A word about the economy

First, let me apologize for not writing more in this blog. This summer has been incredibly busy. I am about half finished writing my DMin thesis (at least the first draft). I have a feeling there will be a rewrite or two before I'm finished. I am also working on a new book. I'm currently coaching four bivocational ministers as part of my DMin project. I've preached two revivals this spring. I've done a number of workshops this year and preparing for another one at the end of the month. Plus, the 76 churches in my Area keep me pretty busy as well. Of course, you know about busy. You're probably a bivocational minister or you wouldn't be reading this blog, so you know all about busy.

I have been skimming through a book I read several years ago by Larry Burkett. Burkett, who died in 2003, wrote a book called The Coming Economic Earthquake in 1991 that warned of events very similar to what we are currently experiencing in America. He even foretold the signs to watch for that would cause the financial crisis: a failure of banks, business failure and departures, excessive consumer and federal debt, and a denial by supposed leaders. Do any of these sound familiar? Burkett challenged Christians to be a part of the solution but admitted his doubt that would happen because he said that many Christians were as guilty of violating sound biblical financial principles as non-Christians.

I certainly agree with him and cannot help but feel that one reason many Christians are not following biblical financial principles is that they have never been taught what those are. As a pastor, I remember buying a set of Ron Blue's material once that I intended to teach to our church but never got around to doing so. When I left the church that material was still in its shrink-wrap. We cannot expect people to live what they don't know.

A number of churches are now using Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University to teach biblical principles about finances to their members and to the larger community. I would encourage all churches to consider doing so. It would not only be a help to your members, it could also be an excellent outreach to your community. If the #1 reason people don't go to church is because they do not think it is relevant to their lives, this would be an excellent way to show them just how relevant your church and the Word of God really is.

If you decide to do this, please let the readers of this blog know how it went. You might encourage others to follow your example.