I Was Broke...

As I pray and work through what God would have me to do in ministry and for the next series of talks, God seemed to keep pulling me toward the topic of finances. Some of it born out of my own frustration over money and others from those in my church who have shared some concerns. Money is certainly one of those areas of life that can keep you discouraged!

It can also destroy relationships. Larry Burkett used to say that he could save 70% of marriages by just helping them with their finances. I believe that to be true! He was a very wise financial adviser who was the first to talk about the 10/10/80 plan. He encouraged families to tithe 10% to their churches, save 10% for self and live on 80%.

We have been using the financial advise of Joe Sangl for our series and I really appreciate his premise for becoming financially free. He presses people to truly be financially free so they can "give to the things they are most passionate about." I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to give more to something but had my finances so stretched that I could not be a help or blessing to anyone! I was always plagued with "if I give this, we won't be able to cover this bill." I HATE living there and do not want to live that close to the edge.

On Sunday we talked about the premises of how we would work through this series. The premises are these:

• God is our provider and everything belongs to Him! When we start there, any amount we could/would make is because He has blessed us with the job or the resources we have.
• God wants us to plan and use our money/resources wisely as good stewards of what He has entrusted to us.
• We reap what we sow. When we use money correctly, we see it reap benefits or have savings we can use. When we use money unwisely or incorrectly, we reap the consequences of those decisions and always find ourselves running out of money or nothing left to spare.
• It is more blessed to give than receive! It is always great to give gifts. That is usually the benefit of doing the wise thing with our funds. When we are able to give and give more, we are being blessed and in a place for God to bless us again. You cannot out-give God!

Working from these principles, we are hoping to see God work with and through our church and help others in our community. We had 2 visitors this weekend at Burlington Community Church and look forward to others coming. We also want to see our church get to the point where we are able to do more. Those faithful attenders are also faithful givers, but how much greater this could be if tithing were routine and God blessing because of wise use of funds!

Money, are you needing help with handling it? Hope you will join us or respond to this if I can help...