ to become all God intends them to be. Jason and Cindee have three daughters. Visit their website at http://www.frenn.org/.
Thanks to Hachette Book Group / FaithWords for providing this book for review. This book was provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review.