Financial Faithfulness

Roger Gum

Description

Regardless of how much we have, issues of money threaten to sidetrack us. Seeing money from a biblical perspective limits the distraction of money and leads us to Financial Faithfulness.
One of the great challenges of life is to limit distractions in order to focus on what matters the most. Regardless of how much or little we have, issues of money threaten to sidetrack us. If we have a lot of money, we fear losing what we possess. We are tempted to put our hope in our wealth instead of God. If we don’t have so much, we stress about not having enough to provide for our families and are often consumed with the desire for more.
Financial Faithfulness seeks to change your view of money by showing you how to use it in God’s best interest. When it comes to managing money, this question is crucial: What is required from me to be a faithful steward?
As you begin to see riches from a biblical perspective, you can experience the financial freedom and peace of mind that everyone desires, but few find.
Free study guides and other resources available at www.FinFaith.com.

Sujets

• Financial
• Economie gestion
• God
• Debt
• Investment
• Peace
• Economics
• Wisdom
• Business
• Faith
• Money
• Perspective
• Finance
• Christian
• Steward
• Paix
• Bible

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 22 février 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781490815367
• Langue: English

Extrait

FINANCIAL FAITHFULNESS
 
Unlocking Scripture to Avoid the Distraction of Money
 
 
 
ROGER GUM
 
WITH MISSY SCHRADER
 
 
 

 
 
Copyright © 2014 Roger Gum.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, NASB® Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,19 77,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
 
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2011. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Names and minor details may have been changed in the real-life stories shared in this book to protect the privacy of the individuals mentioned.  
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-4908-1537-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4908-1538-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4908-1536-7 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013920600
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 04/20/2022
 
 
 
 
 
 
To my dear wife, Susan, and our wonderful boys, Griffin, Xander, and Keaton. Thanks for your unending support and for helping me focus on what matters most. Keep pursuing God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Why A Biblical Perspective?
Chapter 2 The Purpose of Money
Chapter 3 Making Wise Financial Decisions
Chapter 4 The Power to Make Wealth
Chapter 5 Giving—Don’t Miss the Blessing
Chapter 6 The Truth about Taxes
Chapter 7 Free from Debt
Chapter 8 Investing for the Future
Chapter 9 Who Needs a Budget Spending Plan?
Chapter 10 Rethinking Retirement
Chapter 11 Provision for Life’s Most Difficult Times
Chapter 12 A Legacy Worth Leaving
Epilogue
Chapter 13 Bonus Chapter - Why I Believe
More Online
Notes
PREFACE
I n some respects, this book has been thirty-plus years in the making. I graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1989 with a journalism/advertising degree. I also played baseball for the Wildcats.
I remember being at my second-base position in Athens, Georgia, when my classmates were walking across the stage in Lexington for graduation. Susan and I were getting married in three months, and I did not have a job lined up. Between the fifty-four-game baseball schedule and the twenty-one hours I was taking during my final semester to graduate, I had no time to interview.
As I began to explore opportunities in the advertising world, it became apparent I would need to move to a faraway city like Chicago or San Francisco to acquire the most attractive job. That was not something Susan and I wanted to do. So I accepted a job selling advertising for the local CBS television affiliate in Lexington. While I thoroughly enjoyed my major in college, it took all of three months in the real world to figure out a career in advertising was not for me.
It was time to do the interview process in earnest as I should have done during my last year in college. The process proved fruitful, and I landed a sales job with a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta. Susan and I enjoyed the fast pace of a big southern city, and I gained valuable training and experience. We got established in a wonderful church and made lifelong friends in a Bible study group made up of young married couples.
After three years of working and growing in my faith, I began to question how I could best use my gifts and skills in a vocation to glorify God. While I respected the family values of the company I worked for, I ultimately longed to do something more significant with my career.
A few years earlier someone had given me some simple advice about choosing a job. They encouraged me to find people who seemed to enjoy their work and did something I would want to do. As I reflected on this advice, I immediately thought of Chris, one of my friends in our Bible study group. I began to pepper Chris, a financial planner, with questions about his job. The more he talked the more excited I became. I realized whenever I had time to read, I almost always gravitated to financial books and magazines.
I asked Chris what I needed to do to begin a career in financial planning. Knowing my major was not exactly conducive to this move, he suggested I enroll in the Certified Financial Planner™ program. This was a two-year course that would indicate to prospective employers I was serious about the field. It would also provide me with valuable foundational knowledge. I began the CFP ® program, and I loved it.
As my desire to become a financial planner grew, I spent time researching the industry. Around this same time, our church began to require Bible study leaders to meet with an elder for accountability. It turned out my elder (Hunter) was a financial advisor!
Hunter worked for Ronald Blue & Co. (the predecessor company to Ronald Blue Trust). As he learned of my interest in financial planning, he invited me to lunch and took me on a tour of the Atlanta headquarters. As soon as I saw the firm’s mission — “Ronald Blue & Co. exists to help Christians become financially free to assist in fulfilling the Great Commission”—I was hooked. Combining biblical principles with financial technical expertise was beyond compelling to me.
I went home and told Susan, “I don’t know when and I don’t know how, but one day I will work for Ronald Blue & Co.” With my new excitement for financial planning, my enthusiasm for my current job began to wane.
After completing the first year of the CFP ® course, my manager at my current sales job came to me with a tremendous opportunity. He offered me a significant promotion at the corporate headquarters to be part of the strategic planning team. This company only promoted from within its current employees, and this was one of the most desired positions. Still hoping to move into financial planning, I quickly sent out resumes to several firms to see if anyone was interested in hiring me. They all came back with the same response: “Talk to us when you complete your CFP ® course.”
Susan and I continued to pray, asking God for direction. Even though I hoped to eventually make a career change into financial planning, it could be years before that would occur. While this promotion was a great opportunity that would provide me with wonderful experience, the corporate headquarters were in St. Paul, Minnesota. Our first son, Griffin, had just been born, and we would be a long plane ride away from family and friends. After much prayer and discussion, we decided to embark on an adventure and go to St. Paul.
We moved the week before Thanksgiving to Minnesota, which might as well have been a foreign country. We did not know how to dress, how to talk, or how to handle the severe winter. In short, nothing seemed to go right. We were lonely, Griffin was constantly sick, and life seemed to revolve around the weather. To make matters worse for Susan, my job was extremely demanding, and the hours at the office were long.
Three months into our move, we were seriously questioning our decision. Had we just missed God’s plan for us? Should we have stayed in Atlanta? This questioning process matched an intense two weeks of bitter temperatures that never rose above zero degrees! We had come to St. Paul with tennis shoes and windbreakers, unprepared for the battle with the climate.
During this cold snap, I received a phone call one Sunday afternoon from my Atlanta friend Chris. He asked, “Are you still interested in financial planning?”
“More than ever,” I replied.
He told me Hunter was opening a Ronald Blue & Co. branch office in Charlotte and was looking for a financial planner. Chris suggested I give him a call.
I thanked Chris and immediately called Hunter’s home in Atlanta. His wife answered the phone and told me Hunter was pulling out of the driveway to drive to North Carolina, where he was preparing to open the office the next day. She ran outside and flagged him down. Hunter and I talked for about forty-five minutes. There seemed to be an immediate synergy between us. Hunter was interested in considering me for his open planner position, and I was elated!
The interview process continued for several months. While I did not have the ideal experience or education background, my progress through the CFP ® course was important, and it seemed Hunter and I would work very well together. In addition, what I was learning at the corporate headquarters in Minnesota was significant.
Six mo