Thought Provoking...Entertaining....Worth the Ride Up the Elevator

books:


	• The Next Level: A Parable of Finding Your Place in Life David Gregory WaterBrook Press, 2008 - 119 pages average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Thought Provoking...Entertaining....Worth the Ride Up the Elevator

I haven't read David Gregory's previous books, but I got the set for Christmas. After reading The Next Level, I'm looking forward to reading Dinner with a Perfect Stranger.

The Next Level is an allegory/parable set in the corporate world. In simple story-telling third person voice Gregory takes the reader through the ranks of a large corporation. Each level contains it's own surprises and lessons learned.

The Next Level is a very quick read so it would be great for shorter attention spans. The lesson/moral drives the story but the author makes the message low-key enough that the story can be enjoyed without a the sensation of having survived a power preaching session. Both thought-provoking and entertaining, fans of Gregory should enjoy this short novel. Others who might enjoy it, those facing life changes, graduations, job shifts and spiritual crossroads.

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A parable about living the life God intended

The Next Level by David Gregory is another of his allegorical novels like Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and Day with a Perfect Stranger. Logan is out of college and looking for a job when he applies at Universal Systems. He meets with the CEO and is immediately offered a position doing exactly what he'd like: organizational analyst. Logan starts on the first level of the company and views the procedures of the company to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. What he finds are mostly weaknesses: employees so busy doing their own thing that there is no cohesive product. As Logan figures out the mystery of each level of the company, he's bumped up to the next, until he's on the enigmatic fifth level. Gregory writes a book with real depth for Christians looking for answers about what God is calling them to do. Each level represents a level of faith, and he captures the pitfalls legalism, apathy, and denominationalism perfectly. The ultimate message of the book, while not new, is delivered in a new way with great potential for application to real life. It's a book I will recommend to anyone wondering about what God really wants them to be doing with their life.

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More than a parable

While strolling through the Atlanta airport Friday in route to Gulfport, MS and a weekend drama gig it was on the counter of the little book store. After coveting the idea of my little book Bozra, Bozra, A Shepherd's Journey being on the counter for the world to see, I saw that it was from a familiar and respected author - Dick Gregory. Dick broke out with the best seller, "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger." "Dinner..." was a delightful read - as some half million agreed, so I flipped some pages. I had two other books with me and didn't need another on my stack. I walked away. I walked back. Glad I did. In Mr. Gregory's style the book was just over one hundred pages and I was confident would be a great distraction for the next leg of my Delta flight. Actually it was very distracting. And a little in my face.
"The Next Level" is a parable. I suspected it would motivational, perhaps inspiring. I did not suspect it would be a bit personal. I tend to loose myself in whatever I'm reading - I think that's the idea after all - and I found myself identifying easily with some of the "levels" in this pseudo-corporate world. "Next Level" could readily apply to any corporate climber, but it's target is foremost the converted but perhaps not committed.

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Something Special on the Next Level

Another special and profoundly unique book from David Gregory that features Logan an organizational Analyst - this is his dream job he is so thankful to have. He basically trouble shoots each level for the Director of Universal Systems. He reports to him all the problems that he can find through his research. This parable breaks down what exactly is this "Christian Life" anyway. What would it look like if Corporate America was to analyze all the levels of spiritual growth.

The parable is clear, clever, and simple in its description. David Gregory definitely doesn't beat around the bush he tells it like it is thru the Director and the Shareholder characters. Logan documents the problems he finds on each level then consults with the Director on each discovery. As Logan and the Director meet to discuss what is really going on at each level; I found myself searching my own heart and actions to see where I stood in my walk as Logan shared the problems each level had to the Director. The Directors responses really got to me. You will find yourself doing the very same thing!! This story will give you a new view of the what spiritual growth looks like. It also gives you a glimpse into eternity!! I love how David Gregory gets to the heart of the matter in this book just like he has done in his other books "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger" and "A Day With a Perfect Stranger". You'll definitely want to add The Next Level to your collection!

Nora St.Laurent
www.psalm516.blogspot.com

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The Genius of Simplicity

With corporate America spreading its tentacles across the globe, it's interesting to find a story that latches onto the corporate concept and turns it into a spiritual parable. "The Next Level" isn't preachy, in-your-face theology. Neither is it a deep character study or fast-paced thriller. This is philosophical and spiritual debate couched in the deceptively simple tale of a business called Universal Systems.

David Gregory took us on interesting "dates" in his first two novellas, following the lives of a husband and then a wife as they encountered a "Perfect Stranger," who happened to be a very approachable and likable Jesus. This time, Gregory leads us through the on-the-job training of Logan, a recent college grad who wants to please his father yet feels he can never meet the man's expectations. Logan finds employment at Universal Systems, and his job is to access the problems on each of the companies levels, starting from the first and working his way up.

Gregory's genius lies in the complex ideas he captures with such simplicity. Some might think these snapshots too simple. Others might skim right past them. There is wonderful truth encapsulated here--ideas about God and life and love and purpose. You cannot follow Logan through his days on the job without being challenged on some level. While never as emotionally or comically involving as his previous two books, "The Next Level" shows that Gregory will be around for years to come, giving us modern-day parables, using storytelling to great effect.

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