What's so important about my Legacy?

Our topic for episode twelve is Wisdom Transfer. It’s common in the world of finance to hear the term, wealth transfer. Wealth transfer is the process of passing your assets to your family in the most efficient way. But our guest today says, if you transfer your wealth without wisdom, it’s possible it could do more harm than good for your children. 

Our guest today is Jeff Rogers. He knows a lot about Wisdom Transfer. Jeff is the living legacy of his grandmother, Gram Rogers. She was the spiritual anchor in Jeff’s life, and a key reason for his walk of faith.  

 He is the Founder and Chairman of Stewardship Legacy Coaching and Stewardship Advisory Group. He has over 30 years of experience in helping financially blessed families build strong and lasting legacies.

Jeff serves on the Central Florida Board of Compass—finances God’s way and the ministry GenerousChurch. He is also the author of the book, Creating A Thriving Family Legacy.

Our topic today is, The Schoolyard of Faith. Some of us were privileged to grow-up in a Christian home and receive a great foundation for our walk of faith.

 In 2019 the organization, Ministry-to-children conducted a survey to answer the question, “How do Kids come to Christ?” According to their findings, nearly 50 percent of adult Christians found Jesus while still living at home, and their parents had the greatest influence on their Christian faith.

 It’s true, the schoolyard of faith is the home.  A place designed by God to equip the next generation with godly principles to build their life upon. 

 Our guests today are Tim and Kristin Overman. After dealing with infertility for seven years, God blessed them with biological children—five of them—five boys all under the age of 11. 

 They are homeschoolers, and active leaders in their local church. Kristin is a stay-at-home mom and runs the Weekday Preschool Ministry at their church. 

 They both are entrepreneurs at heart. Kristin started Abundant Days Education to support families with educational resources, and Tim has a fitness business.   

What is ordinary? We are all special in God’s eye and created with a unique purpose that only you can fill. Being an ordinary person fits all of us, but God uses regular people to accomplish His will. With a quick read of Hebrews 11, we see many ordinary (regular people) people listed as heroes of the faith.

 These were regular people willing to let God use them to change their world. So, what about you? Have you ever dreamed how God could work through you? How your life and legacy could make an eternal difference in this world? 

Laurie Westlake is originally from Texas but has been involved in missionary work in Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Mexico, The Philippines, India, and Guatemala. 

 She is a passionate student of God’s Word especially in eschatology and apologetics. Her passion for sharing the amazing news of Jesus Christ is evident with the first cup of coffee, or the first blog post you read. She is a published author with, Quest for the Life Tree, Bent, and her upcoming mystery Calculated Risks. 

Leviticus 19:32 says, “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly, and revere your God.”

Why is that important? Because faithfulness is important. We should give honor to those who have been faithful before us. Think about this, someone was faithful to establish your church. Someone was faithful to present the Gospel to you. Someone has been faithful to teach you the ways of God. For all of us, somebody paved the way for us. 

 Our guest today is Michael Cook, Senior Pastor at Oakland Heights Baptist Church in Longview, Texas. Since 1991 he has been the pastor at four different churches across East Texas, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2017 he was privileged to return to his home church as senior pastor. He is a graduate of New Orleans Theological Seminary, and married to his sweetheart, Becky Cook. 

Our spiritual legacy has more to do with creating an estate plan than you might think, and a holistic view of stewardship includes our estate plan.

Unfortunately, the story that you are about to hear is all too often true. Rosie and Jose were married thirty-seven years when Jose died unexpectedly. Rosie was shocked by Jose’s death, but she was devastated by the events of the next few weeks. 

Like most Americans, Jose died without a valid will. Regrettably, Rosie lost control of everything and the state laws dictated what happen next.

Ken Roney is an attorney and President of the Church of the Nazarene Foundation. He has practiced law for more than 40 years with emphasis on wills, trusts, estate planning. He graduated with high honors from the University of Florida (B.A.) and from Nova University Law School (J.D.) and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Colorado, and Kansas.

Let’s face it. Life happens way too quickly, and it passes us by almost overnight. Each time we turn around our children have changed. From diapers to teenage drivers before we know it. 

 Life happens. But don’t just let it happen. With a little intentionality the memories we build and the values we pass along can make a difference for those who follow in our footsteps. 

Our legacy is too important not to invest in the future generations of our family. The Godly example you give your family today will make it easier for your grandchildren to follow you in their walk with Christ. 

Dr. Brian Kluth is a best-selling author, inspirational speaker, and pastor. A frequent key-note speaker at financial conferences, conventions, and large churches.

 Dr. Kluth and his wife Mary Ellen want their legacy to live on through the ministries they have started in Africa. Together they have invested their lives into boys and girls of Uganda. 

True happiness is not what you think. The modern theory of happiness is more equals happiness. As we begin to see God’s plan for our lives, we will recognize we are stewards, and God is the owner. Amazingly many have found that giving releases a new joy in our lives. A JOY and that money can never buy. 

Gunnar Johnson has been in stewardship and generosity ministry since 1999, starting with Crown Financial. He has served with Dave Ramsey as a financial coach and a class leader since 2001. While serving as Executive Pastor of Financial Stewardship at Gateway Church near Dallas, Texas, Gunnar helped architect one of the largest stewardship ministries in the country.

Gunnar is the author of Generous Life Journey, the course Financial Freedom, Delete Debt and The Generous Church Journey. He served on the board for the Christian Stewardship Network for over ten years and ministers to people across Europe using the Financial Freedom International curriculum.

Our topic today is the slippery slope of debt. While most of us enjoy the convenience of having a credit card in our pocket, debt can creep up on us overnight; especially when we are living paycheck-to-paycheck. 

If you are tired of the minimum payment rat race—listen up! There is hope! Many Americans including our guest today have broken the cycle of debt and found true financial freedom. 

Margaret Olivas (o-leave-us) is a single mom who loves helping people. After breaking the debt cycle, Margaret started her own business serving families with a senior placement agency.  As an entrepreneur she is passionate about living life to the fullest. She volunteers her time as a coparent mentor helping families work through the struggles of life. She is passionate about her walk with God and loves to practice on her axe for fun.

Our topic today is Blessed Beyond Measure. According to Vocabulary.com, If you say you've been blessed, you feel lucky to have something: health, love, fame, fortune, talent, etc.  That’s it—lucky? Is that all there is? 

For the Christian, being blessed is more than luck. God’s Word says, “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all.” So, it’s a lot more than luck. If you have blessed, it comes from our Heavenly Father. 

Dave has been at Central Christian Church of Arizona for ten years leading the Stewardship Ministry on their six campuses.

Prior to joining the staff at Central, Dave held a similar position at Willow Creek Community Church. In 2002, Dave left a 27-year career as a finance manager with General Electric to follow his passion for teaching biblical principles of handling money. He has a love for teaching and a desire to help train church leaders to establish thriving and sustainable stewardship ministries.

Dave and his wife, Debbie, have two grown sons, both of whom are in full-time ministry.

Today we dive deeper into the importance of our personal story. Yes, your story. It may not be written down, but you are writing new pages to your story each day. Building a legacy which points my family to Christ is the greatest story I’ll every tell. 

Rob Morgan is the teaching pastor of The Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a best-selling, author with more than 35 books in print. He is a collaborative writer for Dr. David Jeremiah and Turning Points Magazine.