Are we guilty of hiding our talents in the ground?

[GBMS]

I believe that the area of greatest ignorance probably has to do with Biblical finances. This is a big subject and I could write a book on it, but for the sake of simplicity, let me throw in the following thoughts in the hope that it will pave the way to further debate.

1. The Bible is not against the wise use of money. It is against the love (idolatry) of money.

2. The Bible encourages financial and Business wisdom and prosperity that is given by God.

3. The Bible has a covenant place for the use of money, which the Church largely ignores, or overlooks, or misunderstands.

4. By focussing on a few scriptures that tell us that the love of money is bad, at the exclusion of all other wealth and money-related scriptures, great damage is being done to the Church and its Kingdom potential.

5. When man does not understand a subject as he should, he tends to swing to the extremes. In this case they are money is all bad and should be avoided. Ie; poverty is good. - to - You must give as much to the Church as possible to 'buy' God's blessings and prosperity.

6. Hos 4:6 says, ' My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...' This is nowhere more true than when it comes to the subject of money. I see this when retirees call me for help, because they are underfunded and scared. I see this when people save for 10, 20 or more years to pay off their homes and then lose them anyway. And on, and on.

More tragically, I see this in the pitiful contribution that we make to missionary causes, primarily, because we do not understand how to use money effectively and to grow it so that there can be abundant support forever.

As an example, our congregation gathered together $8,000 for a missionary cause and everyone was self proud and satisfied with a job well done, which it was - except for the fact that with the right knowledge and financial strategies that $8,000 could have been $80,000 or $800,000 or even more.

I wonder how many souls will not be reached, because we are so busy keeping ourselves in financial ignorance?

Food for thought. Hope it helps.

[Pillar]

Wow, i agree with you wholeheartedly!

I loath the whole "poverty is godliness" idea; as long as we keep it in perspective as you say, and be willing to let things go if God will it.

Thanks for your insights (well thought out insights i might add)

[sarahw]

I agree with your points and am wondering if you are planning to write a book on the topics you have outlined?
sarahw

[leefreeman]

just try thing like sports music anything you want then see if you are good at it.

[Mag]

Sarah,

if you are interested in this topic I believe there's a lot of material available.

For example books by John Avantzini, Patrick Ondrey International or Kenneth Copeland Ministries Europe - HOME

I don't know they materials well enough to judge their quality but well, we've got the Bible and brain

Margaret