The Shrewd Christian: You Can't Have It All, But You Can Have More Than Enough

Drawing on such personal-finance classics as ""Your Money or Your Life"" and ""The Millionaire Next Door,"" Atkinson encourages readers to evaluate whether their current jobs are satisfying and are leading them toward financial independence. Far too often, he tells us, people sell out their true dreams to meet the escalating demands of our trade-up, supersize-it society. True financial freedom, by contrast, lies in determining how much is enough, and learning to live within our means. By saving more, we can work less; by being frugal with both big-ticket items and small expenses, we can put our dollars toward the things that really matter to us. The book is directed toward the audience Atkinson calls the ""CMC,"" or the Christian Middle Class, a group he desires to be economically productive and spiritually fulfilled. One chapter recommends an innovative program called ""100 Days to Shrewd,"" including a month-long ""draconian adventure"" where readers halt all unnecessary spending for 30 days. This unusual program helps Christians cultivate gratitude and understand how people live in other parts of the world.