Free Service

The small expenses we incur everyday add up to be BIG expenses. These can quickly bust your budget. Each time you spend a dollar here and two dollars there it seems like a small thing but over the course of a month it adds up to real money.

Google now offers a 411 service for looking up phone numbers instead of dialing the traditional 411. This is a great service that gives the same features as the for-pay services. Save the number in your cellphone or add it to your speed dial and each time you need to look up a number you will be saving money. Remember each small amount you save adds up to be real money over time.

Click here to go to the Google411 page and get started saving today!
Google411

It Just Makes Sense

Tim Stevens has a great entry on his blog Leading Smart. In the article Tim gives some great tips on handling your money and teaching your children how to handle money. Click on the above title and head over to Tim's blog to read more.

Spiritual Disciplines

In January we went through a four week series called FISH - First Improve Spiritual Health. During this time we learned the importance of personal daily Bible study with over 300 people committing to read the Bible through in a year, we learned the importance of praying daily, we learned the importance of giving and we learned the importance of serving. Through practicing each of these disciplines we grow to be disciples more like Christ. Reading the Bible gives us knowledge, prayer gives us communication with God, giving helps breaks the greed within us and through serving others we are giving of our selves to do things for others in the name of Jesus with no strings attached.

Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, says that "God has ordained the Disciplines of the spiritual life as the means by which we place ourselves where He can bless us." If you haven't started reading your Bible, praying, giving or serving there is no time like the present. Jump in and see what God does in your life. You will not be disappointed.

Investment Returns

If you have ever wondered what return you get for giving your offering each week, the payoff was seen today at Alice Drive Baptist Church. This morning we baptized five young people and another made a decision to follow Christ in the second service. These 6 lives have been changed for eternity. Thank you for being a church that gets it!

Go Share

Alice Drive Baptist Church exists to help as many people as possible take their next step toward Jesus Christ. We do this by helping then Know Jesus, Know Community, Grow Character and Go Share.

On Sunday, February 17, 2008, a sister church in our community was destroyed by fire. While the church building is no longer standing, the church - Hillcrest Baptist Church - is still alive. They are going to rebuild.

During the morning service Sunday a challenge was issued to our people to give an over and above offering to help Hillcrest rebuild. The people of ADBC responded, together we gave over $5,400.00.

Thank you for being a church that is willing to Go Share the resources that God has blessed you with to help the Kingdom go forward.

More Than Enough

My Bible reading for the day was from Exodus 35 and 36. This passage tells of the building of the tabernacle. Moses instructed the Israelites to bring an offering to the Lord for the building of the tabernacle. These items would be used by the skilled craftsmen to do the work. The Israelites brought jewels, wood, silver, gold and other items as their offering to the Lord. In verse 5 the craftsmen tell Moses, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded." In the following verses Moses actaully has to tell the Israelites to stop making their offerings as they already had "...more than enough to do all the work."

When was the last time your church had "more than enough to do all the work?"

Unfortunately, today's churches have difficulty scraping together enough money, volunteers, leaders and supplies to do many of the ministries God has called them to do. Just as the Israelites, we have in our possession the resources and the time to do the ministry God has called us to do. The problem is we are not willing to surrender ourselves to God to do the ministry.

If you are holding back from God, it is gut check time. When the offering is taken, give and give generously, when a need for volunteers arises, volunteer your time, when there is a need for other resources that you have, offer them.

What a testimony it would be to the world if the church had to tell its people to stop because we "have more than enough."

Answered Prayer

Have you ever gone to God with an issue, problem or burden? Sometimes the answers are immediate, sometimes they take awhile to become evident.

Recently I had a burden on my heart for which I needed God's guidance. I sought the advice of a few people whom I trust. I asked them to for their advice and for their prayers. In a very short time, I began to hear answers from each of them. I was still being ignorant of what was going on around me and was continuing to ask God for answers. Then all at once, someone told me to "get over it." At that moment I knew that God was giving me the answer through this person. I suddenly felt peace like I had not known for quiet some time.

Often we are asking God for guidance and we are so set on the answer that we miss it when we get it. The answer God gave me was not what I was expecting so I was overlooking it.

The lesson I have learned through this time is to seek God's guidance through prayer and scripture and to seek the guidance of a few people who you know will pray with you and give Godly advice and finally, keep your eyes open for whatever answer God gives. It may come from the most unexpected person and it may be what you least expect, but it is God's answer.

Time Management

Part of bringing order to your life is learning how to manage your time. If you can master the art of managing your time more effectively, you can gain time to pursue other things or even get the much needed rest you haven't had time for. I recently ran across a book at Barnes and Noble which had some excellent tips on personal time management and organization. It is an easy read. It only takes about two hours to read the book and it comes with very practical realistic things you can do to immediately improve your time management skills. The book is titled 151 Quick Ideas To Manage Your Time. If this is an area you need to work on, I highly recommend this book.

Quotes

"Success is a journey, not a destination."
Ben Sweetland

Credit Reports

Obtain your free credit report from each of the credit reporting agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com. You can obtain one free credit report from each of the three credit agencies each year. To give yourself all year monitoring, run a report from a different agency every 4 months. By doing this, you can see all the activity on your credit report spread throughout the year and monitor any incorrect information or fraudulent activity. Keeping a clean and correct credit report is vital to managing your finances. This is one easy, free step you can take as you continue to get your financial affairs in order.

Money Saving Tips

Everyday our mailboxes are filled with unsolicited catalogs and credit offers. If shopping is a temptation, these can be dangerous for you to receive. Each time you look at a new catalog, you picture yourself wearing that outfit or using that new gadget. At that point you are hooked and the temptation moves you into action - and further into debt. Even if catalogs and credit offers are not a temptation for you, then the receipt of all this mail is a waste. Paper is wasted, trees are cut down, postage is wasted - which causes overall prices to go up and you have a pile of clutter in your house. If you have a desire to simplfy your life and get your spending under control, the following two articles give some great practical tips on moving in that direction. These articles point you towards some agencies which will allow you to opt out of receivieing these offers. By doing this, you are resisting the urge to shop, saving yourself some money and being a good steward of the resources God has given us. Check out these links and in just a few steps you will be on your way!

http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/toptenoptout.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22918522/