Today, I’d like to point you to a handy little book from Art Rainer. It’s called The Money Challenge, and it’s from B&H Books. Now, it’s a short book, so I’ll honor that with a short review.
Rainer’s basic goal is to help Christian people see the ways of God in the use of money. It’s broken into three sections: Give Generously, Save Wisely, and Live Appropriately. Rainer has found these to be a good outline of how God intends for Christians to use the money He gives them.
These are excellent principles for Christians in understanding stewardship and it’s a great introduction for those who have never examined Christian stewardship. There is not a lot of new information here for those who have learned about Christian stewardship.
However, stewardship is about tried and true principles, so the lack of new ideas is not a problem. In truth, Rainer has artfully repackaged these with a story about Annie and her learning the principles of stewardship through a 30-day money challenge.
Her challenge becomes the structure of the book and the challenge to you, the reader. It’s well-written and an easily digested book.
That’s not to say that implementation will be a cinch. In fact, that’s always the hardest part of money management. I can spout the principles well enough, but putting them into practice is the hard part.
Using Rainer’s book as a template, though, one can easily start into the behaviors that will set a long-term pattern. As is usually the case with a book like this, the principles are far easier to put not place if you aren’t years behind.
All in all, this would be an ideal group study for a church young adult group—probably even to start with older youth. And then a follow-on for so many of us in the adult range who need to get straight what matters most!
The Money Challenge is available from Lifeway and other book retailers, B&H gave me a copy exchange for the review.
Worship. It is what the church does as we strive to honor God with our lips and our lives. And then, many churches argue about worship. I have about a half-dozen books on my shelf about worship, but adding Scott Aniol’s By the Waters of Babylon to the shelf has been excellent.
First of all, Aniol’s work is not based on solving a musical debate. While that branch of worship is often the most troublesome in the local church, By the Waters of Babylon takes a broader view. The starting point is the place of the church. That place is a parallel of Psalm 137, where the people of God, Israel, found themselves in a strange land. The people of God, again, find themselves in a strange land.
Second, in summary, the book works logically to the text of Scripture, primarily Psalm 137 but well-filled with other passages. Then it works outward from how the text addresses the problems submitted in the first chapter into how worship, specifically corporate worship, should look in the 21st century Weste…
First of all, Aniol’s work is not based on solving a musical debate. While that branch of worship is often the most troublesome in the local church, By the Waters of Babylon takes a broader view. The starting point is the place of the church. That place is a parallel of Psalm 137, where the people of God, Israel, found themselves in a strange land. The people of God, again, find themselves in a strange land.
Second, in summary, the book works logically to the text of Scripture, primarily Psalm 137 but well-filled with other passages. Then it works outward from how the text addresses the problems submitted in the first chapter into how worship, specifically corporate worship, should look in the 21st century Weste…