True Riches by John Cortines and Gregory Baumer
3 Bullet Book: 2020, book #55: “Many people track their net worth but why not track your cumulative lifetime giving.” — John Cortines
Finished on July 24, 2020
After reading their book, God and Money, I thought that I would enjoy this one as well. It was definitely a great book. I didn’t find that there was the same depth and impact for me as there was with the original. However, this was a valuable read and one that I learned a great deal from. There are those things that we can do to solidify and reinforce the values and principles that we uphold — this book is one of those things.
The 3 Bullets
1. The authors focused on the heart. They centered the book around what we should be centering ourselves on throughout our lives. “What if we approached God with the enthusiasm a 5 year old has approaching their father? ‘Hey God, what are you doing? Can I help?’” Is this a question that you think is often asked? I don’t think that it is but I do know that it would make quite an impact if it was asked. God created this world with a perfect design. We sinned and now experience a broken world, yet, God loves. What if we could love as God does and what if we could live as God envisions?
2. Adding onto the first highlighted portion that I thought I would spotlight here, the authors focused on giving and where we should give time and money and resources. They write, “We shouldn’t give to things because we care about them deeply. We should give to things because God cares about them deeply.” Again, it’s about where our heart should be postured. It’s one thing to give because we feel we should give and another entirely to give because God cares about what we are giving towards. Chip Ingram has stated, “giving is an action, generosity is a matter of heart.”
3. The authors closed the book by talking about what matters most to God. I don’t really have many thoughts towards this section beyond the perspective that this really is what matters most. If it matters to God, it should matter to us. The whole book rolled up to these three priorities and all that we should do in life should revolve around these three things. God’s 3 priorities: 1. Serve the poor — mercy and justice. 2. Save the lost — evangelism. 3. Strengthen believers — discipleship.
“My identity is secure in Jesus. In every situation I lean on God and trust in Him for provision although my own planning and hard work play a role as well.” — John Cortines
Sexual sin and coveting are central issues and linked together in many places throughout the Bible. Both are because the individual is unsatisfied with their present position. God teaches us to be generous with money and to closely guard our sexual purity — that’s a complete reversal from society’s standard.
There are two ways to be rich: 1. To have a lot of money. 2. To not need a lot of money.
There are 3 stages of saving:
1. Creating a cushion.
2. Ditching bad debt.
3. Planning ahead.
Biblical savings are goal-oriented. Once these goals are met, we can increase our generosity. Remember that home mortgages should be no more than 2x your income.
Many people track their net worth but why not track your cumulative lifetime giving.
We shouldn’t give to things because we care about them deeply. We should give to things because God cares about them deeply.
When our passion for giving to the needy is smaller than God’s love for the needy, we face a faith gap.
What if we approached God with the enthusiasm a 5 year old has approaching their father? “Hey God what are you doing? Can I help?”
God’s 3 priorities:
1. Serve the poor — mercy and justice
2. Save the lost — evangelism
3. Strengthen believers — discipleship
I gave this book a 3.5/5
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