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That's faithandinvesting.com slash faithfi. If you had to guess, what would you say is the most generous act of all time? If you said the cross, you'd be absolutely correct.
Hi, I'm Rob West. Jesus gave his life that we might enter into heaven with him forever. We must only have faith in him as our Lord and Savior to receive this free gift. Art Rayner joins us today with some thoughts on what the cross reveals about generosity. 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's always a treat to welcome Art Rayner back on the program. Art is the director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health, the organization that certifies Christian financial counselors. Art, great to have you back with us. Rob, it is always an honor to join you.
Art, we'll talk more about the CERT CFC program in just a little bit. But first, I want to dig into this passage of Scripture that we're talking about today. It happens to come from Matthew 27.
So why don't you take us into this and pull out the big ideas for us? Yeah, in Matthew 27, we read how the unfathomable became reality. God sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to the world. While on the earth, He lived a sinless life, doing what no human ever could do on their own. Yet, He was condemned to die on a cross. In Matthew 27, we see Jesus willingly hanging on a cross, knowing His sacrifice was the only way men and women could be forgiven of their sins and have a right relationship with God. So Christians can't look at the cross without seeing radical generosity. The blood-stained wood reminds us of the greatest gift ever given. It shows us what genuine biblical generosity looks like.
The cross reveals five important lessons. First, biblical generosity is not deserved. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a human that deserved what we read about in Matthew 27.
The Bible is very clear on this matter. In Romans 3 23, it says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Yeah, absolutely. Justification by grace, through faith, it is the only way to heaven provided by Jesus.
Yeah, absolutely. And the next lesson is that biblical generosity should be a priority. God did not give us His leftovers. John 3 16 tells us, For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God gives us His one and only, His first and best. God leads us in the first fruits principle found in Proverbs 3 9 and all throughout Scripture.
Yeah, no question about it. So clearly it's not deserved, and it should be a priority when we're talking about biblical generosity. What's the next lesson you pull out here, Art? Yeah, it's that biblical generosity should be sacrificial. Sacrifice occurs when something that is both desirable and beneficial is given up. Jesus's sacrifice was not only astonishing because He was unjustly executed. Jesus's sacrifice was astonishing because He took on the wrath of God for all sins past, present, and future. It is an act that is truly unfathomable to the human mind. It is the epitome of sacrifice. Yeah, absolutely. And through His sinlessness, Jesus was the only person who could do all that. What is then the next lesson?
Yeah, that's right. Biblical generosity should reflect God's generosity. God is a generous God, and throughout Scripture we see God's generosity on full display. God's generosity is no more evident than when He sent His Son to earth as our sacrificial lamb. And our final lesson is this. Biblical generosity impacts eternity.
The cross certainly impacted eternity. When we give, individuals may hear about and put their faith in Christ because we chose to live with open hands. It is an amazing honor to live and give generously. Yeah, and there's no question about that. Our people are watching, which means that the way we handle money, how tightly we grip it, how loosely we hold it, is a testimony to the world, especially in uncertain times. Would you agree?
Yeah, without question. For most of the world, generosity is about the leftovers. After a few needs have been taken care of, after the wants have been considered, then what we look at in our bank account, whatever's left, that's what we give out of.
We demonstrate God's gift to us best when we ensure that giving is a priority, that it's done proportionally, sacrificially, and cheerfully. We'll talk about the implications to all of this in your life and giving with Art Rayner, plus more on the Certified Christian Financial Counselor Certification. Art Rayner with us, director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health.
We'll be back with more right after this. We are grateful for support from the Eventide Center for Faith and Investing. ECFI is an educational initiative of Eventide Asset Management that seeks to help Christians understand and practice biblically faithful investing. They do this through their podcast and online journal, featuring articles from industry thought leaders and their course called Discover God's Story for Investing. More information is available at faithandinvesting.com. That's faithandinvesting.com. Great to have you with us today on faith and finance.
With me today, my friend Art Rayner. He's the director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health, the organization that certifies Christian financial counselors. In fact, we'll talk about the CERT CFC program in just a bit. It may be the perfect certification for you if you feel called to help God's people steward their financial resources. But first, Art, just before the break, you were unpacking Matthew 27 for us, this unfathomable reality that Jesus, having lived a sinless life, did what no human could do. He gave his life to be condemned on a cross so that we might, through his substitutionary atonement, big word, we might be reconciled to the Father and have a right relationship with him. But as you said so well, that has implications for so many things, including our generosity. Now, one of the questions that so often comes up is, okay, Art, we're no longer under the law of Moses.
We're under the law of Christ. So how do we pull forward that guideline of the tithe and yet still live within what the New Testament describes as generous giving when we look at Jesus' own words? Yeah, so throughout Scripture, what we see is that, one, we are to make giving a priority. We are to give our first and our best.
We've mentioned that. We also see the concept of proportional or percentage-based giving, that we are to give according to what God has entrusted to us. So there should be a relationship between what God has entrusted to us and the amount of our giving. God could have said, everybody give $1,000, and we'll just call it a day.
But he didn't. Instead, he said, there should be a relationship between what I've given you and what you then give toward my mission. And then, as we've already mentioned, giving is to be done sacrificial. One of my favorite stories about sacrificial generosity is found in the gospel where we have the widow who gave only two coins. Now, if you recall that story, Jesus was at the temple treasury watching people give large sums of money, and he pulled his disciples over, and he said, do you see her?
And he was pointing out the widow who gave two coins, and he said, she gave more than anybody else here. Now, was Jesus bad at math? No. Was his financial literacy low? No. Was he bad at pre-algebra?
Like, I was—no. What was he saying? He was saying that in God's economy, amount sacrificed supersedes amount given. You see, God cares more about what's left at home than what's put into the offering plate. You see, when the rich went home, assuming that they were just giving out of excess, their life went on like normal.
There was not sacrifice. But when the widow went home, her life was dramatically altered. And we will find our hearts most full of contentment and satisfaction when we give sacrificially, sacrificially, which once again means that we're giving up something that's both desirable and beneficial. But we also can give cheerfully in the midst of sacrifice, because we're looking through the lens of eternity, and we're seeing the internal impact.
Lives changed forever. Which, by the way, that widow, I bet that she had the best smile in the place. I bet you that she was grinning cheek to cheek, that she was giving maybe a few fist bumps and high fives as she went to give that gift, because there's no way that Jesus would have pointed out a grumpy giver, for example, for how we should give.
More than likely—actually, I know—she was a cheerful giver. Yeah, no doubt about that. And that's very well said. You know, our friend Randy Alcorn calls the tie the training wheels of giving. And it seems appropriate, because for those of us who have seen what Jesus has done on our behalf on the cross, Art, it seems like it would just be natural that the bar would be raised. That yes, we should give proportionately. Yes, we should give systematically. But to whom much is given, much is required. It seems like we ought to go well beyond our giving systematically to the local church and look for that opportunity to be sacrificial, as the widow was, the most famous giver in the New Testament.
We don't know her name. We know she gave out of her poverty. But it also strikes me, Art, that in order to do that, we need to have a plan for our giving. That's just not going to happen haphazardly, is it?
That's right. And you mentioned systematic giving. We also find that in Scripture, where we are planning our generosity in order to be able to take a portion of our income.
We need to know, okay, what is our income, and what are we going to do when that income hits? Now, there certainly is a place for spontaneous giving when we give that's above and beyond what we had even planned, because the Holy Spirit has prompted us to do so. So there certainly is a place for that. But you have to plan your giving. Those who are generous, who follow God's design for money, tend to be systematic. They plan out their giving. For those who don't, you end up usually giving less than you ever intended. Yeah, there's no question. Art, this was so helpful.
I don't want time to get away from us, though. So let's talk for a moment about the Certified Christian Financial Counselor Program, or CERT CFC for short. Share the vision around this certification, why you saw the need for it. We need an army of men and women who are helping others learn about and pursue God's design for money. We need people that can help explain what the Bible says about money, and then also how to live that out practically in their finances. And so CERT CFCs, or Certified Christian Financial Counselors, guide individuals and couples in making wise financial decisions like getting out of debt, build sound financial habits like keeping a budget and saving for emergencies, and increasing their biblical financial literacy. And so we're looking for men and women who want to do just that.
Mmm. Art, I had a call just the other day of a couple, and they were just really struggling to find a way forward in terms of bringing their finances together. They were operating out of the mine and yours mentality. Is that something that a CERT CFC could help with as well? Yes, absolutely. CERT CFCs can work with couples who may be on different pages as it relates to their finances, who are not following God's design for their marriage in the area of finances, where God wants us to be one in all areas, including our money. And so a CERT CFC can help couples get on the same page to help them follow the same mission and ultimately chase after God's design for their marriage and for their finances. Yeah, that's helpful.
We have just a couple of minutes left. Quickly, what about those in our audience today who think they might like to become a CERT CFC? What are the requirements? Well, if you are passionate about what the Bible says about money, if you love helping people with their finances, if you want to start your own financial counseling practice or serve in your church in that capacity, or you want a trustworthy designation, then the Certified Christian Financial Counselor Program is for you. You would be a good candidate for that program.
Excellent. And what about those in our audience who think they might need a CERT CFC? You mentioned a few of the reasons. They're having difficulty communicating about finances in their marriage. They need help with a budget.
Anything you might want to add for that group? Yeah, absolutely. You can go to faithfi.com. You'll see the Find a Professional link. Click on that.
And then if you click Get Out of Debt, if you click that you need help with budgeting, then it will direct you to a Certified Christian Financial Counselor. Excellent. Art, we so appreciate your time today, my friend. I appreciate you encouraging us, inspiring us to biblical generosity, but also sharing with us about the CERT CFC designation. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for having me.
All right, folks. Listen, if you'd like to help others be wise and faithful stewards of God's money, perhaps you want to earn the CERT CFC certification. Just head to ChristianFinancialHealth.com. Now, if you think you could benefit from a Certified Christian Financial Counselor, go to faithfi.com and click Find a Professional at the top of the page. That's faithfi.com. That was Art Rayner, Director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health. Your calls are next, 800-525-7000.
That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is Faith and Finance. We'll be right back after this break. We'll be right back. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We've got some lines open today, ready to take your calls and questions. Call right now at 800-525-7000.
To Florida we go. Hi, Dan. Go ahead, sir. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. Happy to do it.
I've been listening to you for months, and I just thought I'd ask you a couple of questions if you can help me out. Okay, I'll try. It has to do with where I have my money invested. I'm still working.
I'm 66 years old. And in my 401k, I have about $630,000, and I took it out of the market just before the pandemic, and it's been in the safe fund, still with Schwab. And I'm deciding or I'm deciding on should I get back into the market now, or should I just leave it there? It's yielding about 1.3 percent. Yeah. So this was a 401k, or is it still?
It's not a 401k, and I'm still working. Okay, got it. Yeah. And so this is with your current employer? Yes, it is.
Okay. So you don't have the option to roll it out. You really are just limited to those investments inside the 401k that is available through the Schwab account. Is that right? Yeah, that's correct. And I had it in the market as a suggestion, it was making good money, but I got scared during the pandemic. And I said, I put it in the safe fund. Yeah, got it. I don't the market drops.
I don't lose it. Yeah, very good. And how long are you going to go back into the market or what? Sure. How long are you planning to work, Dan, just based on everything you know today?
Maybe two more years. Okay. And then what does that look like for you at that point? Well, I retire, and I'll probably start putting my Social Security, and I have a little side business on the side.
Okay, great. And what will your age be then? Seventy. I'm 68 now.
Well, 67. Okay, so that's great. So you'll be 70 at that point, which means you're going to get that max Social Security benefit.
So I like that a lot. And then you'll have that Social Security plus whatever this 630,000 grows to. Have you run your budget? I mean, if you consider what your budget might look like in retirement, let's set your small business aside for a second. Do you think that Social Security and you're going to get that check, you know, maybe 25 percent higher, a little bit more than that, than you would have if you had taken it at a full retirement age with that higher check every month? Is it going to be enough to cover your bills or do you think you're going to need additional? I haven't really sat down and wrote down that plan yet.
I know that my lifestyle will have to change, but I was just wondering if I should invest either part of my $600, $300 back into the market or leave it there in a safe zone because I've only got two more years to go. That's where I'm deciding. I don't know what to do. Yeah, and I get that. And the reason for the questions is just trying to understand where you're at, because obviously you don't need to do anything. You're the steward of this money. And I realize you want to make the wise decision at the same time. You know, I just want to understand how dependent you are on this growing in terms of supporting your lifestyle based on a withdrawal rate, because here's the reality. I mean, even though you're going to be 70, if the Lord tarries and you're in good health, we need to start thinking in terms of this not being a two year investment strategy, but a 25 year investment strategy, because let's plan on you living to age 95. OK, so if we take that you have two and a half decades for this money to be invested, for that reason, I would have told you if you called me the day after the pandemic started, I would have told you, don't pull out of the market because we're reacting emotionally. We need to take a long term perspective. I realize we've got a once in 100 year event going on, but every decade kind of has its own event, if you will, that moves the market, whether it's a recession or a depression or you know, a bubble bursting in the dot coms or a systemic financial problem in 08, 09, you know, and yet we've always recovered and moved to higher ground. Now, you could say, well, this time is different and, you know, we've got runaway debt here in this country. And what about the U.S. dollar?
And I get all of that. But at the same time, given inflation, the way you know, you properly stewards God's money is slow and steady. Steady plotting is what the Bible talks about.
Ecclesiastes talks about diversification. So the idea for a typical 70 year old would be, OK, let's take and let's set aside what we need for the short term, which I would say if you want to be on the most conservative end, let's put 12 months worth of expenses aside in high yield savings. But you should be getting four or five percent, not one. And then with the rest, and maybe that's, you know, half a million dollars, let's get that invested. And as a 70 year old, I'd probably still have 30 percent in stocks, even when you're fully retired, because that would give you a growth component. And if we got into a recession, I wouldn't sell it.
I'd hold it because it would recover and you don't want to sell it and, you know, try to time the entry and exit points, because that's just a losing battle. And then I might have five or 10 percent of precious metals and I might have the balance, you know, 60 or 70 percent in fixed income CDs and bonds and U.S. Treasuries, bills, bonds and notes. And I'd let that ride and, you know, not let the noise of this world cause me to deviate from my strategy, but stay with it over the long haul, because the last 150 years tells us that if we do that, you know, over time, if with the properly diversified portfolio, you're going to come out ahead and that's going to give you the ability if you need this money for long term care, which could run you 10,000 a month, you know, that you'd have something substantial there that you could pull out of. Now, if you were to tell me, listen, Rob, I can live on Social Security alone and I'm going to dial back my lifestyle and I just don't want to take any risk, I'd say that's fine.
Let's put it in CDs. Let's put it in high yield savings. We could buy an annuity and transfer that risk to an insurance company and get a guaranteed return. Those are the ways that we minimize the risk. Nothing's risk free, but we'd get it down as low as absolutely possible. But for the typical person, I'd say let's just invest it and let's get more conservative over time. But given the fact that we're not planning for a year or two or five, we're planning for 20 or 30, we still have a portion where we're trying to grow it because inflation and it's been more prominent as of late and it will continue to be is eroding your purchasing power. Does that all make sense, though?
Yeah, it helped me help me listen into it. I think what I think the maximum I get at 70 is showing here, four thousand six hundred and my wife gets a thousand already. So I think between that and my private business, which is another two thousand a month, I probably can live on that.
OK. Yeah. And so then you might say, listen, I don't need this money. I don't want to take any risk. I'm going to take advantage of the prevailing rates in bank products with CDs and high yield savings.
They're not going to be as attractive two years from now as they are today, but they'll pay something. And if that's what makes you most comfortable, then, yeah, go for that. I mean, I'm not saying that's a bad decision at the end of the day, then you're the steward.
So you've got to pray about it, make this decision and and have a conviction. I think just my perspective is, you know, trying to time the market. Oh, we got a pandemic. Let's jump out and we're going to find our entry point.
That just never works. I'd rather you take the long view, be as properly diversified as you need to be. But look at this over a long time period, not trying to go in and out of the market just because that generally works against you at the end of the day. Thanks for your call today, sir. We appreciate you listening and calling.
Hey, folks, our desire for you is that you would see God as your ultimate treasure and that money would be a tool to accomplish his purposes. I hope today's broadcast has been an encouragement to you. We're certainly grateful that you've been along with us today. Thanks to my team today, Robert Sutherland, Devin Patrick and Robert Youngblood. Couldn't do it without him. For those gentlemen, I'm Rob West. This has been Faith and Finance, and we'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.
