Faithful with Money

Friends,

I’ve been thinking about some of the basic truths of God’s word dealing with money. One of the most important is simply this: The Lord requires us to be faithful regardless of how much money He has entrusted to us.  The parable of the talents illustrates this. 

“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability” (Matthew 25:14-15).

When the master returned, he held each slave accountable for faithfully managing his possessions.  Read the master’s commendation of the faithful slave who received the

Prayer for Sasko

Dear Friends,

In February, I attended a conference in Berlin with the European Compass country leaders. I had the opportunity to sit next to Sasko for two meals and was drawn two him because of his obvious love for Christ and his passion to help his fellow followers of Jesus in Serbia learn God’s way of handling money.

Sasko is a very humble man whose sweet love for Christ and people is infectious. He and his family now really need our prayers!

Earlier this week a robber armed with a knife broke into Sasko’s home at a night. The robber threatened to murder Sasko, his wife and young daughter. A life and death struggle ensued and the robber lost his life.

I would ask you to join us in praying for two things for Sasko and his family. There is a new law in Serbia that regardless of the circumstances, when an

One Anothers

Dear Friends,

On the MoneyWise radio program, I mentioned that the Bible contains 41 “one anothers” in the New Testament. I’ve listed them for you below. They reveal how the Lord wants us to relate best to each other. Although these principles don’t apply exclusively to marriage, they do apply to it.

I recommend that husband and wife choose a different one another each week and really focus on making it a reality in their marriage. Bev and I have done this, and it improved our marriage sooooo much. Memorize a verse each week and ask the Lord to give you creative ways to practice it.

If your husband or wife do not know Christ or are not following Him, still practice a one another each week. You’ll be amazed at what happens in your life and the life of your mate!

Let me know how

God Is In Control

Dear Friends,

One of my favorite Bible verses is 1 Chronicles 29:11, which says in part, “We adore you [Lord] as being in control of everything.” And the times we need to recognize His control most is when something unexpectedly happens that messes up our plans.

Ed is a close friend, godly man and avid runner. He participated in the Boston Marathon a few weeks ago and was on track to finish at the same time the bombs were detonated.

Only a few minutes from the finish line, suddenly he was hit on the head, face and chest with a LARGE bowel movement from a bird flying overhead.  Most regular runners have experience being hit with a just a little white “bird poop”, but this was giant! So much so, that Ed was stunned and stopped. An onlooker rushed over and

Betrayal

Dear Friends,

I just finished leading my 61^st small group financial study. I am always the one that benefits the most from these groups, and this one was very special.

It was a pilot group for the Compass Business God’s Way small group study, and the makeup of the group was unique: Dads who owned the business and sons who worked in the business and were being groomed as successors. They had a lot in common with one another and the discussions were robust and very transparent. You got the sense they knew the group was a safe place to share what was really going on in their lives—the good, the bad and the ugly.

Business God’s Way is an 8-week study and in the last chapter one of the items we address is when you are going through a crisis, how to you handle it God’s way. It was so interesting to see a common thread. Everyone of the dad’s had experienced success in

Easter 2013

Dear Friends,

I trust that you enjoyed a wonderful Easter. Celebrating the most important day in human history, when our Savior was raised from the dead after willingly giving his life on the brutal cross “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

During our church service this morning, I kept thinking about Philippians 2:10, “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow . . . and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Those who know Him will say that Jesus Christ is Lord out of a heart of adoration, worship, and eternal gratitude. Our hearts will be bursting with joy over the prospect of being with Him forever in an unimaginably wonderful place called heaven.

However, those who do not know Him as Savior will acknowledge Him as

Challenges and Blessings

Dear Friends,

Sometimes doesn’t it seem as if every time you turn around, you’re facing another challenging situation? Then, other times, God’s kind blessings are apparent.

Last week was a week filled with the Lord’s gracious encouragement and blessings.

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:11 (Chinese)

First of all, the leaders of Compass from South America, Asia, Europe, India and North America met together for three days. I kept pinching myself over the privilege of just being in the same room with these godly, capable leaders. We spent chunks of time in prayer, and the Spirit of God had unusual freedom to shape our time and reveal His plan going forward.

When the leader of our Service Center in Orlando, shared, I was surprised to learn from Kelly Laughridge that we are receiving about 2,000 calls—a month! Many of the callers are from our radio audience asking for advice or wanting to