In This Issue:
Dick's Column | Transforming Truths | News You Can Use | Your Point of View
Spotlight | Market Indicators | Ministry Builders | Resources

Dick's Column

Dear G$ Friends and Colleagues,

For this month's column I've chosen to share some quotations I've come across that seem apropos in light of the on-going (and in all probability long lasting) financial situation the country finds itself in. I find most of them reassuring and all of them thought provoking. Perhaps you will as well.. Sincerely in Christ,

P.S. Initial feedback on the new Freed-Up curriculum has been very positive. We'd love to have yours. Also, note that it's not too late to register for Counselor Leader or Freed-Up Facilitator Training December 5 and 6 at Willow Creek. Click here for more information.

SOME THOUGHT PROVOKING COMMENTS

We can be scared and worried about the future, or we can look at it as a collection of happy surprises that lie outside the path of our imagination. Nassim Taleb

Your stuff is not who you are! If you lost everything tomorrow, you'd still be the same inside. Andy Stanley

How do the spiritual and secular views of money differ? It seems to me the most dramatic and important difference is found in the secular emphasis on fear and greed versus the spirit-rooted vision that emphasizes gratitude and generosity. Henri Nouwen

We need to understand that our Father does want us to have wealth. We just have to be careful not to settle for money! Instead, we need to "seek first the kingdom of God" and everything we need will be added to our lives. Peace, joy, love, goodness, patience, purpose and power are credited to our spiritual account…Now that, my friend, is true wealth! Girlfriends in God Newsletter 10/08

Envy has become a prime engine of economic growth, and easy access to credit has warped the distinction between necessity and desire. NY Times: Feb. 2008

Is tending to our investments, or caring for our possessions, or trying to earn more for the things we think we must have to secure our future (or our children's future) hindering our discerning and following the Spirit into the life we should lead? Henri Nouwen

No matter who we are, one of the things we battle at the core is the assumption that the satisfaction of desire is the key to fulfillment in life. Anytime people feel they lack something, the more they focus on that desire. It becomes a cycle, a treadmill you never get off of. And that diminishes a living faith in Christ because it keeps our focus on Are my desires being satisfied? And the answer is always no because no desire stays satisfied for long. John Ortberg, Leadership Magazine. Summer 2006

James starts out with "Consider it all joy when you encounter trials" and then the next thing he talks about is finances. We know the struggle these people were having was with finances. Then he says, "If any lack wisdom, ask God and he will give it to you." Now we know how God helps people with financial difficulties – he gives them wisdom, he doesn't give them a check. Then James says, here's some wisdom. Money doesn't matter. See the rich people? All their stuff is going to burn anyway! ? Miller, Relevant Mag. May/June 07

If the church doesn't teach its people how to save and get out of debt, it is irresponsible to ask them to give. Andy Stanley

I feel good about the fact that in this first year of retirement, my funds are significantly declining in value. Sounds strange, right? The reason I feel good is that in spite of the circumstances, I am at peace. I had always hoped that would be the case if my earthly treasures dissipated. It is very satisfying to have my hope be born out in the face of reality. Anonymous by request

Trust in the Lord and do good… Psalm 37

Let me end with a reminder to those of us who wonder about whether or not our offerings will go down due to the financial crisis. The fact that Obama raised $150 million in October demonstrates there's always money for ideas people believe in. Pastors – preach the word and articulate the vision. Stewardship leaders – teach and train in the biblical principles. The resources will follow.

Blessings!

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Transforming Truths

"I have hidden your word in my heart." - Psalm 119:11a

Our country's economic difficulties are leading to lots of talk about new rules and regulations. New standards are being developed for who qualifies for a mortgage, a car loan, and a credit card. With credit drying up people are being forced into crisis, or into better money management habits, or both. But if new and improved money management habits are to last, it's going to take more than new rules and regulations. It's going to take renewed hearts.

Early in my new life as a Christian I noticed that I had lost the desire to swear. Rough language used to come as naturally to me as breathing. But very suddenly the words that once came so naturally became unnatural. It wasn't about knowledge. No one was lecturing me, telling me I couldn't say certain words anymore. It was about heart transformation. I simply lost the desire. It was one of my first tastes of what it means to become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). My old foul-mouthed self had gone. My new clean-talking self had come.

Shouldn't our use of money be similarly transformed by our relationship with Christ? Shouldn't we simply lose the desire to live beyond our means? Shouldn't we simply want to be generous? Shouldn't our felt need to be someone by owning the right stuff supernaturally give way to a humble confidence in knowing we are fully loved no matter what we drive or wear?

I have high hopes that our economic crisis will lead to packed classrooms every time we teach a workshop on biblical money management. However, my greater hope is that when we look back on this era it won't have been about filling people's minds with a new set of principles, but that it will have been about seeing hearts transformed through a new or renewed relationship with Christ.

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News You Can Use

How One Church is Dealing With Tough Times

As our rocky economy ripples through all of our lives, churches are seeing a decline in giving. Some are cutting programs. Some are trying to trim operating costs. Some are communicating with their members. Granger Community Church falls into that last category. Executive Pastor Tim Stevens even used his blog to post a letter click here sent to all Granger members about the economy's impact on the church.

Matt's View: I first heard about Granger's letter on Generous News here, a highly recommended aggregator of news items about generosity run by Patrick Johnson of the National Christian Foundation.

On the topic of communicating to church members about the economy, one of the best messages I've heard came from Jackson Crum, senior pastor at Park Community Church in Chicago. To give it a listen, go here and then click the down arrow.

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Housing Crisis Worsens

Another 85,000 homes across the country were lost to foreclosure in October, the 34th consecutive month when foreclosure activity rose compared with the same month a year ago, according to a story on CNNMoney.com. Many more prospective foreclosures appear to be waiting in the wings, as 7.5 million homeowners-one-fifth of all homeowners-now owe more on their homes than the homes are worth.

Matt's View: Some web sites to let struggling homeowners in your congregations know about are http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's foreclosure prevention site), and www.housinghelpnow.org www.housinghelpnow.org (a site run by the National Foundation for Credit Counselors).

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Credit Card Crisis May Be Next

With the foreclosure crisis in full bloom, there are signs that credit card debt is about to turn into a crisis of its own. According to a New York Times article, lenders wrote off some $21 billion in bad credit card debt in the first half of this year, about 5.5 percent of outstanding credit card debt. Analysts think that could climb to nearly 8 percent over the next year and a half. Creditors are responding by raising interest rates, making credit more difficult to obtain, and decreasing credit limits. That last change may lower some people's credit scores even if they make no changes in how they use credit. With a lower credit limit, they are likely to be using a higher percentage of their available credit, which can knock points off their score.

Matt's View: People who are accustomed to living beyond their means are running out of credit options, which will force some into a crisis while encouraging others to break their dependence on debt.

On a related note, we are in the process of revising the Good $ense debt course and are looking for opportunities to teach with the new material. If you are interested in holding a debt reduction course in December (usually a tough month for workshops, we realize, but perhaps not in our current economic environment) or January, please drop us a line (mbell@willowcreek.com).

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More Willing to Talk About Money

With so many people feeling some financial pain these days, more people seem willing to talk about money. So far, the evidence is mostly anecdotal, but people who talked with CNN for a recent story, including an Arizona woman who lost two homes to foreclosure, said they've even been mentioning their money woes to total strangers. "I'm not embarrassed because so many people are in the same situation," she explained.

Matt's View: If people are, indeed, more willing to talk about money, this is a prime time to encourage people in your church to utilize money-related small group materials like the new Freed-Up Financial Living resource here or the Money, Purpose, Joy book and discussion guide here.

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Spotlight

Bringing Debt Lessons Home

A church in Cincinnati is taking a creative approach to helping young people break free of debt. D'VINE is a two and a half year old church in the inner city of Cincinnati planted by Vineyard Community Church. Pastor Aaron Wright says most of the church's 80 or so members are in their 20s and just about everyone has debt. "Lots of student loans and credit card bills. So we were looking for a way to do something practical to set people free from debt."

The debt loads of D'VINE's young members are not uncommon. According to the U.S. Department of Education, two-thirds of four-year undergraduates leave college with student loan debt. The average? About $20,000.

D'VINE leaders realized that housing is the largest expense item in most people's budget, and therefore one of the biggest roadblocks to getting out of debt. So, they're experimenting with a program in which a small number of church members live inexpensively in a shared house while learning the principles of biblical money management. Dubbed the "Debt-Free Leader's Internship," four church members—a married couple and two singles—are each paying $200 per month to take part. That covers their rent, utilities, maintenance, a monthly group dinner, and stewardship training materials.

"Right now we're making this up as we go," Wright said. "But we're excited about helping people get freed up from their debt. Since pretty much everyone in our church has debt, they would all qualify for assistance. So, we decided to focus on future leaders. We wanted to free them up to see how far they could go with their leadership gifts."

Program participants are required to complete a stewardship curriculum, meet with a stewardship leader from the church once a month, take on leadership roles at church such as leading a small group, and do group projects designed to teach wise money management. For example, the church provided some limited funds to turn the backyard of the house into a gathering place. The four participants had to work together in figuring out how to make the most of the money.

The intention is that people will take part in the program for two years, wiping out much if not all of their debt in that time, while learning biblical principles of money management. Then others will be selected for the next two years.

The house is being rented to the church by a couple in the congregation. D'VINE then rents it to those taking part in the program. The program has been running for just four months, but already the participants are making good progress reducing their debts.

A member of the church's stewardship team that helped come up with the idea for the program said she's excited about its potential: "If people can go through life without giving half of their income to debt service, just think of how much more freedom they will have. They don't need to all go to Africa and work with AIDS patients or anything like that. I just want them to be able to hear God's call and be able to say, 'okay.'"

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Market Indicators

Financial Practices That Keep Stress Low

While the nation's rocky economy has left most people feeling stressed about their finances, some are weathering the storm better than others. A new survey that I (Matt) commissioned from the market research firm Synovate shows that people who follow three basic practices of wise money management - maintain an adequate emergency fund, don't carry a balance on credit cards, and use a budget to guide spending decisions - are less stressed about their finances than most people.

Overall, 78% of respondents indicated that they feel very (29%) or somewhat (49%) stressed about their household's finances. As the first chart shows, households with 6 or more months' worth of living expenses in an emergency fund were the least likely (56%) to report feeling stressed over their household's finances. By the same token, those with no emergency fund were much more likely (90%) to report feeling stressed.

As seen in the second chart, people who pay their credit card balances in full each month were much less likely (62%) than those who carry a balance (90%) to report feeling stressed.

The survey also found that those who use a detailed plan to guide their monthly spending were less likely (73%) to report feeling stressed than those who use a general plan (78%) or those who simply try to spend less than they make each month (79%).

While people who have money in reserve, pay their credit cards in full each month, and use a detailed plan to guide their spending report lower stress levels than most people, the survey found that such people are in the minority. Just 18% of households have an emergency fund totaling six or more months' worth of living expenses, a little less than half of all credit card-using households pay their balance in full each month, and just 6% of households use a detailed plan to guide their monthly spending.

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Resources