Faith and Finances

If you think about it, much of our Christian walk focuses on: How can I grow spiritually? How can I be more like Christ? Lord, help me to walk humbly and consider others.

The personal benefits in: Becoming more Christ-like, Giving, and Tithing.

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It's fine to have wants, as well as needs. How do you balance wants and needs financially?

How we distinguishing wants from needs.

We should not view all wants as bad.

Jesus and His disciples enjoyed such "wants" as sumptuous feasts and leisure.

The key is that these wants were enjoyed with gratitude; they were not loved.

Proverbs 21:17 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

Guard your heart against being driven by wants.

"You can have wants. Just don't let the wants have you."

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You've got to love expectations! We have expectations in every area of our lives, and life gets interesting when our expectations are not met.

Spoiler alert… our character is tested.

We see examples of expectations versus reality in both the Old and New Testaments.

The children of Israel had expectations of their Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. They were not expecting giants nor day-long battles.

Even James and John (2 of the 12 disciples) were expecting to rule and reign here on earth—wrong again.

We can think we are saving and setting aside for our future, but our thoughts may not be in line with our reality. Same goes for the budget… Unless we inspect what we expect, reality may not be in line with expectations.

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There are many account-types to choose from when investing in the Stock Market; and the most popular does not necessarily mean the best.

The income tax treatment of contributions as well as withdrawals from Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs.

Clarifying the IRS restrictions for each type of account.

With a better understanding of the benefits, as well as restrictions of each, you can better choose which course to take for your future income planning.

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According to a study prepared for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation, 84% of Americans have been solicited with a potentially fraudulent investment offer.

Conmen and their schemes and why even "sophisticated" people fall for them

How stock picks from the "Smartest Guys on Wall St." led to devastating losses

Some tips to help you avoid getting duped

Madoff with the Money, Jerry Oppenheimer

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Do we demonstrate a lack of faith in God when we save for our future?

Are we to trust God for future provision and NOT plan or make any effort ourselves?

It is possible to accumulate wealth and then let our hearts turn to trusting that wealth instead of trusting God.

It is biblical to both trust God AND save for a future known need.

Trust. See Proverbs 3:5-6, 1 Timothy 6:17

Save. See Proverbs 21:20, Genesis 41:33-36

Just as we plan and labor for today's income, by faith, so too we ought to plan and work toward tomorrow's income—by faith, trusting in the Lord.

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There is no great mystery in our behavior—we do what we believe, not what we know.

There are many great books available, as well as courses to take to improve our finances, but at the end of the day how we deal with money will be based on our deep-seeded beliefs and not our knowledge.

If someone really believes that holding onto money in a savings account is "a waste of money" then that person is going to have a hard time building up an emergency fund.

In order to change our financial behavior we must first change our financial beliefs.

The Christian should turn to Scripture to learn and adopt the principles of money in their own lives.

For example, the person struggling with debt could look to Proverbs 22:7. Someone who struggles with controlling impulse shopping could read and meditate on Luke 12:15 and Luke 14:28

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There seems to be a steady flow of "new" retirement advice in blogs and online magazine articles. Yet, when I review the content I tend to see the same recycled recommendations; reduce spending—increase saving.

Improving and securing your current and future source of income.

Leveraging your time in place of trading hours for dollars.

Making your money work for you. It is possible to get to the point where your money is earning more than you earn.

Identify today, your future benefit values; social security, pensions.

Know your minimum costs of living; identify what can be reduced or eliminated.

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We are as giddy as grade-schoolers on the first day of summer! We want to thank you for making our 100th episode possible.

In This Episode, We Look At:

To celebrate this occasion, we invited the whole Faith and Finances Podcast team to join us behind the mics and share their thoughts.

Joining us today:

A vocal cameo from the Amazing Steve Stewart—we love you brother!

The "Voice" of the Faith and Finances Podcast into/outro and "up for sainthood" as the wife of Troy—Katrina Barrilleaux!

The driving force behind Tim—his wife Victoria.

The guy who creates our cool episode images—Matt Leckron and his wonderful wife, Karis.

We are looking forward to sharing the next 10 episodes with you; thank you for listening.

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Today we discuss Jesus' parable of the vineyard owner and his laborers. With a quick read it is easy to see that they all received the same wages though many worked more hours than others.

Jesus taught this parable in response to the exasperated disciples who complained to Jesus (in chapter 19) saying " Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" (emphasis added)

This parable really teaches the generosity of the Owner (representing God). Those who worked only an hour so were not only paid first, but they were paid the same amount as those who worked twelve or more hours. Those who worked all day supposed that they should receive more and grumbled when they did not. They missed the fact that they received what was promised to them.

This parable supports the earlier words of Jesus, in chapter 19 when he taught his disciples, "But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first" vs 30.

Those of us who have been saved practically "all our lives" will enjoy the same gift of salvation as those who trust in Christ on their death bed.

It is best to guard our hearts against comparison with other Christians; what they own, how they live, how long they have been saved. "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Not one of us deserves salvation. All things in life we may receive above and beyond that priceless gift is further evidence of God's mercy and grace.

If you have a question or comment about today's topic, we invite you to share your thoughts.

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