If It's Going to Be, It's Up to Me: The Eight Proven Principles of Possibility Thinking

With this book, Schuller, founder of the Crystal Cathedral in Anaheim, Calif., and the Hour of Power television show, celebrates 30 years of teaching the principles and power of his unique brand of spirituality, called possibility thinking. Part New Age, part Norman Vincent Peale and part Christian, possibility thinking has attracted spiritual followers numbering in the millions. Here, Schuller offers details on the eight principles--possibilities, priorities, planning, commitment, willingness, discipline, longevity and product--upon which he has based his teaching of possibility thinking. Schuller is a master storyteller, and, with a glint in his eye, he draws readers into a number of anecdotes and stories that give evidence of the power of possibility thinking. Yet Schuller's teachings in this book seem to add up to not much besides a guide to self-esteem that neglects the religious dimension of people's search for spiritual and emotional maturity. A too-large emphasis on using God to obtain wealth dominates a book that, unfortunately, often reads like a salesman pitching a bill of goods. (Mar.)