Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Day 15 - Dealing with The desire for “more”

Music selection of the Day!
Click on Picture below

Show me Your Glory!


Day 14



Our real worth is what will be ours in eternity.



Practical Tips for Godly Lifestyle Adjustments

Check those that are good reminders for you:



Live simply and within your means (1 Tim 6:6-8)



Do not covet the possessions of others (Eph 5:30)



Follow this wise advice: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”


When considering making a purchase, ask yourself: “Do I really need this?” Learn to discern between your needs and your wants. (1 Tim 6:8-10, Heb 13:5)



Resist the urge to compare yourself with others (2 Cor 10:12)



Examine your home for evidence of hoarding (Luke 12:18)



Give away anything that owns you (Matt 19:21)



Do not fall for commercial advertising – shop wisely based on good counsel (Prov 11:14).



Avoid fads; stick with the classics that are always in style. (Col 2:8, Rom 12:1-2)



Analyze the cost of seemingly small expenditures, such as eating out, buying brand name clothing, etc. These purchases can add up to substantial sums of money. (Prov 27:23-24)



In making major purchases, be sure to shop around, compare prices, gain knowledge, and get at least three prices or bids before making your final decision. (Prov 24:4-5)



Actively deaccumulate by going through your closets, drawers, storage spaces, garage, basement, etc. (Matt 6:19-20)



Be willing to pray before making special purchases. Give God the opportunity to lead you or provide for you in an unexpected but more affordable way. (1 Peter 5:7)



Be willing to purchase or use pre-owned items. Oftentimes you can save substantial money by getting what someone else previously paid full price for. (Job 27:16, Prov 13:22)



Adapted from material by Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, IL



Count Your Blessings

A pathway to more joyful and generous giving and living



A number of years ago, I discovered a wonderful verse in I Corinthians 16:2, “On the first day of each week let each of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper.”



At first, I didn’t understand how the verse could apply to my life. But my wife and I began a Sunday evening practice of “looking back and writing down” how God provided for us in the previous seven days. Each week, we discovered there were many ways that God provided for us outside of our normal income. We began giving 10% of my main income to our local church and we then started a “Blessings Fund” that represented 10% or more of the myriad of blessings God creatively brought into our life week by week.



At the end of the first year, even though my main income only brought in $15,000; I discovered we had given $1500 to our local church and an additional $2500 out of our “Blessings Fund” to other Christian causes. This meant that God had blessed us with $25,000 of blessings during the past year.



We did this for several more years and discovered that every year God doubled and tripled what we were able and willing to give to the Lord’s work because we counted our blessings. Here are the lessons we learned and practiced that helped us live a more joyful and generous life:



1) Plan a time each week where you will begin to write down God’s provisions from the previous week in a “Blessings Notebook.”

2) When you meet together, think back over the following areas and write down anything that comes to your remembrance:

MAIN INCOME? If you were paid during the week, write down that amount. For us, we then gave 10% of this amount to our local church.

ADDITIONAL INCOME OR UNEXPECTED CASH? Write down any cash gifts, overtime pay, bonuses, second salary, moonlighting, investment returns, sale of any possession, refunds, inheritance, etc.

PEOPLE’S HOSPITALITY? Meals, lodging, entertainments that others gave to you or paid the cost.

SPECIAL HELP OR ASSISTANCE? Help with car – house - equipment repairs, free babysitting, etc.

DISCOUNT OR SALE ITEMS? Any money saved on discounted clothing or household items, garage sale/thrift shop savings, discounts on recreational activities, etc.

PURCHASE OF NEW POSSESSIONS? When my wife and I were buying a major item or a luxury item, we sometimes included the cost of these items in our blessings fund and in order to give an additional 10% or more to the Lord’s work.

1) Write down the financial value for each item OR (very important) write down the amount you “WOULD HAVE BEEN WILLING TO SPEND” for the item. For example: A family member gave me a $1000 radial arm saw. I would have never been able or willing to afford a $1000 tool like this, but I might have “been willing to spend” $200 on a used radial arm saw at a garage sale. So, in this example, I put down the value of the blessing at $200 (not $1000). Therefore I ended up giving an extra $20 to the Lord’s work, not an extra $100.

2) Add up the value of the total number of blessing items for the week and take 10% or more of the total and decide where to give it OR set aside the week’s amount in your notebook or put the money in a special place or account and consider this your “BLESSINGS FUND”.

3) Faithfully give your church 10% or more of your main income. Then begin to joyfully and generously use your “Blessings Fund” to help support missions, missionaries, special projects and needs, building programs, the needy, and Christian workers and organizations.



4-WEEK CHALLENGE: I am confident that the LORD has been “blessing” most people’s lives week by week. But most of us don’t “see” the blessings because we don’t take time each week to “look back over the last 7 days to see what God has done to provide for us.” Because of this, I challenge you to try this for at least 4 weeks to “see” what God is doing for you! I believe it will truly lead you to a more joyful and generous life!

http://www.maximumgenerosity.org/



2nd WEEK PROJECT:



FOCUSING ON YOUR LIFESTYLE


Identify: “Where is your money going?”



“Riches certainly make themselves wings;

They fly away like an eagle...” Prov 23:5



Money talks: It says, “good bye!” Where is your money going?


Step 1: As best as you can, estimate how much money you are spending on a “monthly basis” in each area listed on the next page (Helpful hint: Take ANY quarterly, yearly, sometimes and one time expenses and pro-rate this amount on a monthly basis).


Step 2: Prayerfully review the list. Are there any items the Lord may be showing you that:

· You don’t really need and could eliminate from your spending in order to be more generous?

· You could meet this need more affordably by shopping around or by lowering your expectations so you could be more generous?

· You should decrease or eliminate because you realize this expenditure is hurtful to your personal health OR your spiritual growth and service?

· You could postpone or trust God to meet this need in another way so that you could be more generous?

Step 3: Based on items you identified in step 2, determine an increased amount you could give to the Lord monthly to meet a special need: $________/month.



Helpful note: If you would like to find out how your spending compares to recommended national averages, visit: http://crown.org/Tools/budgetguide.asp ©www.MAXIMUMgenerosity.org



WEEK #2

MAKING $ENSE:

Possible questions to think

about or discuss…


1. What financial situation did you mainly grow up with (i.e. not enough, just made ends meets, more than enough, etc.)?


2. What did your parents do, if anything, to help train you to manage your finances?



3. What did you think about the “Count Your Blessings” article? Could this practice have any impact on your life and giving?



4. When you filled out the worksheet for this week’s project, “Focusing on Your Lifestyle”, what surprised you or caught your attention in doing this exercise?



5. What was the most painful or difficult financial experience you ever recall going through?



6. Have you ever intentionally curtailed your normal spending in order to be more generous to the Lord’s work? If so, when?



7. What truth or Bible verse from the past 7 days of reading stood out to you the most?



8. What was the best financial advice or teaching you ever received in life (from reading, seminars/conferences, personal example, or personal advice)?



9. What is one thing you spend your money on that is unhealthy for you or is a waste of money?



10. What is something you bought on impulse that you realized later you didn’t really need?



11. If you began to experience tough times financially, would you try to take care of your own needs first or would you first make sure you gave to God from whatever minimal resources you had available? Why?



Dictionary definitions of

ASSETS:



assets =



Any and all items that someone possesses.




A valuable item or items in someone’s ownership.



The entire property (tangible or financial) of all sorts, belonging to a person, a corporation, or an estate.



Assets include cash, stock, inventories, possessions, real estate property rights, and goodwill.

Day 13 There are dangerous consequences if you live for pleasure

See Video for Day labeled Below. 13th



Prov. 22:9 Realize that living for pleasure will impoverish you financially and spiritually.

Prov 21:17 He who loves pleasure will become poor.

Gal 6:7 If a man sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death.

Ecc 2:10-11 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless.

Ecc 7:4 A fool thinks only of having a good time now.

2 Tim 3:1-5 There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, …lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power.

1 Tim 5:6 The widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

Prov 23:19 Don’t carouse with drunkards and gluttons, for they are on their way to poverty. And remember that too much sleep clothes a man with rags.

Luke 15:13 The younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

Your use of money shows what you think of God.


click on the graphic and enjoy a song while you read.

Day 12 - You cannot serve God “and” Money – but you must learn to serve God “with” money

Luke 16:11-13 (Jesus said) “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?…No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”


Prov 10:16 The good man's earnings advance the cause of righteousness. The evil man squanders his on sin.


Matt 6:19-21 (Jesus said) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”



Prov 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!

Prov 17:16 Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?

1 Cor 4:2 It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

The world asks: "What does a person own?" God asks, “How is the person using what they have been given?”


A Christian is one who does not have to consult his bank book to see how wealthy he really is.

Luke 16:11-13 (Jesus said) “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?…No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”



Prov 10:16 The good man`s earnings advance the cause of righteousness. The evil man squanders his on sin.


Matt 6:19-21 (Jesus said) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Prov 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!

Prov 17:16 Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?

1 Cor 4:2 It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

The world asks: 'What does a person own?' God asks, “How is the person using what they have been given?”

A Christian is one who does not have to consult his bank book to see how wealthy he really is.

Day 11 Focus on being Content-

Click on the square picture below for today's Video on the story of the Golden King!


1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.


Ecc 5:10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.


Prov 30:8-9 Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs! For if I grow rich, I may become content without God. And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name.


Matt 6:9-11 This is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread…”


Ph 4:11-13 I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, & I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Day 10 -Teach you children to be faithful and generous givers

( Video Post is forth coming)
Day 10 - Train your children to be faithful and generous givers.

Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.


Gen 18:19 I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just.

Deut 6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.


Ps 78:4-7 We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes…which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

Eph 6:4 Bring them up (your children) with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice.


John D. Rockefeller said, "I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 a week."

Giving a child money to put into an offering plate does not produce a generous adult. If you want to produce a generous adult, you must tra

in a child to tithe from any money he or she receives from family, friends or work projects. This child will grow up to honor God.
DAY 10 EXTRA: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Monday, June 9, 2008

Grant Writing session 1 of 5 parts

Click on picture for video teaching

29 minute session

This session 1 of a part part series on grant writing.
Mr. Buddy Strickland was very generous with his time and talent to teach on how to write grants for non-profits. www.buddystrickland.com Please use the following outline to help you in the beginning of how to write your own grant proposals.
GRANT PROCUREMENT SEMINAR
INTRODUCTION:

STAGE 1: Evaluate your idea and your ability to implement it.

STAGE 2: Finding a likely funding source.

STAGE 3: Gathering internal and external support

STAGE 4: Drafting, revising and submitting your proposal
WRITE THE PROPOSAL

·
Emphasize why MACEA is the best qualified organization to solve the problem.

·
Support your proposal with concrete and specific documentation, but don’t overdo it.

·
Present your strongest arguments and most compelling documentation first.

·
Anticipate the reviewers’ questions in articulating your rationale.

·
Concentrate on what you think is the weakest part of your proposal. Often this is the budget.

·
Be consistent in style and format throughout your proposal.

·
Make sure your proposal is complete, free of errors and attractively presented. Visual aids such as charts, graphs and tables are generally appreciated by readers.
Notes
GRANT PROCUREMENT SEMINAR
INTRODUCTION:
·
The only thing you have to do is write a good proposal: Right?
· Wrong! · Misleading – “Writing a proposal!” We should be using such words as: planning. . .orchestrating. . .implementing. . . · The best proposals are done with a team on which every members shares in the planning. . .orchestrating. . .and implementing.
· Whether you are applying to the:
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. . .
A PRIVATE FOUNDATION. . .
A CORPORATION
Writing the proposal is only one step in a lengthy process.
For convenience we can divide the process into 4 stages. . .
. . .let me say 5 stages because when you get a grant the work has
only just begun. . .

STAGE 1: Evaluate your idea and your ability to implement it.
·
Assess the value of your idea.
· Is there a need? What is the need?
· Does it solve an important problem? What is the problem?
· Is it timely unique and innovative?
· Can you realistically follow through on what you are proposing?
From the “Chronicle of Higher Education” (Jan. 14,1987)
FOUNDATIONS GENERALLY BASE THEIR
DECISION TO FINANCE A PROJECT ON FIVE CRITERIA:
1.
The quality of the people involved.
2. The significance of the problem
3. The importance of the solution to the problem (or idea being proposed)
4. The stature of the sponsoring institution
5. The reasonableness of the price.
Question: How does your idea measure up to these criteria?

STAGE 2: Finding a likely funding source. The first mistake: Many grant proposals are denied simply because they are submitted to the wrong agency. 1. Read first very carefully a prospective grant maker’s guidelines, eligibility requirements and evaluation criteria. Inquire by phone, brief letter or e-mail to see if a granting agency has any interest in your project.
2. Request a list of previously financed projects. 3. You might even want to ask for guidance and advice on how to develop your proposal. (Many professional grant-proposal writers will tell you that involving the agency’s staff at this stage can created interest in your project. )

STAGE 3: Gathering internal and external support
GET PEOPLE INVOLVED! 1. Go inside and outside your organization to get people who will support your request.
2. Make sure you have the dedicated personnel to carry out your project.
3. Find out if they are committed to your idea. 4. Assemble a working board of researchers and advisors to guide the entire project.
Solicit letter of support from well know authorities.

STAGE 4:
Drafting, revising and submitting your proposal Always, always, always, structure your proposal according to the guidelines provided by the granting agency.
If no form or guidelines are provided, follow this standard 10 part format:
Title
Summary or abstract
Introduction
Description of the problem
Proposed solution and anticipated outcomes
Methods or rational
Personnel and facilities
Project evaluation
Budget
GRANT PROCUREMENT SEMINAR
Outline
INTRODUCTION:
STAGE 1:
Evaluate your idea and your ability to implement it.
From the “Chronicle of Higher Education” (Jan. 14,1987)
FOUNDATIONS GENERALLY BASE THEIR
DECISION TO FINANCE A PROJECT ON FIVE CRITERIA:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Question: How does your idea measure up to these criteria?
STAGE 2:
Finding a likely funding source. The first mistake: Many grant proposals are denied simply because they are submitted to the wrong agency. 1. 2. 3. (Many professional grant-proposal writers will tell you that involving the agency’s staff at this stage can created interest in your project. )
STAGE 3:
Gathering internal and external support
GET PEOPLE INVOLVED! 1. 2. 3. 4.
STAGE 4:
Drafting, revising and submitting your proposal Always, always, always, structure your proposal according to the guidelines provided by the granting agency.
If no form or guidelines are provided, follow this standard 10 part format:

Day 9 Stained glass wealth

Day 9 - Understand riches can deceive you.

Rev 3:17 "You say, 'I am rich, with everything I want; I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

Mark 8:36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

Mark 4:18-19 Others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Luke 12:15 (Jesus said) "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Pr 23:4-5 Don't weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste your time? Riches can disappear as though they had the wings of a bird!

Ecc 5:11 The more you have, the more you spend, right up to the limits of your income. So what is the advantage of wealth-- except perhaps to watch it as it runs through your fingers!

1 Tim 6:10 The love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result have pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Gal 6:7 If (a person) sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death.

The poorest man in the world is the man who has nothing but money.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Day 8 - You should not trust in your riches, but trust in God.

Day 8 - You should not trust in your riches, but trust in God.

Prov 11:28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

1 Tim 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God.

John 14:1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God.

Job 31:24-28 (Job said) "If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure

gold, 'You are my security,' if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained…so that my heart was secretly enticed…then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”

Ps 49:6-12 (Sinners) trust in their wealth and boast about how rich they are, yet not one of them, though rich as kings, can ransom his own brother from the penalty of sin! For God's forgiveness does not come that way…Rich man! Proud man! Wise man! You must die like all the rest! You have no greater lease on life than foolish, stupid men. You must leave your wealth to others. You name your estates after yourselves as though your lands could be forever yours and you could live on them eternally. But man with all his pomp must die like any animal.

Are you rich? Did you realize that if you make more than $1500 per year you are richer than 80% of the world’s 5 billion people!



Day 7 Setting up a plan to give faithfully to God

Day 7 - You need to set up a plan to faithfully give 10% OR MORE of your financial resources to the Lord’s work.

1 Cor 16:2 On every Lord's Day each of you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for this offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn.

Luke 11:42 (Jesus said) “Though you are careful to tithe even the smallest part of your income, you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave these other things undone.”

Deut 14:22,23 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce…The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.

Ex 22:29 "You must be prompt in giving Me the tithe…”

Gen 14:20 Abram gave…a tenth of everything.

Mal 3:8-11 "Will a man rob God? Surely not! And yet you have robbed me. "'What do you mean? When did we ever rob you?' "You have robbed me of the tithes and offerings due to me. And so the awesome curse of God is cursing you…Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my Temple; if you do, I will open up the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great you won't have room enough to take it in! "Try it! Let me prove it to you! Your crops will be large, for I will guard them from insects and plagues. Your grapes won't shrivel away before they ripen," says the Lord Almighty.

The Faithful Giver’s 7 Great Surprises…

When you begin to actively and faithfully return 10% or more of all your income(s) to the Lord’s work, you will be surprised at…

1) The generous amount of money you will be able to give to the Lord’s work.

2) The deepening of your spiritual life through the godly discipline of honoring and trusting the Lord by tithing.

3) The increased ease in which you meet your other financial obligations on the 9/10th’s of the income you have left.

4) The way that tithing leads to more generous giving than you ever dreamed possible.

5) The effect tithing has in making you a wiser manager over all the rest of the money and possessions you have.

6) The unexpected provisions and advancements that come into your life.

7) And the surprise you have when you wish you had started tithing much sooner.

Giving 10% isn't the ceiling of giving; it's the floor. It's not the finish line of giving; it's just the starting blocks. Tithing is God’s training wheels to launch you into the mindset, skills, and habits of grace giving.


2 Chron 31:5,12 The people responded immediately and generously with the first of their crops and grain, new wine, olive oil, money, and everything else -- a tithe of all they owned. They faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts.

WEEK #1

MAKING $ENSE:

Possible questions to think

about or discuss…

1. As a child, what was one of your earliest or most vivid recollections about giving money to God OR what do you recall about your parent’s practices and attitudes about giving to God?

2. When you filled out the worksheet for the first week’s project, “Focusing on Your Income”, what surprised you or caught your attention in doing this exercise?

3. What truth or Bible verse from the past 7 days of reading stood out to you the most?

4. Who is the most financially generous person you are aware of in your life?

5. How old were you when the idea of tithing (giving 10% of your income) came into your conscious thoughts?

6. If you do not faithfully give 10% or more of your income to the Lord’s work, what do you think are the real reasons you’re holding back from doing this?

7. If you faithfully give 10% or more of your income to God’s work, how old were you and what were the financial circumstances in your life when you first started tithing?

8. If you do faithfully give 10% or more of your income to God’s work, what are the values and benefits you’ve seen by faithfully giving to God’s work?

9. What do you feel is the difference between giving tithes and giving offerings?

10. How do you make giving to your local church an important priority in your Christian giving?