USA TODAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, AND ECPA BESTSELLER • The author of Radical takes readers on a soul-searching journey through impoverished villages in the Himalayan mountains, daring them to make a difference in a world of urgent need, starting right where they live.“Grippingly vulnerable and unforgettable. I could not put this book down.”—Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand GiftsWhile leading a … down.”—Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts
While leading a team on a week-long trek of the Himalayas, bestselling author and pastor David Platt was stunned by the human needs he encountered, an experience so dramatic that it “changed the trajectory of my life.” Meeting a man who’d lost his eye from a simple infection and seeing the faces of girls stolen from their families and trafficked in the cities, along with other unforgettable encounters, opened his eyes to the people behind the statistics and compelled him to wrestle with his assumptions about faith. In Something Needs to Change, Platt invites readers to come along on both the adventure of the trek, as well as the adventure of seeking answers to tough questions like, “Where is God in the middle of suffering?” “What makes my religion any better than someone else’s religion?” and “What do I believe about eternal suffering?” Platt has crafted an irresistible message about what it means to give your life for the gospel–to finally stop talking about faith and truly start living it.
Praise for Something Needs to Change
“Rugged. Authentic. Gritty. Real. Worshipful. There are no other books like this one. I always pick up David’s books with a sense of excitement and, quite honestly, apprehension—because I know that areas of compromise and complacency in my life are going to be exposed. But this book exceeded even my high expectations, for which I am grateful. And so will you be. As David writes, it’s time to run, not walk. Let’s go.”—J. D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention
“Extraordinary and challenging. I’ve just never read a book like this before. I am so moved. Bring your full heart to this story and watch how God opens your eyes, changes your mind, and broadens the dreams you have for your life.”—Annie F. Downs, best-selling author of 100 Days to Brave and Remember God
“If you dare to read this book, you might just have an unexpected encounter with Jesus that leaves you weeping on the floor, as David’s experience did. Something changes within us when the seemingly overwhelming needs of the world present themselves simply in the life of a single person. Ultimately, I pray your compassion will be transformed to action.”—Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado, president and CEO of Compassion International
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David Platt was fresh off a trek through some of the highest mountains and remotest villages in the world. While there, he saw firsthand some of the most urgent physical and spiritual needs imaginable. Pastor David was shocked by the needs he encountered, an experience that last a lasting impression on him that changed the course of his life.
We can get so complacent in our everyday lives that we forget to focus on the needs of other’s. I felt the same way the pastor did when I spent two weeks in Africa this past June. I have seen true poverty, children with no future.
The sheer number of people who do not know Jesus is staggering. Everyone needs Jesus and His will for our lives is always bring the gospel to those who have not yet heard it whether in another country or in our neighborhood.
“Something Needs to Change” answer’s the question “What is God’s Will for my life.” An emotional plea to Christians to move toward the tragedies and brokenness of our world with compassion, love, and mercy that can only come from our hope in Christ
“Because you and I need to remember that our homes and our health and our bank accounts and our vehicles and our jobs and our comforts in this life guarantee us nothing in this world. One day ( and it could be today) they’re all going to be gone, so we need to remind ourselves to live today for what lasts forever.”
I highly recommend this book for those who really want to be challenged, to think other’s and spur believers to get to work helping the world meet physical needs, but more importantly, spiritual needs.
I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for an honest opinion.
A holy Himalayas experience! One that will trek you along the journey of a Christ-filled team through the mountains trying to meet physical and spiritual needs while attempting to answer some of life’s most difficult questions. Be heart shook as you open these pages into a whole new realm of danger and deliverance.
This book is dangerous.
It’s also nothing like I expected when I picked it up. (Then again, the underwhelming solid-blue ARC cover had nothing to do with it, I’m sure…and blue is my favorite color. I mean, come on, look at the awesome final cover above! Beautiful!) “Oh … this released a couple weeks back. Guess I should read it.” Heh. Famous last words.
Something Needs to Change is the clean and — if I may say it, nobler — version of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. I’ll confess I don’t understand the need to climb crazy-high mountains (or the language and some content included in Krakauer’s book) … and Platt’s work provided a motivation I could get behind.
Part journal, part memoir, part theological treatise (in the best way), Something Needs to Change chronicles a week-long Himalayan trek: the good, the bad, and the heartbreaking. Platt works through the absolute hardest questions of life on earth and invites the reader into that tough discussion. His own humanity is palpable; I felt comforted in his willingness to share his reactions to impossible circumstances, where there were no good answers. Just try to read this book and walk away unchanged; I for one found that frankly impossible.
The big question for me, then, is what now? When spiritual need cries out, closely followed by physical need, how do I respond? Facebook scrolling as I think about what to write next just doesn’t cut it anymore. I find myself convicted, heartbroken, encouraged, privileged to join God in meeting rampant physical need as I try to point others to the One who meets their eternal spiritual need.
Hands down the most humbling and convicting book I’ve read in some time.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
David Platt tells of a life changing mission trip backpacking through the Himalaya Mountains, that altered the trajectory of his ministry. Seeing such desperate need in a remote area, still very unreached by the Gospel, people disabled by fast growing infections, rampant superstitions, and child prostitution.
Mr. Platt documents his journey day by day along with his daily Scripture reading through Luke, sharing interactions with the people he met as well as conversations with his travelling companions. He is very honest about how his perspective changed over the course of the journey, and he shares his heartfelt struggles with radically living the great commission.
I have read many other books by David Platt and I am a huge fan, and I really enjoyed how this book showed how parts of his ministry began and grew into his Radical ministry. This book had a different tone than his previous books, as it takes a more heartfelt, storytelling path, sharing his heart and calling us to action to step out from our American painted view of Christianity, but instead to live our faith Biblically.
Overall, a must read book for all Christians, very convicting, with hard truths, yet still encouraging, and inspiring. It is a good reminder that we are called and chosen to live God honoring lives, doing His work and spreading the Gospel. We are responsible to not turn a blind eye or be ignorant of the needs of others, not just physical or material, but most importantly of all their spiritual need for Christ.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I admit I don’t read enough non-fiction, but David Platt is one of the few non-fiction authors I read and keep up with. Getting the chance to review his newest book was a no-brainer.
There are books which can be life-changing, and this is one such book. The book is an interesting and fascinating read. Platt does a great job of relating his experiences on his trek though the Himalayas. He is honest, very bluntly so, about what emotions he experienced and the questions he faced as he saw and experienced things we never have to deal with here in America.
As interesting as the book is, it isn’t an easy read. Not only does it show how easy we have it here in America, it shows how shallow and selfish American Christianity is. It causes you to take a mirror to your own Christianity and question just what you are truly willing to do for God and to spread the Gospel.
Throughout the book in addition to relating what they encountered, Platt shares portions of Scripture he read each day, along with his journal entries about what he read and about what he saw and experienced on his trek. At the end of each chapter are a couple of questions for the reader to think about and answer.
If you are the kind of Christian who doesn’t want to get out of your comfort zone, or put yourself out much to spread the Gospel, this book is not for you. But I definitely recommend reading it. It does have the possibility of being life-changing.
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own
David Platt writes books meant to encourage and challenge, books meant to move us to follow Jesus. In Something Needs to Change, Platt shares his treks through the Himalayans, a place where speaking about Jesus is not always an acceptable thing to do.
It was a trek that forced Platt to contemplate some of the oldest questions humans have been asking for centuries. Coming face-to-face with abject poverty, David Platt experienced soul crushing questions about himself. What was it that he is in the world for…preacher, author, husband, father…was that the extent of his purpose?
Faced with things most of us will never see or experience, Platt issues a call, “a call to make your life count in a world of urgent need”. Sharing how at the end of his journey in the Himalayans Platt is crushed by what he saw and experienced, literally falling prostrate in heavy tears…and looking for answers, the same answers each of us are seeking.
The questions? “If the gospel is true and God really is good, then where is God amid extreme poverty and pain?” And, “Where are the peace and protection of God for the oppressed and exploited in the world?”
Big questions, seemingly unanswerable. Platt shares honestly his experience and what he learned about how God wanted to use his life for change. How God wants to use each of our lives to change the world…but do we really know, truly know what it is we must do to effect change? Are we willing to face the change that must occur in our hearts and minds so that our lives will truly count.
I see this quote by Ghandi often, “Be the change you want to see in the world”.
In his travels, Platt learned that in order to effectively be a part of change, our hearts and minds must first be changed, truly changed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and am under no obligation to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions therein are solely my own, and freely given.
Something Needs to Change
by David Platt
Years ago, I read David Platt’s then brand-new-book, Radical (2010). I have read it at least twice. It changed my life and thinking! Since then I have come to expect his books to be challenging! This newest book, Something Needs to Change, is no exception but it is different in the way it was written. I would call is a memoir. While you might expect a preacher to preach at you, this book takes you on a very personal journey through his thoughts and experiences as he visits one of the hardest areas in the world to reach, both physically and as a result, spiritually hard to reach. This book takes you on a weeklong journey through the Himalayan Mountains on foot. You will feel his passion and see, through his words, the images that are indelibly etched in his mind. As his heart breaks, so did mine.
The church in America especially is faced with a choice: Will we show compassion and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, or will be become “isolationists” and withdraw into our own little “christian” culture? Will we be “goers” or “senders”? Both are desperately needed now! I think you will be challenged by this book. We have been blessed to be a blessing. Something needs to change….Us.
I was provided an advance copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.
Something Needs to Change, A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need by best-selling author David Platt is 224 page phenomenal book. This is a thought provoking, soul searching, stick with you read. I am still pondering it days later.
Author Platt is transparent as he takes excerpts from his diary from a mission trip in the Himalayan mountains. There he brings the Word of God to people in the area and provides encouragement to Christians. Isn’t that what we are all called to do?
Reading the book I was aware that I was privileged to be raised in a Christian home and always know about Jesus. It hurts to think there are still so many people that do not know Him. Platt is right…something needs to change.
This is a gritty, tear-jerking account of the author’s mission trip. He bares his heart and poses questions that will step on most Christians’ toes. It is scripturally based and brutally honest. I could not put it down even though I read most of it through tear-filled eyes.
Favorite Quote:
“Because you and I need to remember that our homes and our health and our bank accounts and our vehicles guarantee us nothing… one day (and it could be today), they’re all going to be gone, so we need to remind ourselves to live today for what lasts forever.”
Yes, I highly recommend this powerful book. It just might change your life or cause you to change someone else’s life. It would make a great group study. I rated it 5 out of 5 stars. A copy was provided by the Publisher but these are my honest words.
Powerful, thought-provoking, dynamic, empowering…these words describe the newest book by David Platt. Platt’s story titled: Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need, details his journey through the Himilaya mountains as he meets the people in the villages who survive there. I received an advanced reader’s copy of Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need from Waterbrook & Multnomah as a member of the Launch Team for an honest review.
Platt shares his thoughts and emotions about all that he discovers as he experiences the physical and spiritual needs of the high mountain culture. While learning about the people and their spiritual beliefs, he delves into his own, questioning his core understanding of the gospel and God’s will for the world.
In the first chapter of the book, Platt explains his approach to writing this book. “I’m most naturally a preacher who makes use of exposition and explanation to communicate his points. But as I’ve mentioned, I don’t think we need more exposition and explanation. I think we need an experience…an encounter that takes exposed and explained the truth to a deeper level in our hearts than it would ever go otherwise.” He then throughout the compelling expedition takes the reader boldly through the trials and shocking conditions of the mountain people and those Christians who choose to live and work among them to care for their physical bodies as well as share the gospel of Jesus in the hope to save their spiritual future also. When asking their guide, Aaron, what he saw on his first trek through the mountains that made him want to continue to live among the people and help them? He replied, “The region we are in right now includes about nine million people. Out of that nine million, there are probably less than one hundred followers of Jesus. The reality is, most people here have never even heard of Jesus…That’s the spiritual condition. The people are also severely impoverished and disadvantaged. When I first came to these villages, I found that half the children were dying before their eighth birthday. Many weren’t making it to their first.” It was then that the guide knew he had to devote his life to the needs of these people.
Platt’s storytelling ability allows the reader to feel they are part of the adventure, to find joy in sharing the message of Christ and anguish learning about the persecution of those who follow Him.
I can not possibly praise Platt’s book enough. He is right that – Something Needs to Change.
#Something Needs to Change
#ChrisPlatt
#Waterbrook&Multnomah
David Platt has written a powerful, heart-wrenching account of his journey to the Himalayan mountains to learn, see for himself and minister to the people largely forgotten by the rest of the world. A chance meeting allows Platt the opportunity to travel to Asia to see the rumored mountains and its unique culture therein.
Throughout the book, Platt shares his personal experiences with the indigenous people who struggle to get medical care, lose children to trafficking and disease, yet still remain faithful in the midst of dire circumstances of poverty.
I have only read one other book by Platt, his wildly successful “Follow Me.” He is vulnerable, honest and his writing–especially in this book–causes the reader to reflect and consider how we treat “the least of these.”
I was challenged, full of admiration for the people of this unique church community and encouraged by this book. There should be a lot of self-reflection and internal work happening as you read “Something Needs to Change.” I spent a few nights talking with my family about what I was reading and it opened the door to a lot of great communication with each other.
This book would be a great resource for a small group to do together, as there is lots to be learned within its pages. I am thankful that I was able to read early, thanks to #NetGalley and Penguin Random House publishers. I chose to leave a review and all opinions are my own.