Millions of people are asking questions about their finances, like how do I stop worrying about my money? What does true success look like? And how much money is enough? But perhaps what they're really asking is, what really lasts? Hi, I'm Rob West, and this integration of biblical teaching with financial wisdom is the entire reason I've written my brand new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure.
It's designed to help you align your heart and your money with what really lasts. When you support our ministry through a generous one-time donation of $400 or more, or $35 or more a month, you'll become a FaithPhy partner. That means you'll receive year-long benefits, including Our Ultimate Treasure, four issues of Faithful Steward, our magazine, helpful money management tools in the Faith Phi app, and more. Just head to faithphy.com/slash give.
Now, on to the podcast. Why do so many Christians want to give more, but feel like they can't? Hi, I'm Rob West. Most of us want to be generous, but there are often barriers, spiritual, financial, or even emotional, that hold us back. Today, Ron Blue joins us to unpack five key reasons why Christians don't give more and how we can begin climbing toward greater generosity.
And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7,000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Well, it's always a privilege to have Ron Blue on the program. Ron is a trusted voice in biblical financial wisdom, co-founder of Kingdom Advisors, one of my mentors, and the author of more than 20 books on stewardship and wise money management. Ron, great to have you here.
Well always Rob, I love joining you, so thanks for inviting me again.
Well, it's a highlight for us, and I'm excited about this topic. I know it's a topic near and dear to your heart. You've identified five key reasons why many Christians struggle to give more, and you've illustrated them using a pyramid. I'd love for you to start by just explaining this concept.
Well, I was many years ago, I was trying to answer the question, why don't Christians give more? And so So when I thought that one through and I looked at five reasons and they're sequential. In terms of The pyramid. your base and then you build on that base. one level, and then you build another level, another level, another level.
And so I found that the clients that I worked with had gone through five levels basically, and these were the five reasons they do give or don't give. Yes.
Well, Ron, let's quickly unpack each of these five. It really begins with your spiritual condition even before the financial, doesn't it? Oh yeah. Frankly, the more people understand who God is and who I am, And the grace that's been extended to me, the more I'm more likely to be generous. Uh in my heart.
Uh condition is always the beginning point of maximizing giving or increasing giving. Yes.
And then when we move up that pyramid, the next really is financial because we can live in such a way that it prevents us from being able to respond in generosity, doesn't it? For sure. I have found that it typically when if somebody says, you know what, I'm convinced and convicted that I need to increase my giving.
Sometimes it takes a couple of years to get your finances in order. Maybe you're overspending and you're deep in credit card debt, which is limiting you. or I own a business and I've got to restructure my balance sheet in my business.
So those things don't happen quickly. But they will have to happen in order to maximize.
So getting my financial house in order in order to give. is really the second thing once I've decided to give Because of God's conviction. The third is vision. And I know you've said you will never out give your vision. Talk about that.
Well, uh people don't give uh necessarily to buildings or or to overhead. in a ministry. But they do give If you give me a picture of a starving kid in Africa, I have a vision. of what that might do for that particular child. And if I don't have a vision for the kingdom, I'll never maximize my giving either.
So vision is really important. Where is it that God has given me a heart, if you will? Because that's where vision comes in. From. That is so good.
The next level, the fourth, is around community. It's relationships that are going to spur you on to greater giving.
So often we don't have that. But, Ron, I want to finish by giving you a chance to just talk for a second about the fifth, and that is, you're never going to give at a maximum level without a plan, right? That is true. Correct. And I found in the business that we had as planning.
Rob, that when we develop a plan for somebody, Typically, they're giving men up as much as five times. Because they had the resources, but they had never put it in a plan. With intentionality to maximize their giving. They never had a finish line. in terms of lifestyle or accumulation.
So Planning is really the last. and critical step to maximize Those are the five barriers to giving at a level that perhaps God is calling you to. Which one are you going to address today? Ron, thanks for your time. You bet, Rob.
Thanks for having me. That's Ron Blue, author, teacher, and one of my mentors. You can find his books wherever you buy books, and you can't go wrong with any of them. Your calls are next: 800-525-7000. And if you prefer not to call, keep in mind you can always send us an email at askrob at faithbuy.com.
We'll be right back after this break. What we do is very special and it's very unique. This is Bethany. She is a Certified Kingdom Advisor. I became a CKA because we're not building bigger barns and we're not trying to figure out how we can just amass more and more and more.
We're figuring out how much do you really need. What are your priorities? What has God called you to? And then how can we give it away? How can we be more generous?
You can find an advisor like Bethany at findacka.com. Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Sound Mind Investing. If you have money in an investment account, you know sometimes the stock market can seem like a roller coaster. But it's possible to enjoy both profit and peace of mind as a do-it-yourself investor, no matter what's happening in the market. A short video webinar about that is available at soundmindinvesting.org.
Financial Wisdom for Living Well.
Soundmindinvesting.org So glad to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. We've got room for you. If you have a financial question today, now's the time to call. 800-525-7000. You can call with your name or you can be anonymous, and we'd love to tackle whatever's going on in your financial life, give you some encouragement, and hopefully some practical steps rooted in God's wisdom for you to make a clear decision or choice with whatever you're wrestling with today.
That number again, 800-525-7000. Wyoming's where we're headed first. Hi, Mary. Go ahead. Hi, how are you?
I'm doing great. Thanks for your call.
Okay.
So I was wondering about Rebirth market And if I did if I did something like that, But My um Creditors come after me for money that I owe. You know what I'm saying? I do, but let me clarify what's going on. Do you have some accounts that are in collection status or charge-off? What's your situation?
They're not in the collection status. They are. This this um company is working with me. They're taking so much every month, they set it aside. And they've already settled one of my Accounts.
with you with bank, but there's true left. At their working with that they're trying to settle. All right.
Well, it's a good question. You know, let me just say first and foremost, not to scare you, but debt settlement, these programs that you're describing are really not my preferred option. There is a lot of bad actors in this space. I'm certainly not saying the one that you're working with is, but there are a good many of them. And usually their strategy is to stop paying, get you into an arrears status.
Possibly a collection status, even a charge-off status, and then they use that to come in and try to settle in full and secure a lower payoff. But unfortunately, it trashes your credit in the process. In terms of the reverse mortgage specifically, that doesn't automatically trigger any kind of demand payment. When you take out a reverse mortgage, it's secured by your home, not your credit cards. The money you receive doesn't go to your credit card lenders unless you choose to use it that way.
So, simply getting a reverse mortgage doesn't alert or obligate you for any kind of collection right away. But again, you know, depending on how they're approaching this. In terms of the negotiating of those settlements, and if you got a lump sum, creditors could see that as a reason to push for higher settlements. And as a part of you qualifying for a reverse mortgage, they are going to pull your credit.
So you just need to be aware of the implications of the strategies that they're using if, in fact, these accounts are becoming past due while they're negotiating them. I hope that helps. Thanks for your call.
Ohio, Logan, how can we help? Hey, Rob. How can this younger generation Uh build wealth. What are some techniques, strategies? And how can we stay motivated and positive about it when This uh generation isn't really like that.
Yeah. Yeah, you know, a couple of thoughts. You know, I love the fact that you're thinking about this now. And I can understand that you might feel like the headlines act like the deck is stacked against you. But I think number one, we need to recognize that first of all, we need to live out a biblical worldview of handling money.
And that applies at every age. But we need to understand that money really is a tool to accomplish God's purposes. And so, I think from just a practical money management standpoint, you need to focus on what you can control. You can't control the markets, inflation, elections, the tax code, any of those things. But what you can control is your spending.
Is it aligned with your values and priorities, including your giving, your saving, those kinds of things that you get to do with God's money entrusted to you? And I would say we need to build a spending plan that allows you to live below your means so that leaves room for generosity and saving and strategic investing every month. I would say start early and stay consistent. And so the earlier you begin investing, the more compound growth works in your favor. Even modest monthly contributions grow dramatically over time.
And whenever possible, do it through a 401k or a Roth IRA and don't stop when the markets dip. Because remember, the markets go through cycles. And, you know, we've seen these average annual returns of 9%, 10% a year over long periods of time, even despite 1929, 1987, the dot-com bubble burst, 2008, 2009, the housing and financial crisis, the once in a hundred-year pandemic. I mean, all of these things put together, and the market always recovers, always moves to new highs. And, you know, there's some real exciting things going on right now, despite our challenges.
I think some of the policies of President Trump in particular are paving the way for a robust economy in the future, deregulating the tax code changes, some of the things going on there. I think the fact that he's pro-crypto is helpful. I also think AI. is kind of a new opportunity here that is going to drive greater productivity than we've ever seen before, which is going to help to overcome some of the challenges we have just in terms of demographics. I think some one other thing that's really exciting is just the The intersection of this new generation, in particular Gen Z, their desire for impact, even more than a paycheck.
and simultaneously, the growth of faith-based investing. Where you can now invest in a way that solves real problems and promotes human flourishing and really is a way to love our neighbor and get a good return at the same time. And I think the combination of the wealth transfer, this new generation, and their desire to return to faith and their desire for impact, combined with. The maturing of the faith-based investing space where you can deploy capital in a way that advances God's redemptive work in the world pre His return, I think is a really exciting opportunity.
So, let me finish by saying, and I know I'm kind of been long-winded on this. Every generation faces its challenges, but those who stay disciplined, I would say, understand that God owns it all. Trust in him as provider, keep a long-term perspective, and really keep an eternal perspective of handling God's money, I think we'll do quite well. And I don't think there's an exception, even despite what we're seeing play out before our eyes right now. Does that all make sense, though?
Yes, sir. Thank you very much. All right.
Hey, let me ask you: what is your situation? First of all, what is your age? I am twenty three.
Okay, good. I want to send you a resource that I think you will enjoy that will take you into some of these things that I just talked about in terms of understanding God's heart as it relates to money, some of the kind of nuances of starting to save and give and invest and Roth IRAs, but all from a biblical perspective. And it's called Open Hands Finance. And it was written by a couple who at Taylor University started a small group with some of their peers at Taylor and really just have a gift and an interest in this area of biblical money management. And they created this workbook, if you will, and there's podcasts that go with it.
And they did a fabulous job with it. And I think it's really geared towards somebody in their early 20s. And it's not only gonna deal with all the essential topics you need, but it's all gonna come from a biblical perspective.
So if you'll stay on the line, Logan, we'll send you open hands finance. I think you'll enjoy it. It's our gift to you. And if you have questions that come up along the way, please don't hesitate to reach out. Lord bless you.
Thanks for being on the program today. All right, a quick break and then back with your questions: 800-525-7000. Call right now. We'll be right back. We're grateful for support from Guidestone, whose diversified suite of investment solutions align with Christian values to create positive change in the world.
More information is available at guidestonefunds.com/slash faith. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of Guidestone Funds before investing. They're distributed by Four Side Funds Distributors LLC, which is not an advisory affiliate, a registered investment advisor, nor do they provide investment advice. As the leading advocate for the Christian financial industry, Kingdom Advisors serves the public by promoting the integration of a biblical worldview across every aspect of the financial services industry.
And we serve a growing network of thousands of Christian financial professionals, equipping and empowering them to carry biblical financial wisdom to their clients, peers, and community. For more information, visit kingdomadvisors.com. That's kingdomadvisors.com. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance for taking your calls and questions with several lines open, 800-525-7000. You can call right now.
We'll see if we can help you think through what's going on in your financial life through the lens of biblical wisdom. Let's go right back to the phones. Let's go to Miami, Florida, Josiah. Thanks for calling. Go ahead.
Bye. Thank you so much. I have a small architecture business and Yeah. The three and a half years that I've had the practice, my income has fluctuated a lot. And it's not really stable.
And my financial advisor has advised that I put my small practice on the back burner because I need to get a consistent salary in order to meet my family's budget and pay down our debt.
So I wanted to know if you had any advice for how to be transparent, respectful, basically how to communicate with a potential employer that, hey, I want to work. and get a salary, but I also have this business on the side. Should I keep the business on the side? Yeah. I think it's a great thought, and I think being transparent is always a good idea because in this day and age, not only do we need to be above reproach here in your work and your conduct as a Christ follower, but I think it's probably something that your employer may stumble across.
I think if it were me, I would appreciate somebody calling that to my attention. I think the big idea is that, and you would need to communicate this as long as you could do so with integrity, is that you would never do any work for your business on company time. And that you're not in a competing business, or that your company doesn't have anything in the employment agreement that specifies anything related to outside work. But assuming you're not on company time and you're not violating anything that you've agreed to with regarding your employment agreement, I think essentially what you're doing there is just bringing it to their attention. Again, I would appreciate that as somebody who's really just trying to be transparent.
I can't imagine they're going to have any problem with it. In this gig economy, people are more accustomed than ever to people having multiple sources of income, so long as you're giving your employer everything they're due in terms of your time, your energy, your attention, and certainly you're not using company time or equipment for any of your other work. Hope that helps, Josiah. Thanks for your call.
Nashville, Tennessee. Hi, David. Go ahead. Hey, um, thank you. For taking my call, this is a real confusing time in the monetary area, as I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.
I'm uh curious. I've been studying quite heavily exactly what this uh uh uh electronic coins are about. And you know, with Trump behind it and several others coming out and The ability to move money without a huge charge, like banks give you, and the same thing with the security. uh codes etc that they're coming out with It looks like that's moving in the right direction. And I would like any comments or suggestions you might have.
Yeah, well there's a lot to talk about here and we just have a little bit of time. But what I would say is, you know, this idea that we would see this takeover as a means of exchange really is not something I don't think that's going to pan out. But what I will say is that Bitcoin clearly stands apart from the rest of the crypto industry, and it's reached critical mass and it appears to be here to stay. And that's in large part due to the regulatory environment that has completely reversed from being hostile to being welcoming. And we've seen institutional adoption because now we have Bitcoin ETFs, so the big institutions can buy it.
And so, as a result of that, I think there is something to be said about Bitcoin acting kind of like a digital gold of sorts, where you might, you know, include it as a part of your gold allocation. And usually there's a generational line there between those who are interested in it and those who don't want to touch it with regard to how they might invest in it. But I would say for those who might want to, you know, if you had a 5% allocation to gold, you might want to take 1% and put it in Bitcoin. Or if you had a 10%, maybe 2%, because it is still quite volatile. But if you're comfortable with digital assets, I think it has a lot of the appeal of gold as a store of value because there's scarcity built into the DNA of Bitcoin.
And so I think there is something to be said about that. I would also say that blockchain, I don't think, is going anywhere and there's pretty wide reaching applications for blockchain, well beyond even just in the financial space.
So I think for that reason, you know, it's something worth looking at, but I wouldn't make it a very small piece of your portfolio just because it is so volatile. There were many that hoped it would become an independent currency that people could buy and sell outside the normal government money system. That view is mostly dead at this point. But I think there is something to be said about at least Bitcoin acting as a part of your gold allocation at this point. And I think as long as you can stomach the volatility.
So hopefully that at least gets you thinking in the right direction here, David. I'd love to talk much further about this in the future.
So don't hesitate to call back if you have other questions. Thanks for being on the program today. Let's finish up in Florida today. Hi, Nancy. Go ahead.
My question is, my husband is sixty five. He retired already. I'm sixty six. I'm still working. And my question is, I think I heard you last year.
Somebody called with the same question that you can collect what is equal to half of the Spose Social Security, but you have to be sixty and older. Is that true? Yes.
So he is already collecting his Social Security. Is that right? Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. And so, yes, you can file over the age of 62 if your husband is already collecting benefits. And so you could get up to half of your husband's. Full retirement benefit, not what he gets if he filed early, but. In order to get the full 50% of his full retirement age benefit, you would have to wait till your full retirement age to begin collecting it.
So if you took it at 62, it would be permanently reduced.
So the most you can get. Is 50%, and then they would back it down based on the fact that you took it early. Does that make sense? Yes.
Okay.
Oh, so it's not sixty? Uh no, it's 62 and you would get a reduced amount.
So for instance, with the full benefit, the max you could get if you waited until full retirement age would be 50% of your husband's full retirement age benefit. But if you took it at 62, instead of getting 50% of that amount, you'd get about 30%. because you took it early.
So, the only way to max it out and get that full 50% is to not take it at 62 and wait until full retirement age, which for you is probably 67. Hope that helps, Nancy. Thanks for your call today. That's going to do it for us. Big thanks to my team today.
They are amazing. We've got some wonderful folks like Dan and Tahira and Taylor and Josh and everybody here at Faith By. Thank you for being here as well. We'll hope you'll come back and join us tomorrow. We'll do it all over again.
We'll see you then. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.
