 |  Good stewardship of the unending source.
Fall 2002
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Financial First Aid
A Leadership symposium
October 1, 2002
Some 60 percent of Americans spend more annually than their income, according to Newsweek (4/27/01). U.S. consumers are a combined $7.3 trillion in debt.
Credit cards, unpaid bills, bankruptcy, and stress over financial mismanagement directly affect churches. And not just by lowering giving. Poor stewardship hurts the body financially, emotionally, and spiritually.
How can churches help relieve that burden? Here's what five churches are doing.
Making Sense of Mammon
Money is a deeply spiritual issue, and lasting change must occur from the inside out.
Good Sense is a year-round ministry with three components—teaching, training, and a support system built of both small group and one-on-one counsel. We help people understand that materialism and Christianity are both theologies that vie for their allegiance. While materialism's highest value is possession, Christianity stresses stewardship of God's possessions. The foundational principle is that we do not own our "stuff," but rather God entrusts it to us to serve as his trustees.
Our goal is not just reordering people's finances. Our goal is spiritual renewal as people are released from the demands of materialism to the blessings of godly stewardship. That goal is for everyone, not just people in financial difficulty.
After accepting Christ, Charlie was told the budget course should be the next step in his Christian walk. Charlie was insulted! He was a successful, certified financial planner. But in obedience, Charlie went.
He and wife began tracking their spending for the first time and were appalled at how much they spent on unimportant things. In time, they readjusted their spending to allow Charlie's wife to leave her high-pressure job downtown and begin working for a Christian ...
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