An excellent summary of the issue is Biblical authority. The first 150 pages are worth the price of the book. This is a critical issue for the church today. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the issue of Sola Scriptura.

Great book on Ecclesiastes especially for those struggling to apply it to life today.

Wonderful story-teller, but I disagree with some of the messages of the book. I like the idea of the youth telling the future, but the concept of being born with magic that adults can't understand and being forced to go along with their stories is counterproductive to the overall theme of the book and seems to contradict the first book. However, I do enjoy a book that provokes thought about community, the value of humanity, and history.

I will do a full review later, but the hot take is that this book is well written, entertaining, and best of all thought-provoking. Gladwell does a great job asking the right questions as he identifies, critiques, and sources the wrong methods we employ when talking to strangers. The only area where the book falls short is in the fourth goal he stated which was to propose solutions on how to fix the problem. It felt a bit light in that area.

It's a classic. C'mon people. Read it.

Great book, important themes. Read it with my son and had some great convos.

A wonderfully moving book. I heard all the praise for this author for his latest work. I found a good used copy of this book and gave it a read. I had no idea what to expect so it took me about fifty pages to get into it. Well-written, wonderful characters, and a great story. I loved it.

Very helpful book. I love the wit and warmth of the author. I learned from the book and was encouraged to continue thinking about my writing. I will likely reference this book in the future. I would recommend it for aspiring writers.

I'm a fan of classical education. I just didn't find this book compelling. It seemed more like Doug Wilson's thoughts on public schools and classical Christian schools than a tight case being presented. There are some gems where Wilson's wit and style come through but overall the book was middle of the road. I wouldn't recommend this to others.

Practical, helpful and encouraging. The main point of this book is worth the price for every small church pastor: it's not just okay that your church is small. It may be a good thing.

Jamie is a baptist minister in a church with elders and deacons so the adjustments are fairly minor to a presbyterian setting. In our church the congregation doesn’t approve the budget, the elders do. That’s part of the reason congregation elects elders. But we have been seeking how we can communicate more with the congregation so they can be informed. Jamie’s book is chock full of helpful information on just how to do that.

There is a lot of confusion about how church budgets work and what they should look like. There is also troubling history with giving and budgets. I know of a woman who told a pastor at her church, “This church belongs to Jesus and me.” She said this because she gave a lot of money specifically to cover the monthly mortgage. But as Jamie points out faithfulness, godly giving, is not about how much you give as it is about how you give. Similarly, a budget is not more spiritual because it is big or because giving is up that year. The truth is not in digits but in the hearts of the people.

Jamie’s fundamental point is that the church budget is spiritual. It reveals what the church believes and is committed to. Jamie argues that a budget is a tool for effecting the Great Commission. Further, the budget itself is like a spiritual mutual fund. It is the local church’s plan for investing in the work of making disciples.

I was challenged to take more leadership in teaching about giving in the church. I have taught on it in the past, but I am show more pressed to consider ways in which I can continue to teach on the place of giving in the Christian life.
The chapter on income was a great corrective as it puts the focus not on how much is given or even if we are meeting the budget. Rather the focus on giving is faithfulness. Jamie offers a lot of wisdom in the chapter on hiring staff and the chapter on operations is pure gold.

My favorite part of the book was in chapter 8 and learning to use the budget as a pastoral tool for discipleship. It is an opportunity to help Christians grow in their faithfulness to Christ.

Bottom Line

If you serve as a church officer, on a church finance committee or the like you should read this book. It will bring the budget out of the shadows of obscurity and clarify how exactly it fits within the mission of the church. I highly recommend this book and will likely be using it in officer training in the future. show less

A fantastic introduction to the Trinity and why it matters. Humorous, accessible and moving. This will be the first book I hand to folks who are confused about the doctrine and want to know more.

Such a great book. I’m well written and convicting but in the best of ways. I wasn’t Kaiden with guilt rather I was moved to engage with my phone in healthy God honoring ways. Highly recommended.

I would give this a 3.5 really. The editing was a little sloppy. The exegesis was questionable at points, but I expected as much given the nature of the book. By the end, the author had lost me. I couldn't agree with some of the connections he was making especially. That said, I loved the shepherding stories from the author. It really did push me to rethink this Psalm. I am going to have to examine some of my assumptions about this text and give it a fresh look. For that reason, I am glad I read this book.

This was a surprising gem of a book. I found it challenging but in a way that encourages me to be a more godly husband, father and pastor. I highly recommend this book to any Christian family.