I did not realize what would happen as a result of our sermon on giving yesterday.
A little background for you who were not there: During Lent I am preaching a series on the spiritual disciplines. The first week in Lent the sermon was on Bible reading and study. Subsequent weeks were on prayer and worship. Yesterday the sermon was on giving and the biblical standard of giving 10% of our income, or the tithe.
At the end of the sermon I said that many of us are not able to tithe because of the debt in which we have placed ourselves. I have taught my children that if they give God 10%, save 10%, live on the other 80% and do not borrow money, they will not only never have financial problems - they will be rich.
I have been inundated with requests by church members to meet regarding their personal finances. I am not a financial expert by any means. However, I can refer you to two programs that we use at McEachern and that I endorse wholeheartedly.
The first is Crown Financial Ministries. You can find more information about them here.
The second is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. If you are in debt up to your eyeballs, need help setting up a budget, and want to be inspired by others who have done what you feel you can never do, this is the website for you. I am a big Dave Ramsey fan. We will be offering his Financial Peace University here at McEachern starting in the fall. You can start now by following his baby steps and listening to him on 640 WGST from 3-7 p.m. on weekdays.
Most of all, I want our congregation to find real financial peace. It does not come from following our culture's way of going into debt to buy "stuff". It comes from what John Wesley instilled in the early Methodists: "make all you can, save all you can, so you can give all you can". That's true peace, and abundant joy.
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Hi there! I would like to know if there is another blogger in the service over in Iraq who I can follow and send relief items to , now that you are back in the states. I really enjoyed your site, thank you for making it possible for us here to share some of yours, there. You are all inspiring to me, and my family and friends who get snippets of you sent to them! Please let me know, I want to keep up with what our guys and gals are feeling, experiencing, and possibly needing. Best Regards, Cathy Kuckuk, Madison area, Wisconsin. ckuckuk@tds.net
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