(Excerpted) The full title is “The Good of Affluence:  Seeking God in a Culture of Wealth.”  . . . Schneider states his purpose as “renovating” the common perspectives, and misperceptions, of how faith and wealth mix (p. 2).  Rather than a theology of ascetic denial, or even the more common idea of keeping “only what you need,” Schneider sees a theology of “delight” within the text of Scripture.  He states, “Material prosperity (rightly understood) is the condition that God envisions for all human beings. 

As a pastor, I look for tools to help my congregation articulate biblical truth to those within their sphere of influence.  When it comes to awakening the community, our congregation is staunchly pro-life, a position not many in northern Michigan hold. The 33-minute video, simply called “180,” is a multiple purpose tool I highly recommend.  Here is why. 

Dan Allender’s treatment of leadership, as a topic, is unconventional to say the least, but refreshing in its own way.  Rather than give a laundry list of “best practices” for leaders to follow, he gives a realistic assessment of what leaders can expect.  . . .  With that realistic admission of the difficulty of leadership, he proceeds to suggest that “to the degree you face and name and deal with your failures as a leader, to that same extent you will create an environment conducive to growing and retaining productive and committed colleagues” 

R.J. Rushdoony was a prolific, often profound, and equally-often idiosyncratic Christian scholar, writing on topics as varied as epistemology, history, psychology and eschatology . . .  A Westminster Standards man of the Reformation, Rushdoony also championed reconstruction: the doctrine that the institution of comprehensive biblical law would be a key factor in establishing the (post-millennial) Kingdom of God on earth.