Living in the Light: Money, Sex, and Power by John Piper Book Review

In Living in the Light, John Piper explored three key areas the world loves to worship and engage in. God created money, sex, and power with good intentions but the enemy is actively attempting to lure us into falling into these dangerous temptations. God created each of these in order to bring glory to His Holy name. John Piper explained that money is a currency we can use for good purposes or for evil. Where we spend our money shows where our treasure is. Sex was defined as, “experiencing erotic stimulation, seeking to get the experience, or seeking to give the experience.” When sex occurs between a husband and wife, it is a God given gift to be enjoyed among both spouses. Power was described as, “as the capacity to get what you want, or the capacity to pursue what you valve.” 

One of my favorite chapters was entitled, “The Pleasure- Destroying Dangers of Sex”. This chapter discussed how Adam and Eve sinned and ate the forbidden fruit. Satan has attempted to try and tempt people into falling into sexual immorality. Piper explored the verses found in Romans 1:23-28. It talked about trading the glory of God for images looking like men and women and animals. It also goes into details about how women are settling and seeking another woman and how men are longing for another man. He also shared 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and how the “unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God.” The wonderful thing is when we repent and turn from our ways, God can forgive us for our sins and we can be cleansed. 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is ready to live in the light and they are wanting to honor God and bring glory to His name. I loved how John Piper was very real in dealing with the difficult topic of sex and sex outside of marriage and even homosexuality. Most authors are afraid to deal with this challenging topic because I think some are afraid they will upset some readers. I will be honest I also haven’t heard many sermons taught on these verses either. I love how he gave readers hope that even if they have already sinned sexually before marriage, God is able to forgive them and cleanse them for their sins. This book is a very impactful book and it will change believer’s outlook on how they live their lives.

“I received this book for free from Cross Focused Reviews / The Good Book Company for this review”. 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Living in the Light, then check it out on Amazon.com: 

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Light-Money-Sex-Power/dp/178498051X

Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship with Money by Brad Hewitt and James Moline Book Review

In Your New Money Mindset, Brad Hewitt and James Moline explored the hidden mindset people have concerning finance and how people are struggling with saving their money. We live in a high consumer driven society and we’re always searching for something more. We are always actively thriving to appear better off than the Jones. The authors shared a helpful chart outlining the five attitudes towards money surviving, struggling, stable, secure, and surplus. Most of us don’t feel like we’re in the surplus area. The surplus area loves to joyfully give to others and they don’t strive to have more material stuff. The surplus area is only about 13% of Christians. 

One of my favorite chapters was about longing for more. This chapter looked at why people are constantly wanting more things to try and satisfy their deepest desires. The authors explored the Book of Ecclesiastes and how he built houses, planted gardens, owned livestock, and had an incredible amount of treasure and he realized everything was meaningless. They shared this amazing statistic, “day-to-day happiness in America doesn’t rise one people have a household income of more than $75,000”. This just shows that having more money doesn’t always mean you will live a happier lifestyle. 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone who is wanting to break free from the addictions of money. This book will help you gain a breakthrough in your finances. It will assist you in helping to change your thinking about money and the control it has on your life. I liked how the book talked about how to live in contentment. God will always provide everything that we will ever need if we would just trust Him and follow His wisdom. I loved how they also discussed the importance of giving and being generous. This book will challenge the way you think about money and it will help you find the freedom from the chains of longing for something more!

“I received a review copy of Your New Money Mindset from Litfuse for this review.”

About the book: Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship with Money (Tyndale, October 2015) Have you ever thought: If I just had a little more money I would be happy? Research has shown this belief to be false. Through personal experience, Biblical passages and timely research, coauthors Brad Hewitt, CEO of Thrivent Financial, and Dr. Jim Moline, consulting psychologist, reveal that financial happiness and security have little to do with how much money you have, and a lot to do with the role money plays in your life. Your New Money Mindset isn't just another book about managing finances. It's a book about reshaping your relationship with money by examining your attitudes and beliefs around money. Your New Money Mindset: -Defies the consumerism that infects our culture and sickens our hearts. -Shows us how to replace the tension and fear we feel about money with contentment and peace. -Guides us to live open-heartedly with our time, energy and money. -Provides an online New Money Mindset Assessment™, which will help you pinpoint what attitudes about money you could work on in order to develop an openhearted attitude to life. Regardless of your financial situation, we invite you to journey with us to discover how to transform your relationship with money by remaking your heart. Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1IN4NP7 About the author:  Brad Hewitt is president and CEO of Thrivent Financial, a not-for-profit Fortune 500 organization dedicated to helping Christians be wise with money and live generously. He speaks regularly on how a redefined relationship with money can help us find and live out our call in life. He and his wife live in Minnesota. Connect with Brad: website, Twitter, Facebook Check out what others are saying: http://litfusegroup.com/author/bhewitt

Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First: Day 4 Blog Post Children of God

 

Week 9: Day 4 Child

 

This day described the scriptures of John 1:1-18. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). God created everything in His image. Light shines brighter than darkness and darkness can’t put out the light. John the Baptist was called to declare that the King Jesus was coming to the world. Jesus was and still is the true light in the world. He entered the world and was rejected by his own people. Can you imagine how that must feel to be rejected by the very ones he was trying to reach? Whoever accepts Jesus into their hearts and repents for their sins, they become children of God. The law came from Moses but when Jesus arrived this is the first time the world saw the true Messiah.

 

Like any parent, God disciplines us and give us rules to protect us. Even when we don’t always want to follow the rules, they are set in motion in order to guide us to become more Christ-like. Some people didn’t have parents who cared about them, but luckily God does love and care about you! God cares so much about what His children are going through. He loves all of His children and we’re called to do the same.

 

I am participating in journaling about my experiences in reading Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First By Doug Bender. I will be blogging through four days about the different things I have learned to help promote this life changing book.  The book is available for purchase.

 

If you buy the book during the week of December 9^th-15^th make sure you email your receipt to the email address promo@iamsecond.com. They want to give you some special bonuses!

 

For all the full details check out:

http://www.iamsecond.com/livesecondbook/

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Live Second, check it out on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Second-Ways-Jesus-First/dp/1400204801/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First: Day 3 Blog Post : Leaving this World Naked

 

Week 8: Day 6 Naked

This day contained the scripture verses Ecclesiastes 5:10-20. This is written to remind us that people in love with money will never have enough. They will always be trying to earn more money to purchase bigger cars, houses, more designer clothes, latest technology, latest hunting and fishing gear, and anything else you enjoy buying. If you love having a big bank account, you will always be trying to add more money to the account. It will never satisfy you for very long. People with less money will be able to sleep better because they aren’t afraid that someone could steal what they have. Some rich folks are consumed with watching and protecting what they have.

 

The verses reminiscent us that we arrive here through our mother’s womb and we had nothing. When we die, we can’t take anything with us. Wealth won’t make us truly happy. Happiness comes from memories we make, the time we have spend with our love ones, and the difference we made in the world. An important thing to remember is that our children won’t remember all of the nice presents we purchased for them to enjoy. They will remember if we took the time to get to know them and see how they view the world through their eyes. We have to focus on the big picture of life and see what truly matters.

 

I am participating in journaling about my experiences in reading Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First By Doug Bender. I will be blogging through four days about the different things I have learned to help promote this life changing book.  The book is available for purchase.

 

If you buy the book during the week of December 9^th-15^th make sure you email your receipt to the email address promo@iamsecond.com. They want to give you some special bonuses!

 

For all the full details check out:

http://www.iamsecond.com/livesecondbook/

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Live Second, check it out on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Second-Ways-Jesus-First/dp/1400204801/ref=pd_sim_b_1



Check out this cool graphic promoting this awesome book: