Rewards of Simplicity, The: A Practical and Spiritual Approach
There's no shortage of guides to simple living, and now there's one more, from a charismatic Christian viewpoint. In Chuck and Pam Pierce's new book on the topic, the charismatic Christian ministers write about spiritual and material simplicity with a vocabulary that will connect with an audience that may be suspicious of more mainstream books about frugality. Simplicity is not just about cleaning out closets, Pam suggests; it involves walking around the perimeter of activities, options, commitments, even relationships, and examining them with an eye of wisdom. Both write chapters;Pam's center around issues like technology, Sabbath, money, and clutter, while Chuck's focus on a spiritual-warfare approach to anxiety and stress. While the book contains helpful advice for all regarding things like electronic media fasts and a spiritual approach to simplicity, its value has definite limits. Noncharismatic readers may struggle with Chuck's tangential references to eschatological prophecies and seven-year cycles, his assumption that everyone in Christendom would want to read [his previous] book when it came out, and his apparent conflation of the United States with God's covenant people.(Jan.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.