Jeff Berg and Jim Burgess: Should your ministry borrow money?

“Not only does borrowing often involve spiritual problems, but it can burden a ministry with distinctive disadvantages. These disadvantages are not mere inconveniences. Rather, they are serious barriers to ministry effectiveness. In some case, these disadvantages overwhelm a ministry.

We have identified at least five of these borrowing disadvantages. When it borrows, a ministry risks:

• Becoming a slave of a lending institution
• Becoming a slave to big givers
• Becoming trapped by financial pressure
• Becoming mired in an endless cycle of borrowing
• Losing flexibility to respond to ministry opportunities.

All these disadvantages are symptoms of financial bondage.”

Jeff Berg and Jim Burgess in The Debt-Free Church (Chicago: Moody Press, 1996) 54.

“Giving produces freedom 100 percent of the time—freedom from the bondage of things, freedom to receive more from God, and freedom to be a conduit of blessing to others. Christians who have freely given their time, money, and themselves are the people who have changed eternity for themselves and countless others.”

Tricia Mayer in a letter to Randy Alcorn, as recounted in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Wheaton: Tyndale, 2003) 292-293.

“If I have learned anything in this life it is this, the world offers us NOTHING. Christ offers us EVERYTHING. My peace comes from knowing and loving Christ and living within that love. My peace comes from knowing that the King of the Universe created me, is redeeming me, and will succeed in this task such that when I see him in the end, He will say, “Well done.” My confidence comes from nothing other than knowing that He is in control even when the world seems completely mad.”

Dan Burke in RCSD email entitled “Christ the King – Source of Peace” on 24 November 2012.

“Live simply. Love generously. Serve faithfully. Speak truthfully. Pray daily. Leave everything else to God.”

Kelly Anderson of Goshen, IN, as recounted in Cancer: One Day at a Time (Bloomington, IN: Wings for Injured Athletes, 2012) 126.

Chorus
Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up O spender, arise! Arise!
Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up O spender, arise! Arise!

Now I’m what you might call a shopper
Born with a consumer gene
I can’t seem to pass up a bargain
I’m living the American Dream.

I have eBay on favorite places
My email is cluttered with spam
It takes two hours a day just to clear it
But I can’t get out of this jam.

Chorus

We’re getting much closer to Christmas
My catalogues tell me it’s so
Santa arrives in July now
So I can start spending my dough

I have every trinket and gadget
My home just can’t hold anymore
Thank goodness for mini warehouses
So I can go back to the store

Chorus

I thought money would make me happy
My goal is to have more than you
More stuff, nicer homes, and vacations
But I’m learning that this isn’t true

Now when it comes to my money
There are limited options I know
I can spend it, or save it, or give it
But I can’t send it ahead when I go

Chorus

Jesus was calling my name
But my heart was close to his voice
I finally woke up and heard Him
And I began to rejoice

Now Jesus is clear in His teaching
He claims everything that I own
It’s not that he needs it or wants it
He just wants me to know it’s a loan

Chorus

Jesus has made me His steward
I manage His portfolio
Some get this concept quite quickly
Others, like me, are quite slow

I’m now at the end of my story
I know that for me it’s been fun
I hope when you stand before Jesus
He’ll say, “Bless you servant, well done!”

Chorus 2x

Songwriter: Rev. Donald J. Curran, Jr. of
Christ the King Anglican Church, Ocala, FL.
Tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

“Thanksgiving is when everyone says they are thankful for what they got (aka – family, home, football) then the next day, by the stroke of midnight, people go back to less thankful and more greedy and decide that they want more than they got.”

Sophie Hoag (my 15 year old daughter) on Facebook, 17 November 2012.

“Priests without kings chase provision to their own hurt. Kings without priests try to generate vision many times to their own hurt…Today we have churches full of frustrated kings, sitting in pews with their arms folded, listening to frustrated priests who have heard from God but don’t have the money to make it happen…Many good, godly men have destroyed themselves and their ministries when they felt they had to become fundraisers. Once they started chasing money, something twists inside and their message and ministry begin to ring hollow.”

David A. High in Kings & Priests (Oklahoma City: Books for the Children of the World, 1997) 18, 26. cf. Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Wheaton: Tyndale, 2003) 248.

“My marriage is stronger since it’s not based on things of this world. My relationships are stronger since they’re not based on things. My walk with God is more real because we have seen Him use us to supply what others need. Nothing in this world can satisfy one’s desire more than to have God literally use you to build a church in a small village, bring food to an orphanage, or bring a doctor to a sick person. I have seen each of these happen. I have seen God working through me.”

Hal Thomas as recounted by Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Wheaton: Tyndale, 2003) 206.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

“R.G. LeTourneau understood God’s purpose for blessing him financially. An inventor of earthmoving machines, LeTourneau reached the point of giving 90 percent of his income to the Lord. As he put it, “I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back—but God has a bigger shovel.”

R.G. LeTourneau as recounted by Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Wheaton: Tyndale, 2003) 214.

“It is God himself who has brought our race to possession in common first of all by sharing himself, by sending his Word to all men alike, and by making all things for all. Therefore, everything is common, and the rich should not grasp the greater share.

The expression, then, “I own something, and have more than enough. Why should I not enjoy it?” is not worthy of a man and does not indicate any community feeling. The other expression does, however: “I have something, why should I not share it with those who have need if it?” Such a one is perfect, and fulfills the command: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matt. 19:19)…

I admit God has given us power to use our possessions, but only to the extent that it is necessary. He wishes them to be in common…How much more honorable it is to serve many than to live in wealth!…How much more useful to have friends as out adornment than lifeless decorations! Who can derive more benefit from lands than from practicing kindness?”

Clement of Alexandria (c. 190) in The Instructor, Book II, Chapter 13.