Book Review and Giveaway: "Five Steps to Financial Freedom" by Dan Willis

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​About the Book

As a young and naive pastor, Dan Willis maxed out twenty-three credit cards and ruined his credit to support his ministry. It wasn’t until massive debt caused the cards to stop working that he realized that God never asked him to do this. Through his candor and honesty, Dan reveals the five steps God showed him to get out of debt: stop spending, create a budget, develop a debt payoff plan, begin saving, and repair bad credit. This led him to becoming a thriving and financially-free ministry. Now, Dan is on a mission to teach this to the world.

​Using biblical principles, but not relying on miracles or “name-it-and-claim-it” theology, Dan provides easy-to-follow, practical steps that can be used by anyone to escape financial bondage. Finally, he encourages readers to use their financial freedom to help others and advance God’s kingdom, and to use their newfound fiscal wisdom to store up wealth. Without shaming those who struggle financially, 5 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom is the perfect combination of spiritual wisdom and practical advice for those who desperately need it.​

​My Review

​Five Simple Steps to Financial Freedom is the first book I’ve read by Dan Willis. As someone who helps facilitate a budgeting basics class for my own church and being in the middle of my own debt reduction journey, I was excited to read this book by Mr. Willis to see if I might gain some tips or tricks to help the class.
 
This book is written in a clear, simple to understand manner. I felt like Mr. Willis was speaking directly to me in this book and I appreciated it. It’s always interesting when reading a financial health book because in my experience the authors tend to scold their readers.
 
Mr. Willis avoids doing that, and he is insistent on promoting the idea that debt is bad for us because it can separate us from God. One of my favorite lines in the book is the following:
 
“God wants you to be free, but we’re not really convicted about being in debt. Do you realize that being in debt is a spiritual condition, not a financial condition? It is a sign that greed has set in.”
 
I had never considered that debt could be a sign that we’ve succumbed to the sin of greed and that it is inhibiting our spiritual growth. Debt is just a fact of life for most of us and we are aware that we will never really be free of it. It makes sense though. If we are in debt, especially if we are struggling, we are not going to give as much as we should of either our blessings and talents.
 
While this book is easy to read and will help those who have never read a financial health book before, the steps themselves are rudimentary and nothing I haven’t read in other financial books. The steps aren’t that detailed, but I think it would make a good book for beginners.
 
I give Five Steps to Financial Freedom 4/5 stars and can recommend it to those who have never considered what being debt-free can do for your spiritual and financial health. If you are looking for less generalized steps, this book is not for you.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of the book from CelebrateLit. All opinions are my own.**

About the Author

​As a young boy, Dan Willis’s dreams involved entering the medical field until that fateful day when, at age sixteen, he was called to “temporarily” take over the pastor position of a local church. More than thirty years later, Dan is still there, serving as the senior pastor of The Lighthouse Church of All Nations in Alsip, Illinois. He took the small ministry of sixteen people and nurtured it into a thriving multicultural body of more than 1,500 people. Dan’s previous books with Whitaker House were Freedom to Forget: Releasing the Pain from the Past, Embracing Hope for the Future and Praise Is My Weapon.

​Guest Post from Dan

​Not 23 Ways to Money Greatness or 67 Options to Financial Well Being. Just Five Simple Steps to Financial Freedom. Why complicate this? Wipe out debt and create wealth.

Blog Stops

​Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, January 8
Real World Bible Study, January 9
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 10
Just the Write Escape, January 11
Robin is Bookish, January 11
Books, Books, and More Books, January 12
A Baker’s Perspective, January 13
Janices book reviews, January 13
Remembrancy, January 14
Texas Book-aholic, January 15
Bigreadersite, January 15
Aryn The Libraryan, January 16
Margaret Kazmierczak, January 16
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 17
Jennifer Sienes: Where Crisis and Christ Collide, January 18
Mary Hake, January 18
A Reader’s Brain, January 19
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 20
Captive Dreams Window, January 20
Carpe Diem, January 21

​Giveaway

​To celebrate his tour, Dan is giving away a $20 Starbucks gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d8d4/5-simple-steps-to-finical-freedom-celebration-tour-giveaway