Your money in God’s hands

FAMILY MONEY MATTERS
How to run your family finances to God’s glory
By John Temple. Day One. 112 pages. £6.00
ISBN 978-1-84625-203-7

John Temple sets out to describe the basic principles of good family finance and to provide practical advice in a number of areas, underpinned by biblical values.

The book starts with a chapter describing the secular view of money and how it has led to the recent financial crisis that we are in. This is followed up with the alternative view of money as laid out in the Bible, as John makes reference to teaching in both Old and New Testaments. Having laid out some general considerations with regard to living within one’s means and the ownership of personal debt, John turns to more practical matters as he devotes a chapter to each of a variety of financial topics ranging from your family home, car and holidays to insurance, pensions and pocket money.

The relevance of such a book at this present time is clear and the timeliness couldn’t be better. Christians who have not handed over full control of their family finances to God may benefit from reading it. John does not stray from the Word of God as he lays out the biblical truths, and he regularly reminds the reader to interpret what he writes in the context of Scripture.

There are, however, a few statements John makes that I thought were misplaced: that we should have a motivation to earn as much as we can; that it’s OK to have a big house because it is an investment; that you shouldn’t have a mortgage unless you have to. I don’t think these statements can be applied to the average family in this country, and this book will not be of help to families struggling with debt, providing only this brief advice — ‘try your best to get out of [debt]… however this may not be practical’.

Dave Petch,

Money Ministry Team, Chertsey Street Baptist Church, Guildford