MoneyWalk 121: Do Not Compromise With Debt

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

God desires that you be debt-free. He wants this for your personal life and business ownership. Many have ignored God's instructions and warnings about debt and others have compromised His standards not believing that it is possible to be debt-free. While a few people wind up appearing better off because they leveraged consumer debt, the vast majority of people are destroying peace and joy in their lives by taking on excessive debt.

A legitimate reason for taking on debt is when parents have no way to provide food and/or shelter during a period of poverty in which severe hardship has overtaken the family. It may also be acceptable to use debt instruments whenever you have fixed assets of an amount that covers the total loan plus interests and costs and enough stable income or cash flow to cover the monthly payments. This scenario describes many real estate purchases whether for a family’s primary home, rental property, flipping, or commercial property.

The latter type of indebtedness (real estate purchase) is considered shrewd by some people because the asset may increase in value to be far greater than the outstanding amount of the loan and because renting the property may create enough cash flow (income) to more than cover the monthly loan payment and any other expenses resulting from ownership of the assets. In such situations, you earn more on your money than you pay out in interest on the loan. Some call it using the world’s money to make a fortune for the kingdom.

Yet, you must be very careful when walking this path because many people with good intentions were not able to produce enough cash flow to cover the loan payments and/or the value of the asset dropped due to market conditions. In many such situations, people (even Christians) were forced to file bankruptcy or had the properties foreclosed on and wound up with huge amounts of debt still being pursued by bill collectors and in some cases the government.

When people compromise by taking on debt instruments without the net worth to cover the entire amount of indebtedness, they usually shortchange the kingdom of God and the church and bring financial hardship upon their families. Unfortunately, one bad choice is never enough for them, so they enter into such situations with many creditors for mortgages, car notes, visas, charge cards, etc. This eliminates disposable income that could be used to invest and grow wealth and puts them in a position where they choose to pay creditors instead of paying tithes to their local church to help lead people to Jesus Christ and teach them how to walk in His ways.

While most people want blessings and rewards from God they unfortunately make financial pacts with the devil and give his methods more allegiance than they give God's principles. Your vision should be focused on the fact that God is able to prosper you and grow great wealth for your family without you getting into debt. He wants to bring you out of debt, not further encumber your life with debt. Debt freedom is truly the best position to work yourself into. It’s wonderful to know that we have a God whose vision for you is that large and who is powerful enough to help you make it happen!

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

Deuteronomy 28:12-13, Psalms 37:21-22, Proverbs 22:6-7, Romans 13:8

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 120: Mission Focused Money Management

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

If all God wanted was for you to have everything that appeals to your natural no matter what the cost mind (big houses, fine cars, expensive clothes, and fine jewelry), then you'd be on the right road by spending all your net income and using credit to get such things and more of them all the time. However, the bible reveals that we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (the life that is according to His standards) and everything we need for life, godliness, and ministry will be given to us. This includes provision for the ministry of cultivating family, friend, church, business, employment, and financial relationships, etc. in a manner that glorifies God.

Christians should not live their lives pursuing material blessing, rather we should pursue Father God and His will for our lives whatever careers, business endeavors, and ministry that entails. We must know that Daddy God will bestow greater blessing upon on us as we seek to do His will and follow the directions He gives us: in His Word (logos) and by His Spirit speaking in us what He wants us to do (rhema).

No sorrow will be added to the blessing when wealth is provided by God and brought about by through intimacy with Christ. Many people experience lack of peace, joy, and fulfillment even though they amassing riches: All because they refused to adhere to God’s lifestyle and financial standards. Many look good on the outside having plenty of stuff their flesh (carnal soul-led nature) craves, but they are full of decay and destruction internally and eternally, not able to maintain marriages and moral behavior in a way that truly serve them, spouses, children, and other people.

Unsaved people try to obtain the best by avoiding relationship with Jesus Christ and trying to do everything on their own to get such things including constantly taking out more loans to get it and looking at most situations from a “what can I get out of it” perspective. The pressure of this lifestyle brings sorrow, anxiety, and fear. But, it is not so for those whose relationship and pursuit is found in Jesus Christ because the bible declares that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The person in pursuit of Christ thinks “what does the Father want me to do” and “how can I use this job, business, career, or resource to bring the glorious light of the gospel into more people’s lives.”

Unfortunately, through misinformation and self-serving interpretations of bible passages many believers use the world system to try and bring blessing upon themselves. They wind up with sorrows instead, at least while on earth. Hopefully, they will soon recognize that they should first seek relationship with God and the Holy Spirit’s guidance in every area of life including their finances. His scriptures identify a financial plan (principles that help you manage money in a way that is pleasing to Him and truly helpful to others). He wants you to know that you’ll be a slave to satan and selfish thinking when you follow any other plan.

He created you to support ministry with a great portion of your money. Your stewardship of money should be mission driven based on the fact that you, like God, don't want anyone to perish but all to repent for their sins, accept Christ as Lord, inherit eternal life, and be truly fruitful while on earth. True fruitfulness can only happen when you:

1) Seek the Lord’s will for your life through daily reading scripture, praying, praising, and worshipping Him.

2) Fellowship weekly with local church believers.

3) Work in legitimate endeavors in order to have seed to sow and bread to eat.

4) Consistently tithe and give offerings.

5) Live on less than your net income (take home pay).

6) Eliminate debt on depreciating assets.

7) Refuse to use loans to obtain depreciating assets.

8) Forsake co-signing for other people.

9) Establish suitable savings for emergencies and unusual expenses.

10) Invest in assets that show a history of appreciation (real estate, stocks, bonds, etc.).

11) Employ deferred gratification until you’re able to buy with cash things you desire. Trust God to provide things you need through your income or the goodwill of other people.

This pattern fits the Great Commission, lifestyle, and stewardship that scripture directs us to employ. Through it, godly wealth accumulation will be the order of your life.

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

Deuteronomy 8:18-20, Psalms 2:8, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 26:15-18, 2Timothy 1:7-11

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 119: You Need Rest!

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The world's system for prospering can wear you out and disappoint you, because it is based on mimicking the Jones' whether or not you have or ever will have their level of income. You’re constantly pushed by other people and by your own mind to show your status through the home you live in, the cars you drive, and the clothes and jewelry you wear. Satan and his demonic cohorts also push temptations through your thought life that attempt to increase your desire to frequently get bigger homes, cars, clothes, jewelry, and other material things that make it look like you're continually prospering.

In addition, satan continually tempts you to have the herd mentality like the masses; seeking to make your life so busy that it becomes hectic and of little value to those people to whom it should have the greatest value: your spouse, children, family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. In some instances, he and his minions convince you to be a respecter of persons who stops fellowshipping with everyone you perceive as unsuccessful and insignificant; those that don't look or act like they are successful or that don't have a business, position, or title that represents the upward mobility he wants you to seek above all else. He wants you to believe success is possible and best using only extreme human effort and that it does not require a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Such attitudes and actions cause peace and joy to evaporate from your life because they are relationship busters. They are subtly rooted in the mindset that success occurs only when you spend all your time networking with so-called successful people. While it is important that you find godly men and women role models who are successful in business and ministry, you'll wreck your life and God's purpose for you when trying to be successful by forsaking relationships with other people whose income, wealth, and social status in the eyes of men is less than yours.

Allow Jesus to help you rest by learning from Him to forsake the world's ways by condescending to men of low estate, faithfully attending a local bible believing church fellowship, giving abundantly to ministry endeavors in order to honor Him, living beneath your current level of income, planning and taking action to become debt-free, saving and investing, diversifying your assets, refusing to let your life be guided by competition with the Joneses, and refusing to be a respecter of persons.

Remember, Jesus entered into relationship with a group of men (the disciples) who by the world’s standards were considered uneducated bottom feeders. Yet, He developed relationship with them over the course of three and a half years and then utilized them to spread the gospel to the ends of the known world, deliver millions from satanic bondage, and bring healing to millions who were sick and afflicted.

The bible helps you understand that being rich with great social status on earth is not a measure that God uses to judge a person’s heavenly eternal status. Neither should we. Some people who have held high earthly positions will not be esteemed when they stand in front of God on Judgment Day. God desires to prosper every one of His children so we can have greater resources to build His kingdom on earth. However, the failure of some people (rich, middle class, and poor) to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and their resulting attitudes and actions make them eternally poor.

All that you are and ever hope to be must come from your relationship with Him and will include relationships and associations with people who are less fortunate on earth than you are. You must do as Jesus did and be around people of various cultures, incomes, and levels of wealth according to where God plants you. This is necessary in order to win many people to Jesus Christ.

By the power of the Holy Spirit you must developing relationships with unbelievers in marketplace and neighborhood venues while also refusing to mimic ungodly activities in their lives. You must remain unspotted by the world because God desires that you teach them His will and ways. Constantly maturing in Christ-likeness (including utilizing God’s biblical financial plan) is one of the greatest teaching methods you can employ in reaching the people groups God has placed you among.

So enter into the rest that Father God made possible for you through trusting Christ, taking His path, and allowing Him to make you successful in a way that please the Father and honors your spouse, children, and other people. This lifestyle will bring and maintain peace and joy in your life.

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

Psalms 116:6-8, Jeremiah 6:16, Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 4:1-3

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 118: Don’t Give The Devil The Opportunity To Destroy You

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

You could be giving the devil an opportunity to use you as a bad example for other people to see. He goes around like a roaring lion seeking to steal from, kill, or destroy whoever let's him. His ultimate desire is to devour you and have you forever reside in Hell with him and his demonic buddies.

He gave up his estate in heaven and the glory that God bestowed on him for all to see because he desired to take God’s throne. Pride and greed corrupted him and led to his great fall. Unfortunately one third of the other angels followed his example and now they all know and are afraid of the eternal judgment that awaits them. Their aim under the leadership of satan is to convince as many people as possible that they should forsake a relationship with Jesus Christ and should pay no attention to his moral laws. They figure they are going to hell to suffer forever at God’s appointed time, so why not take as many humans as possible with them.

Satan has deceived many rich people to believe that they are the cream of the crop who are imminently right with God and who have earned every material blessing they have received in this life. Some people surmise that they otherwise could not have amassed great wealth. Thus, leading rich people with such mindsets to oppress and/or despise the poor and middle class in order to obtain more power and greater material wealth.

Likewise, Satan also leads the poor and middle class to despise those who are rich, wanting them to believe that great amounts of wealth are inherently evil and thus one must have been a crook in order to amass wealth. Some people surmise that having a poverty mentality and lifestyle on earth makes one right with God and gives them the right to dislike those who have wealth.

Sometimes it seems that neither the rich nor poor understand that Satan wants to destroy all humans and has thus deceived many with half-truths and outright lies. Remember, satan and the demons appear as though they are angels of light. Unfortunately, those who don’t know the voice of the Lord and His ways as described in the bible put themselves in a position to be deceived by satan’s tactics and thus to believe his lies.

But you have a way out and the bible calls it bringing yourself into obedience so that all disobedience against you, caused by man and satanic beings, will be revenged. If you'll commit your heart to Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD and commit to using His principles to govern your life, then He'll give you new life that lasts eternally and he'll show you more and more of His ways as you walk on His straight and narrow path that leads to abundance and fulfillment of purpose. Don't worry; He knew you couldn't do this on your own so He committed the Holy Spirit to walk inside you and beside you to guide you into this Heavenly promise.

The Lord loves and cares for you, that's why He shed His blood for you on the cross and gave you power over all the power of the enemy. He doesn't want the great opportunities He prepared for you on earth or in Heaven to be destroyed by satan and his demonic cohorts. So, He made a way, in Christ, for you to be and achieve all that He intended for you. Now, it’s time to do your part by repenting of sin and accepting Him as Savior and Lord. This will lead you to live more and more by His principles and will naturally and eternally bless you in every arena of life.

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

2Corinthians 10:1-6, Ephesians 4:27, Philippians 4:19, 1Thessalonians 5:22

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 117: Principles That Lead To Abundance

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

You should use God's Financial System to bring forth abundance in your life, regardless of how successful you think you’ve been thus far. With Almighty God on your side, you can only move further into the plan He created you for and avoid having your life and true purpose derailed.

Most people are disappointed with the results they’ve achieved so far, even though a few have amassed great riches, all because no one can truly be fulfilled on any path other than the one God planned for you. When you’re not on His path, you can act like you’re fulfilled and probably fool some men, but you cannot fool God.

Even though they don’t know it, some of the financial principles people learned during the time they had no salvation relationship with Jesus Christ line up with biblical instruction. This is because God set the foundation of the world and the operation of all things therein. Satan has attempted to distort these things by tempting man with sin (turning away from God’s plan) and causing man to believe that his distorted view is the best way. He tries this in every area of your life. Attacking you financially is vital to his attempts to derail God’s plan because money and resources touch every area of your life.

Satan has not been able to distort the entire financial system because he is not all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-present. These traits exist only in the Lord God. God’s foundation cannot be moved, by satan or anyone else, and the operations can only be distorted in the life of the particular man that follows the perverted principles the enemy offers. The process God established can never be removed or eliminated, it is only suspended and the benefits thereof for the person who fails to use it until he/she realizes the truth and begins to operate God’s way.

Everyone who faithfully uses biblical principles through a relationship with Jesus Christ obtains an abundant life. Yet, Satan's plan to distort and pervert God’s principles causes bondage such as greed, debt, and insatiable desires regardless of how much money and resources you receive. Your relationship with Christ and following His principles breaks these bondages in your life giving you peace, joy, and fulfillment. Commit to the following principles for life and you'll see real change.

First, give ten percent of your gross income to your local church. It is natural for people who faithfully tithe to also give free-will offerings, but not the other way around.

Second, save ten percent of your income. Put this away before you pay others and keep it for emergencies and investments, so you won’t have to go back in debt when things happen.

Third, pay down debt you owe other people and businesses. This may mean working available overtime or holding a second job to earn money to eliminate debt.

Fourth, spend less than your remaining income. This means adhering to the above principles and delaying purchases that you really want to make until you have saved enough to pay for them with cash.

Fifth, when your savings reach three months of living expenses, invest the rest of the money in instruments that will compound over the years (no load stock, bond, and real estate investment trust mutual funds, etc).

When left untouched for twenty or thirty years, which is available to all who believe due to the design of God’s stewardship plan and the power He placed inside you to do His will, the investment instruments will provide huge monetary returns that can be used in retirement to meet future household expenses, support ministry work at home and abroad, and fulfill godly desires.

Even when you’re already a senior, following these principles has great benefits because they put you in a place where you can live off the income provided and put the extra money you’ll find to use in building God’s kingdom in the hearts of men. This lifestyle of utilizing God’s principles presents your body as a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to Him.

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

Psalms 1:1-3, Proverbs 3:5-10, Matthew 22:36-40, Romans 12:1-3, 1Timothy 6:3-11

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 116: And Now, The Rest Of The Story

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

If your church has an average gross household income of $50,000 it should receive a total annual tithe equal to the following based on membership numbers expressed below:
* 100 families giving $500,000
* 500 families giving $2,500,000
*1000 families giving $5,000,000
*3000 families giving $15,000,000

No doubt some congregations in some areas have lower or higher average income levels than that expressed above. However, most church congregations don’t give at the tithing level because most members do not give a tithe. Granted there are many things going on in people’s lives and some are in better financial positions on earth than are other people. However, in some respects, the ground that scriptural instruction is being sown into (the hearts of the people listening) is not currently good ground as described in the Parable of the Sower. Up to three-fourths of it may never become good ground.

It’s amazing that this parable indicates that 75 percent of people that receive a gospel witness are not good ground because they only let the Word penetrate their hearts:
* Enough to hear it and then immediately disavow it or
* For a very short time until it tribulation comes (then they turn back to their old beliefs and ways) or
* For a while until the cares of this world (direct pursuit of riches and worldly pleasure instead of pursuit of the goals of Jesus Christ) crowd out the Word they previously accepted.

In each case, the person couldn't be built up in the Christian faith because they chose to forsake the Word and to forsake regular fellowship with believers in a local bible-believing church that truly seek the Lord's will. So, the devil ultimately devours them. As you know, he goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Each of the people meeting the description above allow satan, his plan, and his enticements to turn them away from God's will.

In the parable, only 25 percent of the seed (Word) was identified as being sown in good ground (hearts prepared for growth by fully accepting the Lord with no reservations who show it by progressively employing Christ-like discipline). I hope you fall into this category, not just for salvation and eternal life sake, but so you can be fruitful on earth bringing forth 30, 60, and 100 fold returns for Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God, and the sake of lost souls who need Him.

If you are not currently in this category, then move into it. It’s an exercise of your will motivated by your love for Jesus Christ that allows His work of reconciliation to take place in your life. You then become useful in helping others be reconciled to Him.

I don’t believe that this 75% to 25% relationship is necessarily set in stone. I believe it identifies as a whole the condition of men’s hearts and the devastating consequences that will be felt by the many and each individual that has chosen not to receive Christ as Savior and Lord.

It presents the body of Christ and its leaders with a great challenge. However, we can overcome it by regularly feeding the congregation biblical principles (including financial) and showing them how to forsake worldly principles. Such regular monthly teaching will provide believers with the knowledge they need to help overcome hardness of heart, tribulation, and the pursuit of riches and worldly pleasure (the love of money) that brought them to the place of spiritual bankruptcy and poverty. Their un-Christ-like beliefs led them to forsake tithing and other godly principles because they are a part of the relationship that God wanted to engage in them.

Leaders that want to help members undo financial bondage, prosper, and greatly increase church revenues for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission must employ trustworthy teachers to teach their members the complete array of godly lifestyle and financial principles contained in the Word.

These disciplines or principles include:
* Spending time in God’s presence through thanksgiving, praise, worship, and daily prayer
* Engaging weekly or more often fellowship with a bible-believing local church
* Volunteering to serve with other believers in weekly ministry at the local church
* Engaging in outreach to unbelievers and disciple-making of believers
* Tithing, free-will offering, and giving in other ways as God speaks specific amounts to you personally
* Having a proper biblical outlook about work and obeying godly authority in the home, church, workplace, and society
* Paying taxes, saving / investing, diversifying your assets, staying out of and eliminating debt, and spending less than you make.

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

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Matthew 13:3-8, John 8:32, Romans 10:17, 2Timothy 2:2, 3:16-17

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 115: A Principle That Prospers You

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Once, I was asked to give one financial principle that was more important than all others in helping people prosper. I believe many would have expected to hear me say:

*Give all you can because you cannot out give God because He will then give more back to you than you could ever give Him or

*Tithe to the church treasury and financial problems will forever cease or

*Another seemingly brilliant statement.

Frankly, I could not share one biblical principle that’s more important than all others because all biblical principles hold equal importance in helping you prosper. They are all designed to help complete the work God designed you to do. Each of them is founded in God’s desire that you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and thereby love your neighbor as yourself.

Our failure to regularly teach the full array of biblical financial principles that emanate from this love has lead to a drastic downward spiral in giving where far less than 20% of all Christians pay tithes and where total giving to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and teach His body has dipped to approximately 2% of household income. This has also lead to massive church-hopping because people are too focused on what they think they’re not getting versus understanding that they are planted in local churches in order to serve and help meet the needs of others. Ask not what your church can do for you; ask what you can do for your church.

This is pretty sad commentary when the bible shows that a person who really loves God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength gives an abundant, proportionate amount of his income to fund ministry work in order that everyone has an opportunity to hear the gospel, accept Jesus Christ as Savior, have needs met, and prosper to carry out his/her mission in this life.

Preachers should teach biblical financial principles to their congregations often, letting them know that the acceptance of poverty is a curse in the same manner as trust in wealth is a curse. Your failure to obey biblical guidance in order to eliminate from your life a poverty mentality or a trust in accumulated wealth mentality will only help decrease tithing, offering, and the spread of the gospel. Also, it will result in you lacking or misappropriating resources God intended you to pull from Heaven to fulfill the work He called you to do. In addition, it will result in you and your family living beneath the privilege He intends for you.

Don’t mistake a poverty mentality with making a small income or not accumulating great assets and don’t mistake a trust in wealth mentality with being rich or wealthy, having a successful business, or accumulating more than a small amount of assets. Rather, understand both of these mindsets to have a foundation in improperly managing the gifts, talents, and abilities God has given you, in violation of biblical instruction and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Wouldn’t it be great to see 100% of each congregation faithfully tithing and offering each week and people’s lives getting better; spiritually and financially? We have an opportunity to bring this to pass if we love God enough to preach, teach, and example biblical financial principles in our lives no matter our current station. Surely, as others see the fruitfulness of your life, more and more of them will want to hear your testimony. As a result, many will begin to understand Jesus Christ eternally has their best interest at heart and they will seek to intimately know Him.

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

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalms 1:1-3, Proverbs 3:5-10, Matthew 22:36-40, 2Timothy 3:16-17

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 114: God's Wisdom Confounds The World

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Many people seek the same thing: to become rich in this life so they can have luxury, happiness, and the praise of men. Some are convinced that having riches and the business savvy it takes to obtain wealth pleases God. To others, it doesn’t matter whether He’s pleased with their pursuits because in their mind He doesn’t exist. Many have become arrogant in their knowledge and abilities and disrespectful to those they believe are not as great as they are.

They will use any means to get rich including deceit, oppression of the poor, and other immoral behavior. When men praise their success and the methods they use to obtain wealth and status they oppress other people even more in order to maintain and increase their position in the eyes of men. Such worship becomes their aphrodisiac and they feel like they must get more of it regardless of the cost. They disregard people, sometimes their own family members, considering everyone to be lazy free-loaders who are not worthy of help when they are beneath their level of income, power, or fame unless they have goals and take action to get to their level.

In case you currently think this way in any area of your life, beware that worldly knowledge puffs your head up when it is not accompanied by godly understanding and wisdom. Such knowledge doesn’t allow you to see that you aren't worthy to be in God's presence regardless of the millions you amass and industries you control. You have no goodness or deed that you can do to make you acceptable to Him.

He clothed Himself in flesh on earth and shed His blood for your redemption despite all your shortcomings. This same truth applies to those people you have been disparaging. He’s appointed you to be a child of God, a son of the Kingdom, and one of His heirs but you must accept this powerful and eternal relationship and position by repenting of your sin and accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior.

God has no problem with you having riches. He wants to show you the way to obtain them and how to use them to honor Him, spread His gospel, help many other people, and store treasures in Heaven for the eternal life He’s able to provide you. Please beware that your continued failure to accept the deep personal relationship He offers will increase your pride, arrogance, and lack of giving to spread the gospel. Such a lifestyle may bring negative consequences upon you in this life. If not here, surely judgment will be decreed against you when you sit at the Great White Throne Judgment, if you do not repent and turn to Christ before you die. It will be a judgment of your own choosing.

The world’s wisdom overlooks this truth, but God’s wisdom confounds the world by truly prospering you after you make His will your priority and use only moral methods to build relationships and wealth that honors God and that He blesses.

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

Job 28:28, 32:9, Proverbs 3:7, Daniel 12:3, Romans 1:22, 1Cor. 3:18-23, 2 Tim. 3:14-17

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 113: Insulation Against Economic Upheaval

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Many people get laid off, receive less pay, and have their overall assets reduced during times of stock market correction, recession, and depression. One has only to review the history of the U.S. and world economies to recognize that these times will come. Yet, by failing to save, invest, and live in accordance with biblical principles many people act as if they’re oblivious to the fact that these economic situations will arise at some point.

Unfortunately, most people engage in personal money management practices that will land them in financial turmoil at some point in their lives, especially when several of the major markets are down, such as stock and real estate. Turmoil occurs because they continue to do things the world’s way like taking on ever increasing debt to purchase material things beyond the reach of their current income and assets. Many also fail to honor God by giving him a tithe for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the work of the ministry. At the same time, others spend all their resources on get- rich-quick business ventures and supposed high-earning investment schemes marketed by people whose promises turn out to be untrustworthy.

They fail to realize that you cannot listen to anyone who tells you a specific investment method or type of business is successful for everyone who uses it. The only time you want to listen and obey such advice is when the bible says that all believers should following specific principles or methods such as diligently performing a god-pleasing type of work, tithing, spending far less than 89% of your gross pay, saving, investing, eliminating current debt, and refusing to take on future debt, etc.

Otherwise, the heavy concentration you make in one investment or industry will usually turn into a financial downfall for you, especially when you do not become an expert in how that market operates in hopes of avoiding downturns or accumulating enough income and assets to weather storms. When you engage in such risky get-rich-quick endeavors you will suffer foreclosure, bankruptcy, unrecoverable losses, and/or great discomfort for a lengthy time in order to get back to the place where God wanted you to be all along.

God has done preventative maintenance by putting investment principles in the bible that help us overcome the severe effects of economic downturn. This doesn’t mean that you’ll never be touched by storms or that you should take no business or investment risks. Every person will face obstacles and catastrophes in life and every investment carries the risk that it may not grow and that the investor might lose principal. However, you always have a better chance of maintaining your lifestyle, giving, saving, investing, and recovering losses when you consistently make two actions part of your financial plan:

1) Diligently work to get out and stay out of debt by regularly paying down and ultimately paying off everything from credit card debt to car loans to home mortgages.

2) Diversify assets by buying seven or eight different types of investments.

These principles help you overcome the downturns that affect every investment market. Historically, down markets do not affect every industry or investment at the same time, so using these two principles allows you to be in a place where you’re not negatively affected or moved by current economic winds. You can spend whatever income you receive to meet your needs without having bill collectors chasing you to pay debts you cannot afford. Also, you have a much greater possibility of annual asset growth when only a few markets are down at the same time because the growth of investments you have in markets that are up have an opportunity to outweigh the losses you will experience in markets that are down.

As you can see, God has provided insulation against economic upheaval, but you must do your part to employ His plan so you are always in a position where you can come out ahead no matter what economic / financial obstacles come your way.

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

Deuteronomy 28:12-14, Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, Acts 6:3, Romans 13:8

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 112: Building Wealth God’s Way

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Learn how to present your Christian testimony in everyday conversation with unbelievers so you can tell them about the wonderful life changing experience you've had since accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD. While studying the bible continually, you'll notice that men and women who accepted God’s sovereignty didn't seek wealth; they sought the rich relationship with God produced by honoring Him and utilizing biblical principles while walking out this earthly life. For this commitment, God greatly prospered them throughout their lives to fulfill His calling and the earthly mission He gave them.

You are assured of building godly riches when you submit your desires to God’s will through praise, worship, thanksgiving, and obedience. Let Him direct your life and identify your goals. Work diligently in service to others in your employment, church, and other endeavors. Faithfully honor God by paying a tenth of your gross income each pay period to the church for the up-building of His people that will help spread the gospel throughout the earth. Also, give free-will offerings to fund missions, help the poor, and perform other worthwhile service to God and man.

Make sure you budget spending so you don't spend more than 80% of your net income on pleasures and household needs. Refuse to take on debts to obtain the material things you need and want. Be willing to sacrifice by not worrying about or trying to purchase items you cannot pay for at the current time even though you believe you need or desire them. This displays trust in God and allows Him to provide for you and your family when you cannot. You will find that many things you consider a need are not really a need and that you can wait on desires until you are able to purchase them without the burden of debt and the consequences that follow it.

Save six months of take home pay in vehicles that pay the highest compound interest in the most frequent intervals. After this emergency fund is established, invest at least another 10 percent of your take home pay in seven or eight reliable equity investment vehicles that are easy to understand, contain broad diversification, and historically have netted higher reliable long-term returns (stock mutual funds, REITS, etc.). Also, let a professional help you draft a will and necessary trusts to plan how your accumulated assets will provide for immediate family members and church ministry after you go home to be with the Lord.

God’s people experience death, persecution, ridicule, and much opposition in this life; however these light afflictions cannot be compared with the wealth of the glory of God that will only be revealed once we leave this earthly body. So let’s do all we can while on earth to build wealth using methods that conform to biblical principles and use it to be a blessing to others in accordance with God’s will. Then, we will show His glory and bring as many people as we can under the richness of His eternal protection.

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

Luke 6:38, 12:15-21, 14:28-30, Romans 13:8, Ephesians 4:28, 2Thessalonians 3:6-12, Hebrews 7:8

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.