Be prepared to be kicked in the gut several times through this book... in a good way. I've read several books on the issues of purity, pornography, sexual addition, etc., but none of them have tackled the issues of sex (and included money) the way the Tripp does here. He really gets at the root of the issues surrounding our sin nature that drives these two serious areas of sin. Not only that, but just when you think you are "safe from that one", he ratchets the bar up even higher and forces you to confront the truth of how you are using these two gifts from God. ( )

Should be called "SEX & two chapters on money". It's okay but kind of shallow. There are a couple of interesting gems such as Tripp's argument that sexual fantasies subvert the sovereignty of God. I got this for free from ChristianAudio and, well, got what I paid for. Not bad but not particularly great either. ( )

Best book on the gospel and earthly pleasures I have read ( )

Paul Tripp always brings the power of the gospel to any subject. In this case, he's discussing some of the most powerful idols in the lives of western Christians. It has much great help to bring to those struggling with the control of passions of all types.
Knowing that this would be true I thought it would be good to listen to with my teenage son. However, I found many of the illustrations in appropriate for such use. Be warned: this is a helpful book but not for the young, in my opinion. ( )

Paul David Tripp is a man with a passion to bring the bright light of Christ to all of life’s dark places. I have read several of his earlier books and he is a pastor, teacher and counselor who cares deeply for the people of God. And in those roles he does not hesitate in showing that the Good News is precisely that. Or said differently, time and again he shows that the only true hope for any human suffering is to be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Good News is not merely that, i.e. good news, but it is really, and only, the greatest news. Sex and Money: Pleasures that Leave You Empty and Grace That Satisfies is a masterwork in dealing with what he sees as two of the most tenuous issues that daily confront and ensnare the Christian in the 21st century.

Tripp opens with a discussion of the reason people were created from a biblical perspective, which in a nutshell is to glorify God. He believes that because of this we are hard-wired for glory, which for many of us is misdirected towards the pursuit of other gods, most often sex and money. He then provides an overview of these two primary subjects; ones that he believes are driving our culture insane. He takes each of these issues in turn and walks through them with an open Bible, time and again showing how God’s grace can touch wayward hearts and bring wholeness to places that often appear to be hopeless.

As he reaches his conclusion Tripp points out that there is purpose in living as broken people in a broken world. He writes, “God has chosen to keep you in this broken world in order to use its brokenness to prepare you for what is to come. The brokenness you live in the middle of, and the difficulties you face there, are not in the way of God’s good plan for you; they are an important ingredient in it. Right now, God is not so much working to change your surroundings but to change you so that you are ready for the new surroundings he has planned and purchased for you in his grace.” (189-90)

Sex and money are two things created by God in His goodness but which often end up infiltrating and consuming our hearts. Tripp has written an excellent book to help Christians put them back into their God-honoring place as they journey through this world to the next, the place where nothing will get in the way of all Christians giving God the glory that only He deserves. ( )