Starting from the fasting of this Tuesday evening, the three chord prayer will commence this Wednesday morning. There are numerous problems in life and the only one who can truly solve them is God. Many of you understand this and that is why you come to church before dawn to pray. When I think about that, it is very exciting.
Three Chord prayer is not only to solve problems and to overcome spiritual obstacles but also to become more confirmed to God’s will by seeking His voice and not the answers which seem right to us. I urge all of you to participate in this endeavor so that you will have a great spiritual growth.
Some of you may already start reading the book ‘Managing God’s Money’ by Randy Alcorn. This was selected as the basis of my sermon during this early Morning Prayer. There are several reasons why this book was selected.
First, the issue of money and material matter is one of the most influential factors for our lives and our faith. That is why Jesus placed money at the same level of God and emphasized that money is not a means of value measurement but a spiritual matter. (Matthew 6:24). He also spoke many parables which show our faith can be easily controlled by it.
In spite of such warnings by Jesus, many churches these days do not take this issue very seriously. Therefore, money and material often corrupt pastors and extend its great power to even destroy their churches. Also, many Christians in church are influenced by success first mentality and prosperity theology and unknowingly enslaved by money and material.
It is a pity that so many of SBC members do not know enough money management and ended up getting into trouble financially. For example, since we meet in houses for house church, many church members want to buy houses. By itself this is a holy burden and comes from good intentions. However, many buy houses beyond their means and struggle because of it. The writer of this book recommends that the price of a house should not be more than 2.5 times of the buyer’s yearly income. In other words, if you borrow money to buy a house, to purchase $200,000 house, your income needs to be more than $80,000 per year. If you do not follow this rule and go overboard, your house will become your master and can control your life.
Other than that, there are issues related to auto purchases, credit card usage, savings, investments and borrowing money, etc. of which we can be ignorant. Therefore, I want to review some of these issues with this book. Since this book did not cover details of such practical matters, I will read additional books to complement it. At this time, if we can set up clear principles regarding money matters, I believe our lives will be on a more biblically solid ground.
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