I recently had the great opportunity to read and review Randy Alcorn’s new book Managing God’s Money.  Randy is the founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries and the author of over forty books, including The Treasure Principle and Heaven.

Managing God’s Money deals with the whole spectrum of Christian stewardship, and addresses issues like insurance and inheritance, gambling, saving, investing, giving and debt. And, in true Alcorn style, the theme of stewardship is woven throughout the book.

What I Liked About Managing God’s Money

1. This book makes sure the proper foundation is laid for good financial planning.  That foundation, of course, is our understanding that nothing we have is ours.  Our money is really God’s money. As such, we need to understand how we should handle what the Master has entrusted to his stewards.  This book helps you get that mindset firmly rooted in Scripture.

2. Alcorn offers some very challenging words throughout the book on fighting against our culture of materialism.  He cleverly calls materialism the disease of “affluenza”.

3. I particularly liked the back of the book, which provided some common sense answers to questions about debt, retirement funds, investing, and leaving an inheritance. I thought his words on giving money now compared to leaving it to good causes when we die provided a good challenge and great clarity.

4. There’s been a response recently to materialism within some Christian circles that has to do with creating a simple lifestyle.  Randy provides a great distinction between a simple lifestyle and a strategic one:

Simple living may be self-centered. Strategic living is Kindgom-centered.

If I’m devoted to “simple living,” I may reject a computer because it’s modern and nonessential. But if I live a strategic lifestyle, the computer may serve as a tool for Kingdom purposes.

How You Can Benefit from Managing God’s Money

This book will help you establish a good foundation for financial planning. What it won’t do is provide a practical, step-by-step guide on the “How To’s”.

What the book will do is challenge your paradigm, challenge your heart motives, and offer a clear description of what the Bible has to say about the way we handle our money – as stewards.

You will particularly find Section V helpful, which deals with questions on debt, savings, retirement accounts, gambling, investing, and leaving an inheritance.

You will also enjoy the practical examples of how to teach your children about money in Section VI.

Get Your FREE Copy Today!

The folks at Eternal Perspective Ministries were kind enough to give 3 Free Books to readers of Redeeming Riches!  Here’s what you need to do to win:

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Entries will be taken up until 11:59 pm EDT on Wednesday, July 27.  Winners will be randomly selected on Thursday, July 28 and notified by the email left in the comments. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification or we will select another winner.

Eternal Perspective Ministries provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review

I didn’t get a chance to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving yesterday – but that was mainly due to the fact that we were hosting our first Turkey Day celebration, and of course, we were a little busy.

I’m glad to say that 1) We survived, and 2) It turned out to be a very enjoyable day with the family. 

Although our turkey required us to cook for an extra hour, our guests were patient, and the food turned out delicious!

One of the traditions we have in our family is that we go around the table and each say a few things we are thankful for this year.  It’s cool to hear about all the blessings that we’ve received throughout the year.

Here’s what I’m thankful for:

• A great wife, who loves me and supports me, she’s a great help mate.  AND 6 years of remission from Hodgkin’s Disease!
• Two fun and beautiful kids who keep us on our toes, but bring us so much joy.
• The Gospel – the fact that God would love a person like me, with all the stains, spots, and blemishes; and would send His Son to take my place to live the perfect life that I never could, and die the death that I should have.

So, I know it’s a day late, but Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

5 Simple Things Review

Occassionally, I will get requests from authors to review their books and write a post about it.  About a month ago, I received an email from someone at Porch Step who informed me they had their first book published, called 5 Simple Things.

It’s a short book, but a very good one.  And it’s very appropriate I highlight this book around Thanksgiving.  Here’s why:

Author John Tolsma begins the book with a story about his vacation at the beach with his family.  Instead of having a huge to-do list (like he usually did during work weeks), he only had five things to get done.

His tw0-year-old daughter helped him create the list, which boiled down to things like playing princesses and pirates, to going to the beach, and swimming in the pool.

After that vacation, John began to ask, “What if everyday’s tasks could be poured into five simple buckets?”  No sub-lists, no lists of lists, just five main things to get done every day.

John brainstormed and came up with five simple things that he focuses on to help folks find meaning in life and measure accomplishment on a different platform.

And he made them into a simple list that’s easy enough for a two-year-old to memorize:

1. 5. Thank (5 Things for which I am thankful)
2. 4. Do (4 Things I want to accomplish today)
3. 3. Reach Out (3 People with whom I want to connect)
4. 2. Believe (2 Things to strengthen my faith and family)
5. 1. Love (1 Random act of kindness)

The book takes a page or two to describe each one of these (which is a total of 16 pages).  John ends the book with a 30-day challenge.

The Challenge

John asks readers to take thirty days and write down these things every day. 

“If you do” says John, “I bet that you will have the same experience I’ve had.  I’m more aware of and thankful for the little things in life.  I get more out each day.  As I’ve reached out, new friends and old have come out of the woodwork.  I find myself growing in my faith and my family, and I’m laughing more as I watch random acts of kindness blossom.”

The remaining 70 pages of the book provides places for you to write these things down each day.

So, I decided that as of yesterday (Thanksgiving Day) I’m going to take the next 30 days to write these things down and take the challenge.  I encourage you to do the same.

Hopefully I’ll post an update around Christmas with some of my learnings.

What I liked about the book

• It was a short read
• Loved the challenge idea
• John gave spots to write in your ideas, so this book becomes sort of a journal.
• Love the premise of reaching out, strengthening your family, being thankful etc.

What I didn’t like

• It was almost too short
• I would’ve liked more stories and anecdotes from John regarding his journey through this challenge
• The design was simple (to go along with premise of the book), but almost too simple – it didn’t have author or title listed on the cover at all, just the #5.

To learn more, go to porchstep.com/5simplethings

Disclaimer: I did NOT get paid to review this book, however, I did receive a free copy.  If you purchase the book through the link above, I do receive a small percentage of the sale.

Faith & Finances: In God We Trust

A Journey to Financial Dependence

Happy Cinco De Mayo!  I thought I’d celebrate with a book review!

Once in a while a publisher or promotion specialist will email bloggers and ask for a review of their book in exchange for a free copy.

One thing about me that you may not know is that I love books!   So, any chance at a free book is right up my alley.

Faith & Finances: In God We Trust is kind of a story and devotional combined, written by several different authors.

The set up of the book is different than what I’ve seen out of books before. Basically, this is a twelve chapter story about a wealthy man who learns that he trusts his wealth more than he trusts God.

What I Liked

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book.

Between the chapters of this story are short little devotionals pertaining to what the man is going through that are actually quite good. 

A couple of them struck a chord with me and I was surprised at how challenging they were.  For example, Dr. Chris Stocklin writes:

The lifestyle Jesus called His followers to abide was simple.

Christ tells us a believer should be content with food, clothing, housing and drink.  However, the simple lifestyle Jesus desired for his followers counters our current culture which fuels our greed.

Our nation endorses a consumer based economy which can now be defined as a consumer-credit based economy…we buy and spend whether we have the money or not.

The Apostle Paul declared that God would meet our needs – needs being defined by the Holy Scripture – not what current society, retailers or mass marketers would determine.

I was surprised to read stuff like that in this book. 
A book that actually takes a shot at our modern evangelicalisms’ American Dream fueled by greed and materialism!

There are many devotionals like this that resonate with me and what I try to write about on this blog.

What I Didn’t Like

A couple of things I did not like about this book:

The Cover

The number one thing I didn’t like is the cover!

I couldn’t tell if the man on the cover was walking with Jesus – or some girl in a bathrobe. 

I mean, why does Jesus always get portrayed with long, flowy, 80′s style-crimped hair?

The cover was not screaming for me to read it for sure.

The Flow

The flow of the book was a little tough to figure out at first.  I know it’s meant to be both a devotional and a story, but at first glance it was tough to figure this thing out.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a pretty good little book.  It’s short, easy to read and had some pretty good messages to it.

Learn more about Faith and Finances during April and May while they tour cyberspace. To find other tour stops, visit Book Promotion Services.  For other details about the book or to get more information about Christian Devotions visit FaithandFinances.us. The book is for sale at Amazon.com or order it through your local bookstore.

Disclaimer: This is not a paid review.  I did receive a free copy of this book.  If you order through Amazon by clicking the link above I may receive compensation.

Enjoy Your Money!  How to Make It, Save  It, Invest It and Give It by J. Steve Miller

April is Financial Literacy Month and graduation season will soon be in full swing.

If you’re looking for gifts for grads that will be a valuable resource for them for years to come then you  may want to check out Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It by J. Steve Miller.

J. Steve Miller is a former missionary, current president of Legacy Educational Resources and father of seven boys! Yes, seven!

Miller did tons of research on successful money practices, then wrote the book in story form.

This book starts off with the basic premise that it will help you:

• Get out of debt and accumulate wealth
• Get ahead, even when the work you love doesn’t produce big bucks
• Find your strengths and passions and make a living with them
• Live a more fulfilled life

Miller discusses many of the things I talk about in my blog like saving money, frugality and happiness. 

The last chapter particularly struck me about enjoying money.

He says:

“People who strive most for wealth tend to be less happy than others.  Those who strive for ‘intimacy, personal growth and contribution to community’ have a better quality of life”

I love that – and happiness and wealth is something I try to talk regularly about on this blog!

I wished Miller would have started the book with that chapter because in my opinion, understanding that accumulating wealth beyond a certain comfort level will not lead to more happiness is a foundational part to dealing with all other areas of our financial lives.

I like Miller’s use of personal stories and quotes from real folks, but at times the use of the non-fiction stories can get a little cheesy in parts.

All in all though, this is a very solid book for graduates looking to get a good grasp on personal finance without getting so bogged down with jargon!

You can find it on Amazon.com or order it through your local bookstore. To get bulk discounts, visit www.wisdomcreekpress.com .

Disclaimer: This is not a paid review.  I did receive a free copy of this book.  If you order through Amazon by clicking the link above I may receive compensation.