Do More Ministry: Personal Money Management Archives

November 6, 2009

Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry - Part ONE

Part One: People Are Hurting

Job losses, pay cuts, and massive home price deflation has been felt across the nation. Those who have had 401(k)'s have seen them reduced to 201(k)'s. People are hurting. Statistics show that over 70 percent of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. From surveys conducted in the Financial Learning Experiences our team teaches, we have learned that 24 percent are already behind on at least one bill.

We are called to help the hurting and broken. A debt ministry will help equip people with biblical principles and practical tools so that they can gain traction in their financial journey and honor Him with 100 percent of their money! It is a practical way that church leaders can serve their church and community.

People are hurting. They are asking questions. The Bible has the answers.

The I Was Broke. Now I'm Not. team is passionate about helping others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible. We provide full personal finance ministry solutions including development of money messages, speaking on Sundays, teaching live personal finance workshops (2-hour Financial Learning Experience; 6-hour Financial Freedom Experience), and training financial counselors on-site (Financial Counseling Experience). We also provide books and group studies, including Joe's book, I Was Broke. Now I'm Not. and its related six-week group study. For more information, contact their team HERE.

Learn more about Joe Sangl.

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November 5, 2009

Guest post series from Joe Sangl (@jsangl) begins TOMORROW

I'm really excited to announce that tomorrow begins a new guest blog post series from my friend and fellow Kingdom Crusader Joe Sangl, founder of I Was Broke. Now I'm Not.

I've asked him to give pastors and church leaders...

5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry

(Do you REALLY need to be convinced of the need? Amazingly...too many pastors still don't GET IT!)

Just in case you're still "on the fence" about the potential ministry opportunity involved in starting an ongoing debt ministry, here is a sneak peak at his five reasons:

1. People are hurting
2. The Bible
3. Broke people cannot give (share the numbers if people were debt-free)
4. Schools are not teaching it
5. Evangelistic opportunity
BONUS!: What does a full-functioning debt ministry look like? BONUS

I am so excited about this series! Joe is passionate about helping people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances. He believes that when people are financially free, they are much more likely to do exactly what they have been called to do - regardless of the income potential.

With that intro...

see you tomorrow...and the next day...and the next day.

You don't want to miss this!!!

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September 18, 2009

Education for Ministry: Mobilize Your Membership for Ministry

You've never seen offering envelopes like these!

We are launching new collection of offering envelopes called Education for Ministry. The idea is to create a multi-purpose offering envelope that serves as a critical systematic giving tool as well as an educational piece that reinforces core Christian education goals your church is already teaching. We want to partner with you to help you mobilize your membership for ministry to the person in the pew.

More information about this collection will be coming soon. I wanted the Do More Ministry readers to read this first.

1. Cooperative Program "Every Number Has a Story" Series. Available Now!

This series provide a pew strategy to reseed the conversation about the Cooperative Program by quantifying its impact using the Executive Committee's "Every Number Has a Story" Campaign. This is a three year emphasis and clearly communicates the measurable acts of ministry being accomplished through Southern Baptist cooperative missions efforts.

FREE Supplemental Offertory Moments available here.

2. SPLASH Personal Evangelism Series. Available Now!

This series is based on SPLASH by Dr. Ken Hemphill, an innovative evangelism training resource that has sold more than 20k copies over the last year. Dr. Hemphill crafted 52 applications and associated them with 52 key ideas from Scripture or the SPLASH book. This series provides the church the ability to reinforce the concepts and practices surrounding the subject of the how and why we share our faith with others.

(Note: This stand-alone series can be used by the church whether or not the church decides to use the SPLASH study itself.)

3. Personal Money Management Series. Coming Soon!

This series is based on the book "I Was Broke. Now I'm Not." by Joe Sangl which empowers individuals to deal personal debt and develop a biblical view of money. 52 practical suggestions related to personal money management will be associated with 52 Scriptures or key ideas from the book. This book also, like Dr. Hemphill's SPLASH, has a small group study option and has been geared toward churches. This makes it easy for the church to teach good money management habits while at the same time reinforcing the need for Christians to faithfully offer their tithes and offerings to support the ministry of the local church.

4. Read through the Bible Challenge Series. Available Now!

This series provides an offering envelope that outlines a daily reading plan for the church member to follow each week. Each offering envelope will have daily reading suggestions as well as identify a key verse to focus on or memorize. The daily reading will be printed with check boxes. Ideally, the church member will keep this in their Bible as a bookmark, and then will turn in their completed offering envelope during the weekly Worship service. This series will be available in King James Version (KJV) and HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) formats.

The Education for Ministry Collection represents months of feedback from church leaders looking for creative ways to educate and empower Christians for ministry. Further, it is an attempt to partner with the local church to help accomplish existing Christian educational goals. Each of these series represents an opportunity to provide a renewed emphasis on cooperative missions, personal evangelism, biblical money management, and daily Bible reading.

We hope you find this new collection of offering envelopes helpful as you seek to mobilize your membership for ministry!

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July 27, 2009

God Pie

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July 24, 2009

The Money Rant

Thanks to Bill Townes, church money management consultant with the North American Mission Board, for sending this to me.

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June 18, 2009

Guest Post: The Silent Middle - Planting seeds

With times being economically lean right now, it seems home gardens are on the rise. More Americans are inspired to get their hands dirty as they plant seeds in their backyards with the hopes of growing fresh food and saving money.

I often tell my husband that we are also in a season of planting seeds - not physically, but financially. Even though we have limited resources at the moment, we seem to have unlimited ways in which we would like to spend our money. I'm sure many in "The Silent Middle" can relate. Even though you may be free from consumer debt and credit card payments, your car could use new brakes or your house could have more insulation. Your local furniture store is having a sale and you'd really like a new coffee table. And that long weekend at the beach really seems to be calling your name.

None of these ways to spend money are necessarily bad, but considering where we are economically, what is the best way to spend our paychecks, for those who still have them? My husband and I are trying to spend money by planting seeds. We continue to invest in our retirement fund, trusting God as we plant seeds for our future. Instead of buying a new coffee table, we chose instead to put that money in savings, planting seeds of savings in case an emergency comes up.

My husband has his own business and opportunities seem to appear every week that might be good investments. Praying through each opportunity, we select a few to invest in, planting seeds in businesses that may temporarily reduce some of our cash flow, but God-willing, will result in future income.

But we don't just want to plant seeds for our future here on earth. We in "The Silent Middle" need to plant seeds for our eternal future - through giving. Giving may not necessarily provide more income right now or enable us to retire, but giving does plant seeds for God's glory as we use the resources He has entrusted to us to further His name and help those in need.

With so many people hurting, right now is an incredible opportunity to plant seeds of love through giving. And here's a news flash - even if you save all of your pennies and one day have what seems like unlimited resources, there will always be unlimited ways to spend those resources. Go ahead and start learning today how to intentionally choose to plant seeds with your spending and giving. The fruit that will result will be greater than you ever imagined.

Jenny Wingard is passionate about God, local church ministry, and giving. She can be reached via Twitter or e-mail.

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May 8, 2009

Looking for some good ideas on saving money

Joe Sangl is on a crusade to empower churches to implement the ministry of money in their churches, specifically helping churches help others with issues surrounding personal money management. He is incredibly passionate on the subject and is doing a fantastic job. (You should check out his book I Was Broke. Now I'm Not. and companion small group study.)

He recently requested creative ideas on saving money. I want to echo his request and encourage you to respond.

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April 20, 2009

Pastor's Today highlights important articles on church and money

Pastor's Today e-newsletter highlights some important articles related to church and money in this week's issue. If you haven't signed up to receive this e-newsletter, you should consider doing so.

LifeWay Research finds economy challenging churches but providing opportunities
15 Ways to Increase Your Church's Offerings
Keys for Overcoming Your Church's Financial Crisis
Five Ways to Prevent Conflict over Church Finances
How to Establish Financial Policies for Your Church
Overcoming Four Coming Church Financial Firestorms
How to Establish Financial Review Practices for Your Church
5 Ways Your Church Can Help Individuals during Hard Financial Times
Church Financial Health Can Reduce Skepticism and Cynicism in an Older Church

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April 15, 2009

More than 80,000 copies of New Testament distributed to date

It's always exciting to see something evolve from an idea into a success. It's gets even better when you get to play a part in the process.

Ashley Clayton with the Executive Committee of the SBC, Phill Burgess with Holman Bible Outreach, and I teamed together to create the It's A New Day New Testament. Our hope was that churches would use this Bible in their efforts to address the spiritual dimension of personal debt.

All of this took place nearly one year before the economy began spiraling out of control.

The front of this New Testament includes 30 days of devotions prepared by Crown Financial Ministries. The idea was that this would be a tool that connected stewardship with Scripture and offered an entire congregation who committed to participate in the It's A New Day program a plan for studying the same Scripture every day for 30 days. Each Sunday the pastor prepares a themed message that is supplemented with supporting Sunday School or small group material.

To date, more than 80,000 copies have been distributed.

I'm grateful for how God is using this tool through the ministry of the local church to impact people's lives as they gain a biblical understanding of personal money management and achieve financial freedom. My prayer is that, ultimately, churches will use this emphasis to talk about eternal freedom too.

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March 30, 2009

Andy Stanley on money

Personal money management is not the primary focus of this blog, but I have to share this video that Generous News posted last week. It's the first in his sermon series "Balanced" where Andy approaches the competition God faces in our lives because of our obsession with money and stuff.

Andy Stanley challenges those in attendance to be "know'in where your money is "go'in" because that's where your heart (i.e. treasure) is.

Extremely practical. Very compelling.

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January 21, 2009

Teaching our children about money

What are we teaching our children about money? Whether we are talking about it or not, they are listening and watching and forming their first ideas and behaviors about money from us.

What are we telling them by our words and our actions?

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January 15, 2009

Ashley Clayton reflects on SBC and overseas missions giving

(Note: Ashley Clayton is leading a stewardship revolution in the Southern Baptist Convention by equipping churches and church members to deal with debt. Read other posts related to Ashley Clayton here.)

The most recent Empty Tomb report presents exhaustive survey results from 100,000 churches, one third of all congregations in America, representing 34 denominations. The report reflects The State of Church Giving through 2006.

Southern Baptist giving ranks first in dollars...but 19th in percentage of church revenue
Southern Baptists were one of 34 denominations reporting. The total overseas missions giving, by the national offices for all denominations, topped $700 million dollars. Interestingly, the SBC overseas missions giving made up more than one third of total dollars given by all denominations reporting. The SBC gave $270 million dollars to overseas missions through Lottie Moon Christmas offerings and Cooperative Program (www.sbc.net) contributions.

No doubt, the dollars given to overseas missions by the SBC clearly are significant, but when you look at the overseas missions dollars as a percentage of total church revenue, the SBC is in the bottom half of all denominations surveyed. The Empty Tomb tables show Southern Baptists gave 2.4% of total church revenue, which topped more than $11 billion dollars, to overseas missions. This ranks the SBC 19th out of 34 denominations reporting in percentage of total church revenue given to overseas missions.

There's more to this story for Southern Baptists
What the Empty Tomb report does not reflect are dollars given directly to overseas missions by individual congregations. Many SBC churches implement missions projects that are participant funded ventures, paid for by church members going "on mission" building churches, providing medical and technical services and etc. The Empty Tomb report does not include the missions dollars which are part of the ongoing church budget, dollars dedicated to missions apart from Lottie Moon and CP giving.

The Good News
Southern Baptist churches uniformly support overseas missions, as well as state and national missions, through Cooperative Program (CP) contributions. Church CP contributions, processed through state conventions, where on average 60% of the CP dollars remain in the state, exceeded $500 million for 2007 -'08. That means upwards of $210 million dollars reached the SBC Executive Committee, where using a funding formula approved by the convention at large, 50% of every dollar was given to the International Mission Board. The remaining CP dollars at the national level, again directed by the approved funding formula, support six SBC seminaries, ERLC, NAMB and the Executive Committee ministry assignments, including It's A New Day For Financial Freedom, CP Development, Baptist Press, Convention Relations and the Executive Committee.

When I step back and consider the good work that we as Southern Baptists are doing (even if there is room to do more), I'm overwhelmed and grateful for the faithful giving of our people and the generosity our churches.

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December 29, 2008

Era of easy money ends for churches too

Churches who borrowed money to buy and build bigger buildings are finding themselves in some very difficult situations these days.

What does it say about a church who is forced to seek bankruptcy protection because they can no longer afford the building payments? Do you think it has any impact - positive or negative - on credibility or reputation? Will this current recession have implications on church building projects in the future?

Personally, I think it could be a wonderful opportunity to publiclly admit the mistake of taking on too much debt, demonstrate your plan for recovery and invite people to rebuild their lives (including financial habits) as the church recovers too.

Your thoughts?

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December 22, 2008

7 member family lives debt free on $44k income

Generous News points to "America's Cheapest Family" as they have been tagged. Their ability to survive and thrive on $44k is absolutely unbelievable, so unbelieve you might be inclined to discount its authenticity. But it's true. Wow!

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December 15, 2008

End of year giving projections

How do you expect your church to end the year? The first Sunday in December is typically a big week, perhaps even the strongest, for monthly donations. You should have a good idea where you'll end up.

If you're not on par to make budget, you might want to consider how well you're tying the needs of church members and community with the ministry of your church. Organizations that are doing this well stand the best chance to maintain or increase giving during this economic crisis.

From Holiday-Giving Update: Social-Services Groups See a Surge, But Most Groups Face Big Slowdown in Donations:

...Charities that provide the very poor with food, shelter, and basic services say donors are responding because the bad economy has enabled them to make the case that demand for such services is increasing rapidly.

The fact that some organizations are seeing increases in giving proves that Americans have not stopped giving. Rather, they are being more intentional about who they give their money to.

If giving is down and you expect to come in under budget, you should consider evaluating how well you're communicating and demonstrating your ability to use donations to measurably meet the needs of the people in your church and community. It may be time to shift some of your ministry priorities to focus more on meeting human needs of food, clothing and shelter or even providing job skills training, GED programs, career planning and financial education and counseling.

How's your giving? What's your plan?

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December 10, 2008

Pastor's Podcast: One pastor sees debt as ministry opportunity

The response to the first Pastor's Podcast was great, so we decided to do it again.

I mentioned the subject of the second Pastor's Podcast in FREE personal money management tools from Joe Sangl.

The church has been handed a great platform to connect again with the culture and eliminate forever the criticism of being irrelevant and not practical for everyday living. And Joe has taken this opportunity and is leading a crusade from WITHIN the church to offer people in the pews of his church and who live in his community the opportunity to win with money - just like he did.

Pastor, if you don't have a strategy for dealing with debt personally and corporately, this will be one podcast that you won't want to miss.

To view the eMediaLink MP3 Player you will need to have Javascript turned on and have Flash Player 9 or better installed.

What makes Joe's ministry different from so many other personal money managers is that the work and ministry of the Church as a corporate body is at the center of everything he does. He's interested in helping individuals connect with Jesus and the Church through personal money management. That means what he is doing is reproducible in your church too.

Maybe you can't afford to have a "Joe Sangl" on your church staff. That's fine (and shouldn't be an excuse for not addressing this need.) I know you have lay people in your church who have won with money. I do, and I've empowered them to develop and lead what is quickly becoming one of our most successful church ministries as we seek to offer financial and spiritual transformation through a strategic approach to Biblical money management.

The easiest way to get your own copy of Joe's book, I Was Broke, Now I'm Not, and preview other materials for your church is to visit the resource page on his Web site.

I have one request: I need your help. The only way this will help pastors is if they know that this podcast exists. Please distribute a link to this podcast to all the pastors you know. The quicker we can provide practical lifelines to our pastors the better equipped they will be to be the spritiual leader God has called them to be.

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December 9, 2008

FREE personal money management tools from Joe Sangl

I recently finished our second Pastor's Podcast with Joe Sangl, author of "I Was Broke, Now I'm Not" and Pastor of Financial Planning and Counseling at NewSpring Church in South Carolina.

I knew after I read the book that I would have to sit down with Joe again. While I was browsing his Web site, I found a collection of FREE! personal money management tools.

I'd bookmark this page and visit it often. I especially like the Pay Off Spectacular and the Savings Spectacular that prove accomplishing your personal finance goals are more about discipline than desire.

The latest podcast will be up soon. (The last one answered the question, "How can pastors lead their church through tough economic times?")

In the meantime, play around with these tools. You'll learn a lot.

P.S. Pastor, you should consider linking to this page from your church's Web site. The practical value will capture the attention of your Web visitors and will give a reason for your members to refer their friends to your Web site too.

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December 1, 2008

Ashley Clayton points pastors to personal financial solutions

Ashley Clayton, personal money management expert and leader of the latest Executive Committee initative to address the debt of churches, church leaders and church members, believes that personal debt - not faith - may be the biggest obstacle for American Christians today.

In a recent post, Ashley points pastors to sermon resources on the subject of personal financial management from Rick Warren, a pastor who needs no introduction.

In a time when the reports about the economy seem to get worse as the days go by, it's important that people here their pastor talk about a Biblical perspective on money. This may be one of the greatest opportunities for Christians to build bridges with a lost world and demonstrate another perspective on debt.

Read other posts about Ashley Clayon:
New podcast for pastors on leading churches in tough times
Consider stewardship for your next evangelism emphasis
Ashley Clayton and Ken Hemphill on Stewardship
Ashley Clayton on Stewardship and the SBC, Part 1
Ashley Clayton on Stewardship and the SBC, Part 2
It's A New Day

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