NNeeww Expanded Third Edition

The New

Managing God’s Money

— The Basics

Michel A. Bell

Become

A Better

Manager

Of God’s

Resources

Campbellville, Ontario, Canada

Other Books by Michel A. Bell

Managing God’s Money: 7 Branches Workbook (2006)Managing God’s Time: Improving Personal Effectiveness (2004)Managing God’s Money: The Basics (2001)Managing God’s Money: The Basics WORKBOOK (2001)

For more information orTo order copies, please contact:

info@managingodsmoney.com,www.managinggodsmoney.com

or

PO Box 296,Campbellville, Ontario

L0P 1B0

Managing God’s Money is a Christ-centred teaching organi-zation helping folks to manage God’s money, time, talents,

and other belongings, for His glory and to further His Kingdom.

The NNeeww Managing God’s Money — The BasicsCopyright © 2007, Michel A. Bell

The author is responsible for the design, content, and editorial accuracyof this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photo-copy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printedreviews, without prior written permission of the author.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise specified, are taken from TheNew American Standard Bible ® (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1977, 1995by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations with reference NRSV refer to the New RevisedStandard Version Bible (Copyright © 1989 by the Division of ChristianEducation of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the UnitedStates of America).

Scripture quotations with reference NIV are taken from the NewInternational Version Bible (Copyright © 1973, 1984 by InternationalBible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishing House).

Scripture quotations with reference RSV refers to the Holy Bible: TheRevised Standard Version, (Copyright 1946, 1952, 1959, 1973 by theDivision of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches ofChrist in the United States of America. All rights reserved).

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in PublicationBell, Michel A.

The New Managing God’s Money-The Basics: Become a Good Managerof God’s Resources / Michel A. Bell. — 3rd ed.

ISBN 978-0-9735902-2-7

1. Christians—Finance, Personal. 2. Finance, Personal—Biblical teaching. I. Title.

BR115.E3B42 2007 332.0240088’27 C2007-901739-8

1st Printing February 20002nd Printing, November 2001

3rd Printing May 2007

Essential Concepts

The Money Triangle (3M’s of Money)

Merchant – Designs, produces, markets goods and services andoften uses coercive, seductive approaches to get …

Me – To buy what I don’t need and can’t afford because I couldn’t resist the Merchant’s bait …Money – The bridge the Merchant accepts to

part with his goods and services.

GAS Principle: Three Key Truths in the Bible about money:

• Key Truth #1: God Owns Everything (Psalm 24:1-2,Colossians 1:16)

• Key Truth #2: Accept What You Have (1 Timothy 6:7-8, Hebrews 13:5)

• Key Truth #3: Seek First His Kingdom And SubmitYour Requests To Him (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 19:21)

PEACE Budgetary Control: A closed looped planning anddoing procedure that allows you to reach goals methodically:

• Plan for a specific period to do precise goals.• Estimate and record the expenses needed to do those

goals.• Act on the plan and record results as you do those

goals.• Compare results with plan and with estimated expenses

needed to do the goals.• EXECUTE needed changes to do the goals.

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

List of Tables and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Section I: Money and Three Key Truths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

1. Money and Three Key Truths . . . . . . . . . 27Money Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Money and Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29The Money Triangle: 3Ms of Money . . . . . . . . . . 32Know Your ABCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Three Key Truths from the Bible about Money . . .36

#1: God Owns Everything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37#2: Accept What You Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38#3: Seek First His Kingdom and Submit

Your Requests to Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2. Why Don’t We Manage Money Well? . . . . . 43Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Planned Obsolescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Greed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Slow Burn Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

PLANE Spending Analysis: Five questions to answer beforeyou commit to a major expense:

P Did I Plan and include this expense in my budget?L Will the expense raise my Loans? A Are there realistic Alternatives to fulfill the identified

need?N Is the expense Necessary to fulfill the identified need?E Is this the most Effective use of funds compared with my

life, budget and other goals?

A goal is the destination — where God wants you to be, or what God wants you to do.A plan is the journey — how to get there, or how to do a

job, your road map.An estimate is the likely cost of the plan: the cost of

the steps in the plan.A budget is the record of the results of the plan

and estimate, your money map.

Contents • 7

Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

6. Money Value and Investing . . . . . . . . . 115Inflation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Time Value of Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Cash Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Investing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Tax Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Section II: PEACE Budgetary Control Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

7. PEACE Budgetary Control . . . . . . . . . . 149Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Estimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Compare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Execute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

8. Budget Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 The Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

3. Quick Start Action Plan—Learning Your ABCs . 57Stop Striving for More and Accept What You Have . . 58Own Your Present Circumstance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Start Playing Offense with Merchants Today . . 64Five Practical Steps to Start Today . . . . . . . . . . 66Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

4. Three Essential Financial Planning Steps . . . 711st Step: Settle Your Eternal Worth . . . . . . . . . . 722nd Step: Find out Your Material Worth . . . . . . . 75

Debt Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773rd Step: Find Out Your Life Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Life Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Material Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Setting and Checking Goals . . . . . . . . . 85

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Think about This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

5. Debt—Cost, Effects and the Way Out . . . 91Credit Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92The Borrower is Servant of the Lender . . . . . . . 94Borrowing Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Praying for a Financial Miracle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Financial Cost of Borrowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Emotional Cost of Borrowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Interest Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Good News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Getting Out of Debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

The Case of the Vanishing Dollar . . . . . . . . . 104Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 11

8 • The New Managing God’s Money — The Basics Contents • 9

Finishing the Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Recording Your Spending: The PEACE Budget

Worksheet (PBW) . . . 210Recording Progress toward Reaching Goals . . . . 213Implementing Three Spending Aids . . . . . . . . . . 213Comparing What You Did With What You Planned to Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215How . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216Who . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Executing Changes to Remain on Course to Reach Your Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Budget Truisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

11. Three Spending Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Factors to Consider Before Spending . . . . . . . . 221Applying Three Key Truths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Truth #1: God Owns Everything . . . . . . . . . 223Truth #2: Accept What You Have . . . . . . . . 223Truth #3: Seek First His Kingdom and Submit Your Requests to Him . . . . . . . 224

PLANE Spending Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224The Affordability Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228Alternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Effective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

The Affordability Index and the Vase . . . . . . . 233The Affordability Index and Buying a Car . . . . 235

Why Prepare a Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Specific Budget Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165When to Prepare a Budget and How Far Ahead . . . 166Essential Information to Prepare a Budget . . . . . 167

Budget Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Budget Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Budget Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Budget Spending Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Budget Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Other Budget Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Quick Start Budget Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

9. Calculating Amount Available to Spend . . . 181PEACE Budgetary Computation Forms (PBCFs) . . . . . 182PEACE Budgetary Computation Income Form (PBCIF) . 182Salary and Other Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Tithing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Keeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Savings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Capital Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

10. Allocating Amount Available to Spendand Recording Spending . . . . . . . . . . . 205Contingency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

10 • The New Managing God’s Money — The Basics Contents • 11

Homeowner’s Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270Disability Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271Equipment and Appliances Insurance . . . . . . . . 272Insurance Deductible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Think about this . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

14. Buying a Home and Choosing a Mortgage . 275What Buying Your Home Entails . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Renting a Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Issues to Consider for Rent or Buy Decision . . 278Buying the Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

No Down Payment and Low Down Payment . 283Interest Only Mortgages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284Composition of a Mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Mortgage Refinancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287Selling the Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

15. Leasing Compared with Buying an Automobile 293Sale and Leaseback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293Service (or Operating) Lease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294Financial Leases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295Leasing an Automobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Section IV: Looking Beyond the Sunset . . 301

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

12. Family Finances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239God’s Goals for Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240Man’s Role in the Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242Dispute Resolution Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244Special Marriage Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246Family Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

What and Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250How it Might Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Single Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Allowances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Guidelines to Teach Them Good Habits . . . . . . 255Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Section III: Selected Spending Decisions . . 261

13. Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Insurance Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Why Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Who Should Take Out Life Insurance . . . . . . . 265 Who Should Not Take Out Life Insurance . . . . 266How Much Life Insurance Do You Need . . . . . 266Different Life Insurance Types . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268Mortgage Loan Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

12 • The New Managing God’s Money — The Basics Contents • 13

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

19. Writing Your Personal Financial Plan . . . . 355Where Am I Spiritually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357Where Am I Materially . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357What Goals Should I Work On . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360Key Inputs and Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364Financial Plan Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366Sensitivity Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368How Do I Stay On Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

20. A Forever to Remember . . . . . . . . . . . 375A Brief Recap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375Financial Health-Check Questionnaire . . . . . . . 38065 Money Savings Ideas to Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386A Memorable Encounter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

1. Money Management Journey Overview . . . . . . 3992. Personal Spending Analysis Form . . . . . . . . . . . . 4003. Goal Statement Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4014. Goal Tracking Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4025. Debt Repayment Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4036. PEACE Budget Computation Forms (PBCF) . . . . . . . 404

16. Retirement Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Retirement Isn’t Biblical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304Succession Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305Saving for Retirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307Pension Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309Questions to Answer to Calculate Your Retirement Budget Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) . . . 313Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

17. Estate Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325Why You Should Prepare a Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326Who Should Prepare a Willand What It Should Contain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326Who Should Benefit from Your Will . . . . . . . . . 328If You Don’t Have a Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331How to Prepare a Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332Selecting an Executor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333Powers of Attorney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336Think About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

18. Choosing a Financial Adviser . . . . . . . . 339What Can a Financial Advisor Do For You? . . . 340What Type of Financial Advice You Can Expect to Get . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341Conflict of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342Who Is a Financial Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346Choosing the Financial Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348For Whom Does She Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

14 • The New Managing God’s Money — The Basics Contents • 15

Introduction

I n 1995, shortly after returning home to Montreal fromliving in Japan, still a relatively young Christian, Istarted to learn about church folks’ personal debt. The

high and growing level disturbed me. Five years later whileworking at a challenging and demanding job, by God’s grace, Ipublished my first book, Managing God’s Money-The Basics.Three more books, over 50 TV appearances, and more than50 seminars later, I am writing this introduction for thethird edition of Managing God’s Money-The Basics, with thesame concern.

Much changed since the first edition, chiefly my knowledgeand me. Though I saw several negatives, the positives I expe-rienced since 2000 outweigh them. The most significant positivechange came in 2002. Then, I believed I would work another10 years as an executive in industry, but God had other plans.He led me out of Alcan Inc. where I worked in a job I wouldhave paid to do—that’s correct, I loved working at Alcan—toHis full-time unpaid Managing God’s Money ministry. As HisWord promises, He put everything in place for me to do thisministry, which I am doing today.

I continue to see great joy in many families who embraceGod’s ownership and their stewardship of everything; theresulting freedom from financial stress that follows is infec-tious and lasting. Since 2000, I saw a few churches and Christianministries turn to God to provide funding for their work, ratherthan follow the slick, seductive, or other marketing path.They got more than they needed! As well, I saw families inneed call out to God and He fulfilled their needs. What ablessing to see God supply needs in His time, in His way, andnot always with money!

Still, today, more church folks accept as normal andunavoidable the pervasive personal debt among Christians.Tithing seems more entrenched as many appear unwillingly to

Introduction • 17

6.1 PEACE Budget Computation Income Form (PBCIF) . 4046.2 PEACE Budget Computation Expenses Form (PBCEF) . 4056.3-6.6 PEACE Budget Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4067. House Purchase Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411About The Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

16 • The New Managing God’s Money — The Basics

1. Money and happiness (chapter 1)2. Quick Start Action Plan—Learning your ABCs (new

chapter 3)3. Debt: its costs, effects and the way out (new chap-

ter 5)4. Investing (chapter 6)5. Quick start budget kit (chapter 8)6. Family Finances (new chapter 12)7. Retirement planning (chapter 18)8. Writing a financial plan (new chapter 19)9. Annual financial check-up (chapter 20)10. Sixty five money saving ideas (chapter 20)

Except for investing, this edition deals with the basics. Iincluded the investment section as a reference guide to fill aneed I saw. Many folks asked for help to oversee their pen-sions, education savings plans, and other investments. Theydo not want to be experts, just to know enough to ask rightquestions. Folks complained about their investments’ per-formance and about their investment advisors’; they don’trealize that these days, they can’t tell what a financial pro-fessional does from his title.

Some folks lost pensions by reacting to reports about overhyped companies like Enron, WorldCom, Nortel, and “Yahoo!”.Sadly, with some awareness, these folks could have seen thesecompanies’ earnings forecasts (and so stock prices) were notsustainable.

Then again, I decided to go a bit deeper than the basicsin the investing chapter when I saw Statistic Canada’s researchshowing that in 2005, 89% of Canadian families held financialassets (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and income trusts). I praythis section will help you place God’s funds where He directs.

My goal in this edition is to present again, Three KeyBiblical Truths as the foundation to develop right attitudestoward money so your giving, spending, and saving will honourGod. I do not claim the skills and tools I offer will allow you

Introduction • 19

learn Bible teachings that show clearly early believers neverpractised or taught tithing. Rather, they "presented" 100%to God (Acts 2; 2 Corinthians 8).

Perhaps the greatest negative change, and most disturbing,is the pressure and manipulation some churches and Christianministries exert to raise funds. They exploit the tithing atti-tude of giving to get; they exploit the sick, promising healing;and they exploit the ignorant. Growing numbers of churchesand ministries encourage credit card giving while appealing toselfishness and greed. Sadly, many believers respond andgive, hoping to get healing, get money or other emotional and,or material benefit. They forget they have direct access toJesus and His love, mercy and grace, and so do not need togive to get Jesus’ healing, love, and everything they need.

Today, I am even more convinced than when I wrote thefirst edition that our Sunday Schools, churches and Christianschools need to teach biblical attitudes to money. Even moreimportant, I realize one main reason for the lack of knowl-edge of good attitudes to money among Christian families ishusbands and wives, especially dads, do not accept their Godordained roles. Dads do not accept primary responsibility toteach their families to love the Lord their God with all theirhearts, minds and souls, and to model and practice biblicaltruths. As Mother Teresa said in her book, A Simple Path:

When you know how much God is in love with you thenyou can only live your life radiating that love. I alwayssay that starts at home: family first, and then your owntown or city. It is easy to love people who are far awaybut it is not so easy to love those who live next to us.1

In this third edition, I continue custom-fitting tohousehold finances, good business practices and solid bibleteachings. Though I rewrote many and added four chapters,the basic message of God’s ownership of everything remains.Topics added include:

18 • The New Managing God’s Money — The Basics

and you have to go to work at 7:00 AM on Monday, do youbelieve He will supply your needs in time? I address similarissues you face daily—giving, spending, saving, investing—I suggest some helpful tools, and point you to the Author andCreator of everything, Jesus Christ, who has all the answers;even when we don’t know the questions!

Reading this book won’t change you; that will happen whenGod convicts you of truth and reveals needed changes. So,stay close to Him, listen for His call, and do as He asks. Thenyou will become a better manager of His possessions andexperience His richest blessings.

I pray you will get to know in a special way, the God ofpeace, love, joy, hope, long suffering, who loves you so muchHe died for you! I give Him all the glory!

Throughout, I used feminine and masculine referencesinterchangeably.

1. Mother Teresa, A Simple Faith (New York: Random House,Inc., 1995) p. 87.

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to become rich in material terms; I do not have the ability todo this.

Contrary to prosperity teachings, the Bible does not promisematerial riches for our efforts. I disagree with Christians whosay if we are good stewards of God’s property, He will blessus always with wealth; He might! His will for each of us is dif-ferent. The Bible shows examples of people blessed with materialwealth and some blessed with spiritual wealth only. Read aboutthe lives of David and Job. In 1 and 2 Samuel, and in the bookof Job, both in the Old Testament of the Bible, we see twoindividuals who had hearts for God and who sought always todo His will. He blessed them with wealth.

But it was different with the twelve apostles whom Jesuschose; He did not bless them with material stuff. Their blessing,spiritual wealth, came from walking with Jesus Christ. Therichness that results from seeking first His Kingdom and Hisrighteousness, and honouring our Lord with our finances isnot necessarily material. There may be other blessings, suchas grandchildren!

God asks us to come in a relationship with Him, and thenHe asks us to come and be His disciple. After, He tells us togo make disciples. Meanwhile, He tells us the world will per-secute us, but He will be with us. To do His will, He gives useverything we need. And those to whom He gives much, Heexpects much. To be sure, He will not give you more than youcan manage. So, be content with what you have and do yourbest with it.

In Matthew 19:24, referring to the wealthy unbelieverwhose heart condition was to get more wealth for his ownpurposes, Jesus said “… it is easier for a camel to go throughthe eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom ofGod.” Jesus wants our hearts, all, not just parts. He haspromised to provide for our needs, do you believe He will?

That’s a key question you need to answer as you go throughthis book. To be sure, you might have committed your life toChrist, but when the car breaks down at 7:00 PM on Sunday,

20 • The New Managing God’s Money — The Basics