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,

As the years go by, I find that many of my earlier assumptions about life were simply wrong - if not downright foolish. I used to think that there would come that time in life (50? 55? surely by 60!) at which, by virtue of experience and wisdom, the major issues of life would be all figured out.

I'm well passed those ages and now I realize that as the island of knowledge grows larger, so does the shoreline of ignorance. Sometimes I feel like the person who said, "Just when I thought I had it all together, I forgot where I put it."

However, one area of life about which I do feel confident is the area that brings us together - the area of financial stewardship. I have seen God's principles work in my life and witnessed them in so many other lives that I can say with certainty, "They work!"

These are days of financial chaos - both in the markets and in many peoples' personal lives. Your ministry and the G$ resources have the answers to bringing order out of that chaos. Be creative and bold in promoting and offering teaching, training and counseling to meet the growing needs within and beyond your church. Be sure to read the article Meeting a Timely Need about how the Vineyard Church in Cincinnati is using G$ counselors to deal with the rising number of foreclosures in their area. Way to go, Vineyard!

As difficult as the consequences of the current economic turmoil may be, and as shameful as the greed is that brought it about, it may be the wake-up call we have so badly needed. And it just may be the entrée we leaders need to more effectively convey the wisdom of biblical stewardship. May it so be.

On a personal level, who do you know that is struggling financially and how can you be helpful?

Sincerely in Christ,

PS: We're just one month from the release of our new core curriculum, Freed-Up Financial Living. Watch for it! The DVD format with workshop Facilitator's Guide is also ideal for small group or individual use. Is someone from your church is coming to the Small Group Conference at Willow in October (http://www.willowcreek.com/events/grouplife/2008/) I suggest they attend the breakout session by Matt Bell and myself regarding the use of stewardship materials within small groups.

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Transforming Truths

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” – Psalm 9:9

With so much bad financial news in the press these days, I recently read through as many verses as I could find that contained the word “trouble.” At first glance, that may sound like a depressing exercise. It turned out to be deeply encouraging. Read and absorb the following verses:

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.” – Psalm 27:5

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” – Psalm 32:7

"’Because he loves me,’ says the LORD, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him." – Psalm 91:14-15

A friend and his wife recently told me of a time when he was unemployed. Money was tight. They wondered how they could pay their real estate tax bill. In the midst of that trial, a water pipe in their home broke and damaged their basement. They are people of deep faith, but candidly acknowledged wondering where God was in the midst of their troubles. Then an insurance settlement check arrived. It covered the basement repairs AND their tax bill. They had been angry with God, but were left amazed by God.

When troubles come, as they inevitably will, remember God’s promise that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5). He is “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

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News You Can Use

De-Blinging America

The media are starting to report on the death of the American Consumer. That was the angle of a recent piece in U.S. News & World Report, with analysts reporting “an anti-bling thing going on” and the realignment of people’s wants and needs. Declaring the “party’s over,” the article said bulging debts, anemic savings, and rising prices for food and fuel have left consumers little choice but to rein in spending. Perhaps the greatest evidence that consumers are changing their ways is the finding that people now rate a paid off home as a greater status symbol than a beautiful home.

Matt's View: I’d love to believe that people are making permanent improvements in how they deal with money and what it can buy. However, it’s going to take more than high prices in order for that to happen. It’s going to take the widespread realization that we were not made to be consumers. We were made to be stewards, or as I prefer, “wise builders” (Matthew 7:24-27). Our stewardship ministries were especially made for such a time as this. As the Bible instructs: “Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!” (Ephesians 5:15-16 MSG). Are you making the most of this opportunity?

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Authorized Users Re-Authorized

Ever since Fair Isaac Corporation came up with its now widely used FICO credit score, its algorithms benefited “authorized users” – that is, people other than the credit card holder who are approved to use the credit card. This enabled the spouse or children of cardholders with a good credit history to benefit from that history. However, as illegitimate “credit repair” companies began paying people with good credit to add people with poor credit to their accounts, Fair Isaac dropped authorized users from its scoring models. But now, according to a recent MarketWatch article, the Fair Isaac says it has found a way to weed out the bad apples from the good, so authorized users are back in the mix.

Matt's View: This is good to know, especially as we counsel young couples about money. One spouse may have had financial problems that led to a bad credit score. Assuming those problems have been resolved—and that’s an important key here—by being named an authorized user on the other spouse’s credit card, the couple may have an easier time qualifying for a mortgage, getting the best rates on insurance, and more.

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Senior Bankruptcies Soar

While the bankruptcy rate for people age 55 and younger has declined in recent years, it has skyrocketed for older people. As reported by Time magazine, a new analysis shows that filers over 55 accounted for 22 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007—up from just 8 percent in 1991. And the older the age group, the worse it got. Filings among people age 75 and older quadrupled in that period. Analysts say rapidly rising medical costs and a fixed income are not a good combination. But they also point out that the trend toward carrying a mortgage into one’s later years hasn’t helped.

Matt's View: Bankruptcy is not prohibited in Scripture. However, it should be seen as an option of absolute last resort. And there are many more options for avoiding bankruptcy than may be readily apparent. I recently interviewed a 50-something couple that found themselves with $50,000 of credit card and tax debt. Fueled by a strong commitment to pay it all back, they sold their home, put possessions in storage, and moved into the basement apartment of some friends, where they lived virtually rent-free for the next three years. The profit on their home enabled them to pay off much of their debt. Living inexpensively in their friends’ basement apartment enabled them to pay off the rest of their debt and save for a down payment on the home where they now live. It wasn’t easy, but they’ve been on much stronger financial footing ever since. As my friend Dick Towner likes to ask of people who are upside down financially, “How serious are you about getting right-side-up?”

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Money Ed Takes One on the Chin

In a controversial CNNMoney.com story already making its way through the blogosphere, a Loyola Law School professor who specializes in financial products regulation, says trying to teach people how to make wise financial choices is a waste of time. Professor Lauren Willis says well-meaning educational efforts from the government and various non-profits simply get drown out by billions of dollars worth of marketing messages from the sellers of financial products. She said studies show that sending people to high school personal finance classes or adult retirement seminars does not result in better behavior. Instead, she says, such efforts may actually harm participants by “giving them the illusion that they can successfully manage their finances.” Her solution? More regulation over financial products so that sellers are forced to provide people with products that are in their best interests.

Matt's View: I couldn’t disagree more with her sweeping suggestion that people cannot be taught how to manage their finances. However, I do agree that knowledge alone doesn’t change behavior; heart change is required as well.

As for her point about the need for greater regulation, it’s true that some sellers of financial products haven’t been doing their customers any favors. Just look at the many mortgages that were “sold” to people ill equipped to handle the payments in recent years. However, an over-reliance on regulation is only going to make people less capable of thinking for themselves.

If you agree, disagree, or just want to join the conversation about this article or anything else in this issue of More Good $ense, please drop me a line (matt@moneypurposejoy.com).

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Spotlight

Meeting a Timely Need

John Kester had an enviable dilemma. As leader of the Good $ense team at the 5,000 member Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, he had more counselors than counselees. A successful volunteer fair brought his team to 42 people—more than he had ever seen in 23 years of financial ministry.

“I said I don’t know what God’s doing, but we have more counselors than ever and not enough cases. As I thought and prayed, I thought this foreclosure thing is so huge and bad that I wonder if we can do something about this.”

Kester did an Internet search on “foreclosure counseling Cincinnati,” which produced a long list of agencies. He also called all the counselors on his team who are involved in banking and got recommendations for several non-profit agencies doing foreclosure counseling that are certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Realizing that becoming HUD certified is a pretty involved process, he and his team decided to check with the agencies, let them know what they do, and explore how they might work together.

It turned out that Ohio has rescue funds available to help people with their mortgages. However, one requirement is that recipients of such funds receive three months of budget counseling. Kester quickly discovered that with so many people in trouble with their mortgages, the agencies didn’t have time to do adequate budget counseling.

At the first agency he contacted, Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME), Kester found a very receptive director. “He said you don’t know how badly we need you.” That contact invited Kester to a meeting of all similar agencies where he found several others who are interested in referring clients for budget counseling.

The fact that Good $ense is a ministry has not been an issue, according to Kester. “I told the agencies we see this as an outreach opportunity. We’re not going to overtly try to convert people. But we will tell people that we’re about sharing God’s love in practical ways. I think that in normal times they might balk at this, but this is a crisis and so I think any help is good help.”

One of the agencies even gave Kester a key to its building so that Good $ense counselors can provide counseling in the agency’s office.

Originally designed as a way to keep his counselors engaged, Kester says working with people facing foreclosure has for the first time enabled the Good $ense ministry to join with Vineyard’s outreach efforts. And Kester says that has added a new level of excitement to the ministry. “I’m just saying, let’s seize the moment.”

Already, Kester’s team is working with 11 people who have been referred to the ministry from foreclosure counseling agencies.

Kester and his team have found a great way to use their stewardship ministry as an outreach to the community—helping people in financial crisis as an expression of their faith. If you’d like to get your ministry involved in helping people facing foreclosure, Kester recommends contacting HUD approved agencies, which you can find through the HUD web site click here.

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Market Indicators

Foreclosures Hit New Record

Foreclosures are now at their highest level since the Mortgage Bankers Association began tracking such activity 39 years ago. As of the second quarter of this year, 9.16 percent of one- to four-family homes were at least one month overdue on their mortgage or in the foreclosure process.

The first graphic shows the percentage of all mortgages on which foreclosure actions had started (all figures are for the second quarter of the year noted). While there was a noticeable increase in foreclosure starts during and just after the last recession in 2001, it was nothing like the spike seen more recently.

The second graphic shows second quarter foreclosure starts by type of mortgage, with adjustable rate mortgages made to subprime borrowers (those with weak credit records) leading the way.

For an idea of how your stewardship ministry can get involved in helping struggling homeowners, read this month’s Spotlight feature.

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Resources