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Now, on to the podcast. Yeah. Living simply isn't about deprivation, it's about freedom, and that freedom can unleash extraordinary generosity. Hi, I'm Rob West. God calls us to live with eternity in mind, not clinging to possessions, but using what we have for his kingdom.
Randy Alcorn joins us today to talk about how we can loosen our grip on earthly things to open our hands to eternal impact. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Well, it is an absolute honor to have my friend Randy Alcorn with us today. He's founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. He's written more than 60 books that have shaped the way believers think about faith. Eternity, heaven, and of course, stewardship. Randy, great to have you back.
Great to be with you, Rob. Randy, in the current issue of our Faithful Stewart magazine, I love the article you wrote for us. It opens with this line: live simply that others may simply live. Why do you believe that message resonates so deeply with the challenges we face today?
Well, you look around and you look at a world of need. And of course, you could argue ever since the curse, ever since the fall, it's been a world of need. But the sheer numbers of people in the world and the millions upon millions, the hundreds of millions, the Over a billion people in serious, dire need in the world. And the idea that if we just cut back a little bit and became, well, maybe a lot a bit, and just became serious about just living on what is necessary. And yes, go out to dinner, you know, with your wife or husband.
This isn't asceticism. This is just saying, We don't have to own multiple houses and multiple cars and multiple, you know, some there's a place for several cars in one family, I realize at times. But it's the whole idea is if we just spent less and honestly had less sitting in retirement programs that are not going to go ultimately to God's kingdom, then what could be done just to help other people live, get them clean water, get them food, get them. opportunities for employment, all of that. Amen.
And, you know, here we are sitting in the most prosperous nation in the history of the world. And this doesn't come easy. We have to be intentional about this. You've made the case, of course, that simplicity alone doesn't accomplish much. Right.
You have to then take that simplicity and make it an open door to generous living, right? Exactly, because you know, you could live the most simple lifestyle. Don't have a computer, go out in the woods and live by yourself, live off the land. Yes. You're living a simple life, but you're not helping anybody.
You're not doing anything for anyone. The point is, go ahead and make a lot of money, but take that money and invest it in God's kingdom, in loving God and loving people. Yeah, that's exactly right. Randy, you've spent a lot of time thinking, praying, studying the scriptures around heaven. And by the way, folks, if you've not read Randy's book, Heaven, pick it up.
But one of the themes you emphasize is that the new earth, not this one, is our lasting home.
So, how does seeing life through that lens then transform how we approach our possessions here and now?
Well, I think if we have a view toward eternity, it makes all the difference in the world because. Uh, Jesus said, Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Well, what does that mean? If you have no concept of heaven, if you're not even eager to live forever in heaven, then what's the point of treasures there? Um and What's that all about?
Well, the point is. That God tells us that he is going to bring heaven down to earth, the new earth, a transformed earth. And that's why 2 Peter 3:13 says, We are looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. That's the world we're going to live in forever. And then you're laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, but that will be life.
Like we know it, except far better. Not under the curse with bodies that will never get cancer. There'll never be war. And that's a promise to live for. Oh boy, it sure is.
Well, folks, a lot more to come with Randy Alcorn today. We're talking about what it looks like to live simply and give generously. When we come back, Randy will talk about our role as God's delivery system. We'll talk about eternal rewards. He just touched on it.
We'll unpack it a bit more and much more ahead. Randy's the author of more than 60 books, including Money, Possessions, and Eternity. Stay with us. We're just getting started. FaithFi is grateful for support from One Ascent.
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When we accept our role as faithful stewards, that is, managers of God's resources, there's an opportunity to take God's resources. And move them into God's kingdom. That's what we have the opportunity to do through our giving. And one of the ways that's accomplished is by living simply.
So we have more margin. We're joined today by my friend Randy Alcorn. Randy is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. He's written more than 60 books. And I will tell you, apart from God's word, there is not a book that has shaped my thinking on a biblical worldview of money more so than Money, Possessions, and Eternity.
If you haven't read it, it is a game changer. Pick it up today. Randy, before the break, we were talking about this idea of living with eternity in mind. And you write in the article in our recent edition of Faithful Stewart, our magazine, that simple living reorients us toward God. Perhaps you could say it calibrates our hearts to the Father.
In what ways does practicing generosity shift our center of gravity back toward Him?
Well, Jesus said, Don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up treasures in heaven. And if we store up our treasures on earth, we're always heading away from our treasures. If we store up our treasures in heaven, we're always moving toward them as we get closer to the day that we die. But what happens is there's. Where your treasure is, your heart will be also.
That's how he thinks. Finishes that passage and It's a powerful concept because what it means is if you want your heart to be somewhere other than where it is. Put your treasures there.
So if you want your Heart to be in Microsoft, or if you want your heart to be in General Motors or whatever, then buy up shares.
Okay, if you want your heart to be in God's kingdom. Buy up shares by giving. Giving is what shifts. Your treasures and thereby shifts your heart because where your treasures are, there your heart will be also, Jesus said.
So the center of gravity, things have mass, and you know, mass holds us in orbit around it. And too many of us are just trapped in this orbit around money and things. And there is freedom when we Give stuff away to God's kingdom, and now our hearts follow the treasure that we've given. That's so powerful. Let's take that a step further.
You know, I firmly believe we were not intended to be buckets, but pipelines. God's provision is not intended to stop with us where it gets stagnant, but it's to flow through us into God's activity. What does that look like?
Well, it looks like it it comes to you and you don't start with the assumption that because God has entrusted it to you, that you're supposed to keep it and spend it on yourself. And that's that's just The obvious assumption of nearly everyone, in fact, in our churches as well, because you see the percentage of. People that are giving, you know, the average some years ago was said to be 2.5%. I've seen 2.7%. I've seen different figures.
But the thing that always hits me with that is I know people who are giving away 90%. They're bringing it up. They're bringing the average up to 2.7%, which is pretty crazy when you think about it. But the point is, how could God expect something of his poorest Old Testament saints, multiple tithes, you know, averaging 22, 23% a year? And they lived in such a poor culture compared to ours.
And there's so many people that are going, oh, it's legalism to be tithing.
Well, I don't think you should. stick with the tithe just start with the tithe and then go beyond it and that's what the beauty when you get to really truly free will giving which existed in the old testament as well as in the new testament well free will giving and that just should change everything in our lives because now we see the world differently we see it as an opportunity to represent jesus and Help needy people, fund the spread of the gospel, which is also helping needy people. I mean, it's bringing the message of salvation to them, and there's no end of opportunities and no end of delight. Mm. And Randy, when we hold to that perspective, that powerful idea that you just described in how our giving can be used to advance kingdom purposes, it protects against our hearts from blurring the lines between owners and stewards, doesn't it?
Absolutely, because God owns it all. We've all heard that before.
Somebody told me one time: I hope you're not going to, in your session about money, say God owns it all, because we've all heard that. And I go, well, we've all heard it, but we don't all believe it. And we certainly don't live as if we believe it.
So I went right ahead and said it and looked at him when I did with a smile because it's so basic. It's just God owns it all. It doesn't belong to me. And I often use the illustration and do when I'm speaking and also in several of my books of something like, you know, the FedEx guy or the UPS guy comes to my door and he's picking something up. Um He's often delivering something, but sometimes I'm sending something out with him.
Well, what would I think if I found out that he just took home and kept all the stuff that I've been given? I'd say, well, wait a minute. That's you're the FedEx guy. That's not your job to keep, it's your job to get it. To the people it's intended for.
We should view ourselves as God's FedEx UPS people. And that's our job to get it where He wants it to go. Don't assume He wants us to keep it all. Yes, yes, that's exactly right. And what a vivid picture of that role we have as stewards.
Now, we do need to understand, though, that there's a proper view of enjoyment, right? That yes, we're to give, but a good God who created joy and delight gave us money to use for purposes that bring us enjoyment and deepen relationships and a meal and a celebration, right?
So there's a proper tension there between giving and enjoying, isn't there? Absolutely. In fact, in 1 Timothy 6, you have this amazing passage where early in the chapter, he's talking about all of the dangers of materialism and how you're going to make your life miserable and shipwrecked and possibly lose your faith by turning money into an idol. And then later in the chapter, he talks about giving. God has entrusted these things to us so that we can.
Parallel to what Jesus said. It's laying up treasure that's going to be waiting for us in the coming world. But right in the middle of that, he says the previous verse and the following verse are about giving. And in the middle of it, he says, he has given us all things for our enjoyment. And that's like, yeah, there is a place.
For that. And so, yes, go on a vacation, but maybe scale back that vacation. Maybe you don't have to go. Quite as far and spend as much money and all that, and be able to say, hey, this year, you know what? We're going to have a just drive down to the beach, or you know, obviously, not everybody can drive to the beach, but you know, but just do this thing with some simplicity in mind and take all those thousands of dollars and give it to God's kingdom.
Oh, that's so powerful.
Well, Randy, this is incredible. I'm so thankful for your time today. You know, this is a big idea, and especially living in the affluence that we have, where we can always find somebody who's spending a little bit more than us. If we're not careful, we can redeem greed in the name of the American dream. And you've helped us to guard against that.
Thanks for your time today, my friend. Great to be with you. That's Randy Alcorn. He's the author of more than 60 books. He's the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries and the author of our featured article in the latest issue of Faithful Stewart on living simply and giving generously.
Learn more at faithfy.com/slash partner to see how you can receive each issue. We'll be back with your questions after this break.
So call right now, 800-525-7000. Stick around. You can do more than make a year-end gift. You can become a FaithFi partner. Hi, I'm Rob West.
When you give a one-time gift of $400 or more or $35 a month, you'll receive our quarterly Faithful Steward magazine, two devotionals a year, including my brand new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure, and access premium tools in the FaithFi app. But most of all, you help others to live as Faithful Stewards. Become a FaithFi partner before December 31st at faith5.com slash partner. Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Sound Mind Investing. For more than 30 years, they've offered financial wisdom for living well.
SMI provides step-by-step guidance for do-it-yourself investors. from those just getting started to those getting ready for retirement. More information, including a short video webinar on profit and peace of mind no matter what's happening in the market, is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. We've got some lines open today taking your calls and questions.
On anything financial, the number 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7,000. You can call right now. Let's start today in Chattanooga. Michael, go ahead.
Yes, sir. I am interested in paying off or paying on my student loans.
So okay, 72. I'm 72. I've been teaching at a state school for the last 10 years. And so since they're in deferment, I haven't been able to make any of my payments of one hundred and sixty dollars a month. Is there any mechanism that will allow me To make those payments because they're saying that they are not qualified for loan forgiveness.
Uh until I pay them.
So what do you think?
Okay. Yeah. So bottom line is they're currently in deferment. You're wanting to pay them down even though they're in deferment because you're mainly looking to start the clock on the loan forgiveness. Is that right?
Well, I've been on the clock for the last seven years. It's just been since they've been under firmness. I haven't had any that are. but that are qualifying. Because I haven't made it.
Right. Right. And what are they telling you as you've inquired on this? They're saying, nope, you just got to wait until. government until the Congress decides what we're going to do.
So okay. Yeah. Um, well, here's the bottom line.
So, on the public service loan forgiveness. Once they're in deferment, they don't count toward the 120 payments. And so you've got seven years of qualifying payments on the direct loan. And then, you know, if you want to keep making progress toward the forgiveness, What typically you would do is call the loan servicer and ask to end the deferment and restart the income-driven repayment plan. And that way, your payments would resume counting toward the PSLF.
Um If forgiveness isn't likely, then the voluntary payments during deferment are still fine. They just won't move you closer to the 120 payment goal. But if you believe you qualify and that's been verified, typically you can end that deferment and then restart the income-driven repayment option, which is going to once again start counting toward the ultimate goal.
Okay, so Mohala is the servicer, so I just contact them. That's exactly right. And just tell them what you're trying to do here and say, listen, I want to restart an income-driven repayment plan so I can continue making progress toward the public service loan forgiveness. I've got seven years, so you're 84 payments into the 120 payment goal, and you just want to keep making progress here. All right.
That's exactly what I needed to know. All right. Thanks, Michael. God bless you, my friend. Thanks for your call today.
To Indiana. Hi, Ann. Go ahead. Hi there. Thanks for taking my call and thank you for sharing the wisdom God has given you.
My husband and I are 55 and 56, and we own a business that we've owned for 25 over 25 years and we've always invested everything we've had into that business. But we've reached a point where we are now debt free. We own three rental properties and our office building. We still have another ten years to work, and we now have a chunk of money that we would like to invest, about maybe five hundred thousand. And so we have no retirement savings at all except for like our business and our rental properties.
And we spoke with an advisor. And one of the items they were recommending was a hybrid life insurance policy. It has a benefit access rider that you can access for long-term care. And I just wanted to see what your thoughts on that were. It sounds like a good thing.
We would invest about. 155,000 into it. We would be guaranteed a death benefit of $250,000 each, so $500,000. plus the growth on the policy. Because they invest it.
Um What are your thoughts on something like that? Yeah. Uh, and did they say whether or not the you'd ever have to put anything more into it? No, we would pay over the next 10 years, which we're planning to work for another at least 10 years. And so they did the premium plan over the next 10 years.
and then we would be done. Yeah, okay. Yeah, so they call that a paid up policy. And so it's a single premium hybrid policy.
So you have that large check up front, or eventually it would be fully paid for. And then you got that quarter of a million dollar death benefit. And so that's a nice way to protect against two major risks, dying too soon or living too long with care needs. And so, you know, the main thing here is just to make sure you have enough liquidity after you put this investment in because, you know, if you need it back later, you may only get a portion. The growth is typically modest.
So I wouldn't want kind of all of your investable assets here. I'd want you to have a good bit that's free to grow at a more compelling rate outside of an insurance product. But if you have cash sitting in the bank, earning a little, just a little bit of interest and you want to reposition that for protection, tax-free benefits, this can be a good use. And because it's paid up, there's no Future premium risk, which is a big advantage over traditional long-term care insurance. That's really where a lot of people have struggled as these policies have continued to increase as the cost of health care rises.
And eventually, it becomes a much bigger portion of their cash flow, or they just have to drop it altogether.
So, I'm on board with this. At the end of the day, I think it gives you that death benefit. It gives you access to the benefit early if you need the long-term care. I would say maybe the cautions are complex.
So, you just need to understand exactly what you're getting. Know that the growth part doesn't perform like true investments. It's more of a conservative insurance-based crediting strategy. And you do want to compare it to a long-term care insurance traditional policy, but I think just given your age and the fact that you wouldn't have the premium risk in the future, I kind of like the hybrid policy in your case. because that's a lot of time where those premiums could be increasing, and in this case, They would not be.
So, what would that leave you outside that you can invest once this was paid up?
Well, like I said, we pro we have probably about 500 we could do right now. And so, you know, we were going to do a simple IRA. Um Okay. as well as like a Russell investment. Yeah, okay.
Yeah, I mean, I would have an advisor, you know, working with you to manage the rest of it, plus what you're gonna be able to add to it during the rest of your working years as the business continues to generate cash flow.
So I think at face value, I'm on board with this. I'd probably look for a wealth manager to manage the rest of it, though. I like this option a lot. It gives you a lot of things that are desirable here at this stage in life, puts this cash to use, and allows you to still have the rest to invest. That's gonna do it for us.
Let me say a big thanks to my team today: Anthony, Amy, Dan, and Jim. Couldn't do it without them. Also, the rest of the team here at Facebook. Come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then.
Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithBy and listeners like you.
