Why Can't I Ever Get Ahead

Yahoo! Finance has a great article today listing 10 reasons why you are not rich. None of these are new revelations, in fact they have been proven over time. Click through to the article at the link below and ask yourself which of the 10 do you need to work on.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105934/10-Reasons-You're-Not-Rich

Where Is the Calm Amidst the Storm?

• Last week Hurricane Ike came ashore in Texas and gas prices skyrocketed.
• On Monday, one large investment bank filed for bankruptcy and another was bought out to avoid bankruptcy.
• The stock market had the sixth largest drop in history.
  

These are stormy times. Do you wish you could find the calm in the storm. Jesus Christ offers answers and calm to the storms of your life. Luke 8:25 says. "He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

'Where is your faith?" To find calm during the storm, place your faith in Jesus Christ and he will bring peace to you.

July Report

July Report

Baptisms 6
Average Worship Attendance 1026
Average Bible Community Attendance 690

Ministry Offerings Received $115,069.00
Ministry Offerings Goal $143,076.92
Difference ($28,007.69)

Build on the Rock $20,220.60
Debt Retirement $2,400.00

Looking For Financial Help?

Are you drowning in debt? Are gas prices using up your paycheck? Do you want to give to your church, but don't know how you can afford it?

Join us for Crown Financial Ministries "Biblical Financial Study" starting on Tuesday, September 2, 2008. Together we will walk through a 10 week study and discover what the Bible says about handling money God's way.

Keep checking back soon for further details or contact me if you have any questions.

You Are A God Robber

I am away on vacation this week. While away, I am taking the liberty of using some posts from other blogs I enjoy reading and learn a lot from. This post is from Tim Stevens' Leading Smart blog.

"You Are A God Robber"

We just finished up our annual series on tithing. I hear some common "push back" statements every time we do this. These statements typically come from people who have been Christians for a long time (I'm purposely calling them "Christians" rather than "followers of Christ"...cause I think the distinction is important). Here are some of their statements, and my unfiltered response...
· "I'm in college and can't tithe right now" or "I'm on a fixed income and can't tithe" or "I'm a single parent and can't tithe right now." This is typically followed by, "When I'm making more money I'll begin tithing." No, you won't. It's a heart issue, not a money issue. You aren't tithing now because you don't trust God. You don't think God can meet your needs if you begin to honor him with your money. You want to maintain control.
· "It is so hard to tithe on my limited income." Anyone who has lived a portion of their life with very little money, and another portion of their life with ample amounts of money--will tell you that it is much harder to tithe when you have lots of money rather than just a little. Money has a way of getting entangled in your values as it increases and materialism is the fastest growing cell in your heart. Start when you have nothing and see what God does in your heart and through your life.
· "I'm really tired of this church talking about tithing." In 22 years of ministry, I've never once heard a tithing person complain that we are talking about tithing. Those who tithe have experienced the blessing of God and the freedom that comes with obeying God, and they want others to have that same experience. Whenever someone tells me they are tired of the church talking about money, it's like they have a flashing LED sign on their head that says, "I rob God!" Really, you should just lay low and go stealth. Quit advertising your hard heart.
· "If I won the lottery and got $10 million dollars, I would give $1 million to my church." No you wouldn't. If you aren't giving God 10% of your income now, there's not a chance in the world you would give 10% if you struck it rich. You are a God-robber, and God-robbers don't suddenly get generous when they get rich.
· "I've made some bad financial choices and can't tithe until I get back on track." I love your honesty. So get back on track. Sell your house. Downsize. Get in a financial education class. Drive an old beater. Live on beans and weenies. And do everything you can to get back on track and tithing so you can get in the flow of God's blessing!
· "I don't tithe to my church cause I'm not sure I trust all the decisions they make with the money." Then find a church where you trust the leaders. Not a church where you agree with every decision they make, but a church where you can believe God to work through the leadership that is in place. Quit sucking off the things you like about the church while withholding your tithe or sending it somewhere else.

I'm praying that the families of Granger will get serious this week about honoring God with their finances. When they do, I can't wait to see what God does in our community through their faith.



I too pray that the families of Alice Drive Batist Church get serious about honoring God with their finances.

Money Saving Tips

A friend of mine recently pointed me towards a shopping site called ebates.com. This is a shopping site with hundreds of online stores through which you can do your shopping. The benefit of joining this site is that almost every purchase you make is subject to a money back discount. When you shop at the various stores, a percentage of your purchase is credited to your account and rebated to you once a quarter. Membership on the site is free.

This is a great way to get money back on items that you purchase regularly and for one-time purchases. If you are comfortable shopping online, go for it. There are many commodity items which can be purchased and shipped directly to your home. Some of the benefits I can see by shopping through ebates are:

• money back on every purchase
• a selection of hundreds of stores to compare prices from
• the ability to set up favorites at the stores to speed up future purchases
• by shopping online, you resist the temptation of seeing must have items on the shelves and being tempted by sales clerks
• shopping online is usually much quicker than driving to the store and making the purchase in person

When making these purchases, look for free shipping offers. Many online retailers offer free shipping for first time shoppers or free shipping for purchases over a minimum amount (usually $25). Also, if you use your credit card, be sure you pay off the balance each month.

With a little planning you can save time, reduce temptation and save a little money by doing your shopping online. Give ebates a try and let me know what you think.

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.

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.

Journey to Financial Freedom

We are hosting Crown Financial Ministries "Journey to Financial Freedom" seminar today at Alice Drive Baptist Church. Attendance is over what we anticipated. A lot of prayer has gone into preparing for today's event. The attendance itself is an answer to prayer. We had hoped for 50 people and at last count we had 131. There is a tremendous need for educating people in handling finances the way God intended. He does have a plan for our finances. Money and greed are powerful lures in our daily lives. To be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we need to turn every area of our lives over to Him - including our money.

If you are seeking an answer to the chaos of your finances and you were not able to attend today's seminar, come to Alice Drive Baptist Church on Wednesday nights beginning 1/30/08 at 6:00 PM in room 201 for the Crown Small Group Study.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Matthew 6:24).

Money Management Tools

As you begin to develop and live by a budget it is necessary for you to keep track of your spending and income in an organized fashion. There are many tools available to set up your budget. Keeping your budget on paper is one option. However, I would recommend trying an electronic budgeting system. There are many great products on the market which cost anywhere from $19.99 on up. One great product I personally use is Ace Money Light. It is a freeware program. You can download and use the program for free. It offers the same features as many of the programs you can buy. The one option the free version does not offer is the ability to track more than one bank account. If that is a feature you need, the full-featured version only cost $30.

This is a powerful, full-featured program that is user friendly and easy to set up.

If you personally use another program that you would like to recommend, send me a comment and I will check it out and put a link on the page for others to see.

Money Management Resources

As mentioned in some earlier posts, January is a time when we seek to set down new habits and practices in our lives. One of the biggest areas focused on in a new year is in the area of our finances. There are lots of great resources to help you plan your finances and get that area of your life under control. When looking for which book, advisor or program to begin, always check out what source their focus comes from. God has a plan for our finances and when we manage our money according to His principles, we will find contentment joy and peace otherwise unknown to us.

The following are some great Biblically based programs and websites:

www.crown.org
www.generousgiving.org
www.daveramsey.com
www.scbaptist.org