Money, Possessions & Eternity

No other book except the Bible has ever challenged my beliefs, attitudes & philosophy in life as much as this book.

Seriously.

A few years ago I led a college group study on giving. I read this passage from Giving (part of the Pursuing Spiritual Transformation Series): "Were I the Bible's editor, I would cut out much of what it says about money & possessions. Anyone can see it devotes a disproportionate amount of space to a subject of secondary importance....Money is physical & earthly. The Bible is religious; money is secular. Let God talk about love & grace & brotherhood, thank you. Let the rest of us talk about money & possessions. How could the Bible's Author & Editor justify devoting twice as many verses to money than to faith & prayer combined? And how could Jesus say more about money than both heaven & hell? Why did the Savior of the world say more about how we are to view & handle money & possessions than about any other single thing? Why?"
That sparked the best small group discussion I have ever been apart of. We went on for hours talking about Scripture, money & the translation to our daily lives. That passage was adapted for that Giving study from Randy Alcorn's Money, Possessions & Eternity. Since that time I have wanted to read this book.
Well, last week I finally did. Wow.
From the first page to the last, I was provoked, challenged, convicted, engaged & humbled. That paragraph I quoted (God should talk about spiritual things & let us talk about money) described me. I tried to live whole-heartedly for God, but never put 2+2 together that it also included my attitudes toward money & possessions.
May of the statistics in this book are mind boggeling, but I'll let you read them for yourself in the book. Let's suffice it to say that the state of giving in the Evangelical world is less than impressive. (That includes this writer).
This book is not just a big book on tithing. It discusses all possessions, debt, savings, lending, gambling, fund-raising & a host of other topics. It is an excellent resource to have & a challenging book to read.


- posted by cubfann