Experience God as Your Provider

Brian Kluth -

What makes this book special are the countless real-life stories to back up each truth. If you're looking for real hope and real answers in the face of rapid and unprecedented changes, Pastor Brian Kluth provides both in Experience God as Your Provider. You'll be inspired by the testimonies of people like you living out the theme of the book, and challenged by scriptures to help you build your finances and life on the solid Rock of God's Word. Although Experience God as your Provider is about financial stewardship, it not a money management guide. Instead, Kluth aims to encourage readers to manage their whole lives under the lordship of Christ.

Strengths and Highlights
Format.   The book is divided into three sections:
• Recognize God's Provisions (job, cash, extra income, other resources)
• Receive God's Principles (first things first, protection, eternal perspective)
• Respond to God's Plan (your heart, giving, life, and future)

Sand Castles.   Moody Publishing summed up the compelling premise of this book well: "It is as if Americans have spent years building their financial houses that were like sand castles on the beach. For a long time many of our sand castles looked beautiful and kept getting bigger in the sunshine of the day. But now strong ocean tides and ground-shaking tremors beyond our personal control are beginning to move in and our sand castles are beginning to crack and their very existence is being threatened."

Expectation.   Kluth is also careful to point out that the expectation in reading a book about God as "provider" should not be merely what God can do for us, but what we can do for God and others. Kluth writes: "The question is not ‘Will God provide?' but ‘Will we live lives that glorify our Provider?' "Not only should we learn to receive from God, but we also need to learn how to be God's agent of blessing for someone else."

Perspective.   The "provider" theme is the lens by which readers are challenged to see their financial lives and their walk with God. "If you work for a company," Kluth writes, "it is your employer. But God is your true Provider. What would you rather have in life - what your company can pay you or what God can provide for you?"

Generosity.   When we see God as our provider, not just of our finances but everything that we are and have, Kluth concludes we then are free to be "open-handed in this tight-fisted world.....if we are godly, we will be generous, because God is generous. Generosity reflects the character of our heavenly Father."

Test.   While most believers would agree that God is their provider, Kluth challenges readers to consider how difficult (and rare) it is to live out this belief. "Sadly," Kluth observes, "even many professing Christians are ‘practical atheists' when it comes to their ability to believe that God can provide."

Timely.   In uncertain times, people need more than tips on how to create a workable budget or an effective spending plan. They need something deeper that speaks to their heart, soul, and mind. Kluth has done that, addressing the internal world of people in a very warm, accessible, and pastoral style.

Core.   The core message of Experience God as Your Provider is that no matter your circumstances are, no matter how the income is received - God alone is your true provider. Our security doesn't lie in having enough money or even a debt-free life, but rather a life in rooted in Jesus Christ as Savior.

Things to Be Aware of
Because so much of this book is built around personal stories to communicate biblical truth, it would be nice if there were a corresponding DVD to put a human face on some of the wonderful testimonies that were shared. This is an observation, not a criticism, of an otherwise outstanding book.

Available at: www.Christianbook.com