Total Money Makeover

Getting married means learning to balance finances. I'm reading Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and there are very helpful and practical tips for finances:

1. Get a Budget

We must know where our money is going. Most people get into trouble because they have know idea where it is going. A budget app on my phone has been very helpful and mint.com.

2. Pay off ALL debt

Most Americans live off debt. Pay off credit cards immediately. You do not need them, use an "emergency fund" instead. Pay off loans quickly and as soon as possible.

3. Live below Your Means

This means cutting down on eating out. It means not spending all your income when you receive it. It means saving 10% and giving to the Lord's Work.

4. Develop an Emergency Fund

Ramsey argues that $1000 needs to be put away for any unexpected event (medical, car accident, etc.). You can put this away in a drawer or hidden place. DO not touch unless there is an emergency.

5. Plan for 3-6 months of Income

After getting out of debt and developing an emergency fund, plan for 3-6 months of income in case of unexpected events (job loss, economy crisis, pregnancy). For a couple makeing $3000 month, this could mean $10000.

6. Trust God

Proverbs 3:3-5. Ultimately, everything we own comes from the Lord and we are simply his stewards to bless the nations by the preaching of the gospel through our lives and deeds (including financial contribution).

Immediate Goals:

1. Pay off my Wellsfargo Credit Card. Tear it in half.

2. Pay off my JCrew Credit Card ($50).

3. Pay off my school loans ($5000).

4. Pay off Helen's School Loans.

5. Pay off my Talbot Seminary Loans before completion of M.Div

6. Use Check Card and Cash Only

7. Have over $10000 in Emergency Fund

8. Give to my local church, neighboring churches, and Amazing Grace Missions Ministry.

9. Love the Lord God through all of His Blessings and thank Him no matter the circumstance (1 Thess 5:16-18).

The Preparation of the Preacher by Lloyd Jones

1. Prepare your own soul

"The Preacher's first, and the most important task is to prepare himself, not his sermon" (166)

Read a good book that warms your heart. Ignite your soul in worship.

2. Prepare through Prayer

The preacher must be a man of prayer.

"The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this-always obey such an impulse" (171)

3. Prepare through Bible-Reading

"I would say that all preachers should read through the whole Bible in its entirety at least once every year." (172)

"Do not read the Bible to find texts for sermons, read it because it is the food that God has provided for your soul, because it is the Word of God, because it is the means whereby you can get to know God." (172)

"If a verse stands out or hits you and arrests you, do not go on reading. Stop immediately, and listen to it. It is speaking to you, so listen to it and speak to it. Stop reading at once, and work on this statement that has struck you in this way." 173

4. Read and learn from Godly authors

Read Richard Sibbes, Lloyd Jones, Edwards sermons. Read theology, church history, apologetic reading.

"Read theology, as I say, but always balance it, not only with Church history but with biographies and the more devotional type of reading" 178

"That is why balanced reading is an absolute essential. If your heart is not as much engaged as your head in these matters, your theology is defective-apart from anything else" 179

5. Know Yourself

"Get to know yourself. You will find that there will be periods, perhaps of days, even weeks, when for some amazing reason your mind is working at its very best, and you are in a fecund condition finding ideas for sermons everywhere-'Tounges in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.' 184

Preacher's Portrait-Reflections

To be a more effective preacher...

(1) Get to know your people

"There is no quicker way of bridging the gulf between preacher and people than meeting them in their homes and in our home. The effective preacher is always a diligent pastor. Only if he makes time each week both for visiting people and for interviewing them, will he be en rapport with them as he preaches. The more they speak to him in his study on weekdays, the better he will speak to them from the pulpit on Sundays.

(2) Be simple

Preachers should not preach to preachers and seminarians, but to normal working, discouraged, anxious, fearful, downcast, simple people. Augustine said, "A wooden key is not so beautiful as a golden one, but if it can open the door when the golden one cannot, it is far more useful."

(3) Turn the ears into the eyes

Use illustrations. Make complex and abstract concepts simple in illustrations.

(4) Plead Earnestly

"The true function of a preacher is to disturb the comfortable and to comfort the disturbed." Chad Walsh

(5) Preach with a purpose and a response

Do not preach academically, but preach to the hearts of your people.

(6) Preach by Example

"Christianity is better caught than taught." Be a spiritual example unto your people. Your decisions reflect who you are spiritually and you are accountable to your people

(7) Preach by the power of prayer

A man must labor to know God in secret, intercede for his people, and long for the lost salvation through private prayer.

Living Church

From Acts 2:42-47, a living a church is a:

1. Learning Church

The early Christians devoted them to the apostles teaching

2. Fellowshipping Church

The early Christians shared things in common, gathered day by day, informally and formally.

3. Worshipping Church

They also "broke bread" referring to the Lord's Supper and fellowship centered upon Jesus Christ.

4. Evangelizing Church

The Lord added to their number day by day. It was the Lord Jesus Christ that was working through his people. Stott writes, "We simply do not share the gospel if we do not declare God's love in the gift of his Son to live our life, to die for our sins and to rise again, together with his offer through Jesus Christ, to all who repent and believe, of a new life of forgiveness and freedom, and of membership in his new society" (Living Church, 63).

5. A Holy Church

"If our life contradicts our message, our evangelism will lack all credibility. Indeed, the greatest hindrance to evangelism is lack of integrity in the evangelist" (66). Furthermore, "Worship without holiness was hateful to God" (45).

6. A Visible Church

God is seen through Creation (Psalm 19, Rom. 1:19-20), His Son (John 1:18), Our Love for one another through the local body (John 13:34-35).

7. A Sending Church

Stott observes, "Some zealous churches organize an overfull program of church-based activities. Something is arranged for every night of the week. On Monday night the committees meet, and on Tuesday night the fellowship groups. On Wednesday night the Bible study takes place, and on Thursday night the prayer meeting. Even on Friday and Saturday evenings other good causes occupy people's time and energy. Such churches give the impression that their main goal is to keep their members out of mischief! Certainly they have neither time nor opportunity to get into mischief since they are busily engaged in the church every single night of the week." (Living Church, 56) The Church must learn to avoid the two extremes of coming to church activities alone and going to people without worshiping the living God. The Church must come (Worship) and go (Evangelism) to be healthy.

Important Questions to consider in Evangelism:

1. What sorts of people live in our area? Ethnic origin, nationality, religion, culture, media preference, and work? Single parents? Families? Housing Situation?

2. Has the local area any centers of education, whether schools, colleges, adult education centers, or reading groups?

3. What places of business are found in it? Unemployment?

4. Where do people live? Do they occupy houses or flats? Own or rent?

5. Where do people congregate when they want to relax? Mall? Recreation Centers? Parks? Concert halls? Cafe? Starbucks?

6. Has the community change in the last ten years? If so, what can be forecasted in the following years?

7. What public services have their headquarters locally? Police? City Hall? Library? Other Social Services

The priority of the Church is worship. Worship (come) then becomes Mission (Go). All Christians are to partake in worshiping the living God through Jesus Christ and to be sent into the world as Christ's ambassadors. In other words, God calls out a people for himself (1 Peter 2:9-10) and sends out a people to declare his excellencies. The church must be holy (not of the world), but also engaging in the world.

Some Personal Applications from 1 and 2 Timothy

1. Devote yourself to prayer for the lost (1 timothy 2).

I need to pray for the salvation of my unbelieving family, friends, leaders, and officials.

2. Be aware that every deed, whether good or bad, will be expose (1 timothy 5:24-25)

God sees all my secret sins. I cannot hide from him and everything will be found out. I should confess my sins to God, repent, and walk in the light. I must be rich in good deeds in secret, not doing evil deeds in secret. I must learn to pray, give, fast, and hunger for righteousness in secret.

3. The Goal of Paul's teaching was love (1 timothy 1:5)

It comes from a pure heart, clear conscience, and sincere faith. What is bothering my conscience right now and how can I cleanse myself from the defilement of my flesh?

4. God uses honorable vessels ( 2 timothy 2:21)

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. How do you become a honorable vessel? (v.22) Flee youth lusts (sex, pride, greed, power) and pursue righteousness (purity, service, compassion), faith (reading God's word and prayer), (service to my neighbor and sincere obedience to God) love, and peace (reconciliation with my neighbors, asking forgiveness, confession of sins, and repentance of sin).

Christ abolishes Death

"[He] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" 2 Timothy 1:9-10

The Lord saved us by sheer grace. And this calling is a holy calling. Christ appeared to destroy death and open the floodgates of heaven and eternal life. This is why we must suffer for the gospel, because heaven has been given freely to us through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will guide us to our Glorious Risen Savior as we walk the narrow path that will one day end in glory when we see our Lord face to face!

Devotions in Ezekial

God promises to send judgement to Jerusalem because they have acted faithlessly. The prophets and the priests carry idols in their hearts and they prophesy peace when destruction is over the horizon. Ezekial is sent to the false prophets to rebuke them. Israel is called a rebellious house because even though they have ears, they do not hear. My take away from the passage is that I must speak God's Word and not my own opinions. I must not be led by my own deceptive heart, but by the Spirit God that inspired the Word of God.