This is the last message. My goal in this whole thing was to educate and inspire us,
not to coerce us or guilt us or condemn us into doing something.
But financial giving and tithing is one of the greatest gifts that God gave to us.
I know it's why it's so hated and attacked by the demonic side,
but it's one of the greatest gifts God gave to us.
Testimony, someone who does not come to the church, they're an online viewer,
says this, I'll just read it to you.
I followed your teaching on tithing and I realized that I got hung up on the whole first fruit thing
and found myself unable to do the tithing at the beginning of the month,
as that's when my rent comes out.
So I was all messed up about how I would do my tithing.
Then God spoke to me and said, you don't have to worry about that.
Take it out at the second half of your money.
Don't get all hung up on the first fruits.
Last month I was able to do my total tithe after the fifteenth of the month
and it was so wonderful to be able to give joyously with an open and full heart to God.
God blessed me that month financially in ways that I didn't even realize he would.
Then she gave an example of how she was blessed and so forth.
At the end she said this certainly exemplifies what you're talking about
giving with a joyful heart is one of the most wonderful experiences you can have
and God honors it.
So we're going to try to answer, we had a number of questions come in.
So we're going to try to get through all of them.
I won't be able to answer as long on some as I would like to
but we're going to do it anyway.
When it comes to tithing, I do not have control of this at the moment.
So let me see if I rearrange some things here it gives me control.
I don't think there's anything you have to do but if there is, ah, got it.
These are the three words you need to remember when it comes to tithe.
Anything that increased you financially we're talking.
Increased you produced in your life or yielded something.
This is God's description of tithing.
And surprise, surprise it covers just about everything.
Including the interest you pay in your house.
Well that's not increasing me quit paying it and find out.
Are you getting any profit from paying the interest
or any produce or yield from paying the interest on your debts?
Just stop paying it. We'll find out pretty fast won't we?
It covers most everything.
Everything that there's supposed to be a line there.
Oh there is up here it's not on mine.
Everything that can be filled in there
that deals with increased produce or yield from God's perspective
he wants us tithing on it.
Here's something I wanted to point out.
We looked at a video last week on this concern from Andrew Womack.
He called it honoring God and here's a different perspective.
I thought this was interesting how that Abraham
when he had that covenant experience he tithed out of it.
Here we're looking at Jacob.
I'm not going to read it all through for sake of time.
This is where he was fleeing.
He was going to his uncle's place.
He was in the desert.
He had the dream or the vision.
He saw the ladder ascending to heaven.
He woke up or in it behold the Lord stood at the top of it said
I'm the Lord God of Abraham your father and God of Isaac
and the land of which you lie.
I will give to you and your descendants
and your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth.
So now God is making the covenant that he made with Abraham and Isaac
he's now reaffirming to Jacob.
Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go
and will bring you back to this land
for I will not leave you until I have done what I've spoken to you.
Then Jacob woke up and he said wow God must be in this place.
Freaked him out a little bit.
Then Jacob rose early in the morning
and took the stone that he put under his head as a pillow
or set it up as a pillow.
He used it for a pillow but he set it up as a pillow
and poured oil on top of it and he called the name of the place Bethel.
Then verse 20 Jacob made a vow saying if God will be with me
and keep me in this way because he's exchanging now covenant.
God just said you know the land I gave to granddad and your dad
now it's yours and he's establishing this covenant.
He said if God's going to take care of me
give me bread to eat clothing to put on
so that I come back to my father's house in peace.
Now that was big. Remember he's running here now for his life
from Esau.
Then the Lord shall be my God
and this stone which I have set up as a pillar
shall be God's house
and all that you give me
I will surely give you a tenth
or give a tenth to you.
The tithe in Scripture
shows up as an exchange on the covenant
we have between us and God.
So, let's start in on the questions.
Does God really pay attention to our giving?
God pays attention to everything.
The sparrows, the number of hair
he recounted your head this morning.
Out of yesterday.
And if he's interested enough in you to recount the hair in your head
he knows everything.
He's paying attention.
Now God will test your sincerity
and commitment via your giving.
This is an abending machine
where we stick in the tithe and out comes the reward
and we stick in the tithe and out comes the finances.
This is an abending machine.
This is an exchange of covenant.
And you never know if a covenant, like in a marriage,
you never know if a covenant is worth the salt it was made out of
until it's tested.
That's when you know what a covenant's worth.
That's when you know who made it was intentional.
Were they fully committed? Were they honest?
Or was this just a bunch of words they said
and it means nothing to them?
God will test our heart in the covenant.
Just be ready. He's going to test you on that.
How's he going to do it?
He may let you hang a few times.
You know, you're looking for an answer
and it's like it's just not coming through
and this is not working.
Are you going to stay true to your covenant with him?
Or is that over now?
Well, that's always going to work.
Well, you just flunk the test.
It's like the first time you have an argument with your wife
or your husband.
Well, if that's the way the marriage is going to be, it's over.
I mean, you just flunk the test.
Honey, just remember you had one.
You're going to have a whole lot more
before this whole marriage thing is done.
Just get ready for it.
Well, if we're going to be arguing,
then I don't want anything to do with this.
You're flunking the test.
The test is,
will you stay in this even though it's uncomfortable?
The reward comes at the end.
Not right away.
So he will test us.
You say, what's he looking for?
He's going to ask you to tie...
Here's an Old Testament principle.
Ask you to tie that you may learn to fear the Lord your God.
It's just that simple.
Do we respect him,
honor him enough to do what he's asking us to do?
Period.
He's also looking to see if he can trust you.
That verse describes that really well.
Can he trust you?
There will be some tests to your commitment on it.
If this isn't a vending machine,
or just, you know, we're just going to throw it out there
and he's going to immediately jump into action
and just bless our socks off.
That's American thinking.
This is Eastern world thinking.
This is covenant thinking.
And until a covenant is tested, you don't...
like even our faith, I mean it falls under the same principle.
Lest our faith be tested,
like as by fire it doesn't come out as pure gold.
It's full of dross.
You got to put some heat to that baby and let it cook.
Now it'll come out pure.
So there will be testing.
Remember, he's watching.
The greatest thing he's looking at is our heart,
our motives, our intentions.
Do we love him with all our heart?
Is he our treasure?
Pass the test.
Learn to fear the Lord and be trustworthy.
When you don't fear the Lord,
then those kind of things happen.
That kind of stuff comes up.
If you don't fear the Lord,
we've made him little in our mind.
It's not that big a deal.
What he wants isn't that important.
So let's touch this a little bit.
So what is here was,
I answered the question and then this question came in.
What does the test look like?
The test is always choices.
It's like raising children.
You don't know if you actually have their obedience
or they're just submitting to shut you up.
Until you give them a choice.
Now the true nature,
especially if their choice is not
where mom or dad are watching over their shoulder.
Their choice is alone.
Mom and dad may never find out.
Now you're going to find out what's really in them.
It's like raising kids.
We will need to make certain choices
with how we spend our money
in order to be able to give the tide.
That's part of the test.
You will literally get put in situations
where he won't take away your needs
because Matthew 6 talks about he knows our needs.
Our needs are all supplied.
But he will let us get into situations
where we have to make choices about things we like.
Are we going to tithe?
Or are we going to keep our subscriptions?
Are we going to tithe?
Or are we still going to spend on entertainment?
Are we going to tithe? Or are we going to eat out?
You might have to give up eating out for a while to tithe.
You say, what is it? God's testing you.
He wants to see what choice you're going to make.
It's like children.
You don't know what they're really made of
until you give them some options.
The kind of vehicles we drive.
You may not get your dream vehicle.
You may have to tithe.
Why would I be blessed if I would tithe?
You will be. He's testing you.
The only way he can test us is if he gives us options
and see what we choose.
Now he knows what's inside of us.
The kind of clothes we wear.
The whatever.
The test comes through choices
not our needs but things we like.
Well, I like to do this.
And if I tithe, I won't be able to afford it.
I encourage you, pass the test.
Because then in the end, you'll be able to tithe and do that.
But right up front, he's looking at your heart.
He's looking what's going on inside you.
And there's numerous... I could give.
I don't have the time, but I could give numerous stories
of how Mary and I were put in that situation.
Numerous stories.
And any of you who've been faithful to tithing,
if I'd hand you the mic, you'd have stories too.
Yeah, there was a...
Honey, do you remember the time we had to choose
between shh and tithing?
It's how it worked. God's testing us.
You say, why?
Because we spend on what's important to us.
We spend on what we love.
And God's trying to find out, do we love...
You fill in the blank, more than Him,
or do we love Him more than it?
What do we love more?
There's only one way to find that out.
Give you the choice.
And watch you choose.
Sometimes we have to change what's important to us.
Because we spend on what's important to us.
Because where your treasure is,
that's where your heart will be.
And if your treasure is in subscriptions
or getting a new phone every now and then,
or you've got to take your winter vacation.
If you start tithing, you want money for that.
That's your treasure.
And you know what? Your heart ends up there.
Well, if your heart's there, guess what?
It's not with God.
So He's going to test you.
You know, it's probably not shouting material,
but do you want to know what's coming or don't you?
Another question.
Do we love Him enough to make
what He wants important to us?
That's my question.
Even when it costs something,
stretches our faith, challenges our priorities,
are we willing to give up things to tithe?
Are you willing to give up things
to get ahead financially?
See, Andrew Womack hit it last Sunday.
Tithing and giving financially
is a financial investing move.
And I'll just use his words.
You're stupid if you don't do it.
It's a financially investment move.
Now, it's one side of the coin.
You've got to watch your spending,
and we're going to talk about that here a little bit too
because we had questions come in on it.
But are you willing to give up things
to get ahead financially?
Well, a lot of people aren't.
A lot of people are so set on,
I want my certain things that I know
I could take this and invest it someplace
and actually get a return on it.
I'm not going to do that.
I'm just going to call it an investment.
And I want it.
When you get talking about finances with couples,
I hear all kinds of things.
Well, Pastor, I just felt it was time
to invest in some new clothes.
You don't know what an investment is.
Well, Pastor, I felt it was time
that we invest in a new grill
because our other one was looking kind of nasty
sitting out on our back porch.
You don't understand investments,
which tells me something about you.
You have never taken the time
with all the knowledge of the world
now at your fingertips.
Far as I know, the library is still open.
You have never even taken the time
financially to understand the difference
between an investment and an expense.
Investments make you money.
Expenses cost you money.
A new grill will never produce a dime for you.
The only way clothes will produce anything
is if you need a certain kind of clothes
to keep your job.
But just going out and changing your wardrobe
and calling it an investment?
No, that's an expense.
That will never produce a dollar.
That just drains the account.
It doesn't put it back in.
A true investment will repay itself
and then make you money.
That's an investment.
An expense you pay for
and it never puts a dime back in your pocket.
Tithing, giving is an investment,
not an expense.
Most investments, unless you're just going to the bank
putting your money in a CD or something,
well, then it'll start producing right away.
But if you're going to do something in the business world
or whatever, most investments take three to five years
before they start paying for themselves
and producing any money.
That's statistically the average last time I looked it up.
It just takes some time.
It's an investment.
It takes some time to get rolling,
get the business rolling,
get things coming back.
Tithing and giving is an investment.
This is not an expense.
This is an investment
that brings return in all of life,
not just finances.
But he's going to test us.
So, the question never got on the PowerPoint,
so I'll ask the question that was asked
and then it'll give you the answer.
Does God really need my money?
I thought God owns everything.
Okay.
Well, the answer to that is,
no, he doesn't need your money.
But this is the system he set up
for how he wants to do things on this earth.
If he never had another person
give a dollar to God's work,
God doesn't need your money.
But we all flunk the test.
And if we're that selfish,
we may not make heaven either.
There's reasons he set this up.
You say, well, if he doesn't need my money
then what is the system?
Real quickly, scripturally,
why do we tithe?
This is review.
Return to God what is his
and to fund his kingdom.
He set up the system
like a good businessman.
If a good businessman...
Let's pick somebody.
If Ron was going to set up a second car lot
and he says, I got one in Malacca,
now I want one, I don't know,
wherever, St. Claude, pick a place.
So I'm going to set up another car lot.
He knows for the first while,
might be a few years,
his current car business has to fund that
and get it up.
We got to get cars there,
we got to pay rent,
either we got to buy the place
or we got to pay rent or whatever.
There's expenses here
that the old car business
is going to have to eventually...
I mean, he's going to have to support this
for a while, for a few years.
But eventually, if this is going to be
a valid business,
it should support itself
and quit taking
from my business in Malacca.
And if it never gets there,
if this thing just keeps draining
thousands, tens of thousands
of dollars every year
from my current business,
I might also shut it down
because it's not an investment.
It's an expense.
God's a businessman.
I mean, he's the perfect businessman.
And he wants the church
to learn how to operate in business.
But many times, the church
just thinks like eight-hour employees
who punch their pay clock
and the rest ain't my issue
and that's why we argue with
I don't know if I need to tie or not
because you've never been a business owner.
You're just worried about
putting your hours in,
getting my paycheck,
going home and spending it.
Business owners can look in and go,
oh, I see why God did that.
There's numerous reasons why God did that.
Well, from God's perspective,
it's to test our hearts.
See if we have the love of money
or God, test our hearts.
See if we love God.
If we're desiring to be rich,
it opens an avenue for prosperity.
It proves we're trustworthy
and it also shows God
whether we have the fear of the Lord.
So there's reasons for it
and I could take time,
but I don't have time.
So let's go to the next.
This is a question that comes
from a business person.
So if you're not a business person,
you may not understand this question.
If closed corporation
or if a closed corporation
a closed corporation is an S corp.
It's closed.
It's limited to its partners
or to its owners, its members.
Many times they use that
in a family situation.
It's not a public thing
that anybody from Joe Blow
can get into it.
It's certain people
are in this corporation.
So let's say you and your children
and whatever, you've got a corporation
and you're running a business together.
23 of you, whatever.
If the corporation,
because see all the money
goes into the corporation from the business
and then everybody gets their paycheck
out of the corporation.
That's a corporation's work, okay?
If the corporation pays ties
on the gross income,
do the recipients still pay ties
on the income they receive
from the corporation?
No.
Not if it's a Christian corporation
and you're all in agreement
as a family, you've already tithed.
If the corporation received,
make numbers easy,
if the corporation received $100
for the year
and Joe Blow's family got five
and Joe's brother got five
and the sister got five
and mom and dad got five
and the $100 already
had been tithed on.
The money to them
does not get tithed on
or you're paying a second tithe.
You can do that if you want.
But the tithe's already been paid
by the corporation.
Now if the corporation is looking
at the $5 each child gets
as an expense
because we don't want to give
God too much money.
So let's expense everything out we can
and then with what's left
maybe the corporation will tithe
on the net.
But if we don't tithe
we expense everything down
well now that $100 has never been
tithed on so the portion you
receive you need to tithe on that.
Does that make any sense?
So then the question was flipped
if a closed corporation
pays ties on the net
do the recipient still pay
ties on the income they receive
from the corporation?
Are you personally getting
your income out of the net
or were you an expense?
Most corporations who at whatever
gets paid out that's an expense.
They do that for tax purposes
they do it for numbers of reasons.
If you got paid
as an expense to the corporation
yeah you need to pay your tithe
because it hasn't been paid yet.
Did everybody who needs to follow that?
I don't want to dwell on it any longer
than I have to. So in other words
let's say it this way
some place the tithe needs to be paid
if the corporation pays it for you
great you don't have to
if the corporation doesn't pay it for you
it's your obligation.
Simple way of saying the same thing.
How can having a tight financially
actually help us? Like Paul said
I know how to abound I know how to be a base
and I've learned to be content in both situations
so he's inferring
that not having enough to get by
can actually be good for us sometimes.
Well how can it help us?
Well it teaches us faith.
You ever hear the saying
born with a silver spoon in your mouth?
People who have been what we call
born with a silver spoon in their mouth
they've never really had to watch their
pennies or their dollars
everything's handed to them
life was always good
life was always easy
those people tend to be disasters as adults
because they don't know the basics of how life works
they think you just go to mom and dad
and they give it to you
well at some point that probably will quit
unless mom and dad are exceedingly wealthy
and if mom and dad are exceedingly wealthy
they probably didn't do that system
do you know who does that system?
the baby boomers who have
more than they need
but they're not rich
they just handed out to their
they did, handed out to their kids
and their kids are 35 years old
sitting in the basement watching video games
because mom and dad pay for their whole living
well you don't understand little Johnny
he has PTSD
well I probably would have too after living with you
you got to make him grow up at some point
you got to learn faith
not having enough money also helps us
find out what's really important to us
we can't pay for everything
well now we got to pick and choose
once you have to pick and choose
now the priorities
become obvious
and not having enough
you got to grow up at some point
Helps us find where we're wasting money.
Americans waste huge amounts of resources.
Huge amounts of resources.
I know a family who never keeps leftovers.
They make the meal, whatever is left over, in the garbage.
We don't do leftovers in our house.
Huge amount of waste.
I know a person who refuses to wear...
Well, it's wear, clothes, it's...
Probably shouldn't say too much of it.
The only thing they keep for a second use
is something that is hard, like a spoon or a shovel
or anything that is soft, made out of cloth.
I'll say it that way. They use it once and it's gone.
I won't wear a shirt twice. What about washing it? Won't do it.
I won't use a towel twice.
Why? Yeah, it's just nasty.
I just throw it.
If I would have the money, you're throwing away
and I would invest that.
I'd be a millionaire by now.
What you need is a good dose of being abased.
That's what you need.
And you'll find out that clothes can actually be washed and reused.
Ooh.
There's a concept.
You say, are there people actually? You see it all.
So, yes, having it tight sometimes
actually would make us better
because we just don't realize how much we're just wasting, throwing to the wind.
Do we tithe when selling land or houses our home?
Well, I don't know, it depends upon how you look at it.
Did your home increase? Did the value increase?
Did your home produce anything for you financially?
Did the home yield anything?
Well, what it yielded...
and I'm going to explain this, so don't fall off your chair now and go,
ah, that's stupid.
What it yielded, you need to tithe on.
Okay, so now let me explain this
because somebody's going to come back with this.
Some of you are sharp enough to catch this.
You say, but if I paid on my tithe on my income,
I used my income to buy my home,
isn't my home already tithed on?
It can be.
So you, with business minds, follow me through on this.
If you bought a home for $100,000,
you put it on a 30-year mortgage,
you paid it all the way through at X% interest,
at the end, your house probably cost you 200,
let's just say $250,000, just for a number.
Okay?
You sell it for $250,000.
You actually made nothing
because you bought it for 100,
you paid the principal and the interest
and got back what you put in.
Does that make any sense?
But if you buy the home for $100,000,
you keep it for 30 years, you pay it off,
and you put in $250,000,
but now you sell it for $623,000.
Between $250,000 and $623,000, you never tithe done.
And it is profit.
If you don't believe that,
just give the difference to me.
I'll be glad to call it produce,
or profit, or increase, or those three words.
I'll be glad to call it one of those
and grab $373,000.
Oh, I wouldn't give it away, we need that.
Then it is actually increasing you, isn't it?
Is it possible for the church
to get more money through rich people tithing
than it can use?
That's a question.
It is, depending upon the church.
I would be glad to try it, though.
There's a lot of places, we could pay off TBO,
we could pay off Chief Cornerstone Church,
we could give Pastor Josh a living salary,
and then that's besides missionaries
and all kinds of other opportunities that come up.
I would be glad to try finding a way
to spend $1,000,000 a year
and make it profitable for the kingdom.
Now, if you're in a church talking to online
because you're not in that church,
but if you're on a church that
it just keeps piling up
and they're the kind of thinking that
if they can get five, ten million in the bank,
oh, we're really doing good as a church.
You're failing as a church.
A church is not designed to be a lake
that stores things up and nothing ever goes out.
Christians are not designed to be a lake.
That stores things up and nothing goes out.
You begin to smell after a while.
It's stinky.
Churches, believers, everything is made
of the same principle.
In and out what we have received, we give.
So yeah, is it possible?
Yes, but never will happen here.
Just saying.
So try me.
I'd be glad to give that a shot.
And I'll tell you what we spent.
It's in the finance report.
You'll see what we spent it on.
Interesting.
Do ministers receive unlimited incomes?
In other words, the bigger the offering,
the larger the minister's income.
How much time do I have for this one?
Yes and no.
When Mary and I, the board decided
a salary for us.
And when the money did not come in
to cover the, let's call it $100 a week.
The board decided we get $100 a week.
Not enough money came in to pay the expenses
and give us our $100, so we got $75.
Yes, if the offering would go up,
we'd pick up this extra $25.
Because the money would be there.
But if we're already getting our $100 a week
and $5 million comes in,
the board already set the salary.
It won't go up over $100 because $5 million showed up.
So it's yes or no.
It's, you know,
it's sometimes people view a church
like a sole proprietorship.
You know, you've got a business
and you're in charge of it.
So if you can get more customers,
more income, then you make more.
That's true for businesses,
but it's not true for churches.
It's a 501c3.
It operates differently.
Now, let me address real quickly
the real question there.
How can I know if pastor is making too much money?
There's the real question.
Because see, if I start given
and these are given and there's a given,
man, he must just be raking it.
So let me give you a real life example.
And I forgot to ask pastor Eager's permission on this,
but by the time I'm done,
I think it'll all make sense.
Number one, what is it worth to you
to have a pastor who you can trust, rely on?
He's going to be there and he's in it
for trying to help God's kingdom move forward.
What's that worth to you?
Is that worth enough, more, less,
than the manager at Walmart?
Because see, what I do,
what pastor Eager does,
will affect hundreds of people.
The guy at Walmart can cheat on his wife,
remarry in two weeks and nobody knows.
It affects nobody.
See the difference?
However, let me just say this.
When pastor Igor and Tanya came on board,
they made a huge financial sacrifice.
So I'm going to let a cat out of a bag.
I hope it's okay.
You can growl at me later if it's not.
He started his own business when he was 20.
He ran it up until what, you were 33, 32?
32 when you quit.
So we share important information
of which I will not share all of it with you,
but I will say this.
From age 22 to 32,
he made more every year in his business
than I have ever made in my lifetime
in a single year being a pastor.
So now you got to digest that.
Am I giving the pastor too much money?
He's probably getting rich.
A 22-year-old starting his own business
made more for 10 years in a row
than someone who's been in the ministry
47 years July 1st this coming summer,
ever made in one year.
Does that answer your question?
Well, maybe pastor's getting paid too much.
Does that answer your question?
Now I'll tell you this.
He's not making near what he made
in those 10 years working in this church.
That's how you know if someone's called.
That's how you know if their heart
is in it for the kingdom.
To take a cut in salary of half or more
and say, yep, God's in this. I'm in.
That has to be God.
They have to be called.
You know, when I put out feelers out there
to find out if anybody's interested
in being an assistant pastor
and the first question I get is, what do you pay?
I don't even answer that.
You're the wrong person.
All right, moving on.
I'm trying to go as fast as I can.
This one is going to take a little bit of time.
How do you get ahead on a limited income?
Well, now you know that I don't get millions of dollars
like some of you thought.
You say, well, how do you afford what you're living in?
I'm about to show you.
How did that happen?
First of all, we were tithers.
And in Colorado, we bought our house for $139,000.
We needed a lot of fixing.
We needed the basement built out.
We put about $100,000 into it, so now we're at $239,
and we sold it for $370.
And we tithed on the increase.
See, so there is increase in a house.
That's how we got the down payment, okay?
So now you know something.
It may be none of your business, but now you know it.
How do you get ahead in a very limited income?
There are the sources I have used.
I've used a few besides what I listed there,
but they're the ones that I have used over the years
to change my perspective on income.
Number one, if you're on a limited income
and you're still in working ability,
you need to unlimited your income.
Take the top off of it.
Well, I only make X amount.
Well, you need to start believing God
for ways to make more than that.
You need to tithe.
If your marriage has issues,
you need to fix your marriage to unlimited your income.
Because 1 Peter 3.7 says that a husband and wife
inherit from God together.
If you've got a bad marriage,
well, I just can't seem to get my income up.
Fix your marriage.
And you always have to look for new opportunities
that God will bring.
He taught me this and...
okay, I can either quit here
and you can just look at the PowerPoint
and forget the rest,
or I can go on for another little while
and you get the full load.
You want to quit?
No.
Want the full load?
No.
The rest of you, if you don't know,
you can just go quietly.
There's always going to be risk involved.
Matthew 25 really lays that out well.
You've got the king who went away
and he gave each person a certain amount of money.
King James calls it that he gave him talents.
Well, he didn't give him talents.
He gave him talent was the word for money.
He gave him a certain amount of money
according to their ability
and then he said, go ahead and deal with this.
The guy who was afraid of risk,
he didn't even trust the bank.
The guy who was so afraid of risk just buried it.
He said, well, at least I'll have the principal
when the king comes back
and he handed the principal back
and the king said,
no, that's not how this system works.
And he was very upset with them.
That's God to us.
That was the picture there that was being laid out.
There's always risk involved in new opportunities.
That is why you have to pay attention
to the opportunities very closely.
Know what you're investing in.
Study it every direction you can up, down and sideways.
Don't just listen to your cousin
or your friend who comes and says,
I got this new investment.
It's going to be awesome.
Oh, I want in.
You might be just flushing your money.
But realize if you're a person
who is adverse to taking risk,
you have to get over that in here
or it's going to hinder you
from taking the opportunities that God offers to you.
He will offer you opportunities.
If you're a tither, God will bring you so many opportunities
to increase your income,
but everyone is tied to,
but we could lose this.
Yeah, you could.
Well, this is going to take $25,000 to get involved in.
We could lose that $25,000.
Well, that's called risk.
Yep.
But you're not going to be the person
who doubles the money like in Matthew 25
if you don't take that risk.
So there's always opportunities.
There's always risk.
What is God saying?
What are the stats, the statistics,
the information on the risk you're about to take?
And if you're going to go in business for yourself,
realize that God will bless your socks off,
but you're going to work harder
than you ever have in your life.
The more God blesses you, the harder you work.
You say, I'll just hire people.
It doesn't work that way.
There is a crossover point
where you've got more than you need,
but not enough for that next person's life.
You can't hire anybody yet.
And then there's always the issue of
who do I hire that will take care of this
like I take care of it.
Nobody takes care of their stuff like the business owner.
We went...
I don't think you were with us.
I think it was just Mary and I.
Or you might have been with us that time.
We went to a Perkins in Bemidji.
Service went late, this, that and the other.
Perkins closes at 11, it was.
And we got there at 10.05 or 10.10, something like that.
We got plenty of time to grab a bite to eat before it's over.
The person from the back comes out and says,
oh, we've run out of certain items, so we're closing.
Yeah, and they were supposed to be open until 11,
it was shortly after 10.
I looked at Mary, I said, that's not the owner.
That's the shoddy employee who will get their paycheck
whether anybody buys food or not.
If the owner was standing there, he just said,
you know what, we ran out of a few things,
but we'll work around it.
Come on in, sit down.
We got something for you to eat.
Because the owner wants to make a profit.
The employee wants to get out of there as soon as they can
and make their 20 bucks an hour.
Total different mindset.
If you're going to go in business for yourself,
you're going to work your tail off.
Well, I thought God's going to bless me.
That's why you're going to work your tail off.
Here's the saying, to have what the average person does not have,
we need to be willing to do what the average person isn't willing to do.
Well, I want to be rich.
Are you willing to do everything that a rich person does to get rich?
Or do you have a fantasy that says,
well, for me to make $100,000 a year,
if I just get in the right business,
I don't have to do much more and it'll just come in.
You just let me know what business that is.
I want in on that.
It don't work that way.
Well, I'm not sure I'm willing to work that hard.
Well, then don't gripe if you don't have what they have.
They got a really good salary and they work for it.
Well, I'm not sure I'm willing to work for it.
Well, then shut up.
What's your point?
Are you a socialist?
You think they should give you their salary while you sit home, do nothing?
That went too deep for you, didn't it?
What have you learned over the years and how to get ahead financially?
That was asked to me personally.
Number one, seek God's kingdom first.
By that, one of the specific applications is what does God want you spending your money on?
If you're seeking Him first, let Him have first input.
What does He want you spending your money on?
Don't short-turn the covenant or you'll force the covenant to short you.
Don't short the covenant or it'll short you.
Stay in faith, obey tithes, learn how to be content when you're a base,
not grinding and griping all the time.
Never give up, keep going.
Stop blaming attacks of the devil for your financial problems.
Remember, this comes under what have you learned over the years
on how to get ahead financially?
Stop blaming the devil for your bad habits.
Let me sit with you for one hour and look at your finances
and we'll see if it's the devil's fault or yours.
If you can show me where, well, $20,000 was in the bank account
and it just evaporated, it was stolen.
Well, it might be the devil's fault.
But if you say, well, you know, we took this trip and we got excited
and we spent some money on some excursions, we probably shouldn't have.
That's your fault you don't have that 20 grand.
Don't blame the devil.
Make good business decisions whether you have an official business or not.
If you can't run your home like a business, you're never going to get ahead in your home.
You say, well, how do business decisions get made?
Maybe you should study that.
Maybe you should actually get some skin in the game
and do some research
on how a business mind works
and how they prioritize and what they do.
Make good business decisions.
That's how you get ahead financially.
It's not all the devil's fault.
Financial advice coming from me, work hard and work smart.
If you're going to put eight hours in a day,
make them the most profitable eight hours you can.
I'll say it this way.
You can go to...
You say, I don't have a job.
My career, that area, they're not hiring.
So we're just sitting at home and we're starving.
Well, that's wonderful business sense.
Go to Walmart and get a $20 on our job.
Well, I wouldn't work for 20.
Well, how much are you making now every hour?
You're making zippo.
You know what I just heard talk to me?
You're pride.
You're too proud to get a Walmart job and make $20 an hour.
I'm worth way more.
Well, then you wouldn't be sitting home doing nothing, would you?
Nobody hiring you.
Let's get real.
You got a blocker to prosperity.
It's called pride.
But you can go to Walmart, make $20 an hour,
barely get by, but you're getting by.
Or you can go in business selling lemonade at a lemonade stand.
God can prosper that lemonade stand for the four or five months a year in Minnesota.
We can do that.
And he can just bless that lemonade stand,
but I'd be willing to bet the farm on you won't make as much as you would
for $20 an hour at Walmart working year-round.
If you're going to work hard, work smart,
realize a lemonade stand is not a business worthy of supporting a family.
The only way that lemonade stand will become worthy of that
is if you work your tail off, go to every fair, every county gathering,
every whatever, have a unique blend of something people love
and work your way up to the state fair.
Now you can make a living off of a lemonade stand,
but you're going to work hard to get there.
If you're just going to sit on your street corner,
yeah, you're going down.
Don't come to church to ask for money.
Well, I am trying to sell lemonade.
Well, that's great.
That'll never support your life.
So we're just giving bad money after good.
Work hard and work smart.
Seek the kingdom first.
Do the 10, 10, 80.
Some say 15, 10, 75, depending upon who you read.
10, 10, 80 is this.
First 10% of your income goes to God.
It's as tied.
Second 10% of your income goes into savings.
You live off the 80.
Some say first 10 goes to God.
The 15 next in line goes into savings
or investments or something in that realm.
Investments is not something you can lose
with that 15, by the way.
It's IRAs, CDs.
It's not a new shoe shine machine
that you're going to go to a mall with.
Put it someplace where it's not easily loosable
and then work on the 75.
Follow that principle.
We could never live off of 80% of what we make.
Let me go back to the one.
You need to unlimit your income.
You've got to get your income up.
God is not afraid to be asked that question.
God, how do I get my income up?
He'll answer that question.
But you've got to be willing to work hard
seek the kingdom first
and then the 10-10-80, the last one,
do the research on everything.
No impulsive, compulsive,
we bought it on sale for $1,000
and we saved $500.
Oh, show me the $500 you saved.
Well, we don't really have it.
I mean, we would have had to pay $1,500,
but we got it for $1,000, so we saved $5,000.
Did you have to pay $1,000?
Why did you buy this?
Well, it just seemed like such a good deal.
Yeah, you're a financial shipwreck.
Impulsive, compulsive buying.
You research everything.
That helps slow you down.
That's a really good deal.
Yeah, and if you buy it today,
if you wait until tomorrow, you won't get it,
but if you buy it today,
that's turn around and walk outwards right there.
That's somebody playing in your emotions
to get you to spend money you shouldn't be spending.
If it's a good deal today,
it'll be a good deal tomorrow or next week.
If it's not there tomorrow or next week, I don't want it.
It helps shut down impulsive and compulsive buying.
Honey, we got to buy it now.
It's going off sale in three hours.
Let her go.
Just answering the question.
How do you get ahead?
Watch your spending.
Guard against these three.
These are big in America.
Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life.
Did you really have to spend $5 in that donut at the mall
when you're wondering how you're going to pay your utility bill?
Oh, but it looked so good.
Yeah, that's called lust of the eyes.
We'll just move on.
I don't hear any gay men coming out.
Lose the mentality of rewarding or treating yourself.
I worked really hard this week.
I'm going to reward myself. Don't do that.
You're not going to get ahead that way.
Learn new skills that will give you knowledge
on how to save money.
Learn how to...
Notice this is a lot of learning stuff.
Learn how to build things, repair things.
Learn how to do electrical.
Learn how to unplug your toilet.
Learn how to change your own oil.
Learn how to maintain your own vehicle.
If you're trying to get ahead financially,
don't come from the direction of the pride of life
or the lust of the flesh that says,
I don't want to do these things.
I'll just hire them.
Learn how to do these things and save yourself lots of money.
And you can actually do things you wouldn't be able to do
if you didn't do them yourself.
You wouldn't be able to afford it.
Learn how to do it yourself.
You say,
I'm already busy.
Work harder.
Prosperity is spelled W-O-R-K.
In case you didn't know that.
Work harder.
Well, I don't know.
I don't know if I want to.
Well, then quit griping.
Lose the bad habits.
Smoking.
I put coffee in there,
but I thought you'll get upset with me,
so I put expensive drinks.
Staying in fashion,
staying in style.
You know, the older you get,
the more vain staying in style becomes.
The only reason,
like I got these new pants
that don't have the big, at the bottom,
that was used to be in style,
big legs at the bottom.
And Mary said,
people are watching you.
You need to get new pants that look more up-to-date.
And it's like,
that is the only reason I will get them.
If I weren't up here,
I wouldn't be wearing these.
You say, why?
Why do I want to go out
and spend 30, 40 bucks on something
I could give a rip about?
Notice a man said,
hey man, not any women.
If you haven't figured it out yet,
staying in style
wastes a lot of money.
It is a marketing game,
because what's in style now,
two, three years from now, won't be.
Oh, that must just be a coincidence.
No, that's on purpose.
That's on purpose.
So everybody who's caught in this
just keeps spending and spending and spending.
We had a little bump.
I think I've got the statistics on this right.
I heard it on the news this last week.
We have a little bump in gas price.
This isn't anywhere where this could go.
But we have a little bump in gas price.
Within the last month or two,
it's between 15 and 18 percent
of credit card holders
are now delinquent.
Because gas price went up,
they can no longer pay their credit cards.
For the average person,
what's on credit cards?
You know, you wouldn't have the credit card bill
if the pants didn't mean so much.
That might be true for a young person,
but I have... Mary comes into the closet,
she looks at him and says,
you got to get rid of some of your pants.
There's stuff here you never wear.
I said, yep, so I don't have the problem
if I wouldn't have pants.
I'd have pants.
I just might have the younger generation
looking at me like, eww.
What is his problem?
They wore those pants 20 years ago.
Yeah, and they're still good.
What's the point?
Well, they're not up to style.
Well, I'll tell you what,
I'll give you 20, 30 years
to figure out what's really important in life
and you wouldn't say that anymore.
And all the old people go,
mm-hmm.
And the younger ones are like,
they're just a bunch of dinosaurs.
They don't get it.
When I say we had no money,
I'm talking cash.
I'm going to let you in on a secret.
It was worth you staying late for this.
How much do I got left?
I got some left here.
But the stories is what makes it good.
Does it say it there?
Yes.
We had a million dollars available on credit cards.
A million.
This was back in Colorado.
My credit score started dropping.
And I'm going,
I make my payments.
At that point,
there was not much on them anymore.
Why is my credit score dropping?
So I called the credit company.
And I had no idea.
I'll tell you how I got there,
but I had no idea.
So they looked, they said,
well, you got too much credit.
What do you mean too much credit?
I thought you were supposed to have credit
to have a good credit score.
They said, have you paid attention to how much
you could actually go, because back then
they didn't have limits on how much you could take cash advance.
Whatever your card was worth,
you could take the whole thing.
They said, do you realize
you could go to the bank and withdraw
over a million dollars today?
And I'm going, I could.
I said, no, I didn't realize that.
They said, you need to close some accounts.
There's people getting nervous.
You say, well, how did you get
over a million dollars for the credit cards?
When we redid
the church in Colorado,
we had no money,
and nobody else, if they had money,
they were hiding it.
They didn't want to
admit they had any.
So there was only,
we had to remodel
the building to get into it.
We had to outgrow on the first one.
We had to get there.
There was only one way to do it.
I had, we had
no credit available
at a bank or anything.
So I did something that I absolutely
100% don't do.
I say, don't do. I'm telling you, don't do this.
But I prayed about it
and I felt good about it, and we came out the other end
and we were fine.
But do not do this.
Back then, this was
early 90s, early to mid 90s.
The big thing was
open a credit card account
and you'll get one, two, three,
some even four years, no interest.
And my credit was great.
So you got all kinds of offers.
So
we'd open the account
use the account to buy everything
we needed to
do the church.
No interest for
three years.
Pay it back slowly.
Never paid a dime in interest.
However, some of them we didn't get paid back in time.
So we would just take a new
offer and transfer it
there for no interest
for another three years.
Never paid a dime
of interest on
tens of thousands of dollars we spent
on remodeling.
But over the course
of a few years, I had a million dollars
for the credit cards.
So when I say we had no money
if I would have been
a crooked person, I could have been a millionaire.
Right there.
Cash the babies in, skip the country.
Yeah.
And apparently some of the card companies
were getting nervous I was going to do that.
So my credit
was dropping so I had to close accounts.
That falls
under lose the bad habits.
I had special clearance from God
to do it other than that I would call that
a bad habit.
Because you're going to get yourself in a hole, you can't get out.
That's normal.
Thank God.
Didn't happen.
Employment, get the best job you can.
You're putting in the time anyway, you might
also get paid for it.
Self-employed, watch for the opportunities God
brings.
God will bring the opportunities. It's us
who has to take advantage
of the opportunity.
Financial advancement always requires
face and risk.
Always involves
more work.
Sacrifice.
Do what the average person isn't willing
to do.
For instance, moving up here and starting this church
we risked everything.
Everything.
We had no church. We had no job.
We had nothing.
God wouldn't ask you to do that.
Apparently he does.
I'm not the only person
who's been put in that position.
You just got to make sure you're hearing God.
Well, why would anybody live
like that?
There's my answer to that question
no matter what it pertains to.
I've never felt I had a choice
on how I live.
I've never felt I had
the choice. Like when he asked us to move
up here, start a church, I had no choice
in that. What choice did I have?
See, do you do it or you disobey?
Disobedience, never a choice.
You say, well, I would never do that.
Well, then you're going to be a person
who lives in disobedience.
Because God's going to ask you to do things
that you already made the decision on.
I'll never do that.
So don't expect God to bless you
because you're like a stubborn, rebellious child.
You don't reward them
for that behavior.
Well, yeah, but it's a huge risk.
Welcome to life on Earth.
When you leave the house
in the morning, there's no guarantee
you're coming home.
Saved or unsaved?
Yes.
My goal was always to be a disciple,
not a believer. People
will tell me, well, I feel like God's telling
me to do this, but I'm not sure I should.
I didn't know you had
a choice.
Something's wrong here.
You're living your life
on some principle that's wrong.
If God tells you to do something,
you don't have a choice.
And yeah, it can be difficult.
But remember, our light
and momentary troubles
can't compare with eternity
and what we're being given
and what's coming.
So I'm at the end. So I got time
to share this yet. Remember, I've told you
over and over, ask God...
I got to get through this without crying.
Ask God
what you're running toward
because remember Scripture says,
I has not seen,
ear is not heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man
what God has prepared for them
that love him.
What's the next verse?
Oh, you don't know this yet?
I got to keep repeating this.
But God has
revealed it to us
by His
Spirit.
Ask Him what
rewards are waiting for you
in heaven. He will show you
what you're running toward.
I woke up the other morning
just awake
boom!
a vision.
I'll just say what it was.
It was this huge valley
I couldn't see where beside me
or behind me
but in front of me was this
massive valley
with
huge mountains all the way
around it. Beautiful mountains.
And right in the middle of it
towards the back was
this massive, the only way I can describe it
is this massive castle
looking structure.
And I instantly
knew
that's one of our mansions
and we got
more than one.
That's one of them.
And the thought went through my mind
why?
And the Holy Spirit chuckled
and He gave me an answer I'm not allowed to give to you
but He explained
why.
He said that's yours, just keep running.
You see it's so hard
it ain't nothing
compared to what you're going to get rewarded
for.
It's nothing.
We look at what's going on
this is just momentary
we're going to be out of this life so fast
this is just a light
affliction.
You wait
till we fix our eyes
on what's eternal
and what He has
for us.
God doesn't reward people with anything that will
ever disappoint them.
Ever.
It's
like
after He showed me that it's like
yeah, whatever you need
whatever you want
I'm all in
because I know
something I'm running towards
and will be rewarded for it.
So here's my last slide and we're done.
To be a giver and a tither
we need to grow in faith and trust God
that He is actually going to pay
our bills and etc. that we'll get through it.
Might have to adjust our spending a little
but we're going to get through it
and we're going to be rewarded on the other end.
Grow in the fear of the Lord put Him first
grow in self-discipline
quit putting yourself first
grow in death
to the old nature
grow in wisdom insight and discernment
and grow in the internal perspective.
When I look
at what He just showed me
and He said that's yours
just stay faithful just keep running.
This puny
little tithe I'm giving
is nothing
compared to what He's ready to give
to me in this covenant exchange.
Do you realize the average lifespan
or the average American
male lifespan right now
is 76 and a half years old
and I know
all of us say oh it ain't going to be me
I'm going to live a lot older.
Some of us might die a lot younger
if I go to the average I have seven years
and I'm gone
which
I believe God has promised me beyond
that
so I'm not planning
of course those are everybody's
famous last words
I don't see myself doing that
well yeah nobody ever does
98 years old
they died it was so unexpected
it's like
really
come on
don't play the ostrich here
and just stick your head in the sand to the obvious
but anyway
if all I have
which I believe I got more on that plane
but if all I have is seven years
The last thing I'm going to do is shift into neutral and take it easy here.
I will run with everything within me. Why?
Because he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
I will put more effort in these last seven years than I've put in the previous twenty. Why?
The little bit of relaxation you get on this earth isn't worth exchanging for the eternal reward that I will earn in this next seven years.
I can have seven years of relaxation or I can have forever to enjoy something that he rewarded me with for these seven years.
Come on, be a business person. Which is the best choice here?
Of course, all you have to do to figure out where the devil is on that is the American dream is to get to the point where you can do nothing.
Totally opposite of God. Nothing gets no rewards.
Well, I can just get to the point where I got enough money and sit around and do nothing with my life. That would just be perfect.
Now, you're a fool, man. You're a fool.
If you can get to that point, you can get so much further down the road in working for God and instead of having it for thirty years or forty years,
you will have it for millions and millions and millions of years and we just got started.
Which one makes the most sense?
So Lord, I pray that by your spirit we've learned something. I pray that this morning you did something not only in this message,
but in the previous stuff that we covered. I pray something changes our heart to see this thing from the perspective you see it.
Not just our very limited human perspectives, but see it how you see it.
Change our heart, change our heart, change our heart to be wise, to be good business people, to be understanding and have insight,
to be willing to work hard and research and put in the work to lay the foundation before we actually make the investment.
Lord, give us the ability to be the kind of business people you talked about.
And you gave them five talents and they doubled it and made it ten. That's me in Jesus' name.
And I pray that gets on all of us. Change our hearts in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Amen. Thank you for staying late. Have an awesome, awesome Sunday.