So, even if Peales point were that one should have an optimistic attitude toward life, this still would be misguided because of the greater need that one have a realistic, or true, attitude and recognize that one is entitled to genuine optimism only if one has believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No Christian leader should reference such material without clearly indicating the dangers contained in it. . He and his wife Rebekah reside in Springdale, Arkansas and are members of University Baptist Church, Fayetteville. P. J. O'Rourke The secret of getting ahead is getting started. [All institutions listed are for identification purposes only and are not responsible for the content of this article. ); to acknowledge HIM in all our ways and HE shall direct our paths. Consider the fuller citation: Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies; For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. What I found on the web site gave me pause. I have already dealt with some theological problems, such as Maxwells confusion about faith in his use of Matthew 21:21. Legalism will never bear fruit. A current false teaching is racing through the church, promoted by those who should know better, The Enneagram Goes to Church and the Angels Are Not Rejoicing, I am especially thankful for this article as I was preparing to go on a first date with a man who teaches John Maxwell material all over the world. John C. Maxwell is a No. On pages 12-13 in The Winning Attitude (TWA), Maxwell uses the story of Jesus at the Cana wedding to illustrate several principles. Blessings on your endeavor. Its cult-like. Subscribe to the Maxwell Leadership Podcasts and receive leadership development resources and more! A few references, however, should suffice to show the doctrines of The Power of Positive Thinking are not Christian. But what is worse is Hills testimony as to how he learned this secret. Let us with abandon relish the fantasy games of children. I strongly believe that God is using John to share the gospel through his influence in the workplace as a leadership guru, he is a rare breed of successful Christians who is not afraid to use biblical principles to prove his point on what a successful leader should be and didnt mind the risk alienating his potential readers. Maxwell takes v. 30 to say that just as the First-Century Apostles had their ministries attended with miracles, This must happen in your life. (TWA, p. 141) But the Christian should not expect his life and ministry to be attended with the miraculous the way the Apostles lives and ministries were attended with the miraculous. John B Maxwell Gender: Male. My main concerns about the Maxwell material, broadly speaking, are: First, the manner in which Maxwell handles the Scriptures to teach his principles is sometimes egregiously mistaken. Here is another example of a verse that is commonly taken out of context to say something it clearly does not mean. Its mission is "to see effective Christian leaders fulfill the Great Commission in every nation". Last, Foster seems to include himself in the New Age Movement. Proverbs 3:5 clearly tells us to Trust in the Lord with all our heart and to not lean on our own understanding (Whoops! Positive Mental Attitude Pioneer Napoleon Hill: My concerns about Maxwell quoting Napoleon Hill (IQL, p. 69) are similar to my concerns about him quoting Norman Vincent Peale, except Napoleon Hill is much more overtly Occult. I have discovered her to be an extremely wise and skillful counselor in these matters. Your article brings to mind how scholars (some being Christians), criticize the Bible because of its apparent imperfections and how some New Testament writers like Paul mis quote say the exact references in the Old Testament. Thank you for writing this. Second, Christian leaders or the church should take care about what signals they are sending to the church family when they tacitly endorse certain ideas or individuals. Maxwell was born in Garden City, Michigan in 1947. As it is with much of our present military, the church has run aground with these humanistic philosophers who do not know the Word of God or even desire to understand its simple truths. John Maxwell is successful, he uses biblical principles. Success is not a good or biblical measure of whether or not something which is being taught is true. Maxwell is a leadership expert, speaker, and author. John C. Maxwell, the #1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker who has sold more than 30 million books, has been identified as the #1 leader in business by the American Management Association and the worlds most influential leadership expert by Business Insider and Inc. magazine. Mystical Christian Writer Richard Foster: In The Winning Attitude, Maxwell quotes Christian writer Richard Foster. so for all of us in this chat room whether as a pro or anti maxwell, i suggest we pray for him and ask God to guide him as he continously write books and glorify His name as he moves into his 70s. Join us in person or online March 13th! Admittedly, here Maxwell does not give an overall endorsement of Napoleon Hill, but my concern is how a young or undiscerning Christian might read this reference and mistakenly conclude Napoleon Hill is a safe resource from which a Christian might draw safe advice. Yield yourself to itlet it flow through you.10Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking (New York: Fawcett Crest, 1952), 213 jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_7584_2_10').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_7584_2_10', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], }); One more quote should suffice to illustrate that the ideas of Norman Vincent Peale depart from an orthodox Christian world view. 866-522-6657. (Later in this article, I criticize Maxwells view of miracles from this context.) In the grand tradition of the New Thought Movement,31The New Thought Movement was the nineteenth century prototype of the twentieth centurys New Age Movement. I am a native Floridian, and I always have been. I raised my hand and was recognized. I need not have faith that I can do it. Thank You Sir!. The Maxwell Daily Reader: 365 Days of Insight to Develop the Leader Within You and Influence Those Around You by John C. Maxwell 1,709 Paperback $1149 $19.99 FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon More Buying Choices $2.30 (115 used & new offers) Other formats: Kindle , Audible Audiobook , Hardcover His organizationsThe John Maxwell Company, The John Maxwell Team, EQUIP, and the John Maxwell Leadership Foundationhave trained millions of leaders from every nation in the world. Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.. Mark Twain Maxwells goal as seen by me has been to reach out to the outside business community that doesnt know Christ using the Biblical principles (i suppose in a much clever way) lest some people wont get to pick his material, and thus missing an opportunity to follow him and then know Christ in the process. Im sorry for all the negative comments youve received from people. Taking scripture out of context is false teaching, which many of the epistles continually condemn. Lets see visions and dream dreams.29Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978), p. 170 jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_7584_2_29').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_7584_2_29', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], }); Now, perhaps I cannot be sure what Foster means by the term New Age, but it is important to note that his book came out at the time the New Age Movement was propagating similar views. But his misuse of Scripture, his tacit endorsements of New Age writers and doctrines, and his questionable doctrines of theology and psychology should give any Christian concern in the use of his material in otherwise legitimate local church initiatives. [3] An evangelical Christian, he followed his father into the ministry. God will not say one thing (that has already been recorded for us in the Bible), and, then change it to say something else in these days (Numbers 23:19a). Faith is believing what God has said. Philippians 4:8 says, Finally brethren, whatever things are true meditate on these things. In the Bible, sometimes God was very negative. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17) In the Bible, sometimes Satan was very positive. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. (Genesis 3:4) As I will argue later, the categories of positive and negative do not necessarily track the categories of good and evil.. But, according to Jim, something was missing. It's not what we'd planned, and it's not easy, but it's what is RIGHT. To teach that any Christian should expect the miraculous in his life is to dilute the significance of the miracles in the Bible. I see from this article that Maxwell is open to Peales teaching and Napoleon Hill. We do not bring it about simply because we believe it. But a closer looks shows that for Maxwell, the key to living life is a change in attitude. As a matter of principle, I would suggest that most of the Bibles stories are to tell us something about God. To put it as directly as I can: the categories of positive and negative are impotent to capture a proper understanding of reality vis--vis our personal and spiritual lives. Buy John C. Maxwell Books in Bulk | BookPal. Thus, the verse has nothing to do with what Maxwell is discussing. His performing this miracle is telling us something about who He is. Toggle navigation VoterRecords.com. I might agree with some of them and disagree with others. Mind power? This article definitely made me like John Maxwell a lot more than I used to. With my concern aroused, I decided to look more closely at some materials John Maxwell had written.1The Success (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993) (TWA); The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork :Embrace Them and Empower Your Team (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001) (ILT); Becoming a Person of Influence: How to Positively Impact the Lives of Others (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers works by Maxwell that I mention in this paper are The Winning Attitude: Your Pathway to Personal 1997) (BPI); and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999)(IQL). Thought Movement,31The New Thought Movement,31The New Thought Movement,31The New Thought Movement was the nineteenth century prototype of the New Movement. Very Positive epistles continually condemn theological problems, such as Maxwells confusion faith! 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