Archive for Finances
My Friend Joe June 19, 2009
Pastors, church leaders…let me introduce you to Joe Sangl. (Just in case you haven’t met him.)
Why do you need to meet Joe? It’s really quite simple…there are people in your church that are up to their eyeballs in debt…they would love to tithe, many of them would love to give generously…but they feel like they can’t because they are enslaved to consumer debt.
AND…I’ve learned after nearly 10 years of being a pastor that preaching on what the Bible says about money just isn’t enough. You know what I mean…a good sermon on money will usually motivate people for about four hours…then reality sets in and they usually feel more hopeless (and guilt ridden) than before. Because…
When we preach on money we usually talk about WHAT should be done…but we often leave out the HOW it CAN be done!
This is where Joe comes in. In my opinion Joe is the best that there is when it comes to teaching people HOW to get out of debt and begin to honor God with the money He has blessed them with. His teaching is both biblical and practical and can help ANYONE…regardless of their financial condition.
Joe has been on staff here at NewSpring Church for the past three years. (He actually is one of the founding members of NewSpring…we used to have staff meetings in a room above his garage!) BUT…he is now launching out with the ministry the Lord has given him to help as many people as possible begin to handle their money in a way that honors God and helps them to accomplish their potential in Christ.
NO…he’s not leaving NewSpring; in fact, he will still be volunteering, teaching seminars, training counselors and probably even teaching on a Sunday from time to time.
The reason for this post is to introduce him to as many people as possible…and to let you know that if you want to take this area of your church to the next level…I highly recommend you contact Joe. He is an excellent communicator AND does an awesome job at training others and doing Financial Learning Experiences where people learn the basics and get on the right track.
One more time…here is his website. I am quite sure he would LOVE to hear from you! And once again…if you want someone to come along side of you and help you assist people in getting out of debt…Joe is your man!
Finances, Frustration and Freedom March 18, 2009
If you are broke, in debt, upside down in a car payment and/or buried in credit card debt…it is MOST LIKELY because you, at some point, allowed selfishness and the desire to acquire take over your ability to make a rational, Spirit filled decision.
(I know there are exceptions to the above…however, in my 20 years of ministry I have discovered that those exceptions are rare! Trust me…at one point I was all of the above! I posted about my dumbest financial mistakes quite a while back–here is part one of the series…and here is part two.)
One of the frustrations I have as a pastor is when people want to blame external circumstances for internal disobedience. Especially in America…EVERYONE is blaming SOMEONE for their financial condition. (Heck, for every condition…fat people are suing McDonalds for making them fat…anyone see a problem here?) Nothing is our fault. BUT…
I believe that financial freedom will never take place in a persons life until they are willing to accept personal responsibility for where they are…and then make the hard decisions and sacrifices necessary to climb out of the financial hole they have dug.
God has HUGE dreams and plans for our lives…unfortunately many people limit “God’s dreams” to driving a certain type of car or living in a certain neighborhood…and because of that they dive into a debt hole all in the name of Jesus.
I believe it makes Him sick! (See Matthew 6:19-24.)
Proverbs 22:7 says the borrower is a SERVANT to the lender…but, as followers of Jesus Christ we are to serve Him alone. We can’t serve Jesus with all our hearts and also serve Visa at the same time!
So…what do we do about it?
Great question…I highly suggest you do WHATEVER it takes to get to the Financial Learning Experience that NewSpring Church will be offering next week. (You can go here to sign up!!!) The class is FREE…but you need to sign up so we can make sure we provide the best experience possible for you! It will be held at:
- Anderson Campus, Tuesday March 24, 6:30 - 8:30
- Florence Campus, Wednesday March 25, 6:30 - 8:30
- Greenville Campus, Thursday, March 26, 6:30 - 8:30
In this class taught by Joe Sangl you will learn how to…
- Develop a plan for one’s life
- Create a budget that works
- Eliminate debt
- Calculate debt freedom date
- Calculate amount needed for retirement
- Power of compound interest
One of the biggest problems that people have when it comes to finances is that they have no plan…and because of that they’ve bought into the world’s plan, “buy now, pay later.” BTW…it hasn’t worked very well!!!
To steal a line from Andy Stanley…when it comes to finances we here at NewSpring Church don’t want a thing from you…we want something FOR you….
- We want FOR you to live in freedom, not held in the bondage of debt.
- We want FOR you to be able to provide a future for your children…instead of hoping they will provide one for you!
- We want FOR you to honor Jesus Christ with every financial decision you make…because God’s Word is so clear that until He has our money He doesn’t fully have our hearts.
One more time…here is the link for the class. DO IT! Seriously! YES, it will take discipline. YES, you will have to admit where you are financially…but when we put God first and get out of debt there is tremendous freedom!!!
Is The Economy Freaking You Out? January 19, 2009
I am unapologetic about the fact that I teach on money at NewSpring Church.
BECAUSE…one of the most “out of control” areas in our lives as Americans today is the way we handle our finances.
AND…because of carelessness, greed and ignoring the obvious warning signs…the economy has gone through some SERIOUS turmoil.
Here at NewSpring I tell people that when it comes to personal finances we really have two desires for everyone…
#1 - To Put God First In Your Finances.
Jesus doesn’t just want some of us…He wants all of us. And one of the most direct things He ever said in regards to money is found in Matthew 6:21 where He covers the fact that if He doesn’t have our treasure then He doesn’t fully have our heart.
He doesn’t want leftovers…He wants our love…and love is when we are NOT just about being a taker…but rather a giver.
We challenge people to tithe…and I have even said that tithing is not about NewSpring being after your money…and that if you actually believe that then just send your tithe to another church for the next three months. SERIOUSLY!
I don’t want ANYTHING from people…I want something FOR them (quote from Andy Stanley!!!) I want FOR you to discover the incredible freedom and blessings from putting God FIRST in your finances.
Our second goal…
#2 - For You To Get Out Of Debt.
Around 75% of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. MANY of us have credit card balances that are TRAPPING us in serious debt.
Proverbs 22:7 speaks VOLUMES about the borrower being a slave to the lender…and as followers of Christ we are NOT supposed to be enslaved by ANYONE.
When we don’t have debt there is an INCREDIBLE amount of freedom in our lives.
AND…saying that, we want to help you get out of debt…to win with money so that you can do what God has called you to do rather than being enslaved in payments!
SO…this coming Wednesday at the Greenville campus and Thursday at the Anderson campus Joe Sangl will be teaching his Financial Learning Experience…AND WE WANT YOU TO BE THERE. (YOU CAN GO HERE TO SIGN UP!)
It’s free!!! Why? Because we want YOU to stop stressing over money. To stop fighting over it. To STOP letting it dominate your marriage.
We offer this every year…multiple times…and THIS NEEDS TO BE THE YEAR THAT YOU EMBRACE THIS!!!
SERIOUSLY…you don’t have to freak out when it comes to finances! SO…do whatever you need to do to get to NewSpring THIS WEEK…and learn how simple it is to be set free from the burden of debt!!!
Broke & Stupid? October 1, 2008
Are you broke?
Seriously? Be honest!!!
If you missed one paycheck–would you be crippled financially? How about if you missed two? What if you lost your job…how freaked out would you be?
OR–let me ask THIS question…let’s say that TODAY you clearly heard the voice of God telling you WHY He made you…what HIS purpose is for your life…and letting you know WHAT He wanted you to do…
- Could you do it? (It most likely WILL involve a paycut of some sort!!!)
- One of the sad realities that we all must face is this–many of us are in debt up to our eyeballs…are you…
- Upside down in a car (owe more on it than it is actually worth?)
- Sitting on financed furniture?
- Making minimum payments on credit cards & telling yourself that you’ll do better one day?
- Transferring balances from credit card to credit card?
- Maxing out your line of credit at the bank?
- Stressed out and on the brink of freaking out because you have negative balances in your checkbook?
OK…I know that lots of people have SERIOUS financial issues. I have been VERY transparent on this website on multiple occasions about the DUMB decisions I made in the past. (If you haven’t read these post–here’s part one and part two of the stupid financial decisions I made personally.)
Being broke is one thing–HOWEVER–BEING STUPID IS ANOTHER THING ALL TOGETHER!!!
- Stupid people refuse to acknowledge they have a problem!
- Stupid people refuse to adjust their lifestyle–at all!
- Stupid people keep praying to win the lottery…or for some long, lost Aunt to kick the bucket & provide some sort of financial windfall.
- Stupid people say a budget is too restrictive.
- Stupid people KEEP making bad financial decisions…and are always affirmed in their bad decisions by other stupid people.
- Stupid people REFUSE to swallow their PRIDE and admit that they are in a financial hole.
Yes, I know you don’t like the word stupid…TOUGH! When it came to handling money…for YEARS I was STUPID!!! THAT is when I made the decision to–put God first (the tithe) AND get out of debt!!!
It wasn’t easy to put God first…but I did!
And getting out of debt…it took work, LOTS of it…but today ‘Cretia and I are debt free!!!
SO…let me run this by everyone ONE MORE TIME! This Thursday night from 6:00 until 8:30 at our Anderson campus Joe will be teaching his Financial Learning Experience–YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE–RIGHT NOW!!!
Some facts about this are…
- It’s free!
- We will feed you (Chic Fil A) AND take care of your kids (but you REALLY need to sign up!)
- You will develop a REASONABLE financial plan and budget for your life.
- You will know how long it is going to take you to get out of debt.
- No, you do NOT have to be a NewSpring member (or even an attender) to be a part of this–it is for ANYONE! If you live anywhere CLOSE to Anderson–GET HERE!!!
- There are already over 500 people signed up…you need to be next!
- AND a few more things…
I am BEGGING you to take this step! MY GOSH…I wish someone had done this for me when I was in my early 20’s…it would have protected me from SO MANY STUPID mistakes!!!
College students–get here–do whatever it takes…trust me, you’ve NEVER heard this stuff. (A large percentage of you haven’t at least…and many of your parents haven’t…that is why YOU are taking out loans to pay for your college!!!)
Married couples–GET HERE…NEARLY EVERY COUPLE I KNOW fights about money…and there is NO reason for it. Establish a budget WILL get rid of most of your arguments! (And could improve the romantic side of life!) :-)
ANYONE ELSE…get here! Proverbs 22:7 is so true!!! Swallow your pride…you will either have to admit the problem now OR explain to everyone what you were doing in bankruptcy court!
If you are broke…there’s hope! BUT if you are stupid…you can’t be helped!
Get your finances in order!!! NO ONE IS GOING TO DO THIS FOR YOU!!!
Whew!
Three Questions That Messed Me Up! September 29, 2008
I was thinking about this yesterday…there have been three questions that I can think of (probably a lot more if I thought about it) that God has used to MESS me up…and I wanted to share them with you.
#1 - “So Perry, what drives you?” Mike Foster
I don’t know if you’ve ever met Mike Foster…I have and like the guy liked the guy until he asked me this!!! Because…I didn’t have an answer…
I remember when he asked me this…I was sitting at a table with ‘Cretia, Mike & Judd Wilhite and talking about leadership challenges when he just blurted this out…it messed me up!
I’ve literally thought about it for the past year or so and have prayed through my motives. One of the things I will stand before God one day and be held accountable for are my motives…why I did what I did! AND I want to do so with a pure heart.
I’m still wrestling with this question. I believe with all my heart the thing that drives me is JESUS…but there are times when I MUST wrestle selfishness and pride to the ground and not let them impact my motivations.
So…what drives you? (And I really do like Mike…he’s a Ninja for Jesus!)
#2 - “Why are you yelling at your whole church when it’s only three or four people who are making you angry?” Craig Groeschel
Craig BOTHERS me a lot because, well, God’s used him to smack me around in lots of ways! (And I’m better for it.)
He asked me this one time (in a loving way) after listening to a couple of my talks. He pointed out to me that I seemed to overreact when it came to criticism and that the MAJORITY of the people in the church were on board!!!
As pastors we have the tendency to think when a critic comes after us…everyone is on their side…and so we will dog out our church because of a few idiots.
Not good! God used Craig to get me to stop yelling at the many because of the few!
#3 - “When are you going to put me first in your finances?” GOD
I talked about this on Sunday…but this was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made! I SAID I trusted Jesus with my eternity, but I didn’t trust Him with my wallet…which made me a hypocrite and a God robber!
I’ve blogged about this before…and so here are some links if you want to read what I personally had to wrestle through with these issues.
- “Is God first in your finances?”
- “Top Seven Stupid Financial Mistakes I’ve Made” Part One
- “Top Seven Stupid Financial Mistakes I’ve Made” Part Two
I’ve made a lot of stupid decisions in my life, but placing God first in this area in my life was NOT one of them!!!
Just wanted to share a few things God has used to shape me!
Stepping Up To The Challenge August 5, 2008
I still can’t get over this post from last week in regards to a teenager emptying their savings account because they felt that God wanted them to give it all away.
It’s awesome to see our teens stepping up and leading the way…we’re used to them being passionate in worship…but wow…in giving! I hear so much about how our teens today are self centered and self focused…that just isn’t the case in every circumstance.
So, as I read Mark 11:29-31 the other morning (folks…Jesus said this…I am not commenting except to say that He is making some huge promises here!) and then came across Mark 12:41-44 I really felt God tell me to challenge everyone at NewSpring Church to step up this month sometime and give a generous gift–way beyond what you may normally give.
What amount? Not sure…what I am asking everyone at NewSpring Church to do is pray about it…seriously seek the Lord and ask Him…and if He leads then do what He tells you to do.
And…if you don’t attend NewSpring Church then ask God what type of generous gift He would want you to give to the church where you do attend. Seriously–ask Him! You will never find ONE SINGLE instance in Scripture where God rebukes someone for being generous…but there are TONS where He goes off on people for being greedy!
We are where we are today because people have given generously! We were able to build our Anderson campus because of generous gifts! (Some in the form of a million dollars…and others in the form of $25…what is generous to some is different to others!) We were able to go to Greenville because of generous gifts. We were able to provide shoes for kids who didn’t have them because of generous gifts. We are able to build a state of the art children’s and youth facility in Anderson because of generous gifts. We are able to go to Florence because of generous gifts…
You get the picture.
So…I’m just asking…would you at least be willing to pray and ask God, “What is it this month that You would have me to give that is above what I normally give.” And then…do whatever He tells you to do! You can’t screw up by obeying Him.
AND…if you’re not a regular giver…why not go ahead and surrender that area to Him as well!?!?!?
An Incredibly Generous Teenager! July 28, 2008
I shared this in our services yesterday…but wanted to share it here.
Last Sunday after a meeting I walked into my assistants office to read through the things she thought I needed to see. On top of all of the mail was a cash envelope from a bank with a note written on it. Trish (my assistant) said, “You REALLY need to read that!”
Like I said…it was a bank cash envelope with a note written on it…BUT…what was written on the note absolutely blew me away and caused me to be completely overwhelmed. Inside the envelope was a cash gift to our church for $1,000 (which had already been removed!) Here is what was written…
“I am a rising senior in high school. I have saved up all of my job, birthday and Christmas money from the past 3 or 4 years, in this envelope. God has laid it on my heart to surrender these earnings into His hands. Thought it may seem a meager amount to the world, it is all that I have. I give this gift freely and with a light heart; after all, this money isn’t really ‘mine’ to begin with. God can and will provide for me far better than I ever could. And it is an honor to know this money may help even just one person take even just a single step closer to God. That is a gift worth any price.” (It was unsigned…so I have no idea who this was!)
I have a few thoughts on this…
#1 - I literally prayed for this person to become a multi-millionaire. Seriously, several times this week I paused and asked God to radically bless this person in the future financially. Why? Because they have proven that they can be faithful with the little things! (See Luke 16:10-13) If God can trust them with thousands now…He can trust them with millions in the future. This person knows that God has blessed them so they can give!
#2 - Though they thought this gift was “meager,” it actually falls into the “generous” category. I read a few years ago (although the numbers are probably around the same today) that only around 6% of people who call themselves evangelical Christians tithe. AND…the average gift given to a church by an adult is around $600 for a year. (Compared to the fact that each adult also spends and average of $900 per year on coffee drinks…and $1,000 a year taking care of their pets!)
Whoever you are…this gift was generous!!! Thank you!
#3 - God will use people like this to change the world! This gift reminded me of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in John 6:1-14. The part I always focus on in this miracle is John 6:8-9, I believe the miracle actually took place here…where a young boy gave his entire lunch and gave it to Jesus. You see, in his hands it was nothing more than a meal…but in the hands of Jesus it was a miracle. AND…because he was completely unselfish…around 15-20k people received food!
I’ve said it before…and I will say it again…God’s Kingdom’s biggest problem isn’t the evil one…it’s greedy Christians! BUT…when people overcome greed and begin to get generous…amazing things happen. Here at NewSpring Church I am so grateful for the generous giving of our people…because of it we have been able to see thousands of lives changed for Christ…and our best days are yet to come.
#4 - This is radical and extreme obedience in action. Jesus said it in Matthew 6:21, that where our treasure is…that is where our hearts will be…and this young person took a tangible step to demonstrate to the Lord that they fully belong to Him. I once heard Ron Lewis, a friend of mine, say, “Until we surrender our wallet to God–our walk with Him will always contain a limp!”
God asked this young person to cash out…and they did! That’s amazing! Question…has God ever asked you to do something amazingly generous? Do you have the courage to ask Him if He wants you to?
#5 - God changes the world with people like this! Let me say it one more time–generous givers are a key in advancing God’s Kingdom. This gift went WAY beyond a tithe! In Acts 4:36-37 we see the church growing like crazy…and Barnabas comes forward and gives an incredibly generous gift to allow the church to continue to do ministry! AMAZING!
Whoever you are–thank you! Seriously, you are fulfilling II Corinthians 8:7! And II Corinthians 9:6-15 is true…and it will be true for you!
For the person who may say, “Well yeah, this person is a teenager. They obviously have parents who will provide for their needs…so they CAN give like this. But you see…I have blah blah blah…”
Um, here’s the deal…this person probably does have earthly parents who will take care of them. BUT…the Scripture says that we have a heavenly Father who will take care of us!!! Malachi 3:10-12 is a promise from Him, will you trust Him?
I can’t say “thank you” enough to whoever you are (and to all of the generous givers around here!) God is changing lives…and all of you are part of it!