Money, Money, Money

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Matthew 6.24

“Misfortune pursues the sinner,
but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.”

Proverbs 13:21

Sometimes we can get in a bit of a muddle when it comes to the Christian position on finances. Is it wrong to have money? Is it wrong to want it? If I do have it, am I allowed to spend it on myself? What does it actually mean to ‘serve money’?

Like with many things, it’s impossible to try and impose an ehaustive list of ‘dos and don’ts’. The best thing to do is get a clear understanding of the principals behind approaching and using money in a Godly way and then applying them as you go. In short:

1. Money is a gift from God – it’s His, he just lets us use it! (Psalm 24:1)
2. As with all gifts, we are called to use money in a way that pleases God. (Matthew 25:14-30)
3. It’s not a sin to be prosperous, so it’s ok to spend money on yourself. Don’t automatically feel guilty!! (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)
4. God isn’t ok with us having money as our goal. He wants us to be content with Him as our treasure, regardless of our circumstances. Money is a means to an end, not the end itself. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)
5. Generosity is key. It shows you love God/someone/something else more than money. Jesus loves it, so will those around you. (2 Cor. 9:6-15)

Student Finance

It’s common knowledge that students, as a rule, tend to be short of a few quid – especially these days with sky-rocketing course fees and accomodation costs. The problem is you can get yourself stuck in a mindest of poverty in which you focus on what you don’t have rather than what you do have. This can lead to an “it’s mine” attitude where you hoard everything you have in fear that you will run out. The fact is Jesus tells us specifically in Matthew 6 not to worry about money because God will provide for us, all we need is a little faith. So don’t worry!

Now we’re not advocating frivoulously chucking your money away because the next Jesus-cheque is only a prayer away. No, what we’re saying is don’t let worries about money cause you to miss the chance to bless someone and see the Kingdom advance.

Practical Tips

Ok, so that’s some theory but what about some practical advice. You will be living on a budget and will need to be careful with what you have. We’re no financial experts but here are a few things you might find helpful:

1. Budget. Work out how much you have available to spend and try and stick to it. It’s really helpful to keep a record of everything you spend money on – it’ll help you to cut down unnecessary purchases.
2. Give. The bible says “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor 9:6). Sounds like good, practical advice to us.
3. Avoid credit cards if you can – your interest-free overdraft should see you right.
4. Look out for student deals and discounts – www.moneysavingexpert.com is a good place to try.
5. Don’t spend all your money on sweets.

In sounds stupid, but just remember that God is God. He’s Lord over everything, including your wallet. All you need to do is look at things with His eyes – every situation is either a blessing to be thankful for or a blessing to look forward to. Have faith and trust that he’s got you covered.

Top 5 Books: #1

I’m sure you’ve all been dying of suspense but I am delighted to inform you that the winner of  my recommended reading this summer is…

…The Anointing by R.T. Kendall

I love this book. I love it for a number of reasons, but predominantly because R.T. Kendall seems to have really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the whole word and works thing. His a keen advocator of a greater union between ‘word’ people and ’spirit’ people – basically, we don’t need to pick a team as we need both in our lives. As a charasmatic with a theology degree this really hits home!

The book starts with Kendall unpacking the story of the transfer of executive power in Israel from King Saul to the prophet Samuel to King David. He looks at the role anointing plays in each of their lives (namely: ‘lost’, ‘held’, and ‘promised’ respectively) and then applies it to a modern context. Past failures and current frustrations are dealt with in equal measure as the need to look to the future. The overriding message from the book is the need to look for what God is doing and then going and doing it – regardless of any accompanying difficulties. The main reason being that the key ingredient for any kind of minsitry/service for God is ‘the anointing’ – i.e. the favour of God over that thing/person.  On a more specific note, one particularly interesting section of the book is where Kendall recounts the introduction of teaching on spiritual gifts such as prophecy into his highly traditional Westminster Chapel congregation.

It really is worth a read. I found it both uplifting and incredibly challenging – it really helped me to evaluate how I was going about my life. Summer may be drawing to a close but it’s a quick read and I’m sure you’ll be able to squeeze it out in the last few breaths of your holiday if you want to.

P.S. You may have noticed that there is no #2 on this list. Honestly, I’ve been putting it off for a while now and was always intending R.T. to be #1 so, in light of it being September already, I just sacked it off and went straight for the big dog. Apologies. You have every right to feel cheated.

Website of the Week – I Am Second

Greetings!

A special welcome to anyone who’s here for the first time following 20:20 last night, we hope you enjoy your stay!

So every week on the blog we showcase a website that we feel will encourage/equip you in some way. This week’s one is a corker…

I Am Second

iamsecond.com is part of the I Am Second movment – a group dedicated to helping people to rediscover their significance in life. The website features a number of video testimonies from famous/non-famous people about they overcame destructive lifestyles and everyday struggles. They are real, gritty stories about how God changes lives, in all walks of life. The stories are really very powerful and are well worth investing some time in. Why not head on over and check it out for yourself.

To whet your appetite, here’s a couple jacked from YouTube…

Brian Welch the ex-head guitarist from Korn telling his story:

Nate Larkin, an ex-pastor – this one’s amazing:

Make sure you check out the full website too, if nothing else it’s very pretty!

Under the Radar

“To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds… The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.”

Daniel 1:17,19-20

Daniel and his buddies achieved amazing things for God. During their time as exiles in Babylon they were selected to enter the service of the king and, because of the intellectual (and physical) gifts that God had given them, they were fast-tracked right to the top of the tree. In fact, so impressed was Nebuchadnezzar by Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah that he ended up renouncing the religion of his country and putting his trust in the God of Israel – even before the whole incident with the lion’s den!

The story gives us a fascinating insight into how God can use us to infiltrate even the most out-of-reach areas of society. Because of the natural talent and training that Daniel and Co. received they were invited into places that, say, an ordinary Israelite, even a priest, never would. Then from this position of influence they were able to live completely uncompromising lives for God that were so magnetic and impressive that God brought to repentence those whom they encountered.

You all have skills and talents, not just in the spiritual sense, but in the ‘traditional’ sense as well. In fact, that’s why most of you have come to university – to hone those skills. Now don’t hear what we’re not saying, there is definitely more to life than your degree, but it is also worth bearing in mind that the outcome of it will go a significant way to dictating where you go afterwards. And one thing’s for sure – we definitely need a lot more Daniels in the world. People who will use their God-given abilties to get to the highest points of influence in all areas of society, and then, having slipped in under the radar, influence them for the advancement of the Kingdom.

So next time you’re thinking about sleeping through your lectures or sacking off revision it might be worth thinking bigger than just scraping through your course by the skin of your teeth.

Website of the Week

Back after it’s own summer vacation, Website of the Week returns with a site dedicated to equipping you in the practical aspects of evangelism…

“Evangelism Explosion is a ministry that trains people how to share their faith in Christ and how to bring people from unbelief to belief. It utilizes a variety of components including prayer, actual on-the-job training where the experienced lead the inexperienced, and the principle of spiritual multiplication.”

The section I found most useful is the Answers to Tough Questions page. Assuming that people you are sharing your faith with have questions (and they will), it takes a systematic look at how to go through the most common problems people have with Christianity. So it starts with broad questions about the nature of Truth before gradually focusing more and more on Christian issues, from the authority of the Bible right down to hypocrites within the church.

The answers it gives are concise and might help you to formulate your own thoughts a bit more so you can feel more equipped to give an answer for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15). Clever arguments should never be the main method of evangelism – demonstrating the love and power of God should be – but we neglect a clear knowledge of what (and why) we believe at our peril. So hopefully this site will throw a couple more tools in your evangelism utility belt!

Back in Business!

Hi all,

Sorry it’s been so long since the last post, forgot to mention I was going on holiday. I hope you’ve all had an interesting few weeks – i’d love to hear about them. Especially you guys who went to Momentum – any good testimonies?!

Daniel Bashta

Have you got his EP, My Worship In Motion, yet? If not, why not? It’s a high quality worship album and is available for free over at danielbashta.com. There’s other bits and bobs on the website too, such as chord charts for the songs, so it’s worth having a poke around. I genuinely think his stuff is very anointed and it really encourages me to worship – it sounds good too! So what are you waiting for?!

Podcasts

Don’t forget about the Vinelife podcasts that are available in the sidebar -> You’ll be able to keep up with all the Sunday morning teaching from VCM. It’s been a great summer that has seen the conclusion of our Ezra series as well as a series on Romans 8 called Expanding your mind. Enjoy!

Bill Johnson – He Tore the Heavens

Bill Johnson talks from Isaiah 64 about the significance of God ‘rending the heavens and coming down’. It’s really good stuff – you’d be well advised to give it a listen!

iBethel.TV // Bethel Church // He Tore the Heavens : Nov 16 ‘08
(to watch this you’ll have to sign up to iBethel.tv – it’s free to register and just requires an email address and password)

If you’d prefer, you can directly download just the audio (via facebook) here

The whole thing is about an hour long, but there’s about 10mins of pre-amble at the start. Go listen!!!

P.S. – off to Soul Survivor this weekend so it might be a little while before the next update

Time with the Father

God knows a lot about you. In fact, he knows it all. Right down to your follicle arrangements.

We know a lot about God – or at least we like to think we do. We know his commands, we know his words, we know stories about him. We even know the things we need to do and say to show others that we know about him (a particular favourite of mine unfortunately)

But how much do we really know God? And how much do we really let God know us? Really? For while God does know everything about you, he’s also a gentleman (to borrow a phrase from JMM) and wants you to make the first move ‘”Behold, I stand at the door knock”. He’s there, he even knows what’s inside already but he’s still waiting for us to let him in.

God has iniated relationship with us, but we still need to come and meet him in the middle – to pursue him as he has pursued us. James tells us how we need to make the first move: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4.8)

What I’m getting at is this. We can read all the books, listen to all the sermons, even follow all the blogs we want but none of it can substitute time spent in the presence of God. These things are great and help to strengthen our faith and firm-up our foundations, but we’re only going to be at our most effective when we are living out of communion with the Father – praying, worshipping and reading the Bible with him. And this is where we’re the most happy – where we’re the most satisfied. Doing ‘Christianity’ does not fulfil the longing in our hearts; having an active relationship with the living God does.

So this is my challenge: spend time with God. Simple. It could mean sitting down to read the Bible, or jumping around the room to some worship music. Whatever. Just open-up some space where he can come and directly touch your life, and where you can get to know each other and you can share you life – your desires, your dreams, your struggles – with Him. I often find this easier when things are going “well” with God. Utter rubbish. In fact, if you’re not “doing well” then that is absolutely the best reason to be chasing more and more time with God. Honestly, it’s so much better for you than whallowing in self-pity – and I can vouch for that.

Why waste time being distant from God? He opened up the road to relationship through the punishment, disgrace and ultimate restoration of his own Son. Now it’s your move…

Psalm 63:1-9

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

¹ O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

² I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

³ Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶ On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.

⁷ Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

⁸ My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

⁹ They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.

Website of the Week

A little later than planned we have the third installment of website of the week. The illustrious recipient this week is…

… Scripture Text

Scripturetext.com, like Bible Gateway, is a searchable online Bible available in multiple tranlsations and languages. The beauty of Scripture Text lies in the extras that surround a selected passage following the intial search. Handily organised in tabs above the text, you are able to access parallel passages, cross references, and commentaries – as well as being able to see the text in its original language (Hebrew or Greek). Not only that, there is a ‘Lexicon’ (dictionary) tab that goes through the passage word-by-word giving full definitions which will help you to get a fuller grasp of the meaning of the words employed by the original authors, and not just the one English word or phrase that was selected by the translator (much like The Amplified Bible).

Furthermore, alongside each passage you will be provided with a list of maps and photos from the areas pertaining to the text which will help you to appreciate the words in a more “real” sense. It’s much easier to associate with the places that are in question when you can see them and know where they are in relation to us now. And there are a number of handy general resources on the Bible as a whole that are also housed at this site so make sure you have a good click around.

So if you’re interested in taking your study of the Bible that little bit deeper this might be just the resource to help you do that.

Apologies

for the lack of input over the last few days – I’ve been unwell. Will look to catch up this week!