more about Minding the Business

I'm grateful for all the positive response to the new sermon series and can't wait for next weekend....but I already know I can't cover it all, so here's some thoughts that I won't have time to discuss in the sermon, but that you might find helpful for your financial health, starting with a pithy quote from Benjamin Franklin:

“But ah! Think what you do when you run into debt; you give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay on time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will make poor, pitiful sneaking excuses, and by degrees, come to lose your veracity, and sink into base, down-right lying…” --Poor Richard’s Almanac’, Ben Franklin, 1732

• Debt presumes on the future. We presume there will be no pay cuts, no loss of job, and no unexpected expenses. That’s an improbable assumption (Prov 27:1).
• Debt lowers future standards of living. Money borrowed today must be repaid over time along with the interest, meaning everything actually cost us more when we pay “tomorrow”
• Debt focuses on façade decisions rather than real-life decisions. Debt encourages decisions based on the monthly payment, rather than the actual total cost
• Debt leaves people at the mercy of the power of compound interest. If you pay the minimum payment on a $1,000 debt at 19.8% and never charge anything else, it will take 8 yrs to pay back $1,000 and you’ll pay $2,023 for the ‘privilege’ of charging that original $1,000. Think what that did to the original purchase price!
• Debt could delay God’s plan. God said He would provide; credit cards allow needs to be met now, instant gratification., rather than waiting on God’s plan.
• Debt clouds the line that separates wants, desires, and needs. Needs are necessary purchases; wants involve choices about quality. Debt allows desires to become wants and wants to become needs.
• Debt encourages impulse buying and overspending. We spend 25-30% more when we charge than when we pay w/check or cash.
• Debt stifles resourcefulness. Mending clothing, resoling shoes, and changing oil—in order to save money is no longer relevant.
• Debt eliminates family financial planning because the course for our financial future already been set: we must pay the debt that has accumulated.
• Debt teaches our children that the world’s method of managing money is normal. This gives them a casual regard for credit cards, obtaining loans, and keeping their vows to pay bills. Now kids can graduate college by borrowing for their education and living to their credit card limits. They never consider paying cash for car; etc; instead, they begin life as an adult with so much debt!

I'll have more to say about all of this and more this weekend when we learn to "Act Your Wage".

what every pastor needs to remember...

Well, the First Love Conference ended Monday night, but it's impact is certainly lingering...in fact, I'm hoping we never get over it! (You really had to be here to know what I mean, but each of our guests was just 'off-the-charts'!)

The Word of the Lord that 'came' to me was Luke 18:27 where Jesus said the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. That word really did come to me in such a real way that I recognized that, as a pastor, I had accepted the first half of the verse in recent years. That is, I have come to accept that some things are just, well, impossible.

For instance, I'd think about CLC's debt, and think, "we just can't pay that off soon - we'll have to postpone any plans to build again". Or I'd look at the crowded attendances and know that we really need to move to a larger campus, but then I'd think, "that would cost us multiple millions of dollars, and we just don't have it". Now, all of that is true -- it is impossible for men -- but I was completely overlooking the rest of the verse -- it is possible with God!

I know it probably seems strange that a pastor would forget about faith, but they say 'confession is good for the soul', so here I am: I had forgotten about faith! At least, I wasn't practicing faith when it seemed like the challenge was impossible. But I heard this time, and I believe God is challenging me and our pastoral staff, and all of CLC to believe Him for those "faith-risks" that He's talking to us about, and NOT to be deterred if they look impossible to us!

I'm indebted to one of my new heroes, Craig Groeschel who wrote these words in one of his latest blogs:

Someone said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

God wants to do more in you and through you than you can imagine.

In Chazown, I quoted one of my favorite prayers. Sir Francis Drake is credited with this prayer from 1577.

“Disturb us, Lord, When we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.”

Are you ready to dream bigger with me?

anticipating the First Love Conf.....

Well, the fast is over and we're ready to begin our annual 'First Love Conference'. The one thing I heard from the Lord during the fast was Genesis 15:1 which says the word of the Lord came to Abraham. I have such a sense that this will be happening over the next few days - as we worship, as we linger in His presence, and as we receive teaching from Pastor Gordon Banks and Bishop Joseph Garlington, I believe the Word will come to us! Then we can receive it personally and obtain strength, challenge, encouragement, healing, etc. - be it all starts when the Word comes to us - so let's come expecting not just Bible teaching or church services, but a Word from God directed to us!

lots of benefits to fasting...

Well, I knew this fast was going to be good for us (and me!), but I guess I didn't anticipate some extra-benefits. When I stepped on the scale this morning, I was below the 200 mark for the first time in over 12 years, and I suspect it has a lot more to do with this fast than my Bally's routine. I also had a heightened sense of the Lord's presence in my prayer time this morning. Hope it's going well for you, too - and that all of us at CLC experience multiple breakthroughs as a result of this time of consecration before the 1st Love Conference!

Faith-risks & Lion-Chasing in 2007

Several of you have already commented about this past weekend's message, and especially the final point that God wants each of us to "take some faith-risks in this new year". As I mentioned, some of the inspiration for that came from a great new book I've already written about here, "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Pastor Mark Batterson.

Today I read Mark's 2007 Manifesto for his own congregation and it's so good I had to pass it along to all of you - read it slowly; enjoy it thoroughly; live it courageously:

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Grab life by the mane. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!

out with the old, in with the new...

Yesterday was a wonderful close to 2006 - both in the morning services and the wonderful touch of the Holy Spirit upon all of us gathered at the front of CLC to express our desire for recommitment and renewal, and especially last night in our annual Watchnight service to bring in the New Year. This was one time you really had to be here to experience it for yourself!

I have no interests in New Year's resolutions, but I really do sense something different personally for 2007 - and I'm determined to live better and lead better than I ever have before.
That will require some very real internal changes - some areas of negativity in my life that have been handed down generationally - but I'm determined that this is the year it changes!

I've even devised a little 'game' with Chris to help me break those negative habits, and it's gonna cost me every time I fall back into familiar patterns, so I'm motivated.

How about you? Can I challenge you to make some needed changes in your life this year? Don't let your past determine your future! It's gonna be a good year!!!