Jesus' Terrible Financial Advise - By John Thornton

This book, Jesus' Terrible Financial Advice, was in a list of books available for review in the book reviewing program of which I'm a member.   The description of this book caught my attention.  It was described as not being the book that the author, John Thornton, intended to write.  He wanted to write about how his family had gotten to a debt free state and wanted to back it up with biblical principles.  But then He went to the Bible to study the topic and found that Jesus' teachings on money shocked him, they really seemed like irresponsible teachings, teachings that didn't seem like the type of instructions that God would give wise stewards to follow.  He put off writing the book for a long time.   I was intrigued by this information and so I requested the book. 

Thornton later decided to dive in and write the book with this perspective,  "If my theology disagrees with God, one of us is wrong, and it's not Him."    Thornton directs us to think about why Christ came to the earth in the first place, "to glorify His Father".  And all of Jesus' teachings, including his teachings on money, stem from this purpose. God does not need money to get things done, and we Christians do not need money either because God supplies all our needs, and he does not need money to do that.

 Thornton makes it clear that being rich does not make you an evil person, nor does being poor make you a good person.  Money is not bad in and of itself, but it does have potential to become an idol when we look to it for peace, security and help.  Poor people can do this just as much as rich people.  The love of money is deceiving, it promises that money can supply all our needs, directing our focus to it rather than to God.  And many also may be deceived by thinking that the Lord's work cannot get done without money (look at all of the Christian ministries out there begging for money!). God can supply our needs however He wants, with or without money. 

Being a wise steward does not mean building up earthly treasure, but building up a heavenly treasure.   "Imagine if you were playing Monopoly, and you were offered the chance to trade in your pink fivers for real ones.  Or better yet, trade the yellow $100 Monopoly bills in for Benjamins.  You'd go straight to the bank and make the exchange.  And  you wouldn't ask how many of the Monopoly bills you could keep.  You'd trade in every last one."  The author demonstrates from the Bible that this is the perspective of a believer.  We are after real treasure, not fake treasure.  A believer doesn't care about storing up treasures on this earth, but storing up treasures in Heaven.  A believer doesn't care about gaining worldly acclaim, but commendation from His Father in Heaven.  A believer's goal is to glorify the Father, to do His will.  And Christ tells us how this is to be done, "Jesus explains how we can make the most of the lives He has given us…"  Many of the means by which Christ says we can glorify the Father are shocking to us, such as letting people sue you and giving them more than they demand of you, by giving to everyone who asks, by letting yourself be wronged financially, even by a brother in Christ, or rather, especially by a brother in Christ. There are some questions about how we are to implement the 'giving to everyone who asks you', and I think that Thornton addresses them pretty well by pointing out that it may be clarified by other biblical truths. 

In this book we are reminded that God wants us to run our whole race, the beginning and end of it, at full speed. This, among other things, involves being wise stewards of everything God has given us, including our use of any money He has allowed us to have.  We look to our Master to give us the standards for how we are to use His property and money, He defines what good stewardship looks like.  And we should not look on our growing old as permission to use God's gifts to us however we want. The thought should not even cross our mind that we will ever reach an age where we will be able to retire from being good stewards of the Lord's gifts. We should not look to slow down as we get old, and enjoy our earthly life, our goal should still be to serve the Father with all the strength He gives us, grasping any opportunity He gives us to serve Him and invest in eternal things.  Thornton laments that some older Christians do not desire to end their spiritual race at full speed, and yet hypocritically ,"We condemn our brother who squanders his early years, all the time longing to squander our later ones."

All in all, I think that this is an excellent book, pointing us back to the Lord as our Master, and reminding us that we are to live a life of faith.  We must trust that God really is infinitely wiser than we are, even when we think that His commands are not humanly logical.  As Thornton says, "God has a better plan for our lives than we do", God knows best whether or not our earthly richness or poorness will bring the most glory to Himself.  And we Christians desire to be content with His sovereign placement of us in this earthly life.  

Many thanks to MoodyPublishers for sending me a free review copy of this book (My review did not have to be favorable)

My rating:  5 out of 5 stars

*****

This book may be purchased at (among other places), Christian Book Distributors and Amazon

The Ten Commandments: Ethics For the Twenty-First Century - By Mark Rooker

The Ten Commandments: Ethics for the twenty-first century by Mark Rooker is a good and quite concise look at the meaning of each of the ten commandments, comparing them to the laws of other nations, looking at the repetition(or the significance of their non-repetition) in the New Testament, their application in the lives of Christians and their significance, or comparison to our modern culture.

Have you ever wondered about the statement some people make, that other nations had laws similar to the ten commandments before the ten commandments were given out to Moses and Israel? I really liked Rooker's point about how the how the Ten commandments express God's eternal will, and how "This is known by the conviction of the human conscience but more explicitly by the ancient pagan law codes discovered in the Near East. Many of these law codes contain statutes similar to the Ten commandments which indicate their recognition of basic intrinsic moral values. Indeed, the law sin the Decalogue are not entirely new to Israel. The Bible presupposes a moral code long before the theophany on Mount Sinai. This is indicated in earlier biblical events such as the slaying of Abel by his brother Cain(Gen 4)…." This is also supported by Romans 2:15.

The rather intricate looks at each individual commandment were quite insightful, here are a couple of comments to demonstrate this: In his section on the 2nd commandment he comments: "Idolatry has never been connected to ethical behavior……Wrong thoughts about God lead to wrong behavior." And looking at the 3rd, taking the Lord's name in vain he states that, "This commandment addresses any insincere reference to the Lord, as His name is the revelation of His person. This would include offering praise or singing to God out of routine without any thought to what one is singing or praying."

Also, I really appreciate Rooker's explanation of how the ten commandments function in the lives of Christians, "It could be said that the law illuminates sanctification. It provides a guide for the believer to what is pleasing in God's sight."He explains that they functioned in a similar manner in the old testament, "Works have never been the instrument of salvation; they are the evidence of salvation. Obedience to the laws should be placed in the domain of sanctification rather than justification wherein by adherence to these laws a social distinction was maintained between the Israelites and the rest of the world."

There were some statements that I didn't quite agree with, but overall I liked it. It is interesting, well written and is a good overview of the moral law of God.

Many thanks to B&H publishing group for sending me a free review copy of this book. (My review did not have to be favorable)

This book may be purchased at Amazon

Polycarp: A Destroyer of Our Gods - By Rick Lambert

Polycarp: a destroyer of our gods is a novel about the life of Polycarp, known as one of the early church ‘fathers’. Beginning with Polycarp as a young boy, the narrative follows him into adulthood, old age and finally, his death.  There are only a few details known about the actual Polycarp, one of which is that he was purported to have been taught by the Apostle John (who features as one of Polycarp’s mentors in this book), and because so much is unknown the author is able to take liberties and present the life of Polycarp in this way.

It is written from the perspective of Polycarp, who begins his account starting from his life as a young boy born into slavery who is experiencing drastic changes, having to come to grips with his parents’ death, and shortly after, being sold at the slave market where he is bought and freed by a Christian lady who adopts him as her own.  He begins attending church assemblies with his adopted family and eventually meets the Apostle John.  After several years of being amongst Christians and hearing the Word of God, he has a heartfelt conversation with John about his apprehensions of God being angry with him. John discusses the situation with him and is able to be an instrument in Polycarp’s conversion.  Polycarp, having become a Christian, aspires to be a pastor and becomes apprenticed to John. He goes through many spiritual trials, learns many spiritual lessons, and is enabled to teach others as he grows in the faith.  

Because of the style of this book, the events that take place in Polycarp’s life allow for a large range of topics to be addressed, ranging from basic theology, like justification and sanctification, to the practical application of the Bible’s truths, such as what friends you should have and how one should deal with false teachers.   Other things are addressed in passing, but are still significant, such as a subtle reference to Christians following the precepts of 1 Corinthians 6 when a secular official comments that Christians are rarely seen in court because they take care of their issues amongst themselves instead of taking each other to court. 

One of the parts I liked in particular is where Polycarp has made some questionable friends and defends his choice leading to an exchange with Polycarp’s uncle and the Apostle John, a few excerpts of which I give here:

“I recall Decimus instructing me while at work that wrong friends will make my heart yearn for sin more than it usually does.  Compromises will be easier and wisdom will be replaced with folly.  I just figured that they didn’t know him, and therefore were judging him.  Plus, I told them that Erebus …was interested in becoming a Christian, and that was the basis of our friendship.  My biggest mistake was when I told John that Jesus spent time with sinners far worse than Erebus.  ‘Oh foolishness, you forget I was with Jesus when he was in the homes and company of sinners,’ John chided.  ‘Jesus did not come to make friends, but to call sinners to repent.  Do that long enough and let’s see how many friends you pick up…His visits were hardly a social call…He did not save any lost soul by living like that lost soul…until Erebus sees Christ in you, you are guilty of leading him astray as I’m afraid he is leading you astray...As I see it, friendships are grown when you are all going in the same direction, and can help, encourage and protect all involved.  Friendships are not to be reckless, but constructive and purposeful where you are building each other up and improving each other’s character.  If this isn’t that inner, guiding principle of all the friends you hold, then in what direction is it actually going, and what good will be derived from it?  If friends are not making each other better, then they’re fulfilling the role of our spiritual enemy by tearing down what is good and ruining what had potential……”

The book is full of thought provoking statements like the following, “Remember, Paul was not one who had reached the goal, but anyone could clearly see he was in the race…” and “The old nature is not capable of producing the faith required to destroy itself.”  Polycarp’s thought as he contemplates his potentially ‘awful’ death: “I was actually encouraged to see how His grace would sustain me through the dreadful pain of it all.”

Also, the translations/paraphrases of Scripture are the author’s own, and I thought they were very well done; I give a sampling here: 

“No man contending for victory allows himself to be distracted by anything not associated with victory, so that his ambition is perfectly aligned with the ambition of his superior.”(2 Tim 2:4)

“Didn’t Solomon exhort us in his Proverbs that our trust in the Lord didn’t need the support of our own understanding?”

I like these because having it read in the same style as the rest of the book helps with the idea that, at the time period of this story, the NT had only recently been given, so the people reading the letters and books of the New Testament would have been reading them in their common vernacular and these paraphrases/translations really helps give that impression.  The book also pushes for verse-by-verse, expositional preaching and encourages “expositional listening”.

It has its funny moments. For instance, one that I found humorous, in an odd way, is where the apostle John exhibits embarrassment as he reminisces about the time when his mother asked the Lord if her sons could sit on the Lord’s right and left hand in the Kingdom.    And it has its sad moments as well; I teared up many times while reading, not just because of the ‘sadness’ of the events, but because of the stirring response of Polycarp and others to these events.  As an example, when a close friend dies Polycarp, instead of giving in to bitterness or despair, acknowledges the fact that this believer is in Heaven, and is enabled to exhort others who have lost loved ones to keep their perspective, and to submit to God’s will. 

At one point Polycarp, in counseling a person struggling with sin, exhorts him to keep focused on what God’s word says about the victory we already have by Christ over sin, and then ultimately makes the statement: I’m not struggling against sin, but struggling to advance in godly obedience.”  I think that statement is a great summary of the Christian characters in this book. They are excellent illustrations of people who are struggling to obey and submit to God’s will, not merely being those who are focused solely on the ‘remnants of their old self’, but focused on discovering who God says they are in Christ, and so looking to become who they really are. It really encourages you to look at everything from God’s perspective, not merely our human perspective. 

Most novels are entertaining, carrying you along by the emotions and imagination and, although they are certainly enjoyable to read, it is a bit discouraging that, when one is done with them, one is left with the feeling of having catered to oneself rather than having grown in any way.  This book is an edifying novel, wherein you learn along with the main character rather than merely being an observer of him and the different events in his life.  You are carried along by a desire to learn, not merely a desire to be entertained.  While most novels inspire you to read more novels, this one inspires you to read God’s word.   Instead of making you want to live in a different time, a different place, have a romance, an adventure, become an admired hero, this book inspires you to get out into the fray of your own battles and discover the lessons promoting spiritual growth that God has for you in your own life. I highly recommend it as, not just a good read, but an inspiring one.  It gives an illustration of the life of a Christian living out the reality of victory over sin and death that Christ has provided for him. 

This book may be purchased at Amazon.com 

For more purchasing options see the book website:  http://www.polycarpthenovel.com/