One of the benefits of reading widely is the opportunity to occasionally read a book that broadens one’s worldview while focusing one’s priorities. “Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World Of Urgent Need” by David Platt is just such a book. While reading this book the truth of what Platt describes—a world filled with physical suffering combined with a need for spiritual transformation through the power of the gospel—is evident and vivid and obvious.

This book is a call to action. Using his own experience on a mission trip in the Himalayas, Platt calls the Church to (shall I say it?) RADICAL obedience. Even though that radical obedience will take on as many forms as there are Christians in this world, the call is for every Christian to work out their faith in the world to alleviate physical suffering, and, more importantly, to take the good news of the gospel to the world in which we live.

Do not read this book if you are simply looking for someone to uplift you and pat you on the back. In fact, only read this book if you are open to having your soul rubbed raw through the conviction of the Holy Spirit in. In America, the church tends to be self-satisfied and complacent—unwilling to deny self, take up Christ’s cross and to follow Him. But that is exactly the call in this book.

I know a lot of people who don't like challenging books, but once that they read one, their little world shakes. Years ago my husband and I went through Radical and it was life-changing, you will find it very convicting, but true. I have said before that I found that many "modern" Christians who hate this kind of message, I think it is because they know it is true and it is uncomfortable, but they would have to think and make changes in their own little comfortable worlds. I think we must change ourselves without waiting for something else changes, not churches or systems that need to change for you to make decisions that alter our lives. May God guide us and help us to live as He wants us to and help us even when it is not easy at all. I recommend gifting this book who people who like to question their own life and the system they live in, people who want to make their life count in the middle of urgent needs.

My Lord. What an amazing, heartfelt and heart shocking book! It's part adventure, part suffering and part inspiring! I would never have an opportunity to trek the Himalaya Mountains, but Platt has given me such an up-close view that it felt like I truly was walking along with him and the others. There is so much I want to say about this book but I understand the power of God and how it will touch each reader differently, so I will just say for me, this book left me with one unique word in my spirit: Resolved. When Platt prefaces the book with the known risks that it will bring to your life by reading, he is not being melodramatic. If your heart was cold towards suffering, both physical and spiritual, before reading, it will no longer be cold. And you have to do something with that. Fortunately, Platt does not leave you to your own devices in that regard - he gives thoughtful ways to reflect with your own church, friends and community on how to figure out WHAT 'something' needs to change in your individual and communal lives. I think the most poignant piece of wisdom that I found in this book was the need to live each day with spiritual urgency - that lives, eternal lives, are depending on it. This book is perfect for group reading as it features deep thinking reflections questions at the end of each chapter which is the equivalent of a day's trek.

If you crave an adventure that also makes you dig deep into your own spiritual standing and your call to "Be The Church" this is a book that will deliver on both fronts and in such a gentle, transparent way that you can not help but be drawn into God's goodness. I feel like giving away anymore of the books details would spoil the adventure. So grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this book. I was provided a readers copy from NetGalley and the publisher, Multnomah in exchange for my honest and truthful opinion.

This will rock your world in the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful way. A must read. And a must-re-read.

After finishing this, I can only say, "Something needs to change".

Platt has taken us along for a trip to the Himalayas and has shown us the touch of God in so many people's lives. Yet despite that healing hand on these people, there are those that are yet to feel its touch.

As believers, we cannot merely sit by and think of the souls that need Christ. Thinking about missionaries doing the work while we do nothing but acknowledge their work. We too are missionaries, sent by God to reach the lost. The place is not the issue - we have those in our very households that need the saving love of Christ. The issue is our willingness to give our lives for Christ, to truly give up our lives, and serve our heavenly master. This means spreading the Gospel in every way, and at every possible time that we can.

I implore you to read this book. It will find those places that are hidden and bring them to light. That we have fallen short in our work for Christ.

May the Lord bless us all, and give us the grace to do that which He desires.

I’m a huge David Platt fan and have read all of his books and seen him speak several times and once again he has helped me to really consider my faith and what is important.

I feel like I’ve been avoiding this book since I was given an advanced readers copy a few months ago. There was definitely reasons why I requested it - I wanted to believe my heart was in a place to go to the scary places God calls us to go to - but I was also worried that this book would cause me to feel like a lukewarm Christian, or even more scary, God would use this book to call me to global ministry.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. Right off the bat David Platt made it clear that this book was not to convince everyone to trek the Himalayan mountains preaching the gospel as he did or to find something equally as challenging to pursue. Instead, he said he hoped that this book could be a gift to many so that they don’t have to go his exact route; that we may feel called to fight for the poor and those who have not heard of Jesus in our own unique ways by reading David’s story.

The book is composed of eight chapters, one for each day in his trip throughout the Himalayan mountain villages. I felt like I was there with David because of the way he wrote. I felt angry, sad, horrified and even asked myself a lot of the same questions that he asked himself (which made me feel less alone - if a seasoned pastor is asking “Why do I have a privileged life while others suffer?”, then I can ask that too).

His trip is amazing but the message is as well. It was all around an amazing book that I’d recommend to any follower of Christ whether you are interested in global ministry or if you know you’re called to where you are now.

As someone who has traveled and worked with missions around the world, I really have enjoyed David Platt and his heart.
I felt like he was able to communicate something that was important for many readers as well as challenging. While I felt his first book Radical was incredible, this one was a bit harder to grasp as to why he didn’t take other steps. I enjoyed it and will continue to support and recommend his books to everyone.

My response to this book is definitely impacted because I already live and work overseas. I understand Platt's purpose in writing the book: trying to motivate average American Christians to see how they can respond to deep needs like those he saw on his one week trek. However, to me, the book lacked depth. Platt definitely was impacted by what he experienced; his journal entries show that. But the fact that rather than move overseas, he ended up taking the lead of a large Christian organization dilutes his message. I don't doubt that he wrestled and made a wise decision. It does, however, take away from the impact of the book. Platt's name will draw an audience, but there are better books that take people deeply into the experiences of being present in areas with deep needs.

Something Needs to Change by David Platt is a life-changing book. Inspired by a missions trip, this book brings to life the Gospel message. It is a book that makes you think way beyond yourself. It challenges you to consider the Gospel message and how it applies to the entire world. This changes everything. I highly recommend this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

An excellent and important book. I have always been a big fan of Platt, and this book is just as important and good as his other works.

This book lives up to its hype! Great and powerful, just as I expect from Platt. Challenges you to step up in your obedience and faith.

I think my opinion of this book is going to be an unpopular one. I imagine this book is going to sell a ton of copies, will be recommended by evangelical pastors all over America and is going to help a lot of white suburban kids dream of their first short term mission trip to impoverished nations.

For me, this book was frustrating.

What I liked: David is a well respected pastor who has written some wonderful books and Bible studies and has helped so many people wrestle with their faith. This will likely be another one of those. I respect his vulnerability regarding his experiences and his wrestle. I liked how he pointed us to scriptural truths even though there is no easy resolve regarding his personal experience on his trip.

What I didn't like: This seemed like the story of any white american after their first exposure to poverty. I was looking for something deeper. I would have loved to have seen him co-write this with one of the locals he engaged with during his trip in the Himalayas. I think this would have given a more accurate, deeper understanding of the wrestle he was in. Whenever we experience faith shaking moments outside of our culture, it is dangerous to assume we are processing the information we are taking in accurately. I would have enjoyed this more if there were other voices lending itself more to a "We need each other" message.

The publisher provided an ARC through Netgalley. I have voluntarily decided to read and review, giving my personal opinions and thoughts

In America we lack urgency in having real conversations with unbelievers. Why is that? How do we overlook so easily the fact that eternal suffering is ahead for so many people we encounter and yet we say very little to spark a conversation about the Love of Christ.
This approach may be unconventional but here goes..
Do Not read this book if:
1. You like to stay comfortable in your walk with the Lord.
2. You like having walls surrounding your heart
3. You like not being told to share about Jesus daily.

In contrast, Read this book if:
1. You desire to be broken for those who are suffering here on this earth and who are heading toward eternal suffering.

This is not a “light read” to just pump you up about witnessing to your co-worker, although it will drive you to that. It is a book that will show you that physical needs and spiritual death is present today and that so many real people are living and suffering and will die and enter into lasting suffering. Its not a pretty picture, its heart-wrenching!

This book was written from a very personal experience in a journaling/storytelling style. The stories are powerful on their own and they need no eloquent presentation. This book will change you and by the end you are really asking yourself what is my “something” that needs to change.

There is risk in asking that question. But as John Piper has said so many times, “Risk is right”.

This was a very thought provoking book. I would encourage anyone wrestling with how to balance the gospel and mercy ministry to give it a read. As you wind through the trails of the Himalayas with David, he also takes you through his spiritual journey on the trip. It's a quick easy read that will leave you deep in thought about missions and our role.

What an amazing book. 100% recommend to any follower of Christ who is interested in meditating on questions of what it truly means to follow Him in a world full of unending physical and spiritual need. This was really unlike Platt's other books where he is teaching on a topic, this book felt more raw and vulnerable as he openly shared his experience with us and allowed us to see some of the inner workings and things that he was wrestling with as he experienced them. I thought it was really powerful to get to see someone's thought process as they truly struggled and processed through some hard questions that come with following the Lord. This book was a challenging read and definitely made me think, but it felt like I was being challenged by someone who was alongside me in this journey instead of someone who was above and far away from me whom I couldn't relate to. Loved this one.

Wow! What an important, convicting and thought-provoking read. This book posed some really hard questions that took my book club and me to some deep life-changing conversations. I can say that I’ve changed some things in my life after reading this.

David Platt's newest book, "Something Needs to Change," read like part devotional and part inspirational story through East Asia to some of the poorest parts of the world. This book is a challenge to a comfortable lifestyle to see the world around you in a new way.

Platt discovers poverty like he has never seen, human trafficking, medical needs, and the vibrant church of Jesus willing to love on the "least of these." God desires his followers to have a heart that breaks for these people and he asks his church to go meet those needs, pray for the sick, and show God's lavish love to them.

I received this as an eBook from WaterBrook & Multnomah via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the title. I did not receive any compensation from either company. The opinions expressed herein are completely my own.

This book is a travel diary. That makes it different from Platt's other books. However, the message is the same: believe in Jesus and share him with others.

The setting is a week-long mission trip to the Himalayas. Platt keeps a record of and shares with the reader about who he meets along the way, their struggles, and his struggles with their struggles.

The book is easy to read and moves quickly, as Platt travels through the mountains. You hear and understand his questioning of God in the stories: Where are you, God? Why are you allowing these things to happen? Is Jesus really the hope of the world after all?

"This person never heard how Jesus could save people from their sin. Is this right? Is this reality? Do people who never even have a chance to hear about heaven on earth really go to hell for eternity?"

I don't always agree with Platt's theological answers to these questions, but I do with his heart's response:

"O God, please help me do whatever you want me to do with all you’ve given me."

Platt's goal with this book is to prompt the reader to change, to take action, to be different after they read the book then before they read it. Does he succeed? Probably not as well as he'd hoped, because after all, it was his experience, not ours. We usually require our own face-to-face encounters to be changed as he felt changed by his own. But nonetheless, Platt's writings do have the effect of moving us closer to thinking and feeling more about worldwide missions and the plights of the poor that we may never meet. It affirms this:

"I offer you this guarantee: the more you give your life spreading the love of Jesus in a world of urgent need, the more you will experience the joy of Jesus in your life."

My thanks to Net Galley for the review copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah.

In this book, David Platt tells of his journey hiking through the Himalayan mountains. Along the strenuous trip, he comes into contact with people who live in the mountains in often very primitive villages. He is confronted with poverty, significant medical needs, human trafficking, and more importantly, entire people groups who have never heard the Gospel. This is not an easy book to read. It is very eye-opening and causes the reader to ask difficult questions such as: "Where is God in the midst of such suffering?" and "How should my faith affect my response?" This is well written and worth your time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an Advance Readers Copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.