Participants: John Bradshaw (Host), Ed Reid
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001229
00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God4s book, the Bible. 00:16 Still relevant in today4s complex world ...... 00:22 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 Thanks for joining me today. 00:38 If there4s one subject the Bible speaks about more than 00:41 any other, what do you think it is? 00:45 Alright. 00:45 I'll tell you. 00:47 The Bible speaks about money, about finances more than it 00:52 does about any other single subject, which ought to 00:55 suggest to us that the subject of finance and money 00:59 and money management is important and is important in 01:03 the sight of God. 01:04 Today I am in Eastern Tennessee and my guest is Ed 01:08 Reid, who has written the book about money management. 01:11 Ed, thanks for joining me today. 01:13 ER: Well, it's a pleasure to be with you, John. 01:15 JB: Let's start by asking you why you think there's not a 01:17 lot of time left for planet earth. 01:20 Why are these the last days? 01:20 ER: Well the Bible gives two ways for us to know. 01:22 The first one is the great prophetic timeline and we see 01:25 the time is running out and the other one are signs that 01:29 Jesus gave us and we would see near the end and they're 01:30 in abundance today. 01:32 JB: Such as? 01:33 ER: Well, earthquakes, for example. 01:35 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, especially Matthew, Mark and 01:38 Luke talk about the synoptic gospels, earthquakes in 01:41 different places near the end as an indication of end-time. 01:44 JB: Okay, now, Devil's advocate. 01:46 There have always been earthquakes. 01:47 They had them back in Bible times. 01:49 Why should we be concerned when another earthquake 01:51 strikes today? 01:52 ER: Five of the largest earthquakes ever to occur on 01:55 the earth have happened in the last 50 years, over a 6 01:58 thousand year history. 01:59 JB: Jesus in Matthew 24 said these signs would be like 02:02 birth pains, didn't he? 02:02 ER: Yes. 02:04 JB: Which indicates that they would become more frequent 02:05 and more intense. 02:06 ER: Indeed. 02:07 JB: Do you think we are seeing that? 02:08 ER: I do, indeed. 02:09 Yes. 02:10 JB: Okay. 02:11 Now if you think that we are getting close to the end of 02:13 time. 02:14 I believe that. 02:14 I believe that and many, many people watching today are 02:16 totally convinced of that. 02:17 The Bible talks an awful lot about money and finance. 02:22 Clearly a very important subject, and very important 02:24 God. 02:25 It's important to all of us. 02:26 If we don't have it, life becomes a difficult 02:28 proposition. 02:30 How, then, should people of faith who are convinced that 02:34 Jesus is returning some time soon, and I know that word 02:39 soon is a relative word, how should people be approaching 02:42 their finances keeping in mind the end might be near. 02:46 ER: Well I think the first thing to do is to put God 02:48 first in your life. 02:48 I could give you a long time recitation of things to do, 02:55 you know, budgeting, and all that. 02:57 But I think - the Book of Proverbs, the third chapter, 03:01 talks about honor the Lord with your possessions and 03:03 with the first part of all your increase and your barns 03:06 will be filled with plenty and your vats with new wine 03:08 and so on. 03:09 Those are written to farmer people but they apply to us 03:11 in the same way. 03:12 And it says "don't be wise in your own eyes. 03:14 Fear the Lord and depart from evil" and so on, so I think 03:17 putting God first. 03:19 JB: Okay now, let me ask you a question. 03:21 Right there in Proverbs 3, Honor the Lord with your 03:23 substance. 03:24 What does that mean? 03:25 ER: Well, I use the New King James version, and it says 03:28 "your possessions", "your stuff", we would say. 03:30 Honor the Lord with your stuff. 03:32 And this means, well, you mentioned that the Bible 03:35 talks more about money than about any other subject - any 03:37 other single subject - and more than two thousand verses 03:40 talk about it. 03:41 Somebody asked me, well, what is your favorite one? 03:43 Well, it's not even a many one, but Genesis 1:1 says "In 03:46 the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." 03:48 So if God is the Creator, I'm a creature. 03:50 If he's the Creator He's the Owner, I'm just a manager. 03:53 So the way I manage God's money is a very, very 03:55 important situation. 03:58 I believe that we are saved by faith alone. 04:00 The great Prostestant tradition. 04:02 But the fact is we're not saved by our money management 04:04 but we can manage away from God. 04:08 Do you get what I'm saying by that? 04:09 We could move away in our management. 04:11 JB: Certainly. 04:11 ER: Thinking in terms of selfishness and so on. 04:12 In fact, one of the signs of the end is in 2 Timothy, the 04:16 third chapter, where it says "in the last days perilous 04:18 times will come and men will be lovers of themselves 04:22 [they're selfish] and lovers of money". 04:25 That's an amazing one. 04:26 And then also, the 5th chapter of James, in the 04:28 first five verses says "The rich will heap up treasures 04:31 for the last days. 04:33 It's all going to get burned up. 04:35 That's the amazing thing. 04:36 But the interesting thing is they are doing it. 04:37 Let me give you an illustration of last day 04:39 stuff. 04:40 JB: Sure. 04:41 ER: If I am a professional person with advanced degrees 04:43 and I could earn about a hundred thousand a year, in 04:46 my entire lifetime - and this is amazing - of 40 years of 04:51 working, I will make four million dollars. 04:55 Recently, even during the economic downturn, some of 04:59 the Wall Street bankers got bonuses of 40 million dollars 05:03 which is 10 times more than a professional person will make 05:07 in his entire lifetime of hard work. 05:10 Now this is incredible. 05:11 Do you understand? 05:12 The rich are saving up for the last days. 05:14 JB: Sure ER: There could not be a better example of that, 05:16 in my opinion. 05:18 JB: So now, we are honoring the Lord with our substance, 05:20 with our possessions, our stuff. 05:23 ER: Yes. 05:24 JB: Planning for the last days of earth's history. 05:26 Now, I don't expect that you are going to be an extremist 05:28 on this. 05:29 I don't think you're going to be a radical on this. 05:31 How do we go about that? 05:32 What should we be thinking? 05:33 ER: The very first thing I am telling people now is ... 05:35 people say, well, is it time to get back into the market? 05:37 Should we start investing again? 05:39 And I tell people, if you have any debts at all, 05:41 investing in your own debt is the best thing you can do. 05:44 Guaranteed returns, better interest rate that you can 05:48 get, even if your money is in there. 05:50 Better than the stock market where you could lose it -- 05:51 many people have, as you may know. 05:53 And the amazing thing about it is that people, even on 05:55 credit card debt, the average year now, 915 billion dollars 06:01 a month is not paid off on credit cards that are carried 06:05 over from month to month. 06:06 Minimum 10% and probably many of those up to 27%. 06:09 People are praying on those kinds of balances and not 06:11 paying off those credit cards. 06:13 So I would say, after putting God first in your life, which 06:15 is managing from God's perspective, and that would 06:18 include the tithe and so on, but then the very best thing 06:21 you can - practical management - do your very 06:24 best to get out of debt. 06:24 JB: Okay. 06:25 You mentioned credit card debt. 06:27 What other debts are people carrying? 06:29 ER: Well, I'll just give you, for example, automobiles. 06:32 Almost everybody who is making time payments on a car 06:34 actually owes more on it than it's worth. 06:37 So I'm suggesting, and I practice this myself, to 06:40 drive your car at least 10 years and then you get twice 06:42 its value out of it. 06:44 Take care of it. 06:45 Manage it. 06:46 You know, instead of having to have a new one. 06:47 Many new cars are sold on looks, as you know, somebody 06:50 on TV you see them driving down the neighborhood and 06:52 somebody runs up to the porch to see somebody's new car. 06:54 It doesn't tell you what kind of mileage it gets, how long 06:56 it will last, or anything. 06:57 It's just well, we need a new car. 06:59 The bottom line is take care of your car and drive it a 07:01 long time then you're not upside down on the mortgage. 07:03 JB: Now, now you're suggesting now, you're 07:05 suggesting ... 07:08 I want that new car, man ... 07:09 You're suggesting how I might be ordering my priorities and 07:15 and and yeah, I might want that. 07:18 I really want that new car, Ed. 07:20 ER: You told me not to be radical but I am going to be 07:22 radical in one thing. 07:23 In an ideal world, people would pay cash for their 07:26 cars. 07:27 So, once you get your car paid off if you save up the 07:30 equivalent of a car payment until you have enough to pay 07:32 cash - by the way, if you pay cash, you are really going to 07:35 think twice about "do I really want to spend $30,000 07:38 of my money on this car? 07:41 Do you see what I'm saying? 07:41 JB: Yeah. 07:42 Whereas if you're putting down a down payment and 07:43 paying it off over 10 years, it doesn't seem quite so 07:45 painful and the actual fact is it's way more payments. 07:47 ER: Yes, it's actually 50% more by doing that over time. 07:49 JB: Okay. 07:51 We looked at a couple of things right now. 07:53 One of them - getting out of debt. 07:55 Looking after yourself by paying down your debt and 07:58 being free from debt. 07:59 We talked about cars. 08:01 I'm sure we are going to talk about more things in a 08:02 moment. 08:03 Money management, stewardship as the approach of Jesus is 08:06 near. 08:08 Thanks for joining me today. 08:09 Don't go away. 08:10 I'll be back in just a moment. 08:13 In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God says "It is written 'Man 08:17 shall not live by bread alone but by every word that 08:21 proceeds out of the mouth of God'." 08:23 Every Word is a one minute Bible-based daily devotional 08:26 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed 08:29 especially for busy people like you. 08:31 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it 08:34 on-line everyday on our website itiswritten.com. 08:36 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 08:41 Watch Every Word. 08:42 You'll be glad you did. 08:46 It Is Written is dedicated to sharing the gospel around the 08:49 world. 08:50 To discover more about It is Written, I invite you to 08:52 visit our website itiswritten.com and browse 08:56 the dozens of pages that describe what we do and how 08:58 we do it. 08:59 Let's get to know each other a little better. 09:01 Visit our website itiswritten.com today. 09:06 Thanks for being with me today. 09:08 I am joined today by Ed Reid who has literally written the 09:10 book on money management and on Bible prophecy. 09:14 And today we are looking at how a person should plan 09:18 financially keeping in mind that Jesus' return is near. 09:23 JB:A moment ago, Ed, we were talking about how important 09:25 it is that a person should want to get out of debt. 09:27 We looked at some of those debts might be. 09:31 You mentioned clearing car payments. 09:32 ER: Credit cards. 09:33 JB: What are some other.... 09:34 and credit cards, thanks. 09:35 What are some other areas that people typically carry 09:38 debt on that they might and perhaps even relatively 09:40 easily, clear those debts and get out of debt? 09:43 ER: Well, a lot of people don't think about this but I 09:44 actually encourage people to prepay the principal on their 09:47 home mortgage. 09:51 Houses cost so much today because there is credit 09:53 available so we almost always have to get a loan. 09:55 Very few people have the cash to do it so I encourage 09:58 people to get an amortization schedule and prepay 10:03 principle, like when you make a regular payment make 10:04 another payment's principal, if you can, each month if you 10:06 can, and pay your house off in half the time. 10:08 JB: Okay. 10:09 Explain that a little more slowly. 10:13 ER: Alright. 10:14 If you have an amortization schedule, it has like 5 10:15 columns in it and one of them is the number of the payment 10:17 like 1-360, and then it's how much the payment itself is, 10:20 how much goes to the bank for interest, how much of that is 10:21 principle and what your balance is. 10:23 And every time you make one regular payment, which you 10:28 have to do every month, add next month's principal 10:31 payment, which is a much smaller sum (for some people 10:34 it will be like $150). 10:36 When you do that, you've paid two payments in one and the 10:40 next time the third payment. 10:42 So you can pay it off in half the time. 10:44 That's incredible. 10:45 I've done that two times in my life. 10:47 JB: So you can pay it off in half the time without paying 10:48 out twice as much money. 10:49 ER: Oh yes. 10:50 That's incredible. 10:51 It's amazing, really. 10:52 You save thousands, literally thousands. 10:55 JB: Okay, someone is writing a note furiously to 10:58 themselves. 10:58 They are trying to remember what you said. 11:00 Let's make it easy for people. 11:01 If someone wants to review this, that information you 11:04 gave, how can they find that information real quick? 11:06 ER: Well you can just look at an amortization schedule. 11:09 You can find the amortization schedule for your loan 11:12 on-line, for example, print it off and then you can 11:14 easily see what I've just said. 11:15 JB: Are banks happy when people choose to do this? 11:17 ER: I don't think so. 11:18 JB: But that's not really the point here, is it? 11:19 ER: No. 11:20 As long as there is no prepayment penalty and most 11:22 loans today don't have one and you can do that very 11:24 easily. 11:25 JB: Okay, talking about getting out of debt, because 11:28 I don't think that it would be wise to be carrying a 11:29 whole bunch of debt into troublesome times that are 11:31 coming. 11:31 ER: Yes. 11:32 JB: How is a person supposed to get out of debt ... 11:34 if, say they are wanting to buy a house. 11:37 Like you said, not everybody can go and pay cash for a 11:38 house. 11:40 You pretty well have got to borrow money to buy a house. 11:43 What is the right approach? 11:43 ER: I would suggest a couple of things. 11:46 One of them is to make sure you put 20% down so you don't 11:48 have private mortgage insurance to pay. 11:51 That is something that just guarantees your loan to the 11:53 bank. 11:54 It does not benefit you in any way. 11:55 So have a 20% down payment minimum. 11:58 In addition to that, every time you prepay a payment, it 12:02 builds your own net worth. 12:04 If the economy were to turn really bad, most people that 12:07 don't prepay are upside down on their mortgage, which 12:09 means they owe more on it than it's worth. 12:11 But if you have prepaid, that should not be a bother to 12:13 you. 12:14 So, it's better to do that in my opinion. 12:18 And I will just tell you that right now, today, aside from 12:20 end-times, we are having 10 thousand Americans retire 12:25 every day of the week, starting this year, and this 12:28 will last for 10 years in a row. 12:31 This is the baby boomer generation. 12:33 And people know they are ready to retire when they 12:35 have their debts paid off, including their home 12:37 mortgage, when they have a reasonable income stream, and 12:40 they have health insurance. 12:41 So, just to prepare for end times would be the same 12:44 thing, in my opinion. 12:46 Try to be debt-free so that no matter what comes in the 12:48 future, it does not adversely affect you. 12:50 JB: Okay. 12:52 Give me some more. 12:53 What are the principles of money management? 12:55 Why is financial planning stewardship? 12:57 Should people be entertaining when they are thinking Jesus 13:00 is coming back soon? 13:01 Because I've heard people say "The Lord is coming back and 13:03 it doesn't matter. 13:04 Let's rack up debt. 13:05 Let's do - just go nuts because the Lord is coming 13:08 back and we don't have to worry about it. 13:10 That's irresponsible. 13:10 ER: I've heard that as well. 13:11 But I really believe that the Bible says in Psalms 37:21 13:15 "The wicked borrow and do not repay." 13:18 It is not a Christian perspective to rack up debts 13:20 and walk off from them. 13:21 In addition to that, before God's people are taken to 13:24 heaven, we are going to have a time of trouble such as 13:26 never was since there was a nation and the people that 13:29 are in debt are going to have the worse time of it. 13:30 Essentially, losing everything. 13:32 So I think we need to have a focus away from this earth 13:34 and toward our Kingdom. 13:36 I would suggest very sincerely that the more we 13:40 can we should support ministries like It Is Written 13:42 and others with any available cash, it's not going to be 13:45 good in sometime in the future and all the stuff we 13:47 have is going to get burned up some day. 13:50 JB: It's true, isn't it? 13:51 Now we have an opportunity to do something with our funds 13:54 that one day we are simply not going to be able to use. 13:56 ER: Yes. 13:57 Think of all the money that was lost in the downturn in 13:59 the economic markets from 2008 and 2009. 14:02 If that money alone that people lost had been put into 14:04 ministries, we would have more money than we knew what 14:06 to do with. 14:07 We are talking millions, even billions of dollars lost in 14:10 the portfolios of many Americans. 14:11 JB: Okay. 14:13 Financial stewardship. 14:14 Looking toward to the return of Jesus. 14:16 Take us a step further with this. 14:18 ER: Right now we have very high unemployment. 14:22 We need to be employed so that we can help support our 14:25 families and do the work of God. 14:27 So I would suggest do all you can to stay employed. 14:30 In other words, be a diligent worker. 14:33 And it's interesting. 14:35 Proverbs 22 talks about "Show me a man who is diligent in 14:39 his work and he will stand before kings, not mere men." 14:42 Be the best employee that you can be - that's important. 14:45 And if you don't have a job, I would suggest that you take 14:48 any job that you can that does not violate your 14:51 conscience. 14:51 You would not want to be a "go-go dancer" or a bar 14:53 tender or something, but most any job would be of value to 14:56 you if you didn't have a job. 14:58 JB:It is important, isn't it, that people put themselves in 15:01 a position - and I say this kindly because I know some 15:03 people are out of work and would do anything they could 15:05 to change that. 15:07 It's important to make yourself as employable as 15:09 possible. 15:10 ER: Oh yes. 15:12 JB: What are some simple things, just very simple 15:13 things somebody can do to enhance their employability? 15:16 ER: Well, you can find out, for example, what kind of 15:17 jobs are available. 15:18 For example, health care in the economy right now. 15:21 For example, go to a hospital parking lot and you can 15:24 hardly find a place to park. 15:25 Very few healthcare workers have lost their jobs. 15:27 There is not very much unemployment in that area. 15:29 Train yourself for some level of health care. 15:32 You know, nursing, inhalation therapy, whatever it might 15:35 be, lab tech, whatever. 15:36 Those are things that are important. 15:37 Computers are still important. 15:39 Everybody gets their stuff on their cell phones and their 15:40 computers and so on. 15:41 Computer guys are staying busy and they are making good 15:44 incomes, much more than preachers, as you may know. 15:47 JB: Yeah, yeah. 15:48 Moving right along, what other advice can we give 15:51 people that are thinking about the end of time and 15:53 wondering what to do, how to manage their finances wisely. 15:55 ER: I would say, live within your means. 15:59 Make a budget. 16:00 This is kind of like going on a diet and most people don't' 16:02 want to do that. 16:03 Make a simple budget. 16:04 Here's what my income is. 16:05 Here's what my expenses are each month. 16:07 Live within your means. 16:08 Let me give you a simple illustration. 16:10 Because of the bombardment of advertising today, most 16:14 people think they need more stuff but most of us can get 16:17 along just fine with the stuff we already have. 16:18 In fact, I ask people, how many of you think you have 16:21 stuff you will never use as long as you live? 16:23 And most people raise their hands. 16:24 Have a yard sale. 16:25 Sell off stuff. 16:26 Put that money on your debts and so on. 16:28 But if you don't think that you can live within your 16:30 means or too poor to save, visit a third world country 16:33 like Haiti or Central India, or some of those places, and 16:37 you will realize that you are very rich. 16:40 If you have a car, in any condition, you are in the top 16:43 5% of people in the whole world. 16:46 So, let's just learn to live within our means and that is 16:48 going to be a very helpful thing near the end-time. 16:49 You can't afford to get further in debt. 16:52 This is kind of a tail onto the one of getting out of 16:53 debt, but certainly don't go further in debt. 16:56 JB: A simple idea. 16:57 Live within your means. 16:58 Yet, so many people find it very, very difficult to do 17:01 that. 17:02 We are talking today about financial management, 17:04 stewardship, money management, keeping in mind 17:08 that Jesus is coming back soon. 17:10 I'll have more with Ed Reid in just a moment. 17:13 There's a rising sense of anxiety in our world and 17:17 people are wondering where we are headed. 17:20 If you're looking for answers, you won't want to 17:22 miss Revelation Today, a dynamic satellite event with 17:25 John Bradshaw, beginning January 20, 2012. 17:28 Discover what the future holds and learn to understand 17:30 Bible prophecy. 17:32 Revelation Today will be broadcast live from Las 17:35 Vegas. 17:36 Plan now to attend this powerful event via television 17:37 or watch it online. 17:39 For more information visit: itiswritten.com JB: Thanks 17:45 for joining me today on It Is Written. 17:46 My guest today is Ed Reid, an accomplished speaker and 17:50 author and - you may not want me using this word, Ed, but 17:53 an "expert" in the fields of financial management and 17:56 Bible prophecy. 17:57 We are talking today about how believers in Jesus should 18:00 approach finances keeping in mind that Jesus is returning 18:04 - we believe - soon! 18:06 Now, the last thing we spoke about you know, really, this 18:09 is the sort of thing we can talk about all day, how 18:11 important it is for a person to live within their means 18:14 ER: Yes. 18:15 JB: If you have $10 don't spend $11. 18:17 Which means that if I have an income of X and I want to buy 18:21 an automobile that really belongs to someone who has an 18:26 income of Y or X times 3, I might want to scale back my 18:30 expectations a little bit, right? 18:32 ER: I think so. 18:33 Yes. 18:34 And let me just suggest also that it is a good idea to 18:36 have a little savings, even if you have a smaller income 18:39 than you would like, I would suggest saving something out 18:42 of every paycheck and this not for retirement. 18:44 What I am talking about here is doing something for 18:47 emergency's sake.' JB: Okay. 18:48 Now someone, she is sitting here watching our program. 18:50 She is at home raising her two and a half kids, and dad 18:54 has a job, it's not a high paying job and she's saying 18:58 "this guy is saying save? 18:59 I can't even get the groceries paid for each 19:02 week". 19:03 ER: I would budget savings just like groceries or 19:05 utilities. 19:06 It could be a small amount, like $50 every paycheck or 19:08 something. 19:10 But when you can build that up, many financial counselors 19:13 suggest having at least a $1,000 for emergency and try 19:16 to have .. 19:18 the general savings is three to six months equivalent of 19:20 living expenses in an emergency savings fund that 19:24 you can draw upon should you have transmission problems 19:27 with your car, your refrigerator goes out, you 19:29 have a health emergency that your insurance doesn't cover. 19:32 JB: This isn't for a trip to Disneyland? 19:33 ER: No, no, no. 19:34 And the real interesting thing I would tell you is, 19:37 even eating out is kind of incredible. 19:40 I would suggest that if you eat out once a day, it 19:43 doubles your family's food budget for the month. 19:46 So eating out should be a special occasion, you know, 19:49 for a special thing, birthdays, anniversaries, 19:52 that kind of thing. 19:53 And the most amazing thing to show you that Americans need 19:55 that, go to any well-known restaurant and you have to 19:57 wait to get in, even though there is a downturn in the 20:01 economy, people are still eating out. 20:03 JB: I have wondered. 20:04 I have marveled, as a matter of fact, many times that the 20:05 economy is apparently in such bad shape that the 20:07 restaurants are full. 20:08 ER: Yes, isn't that incredible? 20:09 JB: Yes. 20:10 That's not something you have to do-eat out. 20:11 But it is something you could, perhaps, you could 20:13 work that another way, couldn't you? 20:15 ER: Lack of savings is the biggest reason people go in 20:18 debt. 20:19 They don't intend to go in debt but something happens to 20:21 their car, or you know something like that. 20:24 They have to go then and put it on a credit card and then 20:27 they pay for it two or three times over. 20:29 JB: Now what about investing? 20:30 I know we gotta be careful here. 20:32 We can't tell people what to invest in and what not to 20:34 invest in. 20:35 ER: Yes. 20:36 JB: How should a person approach investing? 20:38 ER: Well this is a very good question because obviously, 20:40 wise and prudent people don't spend everything they make. 20:42 As I said before, live within your income. 20:45 But you would have to think in terms of the future. 20:47 When you can't work as gainfully as you used to, or 20:49 should you lose your job or whatever. 20:51 So I would suggest, first of all, invest in your own 20:54 debts. 20:55 That's the very best investment anyone can make. 20:57 Guaranteed return. 20:58 For example, if you have money in a CD, you might be 21:02 getting 1% or 2% but if you are paying off your credit 21:05 cards, you're making 10% or 27% so that's an investment 21:08 that I would recommend. 21:10 But another thing is, in these unusual times - and by 21:14 the way, your question is so good that I want to insert 21:16 this - BEWARE of get rich quick schemes. 21:19 There are hawksters out there that want to get your money. 21:22 And so I would suggest that people always counsel with 21:26 someone else before investing somewhere. 21:27 This great thing comes along - by the way, most get rich 21:30 quick schemes are introduced to people by their friends 21:33 who sincerely believe they are doing their friends a 21:35 favor. 21:36 But you have to really look at it. 21:38 Something you don't understand, you have to 21:40 invest quickly, you know it's gonna promise high returns, 21:42 all of that. 21:43 And I'm just going to tell you - AVOID those at all 21:45 cost. 21:47 Even if it makes you so you are not friends with that 21:50 person because you are going to end up not being friends 21:52 anyway. 21:54 JB: Typically with investing, isn't it true, if something 21:55 seems too good to be true, it usually is. 21:57 ER: Oh Yes. 21:58 It almost al ways is. 21:59 And the real interesting thing about investments, I 22:01 would say, even though the government is trillions of 22:04 dollars in debt, probably the safest investments are 22:08 government-backed securities. 22:09 Because the government has the unique ability to print 22:11 money if they need to. 22:13 But you know, it's kind of the standard. 22:15 So I would suggest, if you have to put money away that 22:18 you're not investing in your debts, put it in a secure 22:20 position. 22:21 Because if you could make more in the stock market, the 22:24 higher the level of income offered, the greater risk it 22:26 is. 22:27 That's always true whether the people telling you 22:29 believe it or not, whether you believe it or not, 22:31 whether it seems possible even. 22:33 The higher the interest promised, the greater the 22:35 risk. 22:37 It's always true. 22:38 JB: Now if Jesus is coming back soon, if the end is 22:39 near, and I don't' say that - in fact, I don't say that as 22:41 a doom merchant, I say that full of hope. 22:44 ER: Aren't we all excited? 22:45 JB: How important is it that a person really keeps an eye 22:47 on the future? 22:49 ER: Well I will just tell you this. 22:52 Christian Bible believers have inside information. 22:54 Now in the investing world, that's not a good idea of 22:57 having, as you know. 22:58 But we have inside information and it's in 2 23:00 Peter 3:10, that when the Lord returns, the earth will 23:04 get burned up and all the works of men and as I tell 23:07 people, that will reduce its value considerably. 23:09 All the stuff gets burned up. 23:10 So I would say as a Christian, you know, get rid 23:13 of the stuff that you don't need. 23:16 A lot of the us have things we've carried around for 23:18 years that we really don't need. 23:19 Divest yourself of the stuff you don't need. 23:22 Sell it at yard sales. 23:23 Now here's the real story. 23:24 Christians are going to work together for the greatest 23:26 event ever and that's to work together to finish the work 23:28 of God on this earth. 23:30 It is not going to be free. 23:31 God is going to ask us to utilize stuff he has given 23:34 us. 23:34 Remember, "honor the Lord with your possessions", your 23:36 stuff and that's the way we help him do it, helping Him 23:39 to finish the work of God. 23:40 So I think another thing. 23:42 This earth is not our final home. 23:45 We have dual citizenship as Christians, citizens here of 23:47 whatever country we are in and citizenship in heaven 23:49 when we accept Christ. 23:51 So we are moving from one to the other and we want to move 23:53 our assets from here to the new earth so that we can be 23:58 blessed and to bless others at the same time. 24:01 JB: Okay. 24:02 Let's go to the Bible. 24:04 A couple of verses, a couple of Bible verses that you 24:06 believe are especially helpful, especially pertinent 24:08 to people as they are wanting to honor the Lord with what 24:10 they have, keeping in mind that the time is short. 24:13 ER: Well, I would think of first John. 24:15 That's a very interesting one. 24:17 Chapter two. 24:18 I believe I have it marked here in my Bible so I can 24:20 find it quickly and verses 15 to 17 says something similar 24:24 to 2 Peter that I just mentioned. 24:27 Don't love the world or the things in the world. 24:29 If you do, the love of the Father is not in you because 24:32 all that is in the world, the lust of the eyes and so on, 24:34 is not of the Father but is of the world. 24:36 And that's just giving this point. 24:39 The world is passing away and the lust of it. 24:42 But he that does the will of God abides forever. 24:44 1 John 2:17. 24:46 So what that says to me is it's not going to pass away, 24:49 it is in the process of passing away. 24:54 With all of the natural disasters and things, the 24:56 world is waxing old like a garment, is what it says in 24:59 the Bible. 25:00 And we have to understand. 25:01 I believe in ecology. 25:02 I believe in separating my trash and all that kind of 25:04 stuff. 25:05 But we are not going to save the planet. 25:06 The Bible is clear that it is passing away and the lust of 25:09 it but he that does the will of God abides forever. 25:12 So I would say that as you read through the Scripture, 25:13 look for the will of God, put that part in your life. 25:16 JB: How about if we pray together because a lot of 25:18 people are taking on board what you have said today and 25:20 they are saying, Lord, some things have got to change 25:22 around here. 25:23 I've got to get it right now and it's not going to happen 25:25 unless people are praying their way through this. 25:27 Let's pray together, shall we? 25:28 ER: Okay. 25:29 JB: Our Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus that you 25:31 are willing to guide us in some of the most practical 25:36 and important areas of our lives. 25:38 There are a few things more practical than our daily 25:40 finances. 25:42 We are all confronted with the importance of them and 25:44 sometimes confounded by them. 25:46 As we have talked today, Ed and I, I pray that you would 25:48 guide us all as we seek to honor you with our stuff, and 25:52 our possessions and our finances, as we seek to plan 25:56 prudently with the return of Jesus so imminent. 26:01 I pray your Holy Spirit will guide us and keep us. 26:04 Let your will be done. 26:05 Please be first in our lives and let us face the future 26:08 with confidence, confidence that comes from knowing we 26:11 are honoring you. 26:12 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 26:13 ER: Amen. 26:30 Today we have been talking about crucial financial 26:32 issues that affect all of us. 26:34 Our goal at It Is Written is to help you live a more 26:36 satisfying and God-centered life. 26:38 So this week, our free offer is a helpful book on finance 26:41 called God will provide. 26:44 It is a practical discussion on how God has promised to 26:48 provide for the needs of His faithful servant and includes 26:51 a special section prepared by Ed Reid, whom you met on 26:54 today's program Managing Finances in Difficult Times. 26:58 Please call or write us and this free book will be on its 27:01 way to you. 27:02 There's no cost and no obligation. 27:04 Just call 1 800 253 3000. 27:07 Just ask for the book God will Provide. 27:10 You can also request this free book by writing to It Is 27:13 Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359 and we'll mail 27:19 a copy to your address in North America. 27:22 Please note this free book is limited to the supply on 27:25 hand. 27:26 For immediate access, you can download a free electronic 27:29 version of the book God will Provide, from our website 27:32 itiswritten.com. 27:35 Thank you for your letters and your continued support. 27:37 It is Written is a faith-based ministry made 27:40 possible by viewers like you. 27:42 If you wish to help the worldwide outreach of It Is 27:44 Written, your tax deductible gift may be sent to the same 27:47 address or you can make a gift on line at 27:49 itiswritten.com And thank you 27:52 for joining me today. 27:53 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:55 Until then, remember: It Is Written, man shall not live 27:59 by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the 28:03 mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-06