MoneyWalk 167: A Principality Encouraging Debt

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Satan has given a principality an assignment to lead our nation and its individual citizens into massive spending of borrowed money. He has been working over many decades to turn people’s hearts away from doing all they can to fund and carry out the Great Commission. He encourages them to seek pleasure at all costs. He motivates them to make their will their chief aim. And, he gives the illusion that “the person with the most toys / money is happiest and wins the game.”

This could not be farther from the truth. The bible declares that dwelling in the Kingdom of God provides the only righteousness, peace, and joy. This state of eternity, heart, and mind comes only when you are faithful with what God has given you and trust Him enough to honor Him first by giving back to gospel ministry in proportion to all that He entrusts to you. When you regard His will above your own pleasures, He is just as happy with you as He is with the widow that gave two mites into the temple treasury, regardless of whether you are rich or poor.

About two percent of the people make millions and can afford to have lots of things without borrowing to make it happen. The other ninety-eight percent try to live in that same mode but must borrow heavily in order to give the appearance that they have made it or to have the kinds of pleasures they have been convinced they should have.

Let’s be clear, these days there are many who have made millions and lost it because they too tried to leverage their way into much more by unreasonably using debt instruments. I could name numerous businessmen, entertainers, actors, and professional athletes that have thrown themselves into this category by ungodly stewardship of money that was entrusted to them by God. No doubt, many people that never made it to that level of wealth do the same thing every day. So this is not a rich man’s problem or a poor man’s problem. It is a bondage to satan problem.

Many people get into financial trouble and then try to get out of the trouble the same way they got into it: by borrowing more money hoping something about their situation will change to allow them to pay what they owe their lenders.

I have seen such unwise stewardship lead to greater hardships for many people not very far down the road. Other people filed for bankruptcy in order to eliminate as much debt as possible, but shortly afterward went right back to borrowing to please their flesh by getting more stuff. In the process, they paid much higher finance charges on material purchases; as high as 30% on cars and 20% on mortgages. What they thought was a smart financial move was actually in conflict with scripture and within a short time they suffered greater financial hardship than before.

God desires that His people and Church be debt-free. If you want to see your financial position change you must change your money management habits by honoring Him with the first fruits of your income, getting yourself in position to save and invest, and curtailing your spending and borrowing through the use of budgeting. Don’t fall into satan’s trap. Draw close to God and learn God’s will for your well-being and pursue it. Then, you can be sure He will provide all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus as you take action to owe no person anything but love.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Deuteronomy 28:43-45, Proverbs 22:7, Romans 13:8, James 4:3-4

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You can find books authored by Randy and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com.

MoneyWalk 166: Do Not Be Deceived

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Don’t be deceived; whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap! A wealth-by-any-means attitude is a sign of moral decay that allows satan to ensnare you in his destructive plan. You may outwardly appear wealthy and successful in human society, but you will be judged bankrupt by God and unsuccessful in endeavors that really matter in eternity. If not repented of before you die, ungodly pursuits and sowing money into them will reap eternal damnation.

Money isn't evil nor is the possession of great wealth; however some people without godly moral values use money to encourage, support, start, and advance ungodly activities that negatively affect the lives of other people. Failing to use money and wealth in ways that glorify God and draw people to Jesus Christ wreaks havoc on the life of the person who is mismanaging these assets. It also helps wreck the lives of people who see the bad example and follow it.

Being entrusted with money and taking godly management and investment actions to grow its value will be a blessing when you use the assets to abundantly support worthwhile endeavors in addition to caring for your family’s needs. Father God does not want you to reap earthly destruction and eternal damnation nor lead others toward that path. He instructs you to use money and wealth to build a good foundation on earth and for your time in eternity. This will be a witness to God when your life is judged showing that your faith is not dead.

The Lord wants you to pursue His unique passion for your life. Gifts and abilities He planted in you are usually indicative of the major area of work and/or ministry He wants to ultimately move you into. However, proper management of money including tithing and abundant giving based on biblical principles is usually the catalyst that ignites the charge to blast open windows and doors of opportunity that lead you to God’s grand destiny for you on earth.

There are steps along the way that you must utilize that may not seem like His plan for your life or may not seem advantageous for where you think your life is going. They will aim you at serving in marketplace and ministry capacities and under the authority of particular people. Don’t be deceived by satan into thinking God will give you your own ministry or successful business without you have to serve under the work or ministry He entrusted another person to oversee.

All of us must pay our dues as apprentices and disciples molded by God through other people. When such service is rendered you are headed in the right direction and will reach the final rung of true success. Therefore, you should trust that God’s great favor will be shown to you because you desire to and actually do obey Christ’s commands from a heart filled with faith.

Most everyone desires enormous wealth, huge annual income, mansions, expensive cars, fine jewelry, and the latest clothing. However, it is more important that you seek God in daily prayer, scripture reading, holy living, ministry in the marketplace and in church, moral business pursuits, tithing, and debt elimination. Then life around you will become rich in the things that really matter - pleasing God’s heart, godly stewardship, fruitful relationships, peace, and joy.

What's more, you'll sidestep the otherwise negative consequences of forsaking God’s way and you are very likely to experience great earthly wealth with no sorrow added to it.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Luke 12:13-21, Galatians 6:7, 1Timothy 6:6-10, James 5:1-7, Revelation 3:17-21

Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!!!

You can find books authored by Randy and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com.

MoneyWalk 165: Mutual Funds For Beginning Investors

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

You should regularly read or view financial articles authored by pundits in order to learn current market jargon inner and outer workings of saving and investment vehicles. Diligent study helps you find vehicles right for your financial portfolio and others to avoid because they are too complicated or do not have a consistently positive growth history that fits your risk-taking tolerance and short and long-term goals.

In many instances, no-load index mutual funds (total stock market, S&P 500, and similar mixes) with expense ratios less than one percent are best for beginning investors. They can provide the stock allocation of your overall portfolio that you need to supply greater long-term growth. This is better than trying to select individual stocks when you have no expertise in stock picking because the funds offer automatic diversification due to the large number of companies they invest in and will over time garner you the average returns of the stock market when held for twenty years or more, which have been substantial.

A no-load fund (one that lets you invest without paying a sales commission to a broker) with an expense ratio less than 1% is generally a better choice than choosing one that requires you to pay sales commission up-front or at the time you withdraw your money. Several reasons for this are:

1) You start out with the total amount of money you invested working for you instead of only the amount left after expenses have been subtracted. Many people wonder why their portfolios have not grown, yet they keep going to advisors that put money into investments where only 93 to 95% of the investment amount is actually invested after the advisor is paid commission. How would you like to lose $70 out of every $1,000 you invest and thus have only $930 working on your behalf?

2) You pay no surrender penalties to the fund operators for withdrawing funds. Of course, if you invested through a pre-tax retirement plan you might have to pay the federal government taxes for early withdrawal and penalty if you’re younger than 59½ when funds are withdrawn.

3) When you withdraw funds, you do not pay back-end sales commission to an advisor, saving you 5 to 7% of the value of your portfolio and you pay an expense ratio that is usually far less than you would pay on loaded funds.

Review the historical track record of no-load index funds compared to the market benchmark. Choose the funds that historically meet or exceed the industry annual growth average. Over a long investment horizon you come out far ahead of the amount of money you actually invested and well ahead of the returns of loaded, actively managed funds. Steady plodding will bring great success, while get rich quick schemes will bring penury.

One of the great deceptions of our day is that people will get-rich-quick by taking overly aggressive investment risk. Scripture warns against this mentality and less than 1% of those who try actually come into riches using such methods. It is simply not worth putting your family and your god-given purpose in jeopardy.

On another note, the vast majority of people never take actions necessary to grow the money entrusted to them in order to help further the gospel and fulfill their god-given purpose. Let investments in no-load mutual funds with low expense ratios help you in this regard while you study to find out and understand the other types of investments that may help you grow even more.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Proverbs 13:20, Proverbs 19:20-21, Proverbs 21:5, Matthew 25:13-27, Luke 14:28-30

Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!!!

You can find books authored by Randy and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com.

MoneyWalk 164: Invest A Portion With Seven Or Eight

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The scripture instructs us to invest our assets in a variety of different sources because we do not know what types of hard times may come upon the earth and surround our lives. Therefore, you should study the ins and outs of real estate, stock, bond, as well as principle protected-interest bearing investments like money market accounts, certificates of deposits, and treasury bills, bonds, and notes. The return and/or stability of these types of investments can help cover short and long-term needs and help you make it through tough times when your nation, region, or life is facing economic trouble.

The stock market has earned more than corporate and government bonds in the vast majority of contiguous twenty-year periods. However, stocks are more risky than bonds over shorter periods of time because every day they fluctuate to a much greater degree between high and low values.

Bonds can fluctuate in price, usually to a much lower degree. This normally happens when you try to sell them to someone else prior to their reaching the maturity date when the corporation or government will give return your principle and pay you accrued interest. Bonds backed by the federal government are generally considered to have the ultimate in protection on principle and accrued interest when cashed in at maturity.

Corporate bonds on the other hand do not have the same level of protection because any guarantee is only as good as the ultimate financial condition of the company at the time of maturity of the bond. When you put your bonds for sale prior to that time, people in the market to purchase will take the condition into consideration when determining the amount they are willing to pay for the particular type and issue of bond.

Money market and certificate of deposit accounts usually have lower annual returns than corporate bond, stock, and real estate investments. These instruments are guaranteed by the federal government up to certain limits such as $100,000 per financial institution. Higher guarantee limits can be had on these instruments in some instances when you have joint, retirement, or a few separate accounts at one institution.

It’s important to study the FDIC.gov and NCUA.gov websites so you’ll know the guarantee limits. Then, with confidence you can place money in these accounts in a way that protects your principle and interest earned. The portion of your portfolio that you would definitely want to put in these types of savings accounts would be your emergency fund as well as any money that you may need to withdraw within five years due to anticipated replacement car purchase, home down-payment, etc.

Generally speaking, when you’re younger than 50 your portfolio should contain more than 50% in low expense diversified no-load stock mutual fund investments when you’re younger than 50 and contain less than 50% in diversified corporate and/or government guaranteed saving instruments.

When you reach 50 years of age you should take an assessment of your risk tolerance and adjust your portfolio weightings so that bonds and government guaranteed savings are used to a greater degree when you find that you will need the money within five years or you simply don’t have many years to recover from a large stock market downturn or when you just don’t have the stomach to take inevitable stock market downturns in your retirement years.

Through it all, craft your investment plan to invest in seven or eight different vehicles and re-evaluate it annually and don't worry about day-to-day stock market swings and economic cycles since you're generally invested in stocks for the long haul. This roadmap will help you be a good steward who prospers immensely.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May God bless you richly as you follow His plan!!!

Proverbs 11:14, Ecclesiastes 11:2, Luke 19:13, 2Timothy 2:2

Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!!!

You can find books authored by Randy and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com.