cover image The Rewards of Simplicity: A Practical and Spiritual Approach

The Rewards of Simplicity: A Practical and Spiritual Approach

Pam Pierce, Chuck D. Pierce, . . Baker/Chosen, $12.99 (197pp) ISBN 978-0-8007-9477-4

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.)