Every Good Thing: An Introduction to the Material World and the Common Good for Christians by David W. Jones

The physical world around us should have just as much bearing on how Christians act and think as the life to come. But Christians often don’t understand how the Bible speaks directly to this important aspect of everyday life.

In Every Good Thing, David W. Jones illustrates the wide variety of areas–wealth and poverty, tithing and creation-care, vocation and Sabbath–impacted by our understanding of the Bible’s teaching on the material realm. This short book surveys key concepts and controversies on each topic, accompanied by Bible passages to help readers develop a more robust worldview of the physical world around us.

After all, Christians should take the life of Christ as an example for their own–and his life on earth reflected a deep concern for and engagement with the world in which he walked and breathed, worked and lived. So, too, God calls us to think biblically about how our beliefs impact our material lives.

Click Here to Buy

---

David W. Jones has done a great service for Christians. This book explores how the gospel should infiltrate every area of our material lives and challenges us all to live out our faith no matter our vocational calling. You will be challenged to live a life that exalts Christ and furthers the gospel–a life that impacts the eternal because you live out your faith in the material. This is a must-read for every follower of Jesus Christ.
—Thomas White, Ph.D., president and professor of theology, Cedarville University

Have you ever wondered how to connect Sunday with the other six days of the week? Do you feel that your faith is not connected to your vocation? If so, David W. Jones’ Every Good Thing is a wonderful book to help remedy that problem. Through his discussion of vocation, rest, wealth and poverty, and the stewardship of creation, he provides Christians in all walks of life the tools to do everything to the glory of God. This is a great resource for Christians no matter your calling.
—Evan Lenow, Ph.D., assistant professor of ethics, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

One grand mischaracterization of the Elizabethan Puritans was that they ‘were so heavenly minded they were of no earthly good.’ While largely wrong of them, there is an element of truth to the claim and all in the evangelical tradition that came from them. That is why a book like Every Good Thing is so timely and helpful. Even though believers in Christ are merely pilgrims in this world on a journey toward a future heavenly home, David W. Jones rightly grounds us in the present to remind us of the stewardship that is ours in the world we have been given for our own good and, even more, the good of others.
—Jason G. Duesing, Ph.D., provost and associate professor of historical theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

The tendency to emphasize the good of the spiritual realm to the neglect of the physical world has led many Christians to an unbiblical view of the world and a false dichotomy between the ‘sacred’ and ‘secular.’ In Every Good Thing, David W. Jones offers a helpful corrective to this tendency, grounding his arguments in a thoroughly biblical perspective, with significant implications for how Christians think about their calling, work, rest, wealth and poverty–in short, how we ought to think about our lives! Every Good Thing is an important introduction to these issues that will benefit readers greatly.
—Kenneth T. Magnuson, Ph.D., professor of christian ethics, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Click Here to Buy

---

David W. Jones serves as professor of Christian ethics, associate dean for graduate program administration, and director of the Th.M. program at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has authored or coauthored six books and more than a dozen articles that have appeared in various academic publications. He resides in North Carolina with his wife and children.