MoneyWalk 426b Using Financial Advisors

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

It may be of help to you to know the pathway the LORD directed me up years ago after I asked Him to help me become a good steward of the money He entrusts to me. I planned to become debt-free using the help of a monthly budget. It helped me see where I was to control spending to ensure I quickly set aside about $1,000 as an emergency fund. After all non-mortgage debt was paid off several years later, I upped the emergency fund to about $10,000, so I would not be in jeopardy of having to withdraw or borrow investment money and thus pay taxes, penalties, or other high fees when an emergency occurs. For simplicity sake early on and to the greatest extent possible, I invested via 401k, 403b, and Roth accounts. I focused on quickly getting my debt paid off so I could invest 10% of gross income after my emergency fund was in place and increased the percentage every year so in peak earning years my household was investing around 25% percent of gross income.

I asked trustworthy friends who used good money management skill about their experiences with particular advisors who help teach biblically correct principles that prospered others. I called state and federal securities agencies to ensure the advisors and investment companies were in good standing with no unsatisfied complaints against them. I made sure advisors were willing to teach me how to properly manage income and assets and not just sell investments. I quickly got the heck off the phone or out of the office if one immediately started touting and trying to get me to put money into high commission, high expense, so-called high growth guaranteed or virtually guaranteed investments.

I refused to write checks payable in the name of the individual advisor. I thoroughly analyzed the investments recommended and made checks out to the investment company / brokerage I found reputable whose investment I decided to buy. I required a copy of the clear written instructions concerning the investment transaction the advisor was to submit for me.

I invested solely in no load low expense stock index mutual funds, until I learned more about good stewardship, personal finance, and was able to identify advisors who truly help people over the long haul obtain consistently better investment growth than their peers. Such funds are diversified and I did not pay sales charges up front nor would I upon cashing out of the investments. Over time I spread the money out to seven or eight investment vehicles across various arenas (large cap, mid cap, small cap, international, REITS, etc.).

I selected those with low annual expense ratios and no 12b-1 fees. I considered low expenses to be an annual amount less than half of 1% of the investment amount. I was able to find funds that charged far less via Vanguard, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and a few other investment companies. I understood upfront commissions would start my investment account with less money than I would write the check for. For example, a 5% load (sales charge) would turn a $1000 investment into $950 right off the bat. I thus would not get investment growth off my entire $1,000.

High expenses would eat into investment returns so I would pay more in annual expenses and over many years the compound effect of such fees would be staggering in terms of investment growth I would not receive – in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also, the vast majority of mutual funds that charge commissions and high expenses were not earning more than no load low expense stock index mutual funds on a regular basis. This does not mean that a few won’t, however a novice investor is usually not able to tell which actively managed loaded high expense funds might beat no load low expense funds most years without undue risk of great loss.

In the midst of this lifelong investment process, I still continually ask the LORD to help me appropriately manage income and assets and take action to tithe and give abundantly to my local Church and other ministries that truly honor His will. Thus, my life and financial priority always unquestionably remain Him and the spreading of the gospel so many others can know about the pathway through Jesus Christ to be saved and inherit eternal life while maintaining a position to prosper on earth.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 21:20, Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27

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MoneyWalk 426a Using Financial Advisors

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

First and foremost, I study the bible to know and understand what the LORD has to say on the subject of giving, work, money management, saving, investing, and wealth building. I also read a lot of books and articles to learn how to avoid scam artists because some people believe a sucker is born every minute and they try to make you one of them. Nobody cares more about what God has entrusted to me and making sure that it is used to do His will than God and I do. Thus, guidance I come upon that does not line up with biblical principles and methods that fit therein do not get utilized in my life no matter who the advisor is. I wish the same for you and therefore I am providing this guide.

Let’s be clear some financial advisors are trustworthy and should be consulted and used. They have a heart to do the best to help you get into a sound financial condition and to bring increase to your life and family via righteous standards and methods. They help you get a complete financial picture of your situation, let you know what is lacking, what you need to do, how that will help you, and where in a LORD glorifying way it will take you. They do not exert the high level of pressure many other advisors exert in order to sell things you do not really need in order to make lots of money from you via exorbitant commission and fees.

Many financial advisors or whatever they call themselves (brokers, counselors, agents, CFP’s, CFA’s, retirement investment specialists, etc.) push financial products upon people that are not suitable for the individual’s financial condition or for anyone’s financial condition for that matter. Thus, you must be knowledgeable, intentional, and watchful when selecting and using a professional that is paid via commissions and fees on the sale of financial products. Also, be careful of those who want any type of control over decisions regarding your money and how it can be given, invested, and/or spent. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!!

Each person who desires to be a good steward of the money and resources to which God entrusts Him should have at least several counselors from whom he/she gleans knowledge and understanding so wisdom can be employed in the use of money and resources including the making, giving, saving, investing, and spending of it. Such counselors can be a conglomeration of people you personally interview after referral by people you know who have a lengthy history of being good stewards from a biblical perspective. This could also include advice given by organizations like Crown.org, DaveRamsey.com, SoundmindInvesting.com and other Christian based financial teaching sources.

The fact that you use advisors does not mean that you actually have to give a particular financial advisor or brokerage house carte blanche (control or power of attorney) over money entrusted to you. For example, I am the best person to manage what I've been given, so I oversee it as a general contractor does his/her subcontractors on a construction site. I will not utilize everyone I come into contact with and that includes some very close friends that work in the financial services industry (for whom I have a great personal respect). Yet, I glean knowledge from them and they from me on occasion on a variety of subjects in which we’re both interested. Only God and I reserve the right to choose advisors I will use and where income and assets He entrusted to me will be given, saved, invested, and spent. I exhort you to follow a similar method to make sure you choose financial advisors and sources of guidance who can teach you well and show by example the godly things you should consider and pathway you should intentionally walk in order to please the LORD.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 11:14, 22:3, Ecclesiastes 4:12, Matthew 6:33, 2Corinthians 11:3, 2John 1:10

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MoneyWalk 425 The Right Way To Build Wealth

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

A Christian is passionate about seeking first the LORD and by grace through faith receiving His righteousness and kingdom to guide his/her life. It is through this love relationship with Him that all other things we need and many things desired will be added to us. However, these things will never be our real treasure. For where your treasure is (in Christ in God), there will your heart be also.

There are some in the world who God called to positions of prominence (power, fame, wealth) and others He allows to be in such positions. You are no less highly regarded by the LORD if you do not attain similar earthly positions, goods, or notoriety. Each of our jobs and the abilities and skills we use to do them (when they are not of a sinful nature and regardless of whether we call them ministry or secular endeavors) are gifts from and ministry to the LORD that greatly benefit many other people. Those truly intimate with Him will lead others to His saving and sanctifying grace.

Now, His blessings and rewards on earth can be two-fold. First, He rains on the just and unjust alike. Some things He will do for you just because He loves you whether you are a believer or not. Some things He might do only for believers in Christ, like grant them salvation and eternal life. Some rewards may be provided only in accordance with spiritual laws as we live out biblical principles (sowing & reaping, counting the cost, saving & investing, asset diversification, etc.). Our job is not to worry about how to get things. It is to seek Him while He is near and call upon Him while He may be found. As we move along the path on which seeking, relating, and becoming intimate with Jesus Christ is our greatest priority in life, then we find that He adds all the other things to us that we need to fulfill His will, purpose, and calling for our life and to be a blessing to many others.

This is very important to know because otherwise we try to live someone else's life or the way they told us scripture requires us to live. Seeking Him first tunes our ears to hear what the bible and Holy Spirit are actually saying to our hearts. While I have a need to be taught by God and know this will often be delivered through man, I have a greater need to receive understanding from the Holy Spirit so I can walk in wisdom. He is the Spirit of Truth who will tell me all things (John 14 and 15).

He lets me know monetary wealth is possible when I work in a godly manner and properly managing income received. However, I must in all cases be attuned to using that wealth for the glory of God by helping to spread His gospel throughout my family, community, nation, and world and in greater proportion as my income and wealth increase. This helps keep us in a humble place recognizing that God owns all the money and resources we will ever receive and that we are to do His will with it. We must also recognize we are no better than anyone else because we have received seemingly greater blessings and rewards on earth.

God is just as happy with the widow who glorified Him by giving all she had (two pennies relatively speaking) in the worship service collection as He is with the rich man who glorified Him by preparing Christ’s body and burying Him in his tomb. So, focus on glorifying His name in the earth by following His vision for your life, working as unto the LORD, abundantly funding gospel ministry, budgeting, properly caring for your family, pursuing debt-freedom, spending within your means, saving, investing, and diversifying assets. Then, you will look up and find yourself in the wealthy place.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 13:21-23, Proverbs 21:20, Matthew 6:33, Luke 21:1-4, Luke 23:50-53

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

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MoneyWalk 423 Overspending Leads To Bondage

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Overspending is a very big problem in the world today, especially with the decades long increases in loan credit availability. Most people are in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt via credit cards, charge cards, car loans, student loans, mortgages, and cosigning for other people’s debts. Over the past five decades savings has declined from approximately 15% of income to not much more than 1% today. Immigrants who come to our shores soon begin to go after loans like those they see around them, so they can immediately purchase all the things they think they missed out on in their former land. It’s a pity we’re leading them on this path at the risk of financial ruin, divorces, and severing of family relationships.

Many people are purchasing much larger homes with very expensive amenities and furnishings than ever before, more expensive cars, and generally more expensive clothing and other merchandise to impress people around them. This makes them feel like they’re successful in everyone’s eyes including their own. They often feel this will make their names great to onlookers, but it often ends in financial and personal tragedy when such purchases are the basis of one’s security and reputation. Sad to say there is a notable increase in general unhappiness with life, divorce rates, depression rates, suicide rates, and many other indicators that seem to have followed the trajectory of our poor financial stewardship and increased movement away from biblical financial principles.

Not long ago, some people felt they didn’t have to save and invest in a diversified manner because the equity in their mortgaged house provided all the wealth they needed for their future and the material things they wanted to get now. They signed massive home equity loans to finance remodels and other lavish purchases (cars, boats, RV’s, jewelry, you name it). A good number even signed for mortgages that allowed them to use credit amounts greater than the amount of equity they had. Thus, stripping most if not all equity out of their properties mostly for the sake of immediately getting material things they really could not afford and that would not help them build wealth to ensure that they and their families would have secure futures.

One thing I need to make unequivocally clear, I am not against people earning large sums of money, purchasing expensive items, or being comfortable in life. I am not the values police waiting to check your every purchase to make sure it’s in line with my beliefs or even scriptural principles. However, I recognize that many will suffer unnecessarily in the area of finances and its connection to so many other areas of life unless they learn, understand, and act on the wisdom of God laid out in the bible. The Holy Spirit indwells believers for the purpose of guiding them so we can become more Christ-like the longer we live upon the earth. He instructs and encourages us to live out biblical principles including those that affect the financial areas of our life. Therefore, I must share the negative consequences that ultimately come upon those that become slaves to lenders, fools who spend all that they earn, cosigners for others, and spiritually blind wealth impersonators who fail to pay attention to ensuring their earnings far exceed their expenses.

No one can continually spend more than he/she earns without running into financial turmoil and future lack. Some big money grips who thought they could, ran into earnings, foreclosure, repossession, bankruptcy, poverty, and even homelessness problems later in life that showed the error of their thinking. We must utilize biblical principles to ensure that we progressively put ourselves in a situation where God, man, and human financial systems work to our benefit so we can properly care for ourselves, our families, our Churches, and others that God leads us to help. In fact, God usually brings an abundance above and beyond what our mere actions could bring when we commit to doing things His way for His glory. This does not mean that you are without problems and suffering or that you receive everything you ever wanted. It means that God is sure to care for your eternal soul and earthly livelihood by providing all your need according to His riches in glory. For many, this can mean great monetary wealth to be used in the context of giving the LORD ever increasing worship via funding evangelistic and disciple-making ministry and where a great portion of it could also be used for greater creature comforts.

My admonition to you at all times, including holiday seasons and special occasions, is to check your spending at the door by recognizing that living within your means today provides a greater opportunity to display trust in the Almighty, to build wealth for the future, to give abundantly to the Church for Kingdom ministry, and to have more creature comforts in your latter years when you will need them the most. A lifestyle of good financial stewardship relieves the stresses, pressures, and worries upon individuals and families that poor stewardship created and worsened. Remember, you are made to be a conqueror not a victim, a winner not a loser, a lender not a borrower, wealthy not in poverty, a Christian not a slave to the devil and his bondage strategies. So, take control of your life by putting a stop to overspending. Cut up those credit cards that have been taking you deeper and deeper into the pit of financial despair. Get a second job temporarily or earn extra income via an entrepreneurial endeavor to help pay off the loan bondage and start a savings and investment fund. By doing so, you will increasingly eliminate worry and anxiety, breathe easier, better care for your responsibilities, and create a more intimate relationship with the LORD.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Deuteronomy 8:18, 28:12, Proverbs 22:7, 27:23-27, Romans 13:8, Luke 12:16-21, James 5:1-8

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

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

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 422 You Can Clean Up Your Mess

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Many people were caught up in the economic downturn, credit, mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy, and financial bondage mess that occurred from 2007 through 2009. Many have been unable to continue making monthly payments on their home, vacation, rental properties, and other loans due to reduced income, layoffs, lack of emergency funds and other savings, etc. Quite a number had financial institutions foreclose on their properties, filed bankruptcy, or had property repossessed. Others are simply pressed to their wits end even now trying to figure out how they’re going to stay afloat financially.

No doubt some catastrophes occurred, the type of which, some people could not possibly have foreseen at the time they signed for mortgages and other loans. However, everyone is able to foresee danger ahead at least in the sense that everyone knows problems will occur every so often in life and they will need financial resources to help resolve them to relieve stress, be able to continue to pay bills, and avoid financial destitution and other bondages that will negatively affect them as a result of emergencies. The only way to appropriately and adequately handle such situations is by planning that helps you live a prudent lifestyle based on your income as well as employing consistent, reasonable, long-term saving and investment practices. This godly pattern allows you to avoid financial bondage that would otherwise be the result of such situations.

Unfortunately, many people chose not to follow biblical principles in managing their lives and money. Thus, they gave place to the devil, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell them (1) the market would crash, or (2) they were going to lose their job or be laid off, or (3) they were putting themselves and family in bondage by signing for loans, or (4) they didn’t have the education and skill to profitably navigate investment situations that required leverage, speculating they would always be able to bring in enough revenue as a landlord to cover principle and other costs of loans they signed for).

The devil continues to whisper his word into their ears and yours; get everything you deserve and do not worry about your financial situation or tomorrow. This sounds very much like words spoken by Jesus, yet it is absent of instruction contained in the whole counsel of God (the bible), Just like what he said to Jesus when he was fasting in the wilderness, he looks to tempt all of us to do things not in our best interest by using similar incomplete, misconstrued instructions. However, studying the whole counsel of God tells us (a) to build a house only after counting the cost, (b) that wise people live within their current means and do not take out loans to finance things that do not normally appreciate in monetary value, (c) to set aside adequate savings and investments, and (d) to leave an inheritance to our children’s children.

You must understand, the devil wants to bring a mindset upon you that causes you to forsake the principles of God, or better yet, never regard them in the first place. Once he has influenced your mind to live according to the principles of worldly people around you and consider them sages worthy of your utmost attention, he knows you will bring destruction into your life and finances that will ruin your ability to use the highest potential the LORD planted in you. He wants you to look good on the outside but be rotten on the inside and to tell others of the highfalutin material things and worldly positions you’ve attained via debt so you can lead them into the same desires, activities, and bondage he led you into. For many, this process continues for quite some time while everything seems to be working out quite well. Then, suddenly out of nowhere destruction rears its head. This is the type of situation that led to the mess with unaffordable mortgages, car loans, overspending, foreclosures, repossessions, and bankruptcies many people experienced and that others will inevitably experience in the future unless they start listening to and following godly instruction.

Of course, many finance companies, developers, and real estate professionals were greedily feeding you the worldly method, so their coffers could get fat and bulge while you were gorging yourself on enormous amounts of mortgage and other debt. These are some of the many culprits beside you and your past failure to properly manage money and one is not more at fault than another. Some of these entities are now in financial trouble just like you and some have been liquidated and no longer exist.

If the description above fits you, just let it be a learning experience and put it behind you. Know, by the word of God, that you can move forward, be fruitful, and prosper when you’re willing to learn and apply biblical principles throughout the remainder of your life. Other people and institutions cannot and will not do it for you. The steps to getting your financial house in order are:

(1) Let God be involved in your finances through tithing and abundant offering. He honors those who honor Him!

(2) Budget your income. Prior to each month, write a monthly plan that describes how you’re going to spend income you reasonably expect to receive. You must estimate and subtract all known expense categories, so you know if you will have a surplus or deficit. Estimate your income versus expenses for each of the next six months in order to have a longer-term view of where you would be if you keep doing what you’ve been doing up to now. Then revise your budget based on the changes you need to make to truly be fruitful, profitable, and prosperous. This will reveal the great condition you can soon be in when you impose financial discipline on your life.

(3) You must save a starter emergency fund of $1,000 or so (with the intensity and focus of the lion that runs down the antelope). This money should be put in money market accounts at a local credit union or bank because it needs to be secure in short-term periods. It serves as financial self- insurance to meet emergency needs and help you avoid turning to loans to try and get yourself out of future jams.

(4) You must eliminate debt and stop cosigning (with the intensity and focus of the deer who outruns the cheetah). Cosigning is simply taking on someone else’s debt. You cannot afford your own and you certainly will not prosper taking on someone else’s debt. You also will not build wealth if you continue to hold onto the psychology that it is acceptable to continually take on more debt. When your budget shows a deficit, you must work extra jobs or create entrepreneurial endeavors that produce greater income to help cover necessities and more quickly eliminate debts.

The absolute first thing you have power to control is getting rid of things too expensive for your current situation (high value cars, motorcycles, boats, campers, and sometimes homes), so you can move forward in getting out of bondage and setting yourself up to build substantial wealth. You may be able to lessen some of your mortgage and debt obligations by having an honest discussion with lenders about your financial situation and requesting forbearance, mortgage modification, short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or whatever other financial help it can offer to help you get out of the mess. The less you have to pay a lender is the more that you can put toward debt elimination and wealth building. Remember, you usually do not have the help you really need because you do not ask for it!

(5) Thereafter you must build an emergency fund of at least $10,000 and then invest at least 10% of your gross income for the long-term and plan to remain debt-free for life and every year increase your annual investment deposits by a percent or two. Over time, put the investment money into a diversified array of seven to eight holdings such as no load low expense total stock market index mutual funds with different brokerage houses, 401k, 403b, and Roth IRA plans. You need exposure to equity investments in order for the money to compound and exponentially grow from your younger age period to your older age period for purposes of greater proportional giving to spread the gospel and live comfortably in retirement while engaging reasonable desires like travel and senior entrepreneurial endeavors. Over long-term periods of 10, 20, and 30 years, such equity investments have historically delivered far higher average annual growth that you can get from bonds, CDs, and annuities, etc.

These steps and disciplines bring supernatural power to you for engaging debt freedom, greater blessing, and reward that gives you more income to invest each year, which catapults you much quicker out of financial bondage and into the wealthy place.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 11:24-25, 12:15, 14:8, 16, 21:20, 22:7, 17, 27:23-24

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

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

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and LinkedIn

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 421 Scriptural Principles Never Change But Methods Do

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Methods are many, principles are few, methods often change, but principles never do. Many people mistake methods for principles and attempt to tell others that if they do not give a certain offering at a certain time or in a particular manner their lives will not be fruitful. This could not be farther from the truth. It is off-base to say a person will not be blessed when he/she does not give a specific amount of offering or according to a specific request (Passover, café, art, etc.) or in a specific way (heave offering, wave offering, everyone walk to the front, in an envelope, by electronic funds transfer, etc.) when the person otherwise follows scriptural principles of tithing and free-will offering. These are clearly defined in scripture as pleasing to the LORD whereas having to walk to the front or give by electronic funds transfer are methods that can vary from time to time or be based on Church or personal preference.

Some methods can provide a great boost to your giving and allow you to support ministry efforts greater than what you can do by yourself. It is possible that heaving or waiving your offering before giving it may enhance your worship experience but they are not principles such that everyone who does not heave or waive offerings will not receive a return from the LORD. A particular method will not necessarily produce any more blessing or reward. Neither does one scriptural principle cancel out another. For example, heaving and waving each offering without consistent tithing, budgeting, debt elimination, investing, and/or entrepreneurial endeavors is not likely to break the shackles of your financial bondage and take you to the wealthy place.

It may produce a momentary emotional high and a belief that what the offering requester said would happen is going to come to pass, but for those already in financial bondage it likely will be followed by more of the same old bondage in their lives when not accompanied by the other financial stewardship principles. Failure to let the Holy Spirit guide you in following each scriptural principle as you learn and understand them will likely hinder the material blessing and reward that could flow into your life no matter how many heaves and waves you perform while giving.

The above has been spoken for the purpose of helping you see it is of utmost importance to continually seek the LORD and intimacy with Him, so you will follow the greatest principle of all: “do whatever the LORD tells you to do.” His instruction will always be in line with scripture and if you truly hear him ask you to do an unusual thing from time to time such as give in a certain way or a certain amount, please do it. Joining with the congregation in a certain way of giving may be invigorating and unifying for the local fellowship and thus you should be open to the LORD leading you in this way. Just realize you are not damned if you do not give according to someone’s method even though you may have to take heat from Pharisees and unbelievers.

Stay away from any method that is not clearly in-line with a scriptural principle such as those that are not based on loving the LORD and people or that are based on greed. Following scripture by using methods aligned with its principles will produce the fruitfulness and prosperity the LORD desires for your life.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Psalm 37:21-24, Proverbs 2:6-8, Matthew 23:23, 1Corinthians 12:14-26, Ephesians 4:11-16

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

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

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 420 Being A Witness

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Being a Christian witness is telling others about Jesus Christ and how intimacy with Him provides salvation and eternal life for you and them. It is much like your response as a witness in court when you’re asked questions about the person or circumstance in question and you’re expected to give honest answers about what you know. However, a Christian witness does not always wait until someone asks him/her questions about Jesus Christ and the gospel. He seeks opportunities to share.

We do not wait until a situation has become so bad (criminal or civil violation of the law) that we feel like we must come forward as a witness. Instead, we understand the LORD put each one in various situations among family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and acquaintances so we can positively enhance many different lives and lead them to Christ by sharing the gospel and our personal testimony. In fact, He uses many people to touch the lives of many other people they do not know and who may be on the other side of the globe through websites, internet articles, etc. You too become a greater witness to the world when you provide such ministries with financial help, direct other people to their websites, and forward ministry articles.

Some Christians say we need to witness without beating people over their heads with the bible. I sometimes wonder if we pick up this mentality from what unbelievers have said, or from feelings of embarrassment, or from our carnal nature that wants everyone to like us. No matter how gently you approach some people, they will immediately take the position that you are a bible thumper who beats people with the word. There is not much you can do about such opinions except to know that the Word you speak is godly seed and that the other person has the ability to one day let it take root in his/her life. Not being ignorant of satan’s tactics should lead us to know that he wants to say and do everything he can to convince us to quit speaking the Word to other people.

The gospels contain many examples of Jesus speaking words that some people did not want to hear. If you were a religious leader or an unbeliever even after you heard the Word and saw the miracles He performed certainly you too would have mistaken Him calling priests snakes, vipers, and whitewashed tombs as not supporting the good news He spoke of. Think of how much more you probably would have said Jesus should be a better example after you saw Him whip the moneychangers out of the temple and when he appeared to be taking advantage of women by having them give into His treasury while he abandoned the natural money earning work (carpentry) He had been trained to do (carpentry). Not to mention, you might have thought it despicable for Him to call many of the twelve disciples away from providing for their families and put them in a position of being jailed and beaten because they believed the Word He spoke.

You are sadly mistaken if you think most people are going to start asking you about Jesus and how to be saved because your life is such a shining example of goodness. This is not to say that you and I cannot be more and more Christ-like as we continue to love, trust, and obey Him throughout our days on this earth. However, witnesses overwhelmingly speak the Word to other people because this focuses people off the witness and onto the perfection of Jesus and what He did for them. Focusing first and foremost upon living a good life in front of people instills a sense of self-righteousness that causes you to believe people come to Christ due to your righteousness. Inevitably, people will see flaws in you and as quickly as you thought they came to Jesus they would be turned off to Him if salvation is based on your lifestyle and deeds.

It must forever remain etched in your heart that it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world but lose his soul and that to live is Christ and to die is gain. So much so that you will always choose to go through the embarrassment, taunts, and ridicule that men will throw at you for speaking the Word to them and by supporting it by some actions unbelievers and present-day Pharisees will call crazy and ungodly. When it comes to witnessing remember, the Word of God (not your deeds) is more powerful than a two-edged sword. As it is continually spoken, it will help the Holy Spirit continually lead you to deeds that are more pleasing to God, but not necessarily to all men, and will help you exhibit the power of God that is necessary to lead others to Christ and disciple them.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-18, Acts 1:8, 22:13-15, Ephesians 6:19-20

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

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

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 419 Expect Blessings & Rewards

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

If you’re like me, your mind must be continually renewed to expect by faith the hope that is in your heart for the present and future. The LORD has blessed me enormously, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, and economically, even though I have not always perfectly walked out my faith. But hold off on your judgment because God is not through with me yet. And, I’m sure He’s not through with you either.

God is in the blessing & rewards business for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Even for many people who are currently unbelievers, He abundantly gives what they need to turn to Him as well as abundant resources to help them care for themselves and their families in this life. He has prepared much better for those who turn to Him by accepting Christ as Savior. Salvation and the inheritance of eternal life are received by grace through faith and not of works so no one can earn them. However, earthly and some spiritual blessings and rewards have conditions attached to them that require obedience to His commands. He desires that you obtain and appropriate them on earth in a way that is wholesome and that helps you be a great blessing to others around you.

Some blessings & rewards that God wants you to have are above and beyond what you currently have and may only be obtained when you ask His will for particular situations and by faith believe and initiate action to bring these currently unseen things into the realm of the seen. Sometimes this requires constant and persistent petition and action until they are received. Satan and his demonic cohorts stand in opposition to your blessings & rewards and try to block them because of the damaging effect these weapons have on his dark kingdom. Through the funding, preaching, and serving of the gospel many people are saved and the dark kingdom is driven out of their life and heart. Because I want the LORD’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, I will forever remind myself to have a heart that loves the LORD and other people and put on the mind of Christ to be renewed in my thinking.

I will walk in the Spirit to destroy the unfruitful works of the flesh. I have the power in me to expect the specific things He wants for me, so I will pray, call forth, and wait when necessary until they come. Then, I will move forward in prayer to find out new blessings & rewards He desires for me. I will let the Holy Spirit constantly inventory my heart to ensure my motives are right, yet I understand the motive behind my prayer requests is not dishonorable even though some things he wants for me and my family are higher cost than I have ever had. The LORD simply knows how to give good gifts and sometimes desires that you and I have things beyond our current financial ability to obtain. When blessings and rewards are properly obtained, appreciated, and managed they allow you to initiate greater acts of faith, be more useful in Kingdom service, meet family needs, and offer a testimony of His goodness to others, etc.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 11:9-13, Psalm 2:8, James 4:1-2

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

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

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and LinkedIn

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 418 The Best New Year Resolution

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The best New Year resolution is to accept the gift of salvation that Jesus Christ offers you by your confession of faith in Him and belief in your heart that He alone is LORD who could make the sacrifice to remove your sin and save you from eternal damnation. If you’ve already believed and confessed this truth, then your best resolution is to conform yourself to His image by allowing the Holy Spirit to take you through the process of sanctification for as long as you live on this earth.

  This requires a willingness to live, give, and serve in the way the bible instructs Christians. You do not need to know specifically the unique things God will have you do throughout your time on earth. You only need to take one step forward at a time according to the practices you know are pleasing to Him like studying the bible, worshiping daily via thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, faithful fellowship with a local church, and serving in a ministry that helps your local church draw others to Christ and build them up in the faith. Adhering to these foundational practices of faith in Christ allow you to hear God’s voice of continued instruction that lead you into His perfect will.

  He does not often give anyone the entire plan for their life at one time nor all the nuances that will occur and He does not remove all temptations and obstacles that will be placed in their way to fulfilling the plan. He simply put Holy Spirit power in you that you can use to overcome and obliterate tempations, snares, and weights. But, it’s up to you to use His power to crush the enemy's head and continually move forward!

  It’s important that you be so humble that you don’t require the pastor, elders, leaders, or other members to recognize your contributions, but you understand that God recognizes faithful service to others that glorifies Him. He ultimately causes your faithfulness to rise from obscurity in His timing, not yours, so that leaders and others somewhere within the body of Christ and most times within your local fellowship begin to recognize your commitment, obedience, and sacrifice.

  This is God’s process for increasing your wisdom and stature with Him and man. This process creates steps for you to rise to elevated platforms of ministry / leadership within and outside the Church walls that give you a greater audience to whom you can minister in a way that gives God glory. Your resolution should be so strong that you are willing to crucify your own will wherever it will impede God’s will from taking place in your life and ministry.

  When you have not specifically heard what God uniquely desires as your specific life calling, you must follow the vision and goals set by God for His Church, as identified in scripture (worship, evangelism, disciple-making, and serving others). Also, you must be ready for Him at any time to identify more of His vision for your life as well as goals to move you ever closer to fulfilling the vision. God brings the greatest fulfillment and brings out the highest purpose in people who plan to consistently put their faith into actions that please Him.

  Over time, He is sure to tweak your plans where He sees fit and to change or rearrange any part of your character, vision, and goals that may need to be changed to conform to His unique will for your life. Again, humility and meekness are necessary so you don’t superimpose your will over God’s will for your life, over the method’s and traditions employed by the delegated authorities that God has placed you under, nor over the process He utilizes to create platforms and open doors of greater ministry opportunities for you.

  Your commitment to Jesus Christ and to being led by His Spirit should never allow anyone to keep you from delivering the gospel and ministering Jesus to people who are lost and misguided without Him. The best new year resolution is continued intimacy with Him, so His will becomes etched in your heart leading you to be His hands, feet, and mouthpiece in the earth who helps others come to Him and become the sons and daughters of the LORD they were created to be. That is the wealthy place that allows you greater ministry opportunities and fruitfulness.

  Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 10:25, Hosea 4:6, Proverbs 29:18, Habakkuk 2:2-4

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

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

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 417 The LORD's Presence Prospers You

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Biblical finance teachers extol the results that come from obeying Christ’s commands by using biblical financial principles such as working faithfully according to proper spiritual authority, tithing, offering, budgeting, debt elimination, saving, investing, diversifying assets, & pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors. Incorporate these into your lifestyle because they help create wealth while you live on this earth. However, intimacy with the LORD Jesus Christ that causes your life to be engulfed by His presence should be pursued first and foremost because it holds promise of the life that now is as well as the life to come. His presence lives in each person who accepts Christ as Savior via the in-filling of the Holy Spirit and leads us into His perfect will for our lives. When we maintain our place in His presence we are powerfully motivated to trust Him in every situation and for insight on the steps forward in this life: from shepherding a church family; to inventing a gadget useful to others; to starting a business; to being a fruitful employee that helps fulfill the LORD's desire for your work.

His presence matures you into the person He wants you to be as you trust and obey His guidance, both written and spoken into you by His Spirit. It brings about the elimination of comparing yourself to other people and competing with their achievements. It helps you take the focus off yourself and place it upon Him, thus giving Him all the glory for what is accomplished. In this regard, be pleased in simply fulfilling His assignments whether you receive accolades or not. Yet, the bible and Christian experience show that God openly rewards and shows off the humble who maintain intimacy with Him and are fruitful.

In His presence you will be motivated in an ever-increasing fashion to utilize biblical financial principles to bring income, assets, relationships, and relationships necessary to help the worldwide church, your local church, and yourself carry out the mission God desires. You will not worry about what others have that you do not have. Neither will you directly pursue material things because you already know prosperity chases the righteous focused on proclaiming His fame throughout the earth. Enough to care for your needs, your family, and be a great blessing to others.

His presence shows it is not all about money though He blesses you and others with it in an abundant fashion because He wants to use you as a vessel to publish the gospel through various forms of communication, strategic alliances, and service to others. Yes, prosperity is in His presence and has great usefulness in the earth as you walk with Him day-by-day. You can have no greater relationship with God than that which comes through accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, however you can have greater fellowship with Him as you cultivate your life daily through worship including thanksgiving, praise, prayer, studying scripture, fellowship with the saints, and service to other people.

Refuse to be a rooster crowing about your early morning prayer or the length of your worship as though these things save you or make you better than others. Never tell other people they must spend as much time as you do or maybe even more in order to please the LORD or be anointed. Do not suppose you know the amount of time God desires others to be in His presence. Simply be sure He is speaking to them and nudging their hearts and wants you to continually encourage them by the example of your life and the non-judgmental motivating words you speak about seeking Him with all their hearts, souls, and strength.

The greatest thing you can do is spend time in His presence and learn to extend that fellowship while you work, serve, play, and rest. When your first love is not Christ and your first priority is not to carry out His will on earth you will likely fail to follow biblical financial principles that prosper, be on the wrong side of eternal judgment, and will not be doing others the great good He desires.

Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Psalm 23, 1Chronicles 16:27, Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 13:5

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

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

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ