Archive for Finances
Why Some Churches Struggle With Money August 25, 2010
Some churches are struggling in regards to finances…yet many are not, even in the recession that our country has recently went through. So…why do some churches seem to struggle while others do not. Four reasons…
#1 – The Church Has No Vision
People will not consistently give to a visionless organization. However, when a church begin to seek God, BEG for HIS direction and commit to go and do whatever He says…and when steps of faith are taken…and when lives begin to be impacted because of that…and those changed lives are celebrated on a consistant basis then giving becomes a joy for the church instead of an obligation because they can see that their investment is making a difference.
#2 – The Pastor Refuses To Teach On It
It’s amazing the number of church leaders who fear teaching on money…they say, “people will get mad and leave.” I always answer, “of course they will! BUT…the only people who get angry when you teach on adultery are the ones who are actually committing adultery. SO…think about it, the people who get mad when you teach on money are the ones who have money as their god!”
Sixteen out of the thirty eight parables Jesus taught had to do with money, around 15% of His total teaching had to do with the subject of money and He taught that money is the number one spiritual indicator of where a persons heart is.
Yet money is the only subject that we address in the church that many pastors feel like they need to apologize for. Jesus didn’t apologize for it; in fact, He said some pretty BOLD things about it. (See Matthew 6:19-24 AND Matthew 19:24) If Jesus taught on the subject with authority then so should the church.
#3 – Pastors DO Teach On It…But With The Wrong Motives.
I am not going to argue that money is arguably the most abused subject when it comes to false teaching. It is a fine line because when we do teach on money many people are automatically going to think you (pastor) are after their wallets.
I once heard Andy Stanley say this to his church…and I totally ripped it off and say it all of the time, “We don’t want anything FROM you…we want something FOR you!”
BAM!
I’ve literally told our church whenever I teach on the subject of tithing that if they think NewSpring Church is after their money then I want them to go home, open up to the yellow pages, pick a ramdon church and send them the tithe for the next three months and see what happens! Whenever I say that people look at me like I am smoking crack…but I am SERIOUS!
Which leads to number 4…
#4 – Many People In The Church WANT To Give But Feel Like They Can’t Because Of Poor Financial Decisions.
In other words–PEOPLE ARE BROKE!
That is why we can’t just teach “giving” to solve all of a persons needs…there is also the command of biblical stewardship. That is one of the reasons why, at least two times a year, we offer classes at NewSpring Church (by Joe Sangl…the best there is out there on this subject) in regards to how to get out of credit card debt, how to live on a budget, how to set aside cash for a rainy day…and tons more.
AND…the church does not charge for the class…we let people come for free…because, once again, we don’t want anything from them, we want FOR them to discover the financial freedom that God wants them to live in.
Funded And Free! August 18, 2010
My friend Joe Sangl has a brand new book out…and…if you are a pastor/church leader then you need to get it right now! Joe is the BEST voice in the country when it comes to finances, especially in the context of the local church. Here is the link where you can get it…and below is why…
Most pastors don’t wake up thinking about funding the vision but many lay awake worrying about it. Funded and Free was written by Joe Sangl and Casey Graham, two guys who are passionate about seeing people become financially free and helping leaders fund their vision. This book is a collection of practices they have observed through their work with hundreds of churches. It is their hope that a church leader can pick up this book, turn to any page and read information that will immediately help them fund the Kingdom even more.
50 chapters. 50 minutes. Fully funded vision.
How Should A Church Budget? July 14, 2010
I was reading some thoughts online the other day in regards to what many church leaders were saying about how a church should budget for the upcoming year. What bothered me was that many of them were doing what I refer to as “fear based budgeting” rather than “faith based budgeting.”
Yes, our economy isn’t as strong as it has been in the past. Yes, people are unemployed. Yes, charitable giving is down…however…
I believe the church is called to budget according to VISION and not to the VARIABLES in the world. (If Nehemiah would have taken the advice of setting the budget based on the economy of the nation…then one of the greatest projects that happened in the Bible would have NEVER taken place.)
Now…let me be VERY clear. The church IS called to be financially responsible. We are called to plan, have systems of accountability and make sure that we are not being stupid OR trying to supplement someone’s ego by building bigger and greater things.
BUT…when we allow the condition of the world to begin to dictate what we’re called to do as a church…well, that pretty much sucks.
Back in 2001 and 2002 I had the privilege to spend time with a GREAT man of God named Ron Lewis. I remember him telling me, “If your church is faithfully following God’s direction then your back will always be against the wall financially.”
I’ve never forgotten that…and since that day one of the things we’ve said around here is, “if it is God’s will then it’s God’s bill – what the King wants, the King pays for…and He’s NOT limited by the stock market!”
One more time let me emphasize that this type of mentality is NOT permission to be stupid and just blow like a kid in a candy shop. However, we’ve got to understand that as a church God calls us to take steps of faith…many times LARGE ONES…to see if we are going to trust in HIM or something else. (Hebrews 11:6)
Top 7 Money Mistakes I’ve Made – Part Two March 10, 2010
Continuing yesterday’s post…
#4 – Seeking to live the “minimum payment” lifestyle.
I remember my first credit card…after getting it I stopped at a sporting goods store and bought a gun. (Just like all pastors should!) It was $300…and when I got the bill in the mail the next month the payment was ONLY $15!!! (I didn’t know what 19% interest meant!) It was the beginning of a PAINFUL lesson for me–making the minimum payment is NOT a great financial plan!
Within four years I was carrying maxed out balances on around seven credit cards and “successfully” making the minimum payments every month…which was KILLING ME financially. I reasoned that if I continued to make the minimum payments that I would one day be out of debt…which WAS true…but “that day” would have been in the year 2900 at the rate I was going!
#5 – Transferring credit card balances
Don’t roll your eyes…some of you do this! I would get a “convenient” credit card offer in the mail and it would say, “transfer your balances today and get no interest for six months.” What the offer didn’t tell you is that the interest rate was an arm and a leg after that six months.
I always told myself that I could pay off the balance within six months–WHICH NEVER HAPPENED! I realized then that Proverbs 22:7 was/is true…in just four years of having a credit card (which was only going to be used in case of an “emergency”) I had DISCOVERED that my VISA to financial freedom wasn’t in obtaining more AMERICAN OBSESS but rather in turning over MASTER CARD to Jesus instead of the banks!
#6 – STUPID car decisions.
I used to be the guy who said, “I will always have a car payment.”
I used to be the guy that when a car needed a repair I would say, “Go get another one, you don’t want to sink money into that old thing.” (Which, by the way, is STUPID financial advice! Seriously! Spending $300 to fix a leak…or $45,000 on a new car–DUH!!!)
So…because of my desire to have a new car every year and a half (no, I am not making that up) I kept trading them in…and discovered what the term “upside down” means. (It means, “I am a stupid, materialistic person”–at least that’s what it meant to me!)
I once financed a car that was two years old for 84 months at a 12% interest rate…DUMB!!!
Today I own my cars…they do not own me…and that is a very freeing feeling. Most people I have talked to who are strapped financially could free themselves up so much if they would just sell their car…but their desire for status rather than financial freedom will prevent them from it most of the time.
#7 – Not having an emergency fund.
One of the things that Joe and Dave teach is that emergencies are going to happen, the car is going to break down, the kids are going to get sick, the tire is going to go flat…and that if money is set aside for these emergencies then they are less worrisome when they take place.
You CAN set aside an emergency fund…and you CAN live in financial freedom…it just takes WORK!!!
Top 7 Money Mistakes I’ve Made! March 9, 2010
Quite a while back I shared a two part post in regards to the top seven financial mistakes I’ve made…in light of yesterday’s message I thought I would share those posts again!
#1 – I Did Not Place Jesus First In My Finances
OR…in other words…I did not tithe.
I used the excuse that I could not afford to tithe…and it was through some painful financial lessons that God actually showed me that I could not afford NOT to tithe. God kept bringing me back to Matthew 6:21 and Matthew 6:24 over and over again…and in the fall of 1999 I completely surrendered the 10%. (And I’ve never missed it!)
#2 – I treated tithing as the finish line.
When I began tithing I sort of expected God to strike up the heavenly marching band…and for about a year I was quite proud of my newly formed spiritual discipline…until…
In the summer of 2000 Jason Wilson, our Executive Pastor, was speaking at NewSpring Church and said, “We all know that Scripture says to tithe…what I want to ask tonight is what are you doing with the other 90% to advance His Kingdom; after all, He does own it all!”
That statement hit me in the face like a ton of bricks…Psalm 24:1 became more real to me than ever before…and that night I surrendered the other 90% to Jesus!
Tithing isn’t the finish line…it’s the starting point…God has called us to be generous givers–HE IS!!! (II Corinthians 9:15)
#3 – I thought I could NEVER get out of debt.
When Lucretia and I got married on April 8, 2000 we had over $100,000 worth of debt and DIDN’T EVEN OWN A HOME. It was all credit cards, student loans and ridiculous purchases (all made by me!)
I felt trapped–heck, I was trapped…and I had just about given up hope until I heard about this guy named Dave Ramsey. It was in one of his all day sessions that I began to understand that I could get out of debt…but it was going to take sacrifice, a lifestyle adjustment…but it COULD be done!
In November of 2007 Lucretia and I became debt free…we owe on nothing except for the house. Trust me–if we can do it–YOU CAN TOO!!!
(By the way…if you are making one of these mistakes…OR any of the next four that I will talk about later on this week…and you do not MAKE it a priority to get to JOES CLASS THIS WEEK then you’re passing on an incredible opportunity! Seriously, there is NO REASON for you to be in debt…when Jesus sets us free…WE ARE FREE, and yet so many Christians go and enslave themselves to debt! BREAK FREE THIS WEEKEND!!!
Stay tuned for the other four…
Giving from a Child’s Perspective March 8, 2010
We showed THIS VIDEO yesterday…thought it was one of the best “sermons” on giving I’ve ever watched!
Want To Be Free Financially? August 31, 2009
One More Thing About Money…
Can I just say that Proverbs 22:7 is true for a lot of you reading this right now!
You are a SLAVE…to Visa…to a car payment…to a house you cannot afford.
And…IF you are SERVING THEM you cannot be FULLY SERVING CHRIST! (See Matthew 6:24!)
You have been saying for quite a while that you are going to get a handle on this…but it’s getting worse, not better…
You are transferring credit card balances…making minimum payments…you are freaking out…and there is significant financial stress in your life…
AND…if God placed HIS CALLING on your life today…told you to pursue something other than what you are doing right now it would bring stress to your life, not joy because…you could not afford to do it!
ONE of the things you are fighting against is PRIDE…you HATE to admit you are strapped financially. You think you will get it under control one day…but that’s just not going to happen until you are willing to admit you have a problem and then step up and do something about it!!!
And NewSpring Church wants to help.
Joe Sangl will be teaching at each of our campuses this week…
- Tonight in Greenville
- Tomorrow in Anderson
- Wednesday in Florence
And you NEED TO BE THERE! (SIGN UP HERE!!!)
It doesn’t cost you a dime! (And NO…you DON’T have to be a NewSpring member or attender to attend…this is for ANYONE!!!)
AND…if you will come we will provide you with dinner AND childcare…FOR FREE!
Like I said yesterday…we don’t want a thing from you…we want something for you!!!
Now the choice is yours…step up…sign up…and get out of financial bondage!!!