Include Tithe in Emergency Savings?

Malachi 3.10 says plainly, bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Yet surprisingly, few topics generate more discussion among Christians than tithing. You know, people often ask, should I tithe on my net or my gross income? But what if you have no income? Kingdom Advisors President Rob West weighs in on that question today. Then we'll have more important news about Operation Christmas Child. Then it's your calls on anything financial at 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. I'm Steve Moore. It's another edition of MoneyWise Live. Well, Rob, after doing this for nearly 35 years, I thought I'd heard every tithing question, every tithing question, but I was wrong. This is a new one to me.

Well, that's right. And it comes by way of our new MoneyWise app, Steve, along with everything you need to manage your finances wisely, including our brand new digital envelope system, and by the way, according to biblical principles as well. The free MoneyWise app includes a community section where you can post your questions and comments.

Yeah. And we have app user Mark to thank for our question today. He recently posted this question to the MoneyWise community, which I enjoy reading through.

It goes like this. Do you include a tithe in your three to six month emergency savings? If the purpose is to use it, if you lose a job, then you shouldn't need to include the tithe, correct?

I'm not trying to rob the church of my giving, but I want to see what your thoughts are on it. Yeah, I think Mark, Steve, is getting at the idea that we're to tithe on our increase, but if you don't have an increase because you're out of work, then there's no need to include that amount in the total of your emergency savings. Yeah, that's right.

And Mark didn't have too long to wait for help from other folks in the MoneyWise app community. Chad responded, Thanks for posting this heart and thought-provoking question, Mark. The best place to turn for answers is God's word, specifically 2 Corinthians 9-7, which says, Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Yeah, exactly right. And I couldn't agree more. You know, giving is about the heart. We talk about it often.

It's not about legalism. Steve Chad went on to say, I think it's easier, at least for me, to tithe out of compulsion when you have the money, but the true state of the heart is best seen by what we do when we don't have the money. And he referenced the widow's mite in Luke 21, 1-4. Chad said he includes his family's tithe and their savings goals because he'd been in a season without income, and being able to give to the church then was both joyful and meaningful.

Yeah. But Chad wasn't alone in responding to Mark's question. App user JDR weighed in with a different view. He writes, Great question, Mark. I personally don't feel it's necessary because you already give from the first fruits of your labor.

You should only consider pulling from your three to six month saving if it's an emergency, such as a layoff where the furnace goes out, or you're not able to cover it with your house maintenance fund. Hope you found this helpful. So, Rob, two different views from Chad and JDR Express there, which prompted the original poster, Mark, to comment on their comments. That's right. I hope you're following along.

Here's what he said. You both hit the reason why I'm thinking through it. We have a vehicle maintenance fund, house maintenance fund, cash savings for random fixes and breaks that are beyond what I have in other savings, and then our actual savings that I'm working toward the three months. It makes a big difference whether or not I plan to save, including a tithe. And then Mark added, I know our church is small and would really, it would hurt them if we couldn't tithe.

I'm an elder and we manage our church finances wisely and I love giving to the church, so I'm leaning that way. And he went on to say thank you both. So, Steve, an incredible example of how people are engaging in the New Money Wise app and specifically in the community section to help each other. Yeah, but what folks may not know, Rob, is that you, sir, keep a pretty close watch on those discussions and you then had a response to Mark's question as well.

Share that with our listeners. Well, I do, Steve, and I told him that I love his question because it really shows his desire to give generously to the Lord and faithfully to his church. You see, if we apply the principle of the tithe, giving from our increase, then we wouldn't necessarily tithe on money coming from savings during a time where we have no income. However, author Randy Alcorn talks about the tithe as the training wheels of giving.

It's the beginning point, not the end. So I love the idea of Mark saving enough to continue giving to his church, which would be an incredible blessing to the church and a clear demonstration of his dependence on the Lord, even in a difficult time. Okay. Amen to that. And if you'd like to take part in our discussion community, just download the Free Money Wise app and join in.

We'll be right back. Many people are experiencing financial challenges such as credit card debt, downsizing, debt in jobs and depleted savings. In fact, more than half of all divorces are the result of financial pressures at home. But there's hope in your money counts. Biblical financial expert Howard Dayton shows that the Bible is a veritable blueprint for managing your finances and you'll discover the profound impact it has on your relationship with God.

Your money counts is available when you click the store button at money wise live dot org. When it comes to investing guidance, you want advice grounded in God's word. That's the approach offered by sound mind investing. SMI has helped tens of thousands of Christians acquire investing wisdom and confidence. Regardless of your investing experience or how much you have to invest, you can learn to be a wise and faithful steward in the area of investing. A short video webinar on profit and peace of mind is available now at sound mind investing dot org.

Hello, my name is Harold. I want to offer our assistance to help you in planning for your future. Oh, planning for the future, huh? Does it guarantee my future for all eternity? Well, no, but we can discuss both your short and long term options.

Oh, I see. And is it freely available? For free. Nothing is for free.

But we do offer a generous rate. Could I ask you if your future is secure? Oh, I have my plan all worked out.

When I retire, I should be very comfortable. But you need to... What about after that? After? After what? Well, after you die, then is your future secure? Well, who knows?

How can anybody know? The Bible teaches God has a plan for your life. It is freely available and lasts for all eternity. To qualify, you must ask for forgiveness from God and sincerely believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ died to pay the price for your sin.

If you believe, you can receive the gift of eternal life today. If the heavy burden of debt is robbing you of freedom and peace of mind, Christian credit counselors can help. We're a nationwide nonprofit credit counseling organization that has helped over 300,000 individuals in the last 27 years get out of credit card debt 80% faster while honoring that debt in full. To learn how Christian credit counselors can help you, visit christiancreditcounselors.org. That's christiancreditcounselors.org, or call 800-557-1985.

Good to have you with us today. It's MoneyWise Live with Rob West. I'm Steve Moore and for just a couple of minutes we've been chatting about the MoneyWise app and in particular a conversation that's been going on in the community section of the app about tithing. And Rob, for our listeners who would like to check out the app themselves and maybe even join in on the various discussions there, what's the easiest and best way to do that? Yeah, it's there to download. Just go to your app store, whether it's the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Or if you want to, just head over to the web at app.moneywise.org.

You can download it. It's, well, our attempt at the very best digital envelope system out there. It's got all the features I've always wanted. But this community section is a really great forum of people who want to manage God's money his way. And they're sharing ideas and best practices. And I jump in there periodically and respond to many of the questions and comments. So check it out today and you can just go to app.moneywise.org.

Okay. Now, we'll be taking your phone calls on any financial topic, any financial question in just a few minutes. But now's a great time to get in while we have three or four open lines. 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. Coming up now is Sissy Graham Lynch to talk to us about Operation Christmas Child. No doubt you've heard about that. Sissy's been with us before. She's the daughter of Franklin Graham, granddaughter of Billy Graham. And as you might expect, she really grew up in the Samaritan's Purse organization where she served in many roles.

Today, she wants to get a word or two in about this year's Operation Christmas Child, which has blessed hundreds of thousands, if not a million. And my wife and I have been a part of this for decades, Rob. And I'm sure you and your family as well, Rob.

Well, we sure have. Every year, it's something we look forward to during this season. And Sissy, welcome back to MoneyWise Live. Oh, thank you for having me back this afternoon.

Absolutely. We're thrilled that you're with us. Hey, for those who are in our listening audience today, and there's probably not many of them because I think by now everybody's heard of Operation Christmas Child, but perhaps there's a few.

So why don't you begin with a quick explanation. What is it? Operation Christmas Child is a project really to provide God's love in a tangible way to children all around the world. And you take a shoebox, you pack it full of toys or a few necessity items.

We can talk about what you might pack in it later. But we take these toys and then we deliver them to children all around the world. And this Christmas, I think children right now need the message of hope and the love of Jesus more than ever. We look at this pandemic and what's happened in this world. We know what's happened here in this country.

So can you imagine what it's been like for children and other parts of the world? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'll tell you, for such a time as this, it's an incredible opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus by delivering or packing one of these incredible shoeboxes. And Sissy, I want you to talk about who gets these shoeboxes. And in doing so, I saw a tweet from your dad the other day, Franklin Graham, and he was sending a tweet with a video of a young boy who was receiving his box. And I watched it like five times because he's jumping up and down on the table and he's carrying his box around and he's raising his hands up. I mean, he is so excited to receive this gift. So who gets these boxes and tell us how they respond?

Yeah, I mean, you just painted a beautiful picture. And I've been delivering shoeboxes alongside my dad since I was 12 years old. And this project has been going on since 1993, and over 178 million shoebox gifts have been given around.

And we work with over 160 countries and different territories around the world. And these are children, I mean, we know it, that get nothing for Christmas. And when they open up these boxes, you just described the perfect picture. There's excitement.

They're in awe. It's like their senses are on overload. And when I pack a box, just a little tip, I always pack for the senses. Like we've had somebody talk about the smell when they open up their box.

There's always like a beautiful smell of soap. But then I've delivered a box before where a child had no eyesight and they miraculously kind of like, God, what am I going to give this child that has no eyesight? We opened up this box and it was a miracle. Everything in it had to do with touch and with sound. And they were just jingling the bells and over and over.

And then the sight of everything. They're just so excited because they've never been given a gift like this before. And when they get this gift, it's so much more than just giving a gift. They hear the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ. With every box that goes out, they're going to hear about the gospel of Jesus.

And that's the precious moment of it all. Yeah. Let's talk about that for a moment because that's why you do this at Samaritan's Purse Sissy. How is the gospel shared through each one of these shoeboxes?

Yes. So each distribution, depending on how large every time when we distribute the boxes, depending on where we are, they'll have the presentation of the gospel and with partners. You know, we partner with churches all around the world. It's not just like Samaritan's Purse comes in for the moment, give them boxes and leave. We partner and equip local churches worldwide because we really want to strengthen the church.

And so we partner with them. They'll share the story and the love of Jesus. But then they have the children that receive a box have the opportunity to go through our 12 lesson discipleship course to follow up.

It's called The Greatest Journey. You know, our children go to Sunday school and we take them to church on Sundays or Wednesdays. Some of these kids have never had the opportunity to go to a class and learn about the love of Jesus.

So we follow up. We give this box and that just opens up the opportunity to continue to love on these children, to love on their families and for them to go to our discipleship program. I love that. And I love that you work through the local church. I know this was a hallmark of your grandfather's ministry, Billy Graham, working with Crusades through the local church. And now Samaritan's Purse, of course, working through the local church so that when Christmas has come and gone and Samaritan's Purse is in another part of the world doing God's work, the church is there and can minister to the needs of the people all year long.

All right. So somebody's saying, yeah, I'm in. I want to use God's money to pack at least one shoebox, maybe many shoeboxes. Where do they go to get more information and when is the nationwide collection week? So National Collection Week, if you can believe it or not, it's just a week away. November 16th through the 23rd is our National Collection Week. Of course, this year with COVID, people might not want to go shopping.

They might not want to go to the local store. You can even build your own shoebox online. You can check it out at Samaritan's Purse dot org forward slash OCC.

If you go to Samaritan's Purse dot org, you'll be able to navigate and find Operation Christmas Child. But you can build it online. I was testing it out. I was at my kid's school and they had the QR code up there.

I put my phone up there. It was so easy to build a shoebox. But to find more out, go to our website Samaritan's Purse dot org.

All right. So you can build your own shoebox online if you don't want to go out and go shopping. And then you can also find one of these drop off locations if you do, in fact, if you want to build your own box by going out and collecting the items yourself. And I believe there's thousands of locations nationwide. Isn't that right? Yeah, we have 4,000 locations nationwide offering a curbside drop off this year due to COVID. And once again, that collection week is coming up soon, November 16th through the 23rd.

And you can find a drop off locator online to find out what's closest to your house. That's great. Sissy, you're a mom. You've got kids yourself. I'd love for you to share from your perspective how you've involved the whole family in this project previously.

That's been precious. You know, I've been packing boxes since I was 12 years old. But being a mom, it's taken a whole new role of importance to me because my kids, they have so much fun. We kind of make it a big event to go to the store and then come home at night and pack it together. But last year I was packing it. We were rushed in our hurry and I was getting ready to put them in the car. My little girl stopped and said, Mom, you forgot to pray for your box.

I said, sweetie, you were so right. My kids get it. It's a wonderful opportunity to talk about it with your kids, the importance of it, but the power and the miracle each box has. That's the power of your prayers.

Your prayers over each box are so important. My children get it. They have so much fun. But I love seeing college students do it. I've delivered boxes and we had a whole set of boxes before from a college football team, a bunch of boys who packed boxes.

I loved it. And I love even seeing this grandparents do it. It's a project for everybody at every age, no matter what stage of life you're in.

You can pack up to one box or you can do as many as your family can do. But it's fun for everybody. I love it. Well, we talk every day on this program about how we can use God's money to reflect God's heart. We don't want to be a bucket where God's provision stops with us.

We want to be a pipeline, a conduit into God's activity. And I can't think of a better way to be a conduit into God's activity with your resources than to participate in Operation Christmas Child. Sissy, we so appreciate you stopping by and sharing this with us today.

Thank you for having me again. And it's hard to believe Christmas is right around the corner. Thank you, everybody, for packing boxes. Awesome. Again, it's Operation Christmas Child. They've given out over one hundred and seventy eight million shoeboxes going all the way back to the very beginning, which was nineteen ninety three. You can be a part of that. Just check them out online. SamaritansPurse.org slash OCC SamaritansPurse.org slash OCC. And don't do what Rob does, sending a shoebox with the shoes in it.

Take the shoes out, put some stuff in there for kids. We'll be right back with more. This is Money Wise Live.

Don't go away. Many people adopt an attitude toward marriage and finances that it'll all work out somehow. But sadly, it often doesn't. Financial woes can devastate a marriage. But there is a better way. God's Way. Money in Marriage God's Way by Howard Dayton will help you discover God's approach to growing your finances, strengthening your relationship with your mate and cultivating Godly joy.

Money in Marriage God's Way is available when you click the store button at Money Wise Live dot org. People's four twelve says for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. Here's Beth Moore with a quick word. Matthew 16.

I want to show you something because I think this is a very, very important thing to note. Matthew 16. Look at verse 21. Do you see when it says Jesus predicts his death?

We're right there. From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders. The priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day must be raised alive.

Well, you can imagine that just stunned them. And it said Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. The Lord and the word rebuke means rebuke.

I mean, he took him to the side and he shook his finger in his face. He said, never, Lord. This shall never happen to you. And I've always thought that what Peter really means is this shall never happen to us. We did not follow you for this.

We did not follow you. Look what Jesus says to him. Get behind me, Satan. Now, he does not mean that he's filled with Satan all of a sudden. But listen to his turn on. Get behind me, Satan.

You are a stumbling block to me. You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. All in the world we have to do is just be left to the things of men. And Satan will be all over us. All over us.

He'll still win. Not in the end, if we're saved. But we were meant to have an altered going to work, eating, sleeping, in and out kind of life. Beth would love for you to tune in each Tuesday night for Bible study. Classes begin at 930 p.m. Eastern, 830 Central on TBN.

Maybe you had to miss a Tuesday. No problem. Go to Bethmore.org. That's Bethmore.org. You can watch the latest episode of her television program and more.

Again, that's Bethmore.org. Would you like your life to be infused with joy? Would you like to interject an eternal dimension into even the most ordinary day? Author Randy Alcorn says you can when you discover the Treasure Principle. In a concise, power-packed style, this newly revised and updated book offers a six-step plan to finding the immediate pleasure and eternal rewards of the Treasure Principle.

And once you discover it, life will never look the same. The Treasure Principle is available when you click the Store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. Really great to have you along today. It's MoneyWise Live, and we're talking about anything money-related that might be on your plate today, anything you have a concern about or a question, a conundrum, something that stumped you when it comes to money and finances in the Bible. Let's kick that around a little bit, if you don't mind. Give us a call.

Open line is available at 800-525-7000. Let's begin, Rob, by going to Miami. Albert, what's your question for Rob West? Hey, yes, sir.

How are you doing? That's so much a question, more than just feedback. I just want your feedback on this. What are your thoughts or your feelings on churches? You know, they're considered mega-churches to some, that they require their staff mandatory tithes as well as mandatory offerings, especially when I believe that the Bible teaches that you need to get from the heart, but when something is being mandatory, how does that go with the heart? And then it also kind of pulls from the fact of being able to solicit or to tell the rest of the staff all about the boxes or some sort of offering or some sort of other event that might be happening where you might feel nudged to share with fellow staff members, but you're halted and you're told to pull it back because the church is already expecting their offering to be handled first.

Yeah, yeah. Well, obviously this is something that you really need to pray through as leadership as to how you might approach this. And clearly when it comes to somebody who's not on staff and not in leadership, even lay leadership, I think clearly that needs to be a decision that they make. You know, I would look at 2 Corinthians 9 and 7 on this. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. So clearly God wants our heart to follow our money. And one of the ways we do that is by giving joyfully and freely on our own volition between us and the Lord, really navigating that together and making a purposeful decision on that as opposed to being mandated or anything that's legalistic.

I do think it becomes slightly different, though, when we talk about somebody who's a staff person or going into lay leadership. I know many churches will look not necessarily at whether or not they're meeting a minimum of 10%, but they will look as a prerequisite for leadership. Is there systematic giving? Is this person a giver?

And are they doing it systematically and proportionately? Now, I wouldn't say that that should go to the level of asking for proof that they're hitting a certain threshold, because I think there certainly should be, you know, each person should decide what they want to give. But I think this idea that we need to go first and model what is clearly on the heart of God, that we should be regular and faithful systematic givers, giving proportionately.

Jesus was very clear about that. That could be a prerequisite for both somebody who is part of a staff of a church or somebody who is trying to meet qualifications to serve in lay leadership. And I think that's often done. Now, I think they need to be very careful about that in terms of who knows what those numbers are and does the senior pastor know, and is there somebody who's trying to ascertain whether it's actually a minimum percentage?

And I think we can go too far with that. But as to a bar being set for a staff person or lay leadership, that there would be a requirement that there be systematic giving, I think that would be appropriate. But again, it's a fine line, and I think we need to be very careful not to trip over into legalism on this, especially when it comes to somebody who's just a church member and not necessarily in a leadership position. At the end of the day, Albert, I would just be very clear to say God wants our heart. He doesn't need our money. And yet, as an overflow of our thanksgiving for what he's done for us, most notably on the cross, with his son who gave the ultimate price as a substitution for our sin to reconcile us to him, we should be givers.

It's just a natural expression of our thankfulness. But it's a great question and comment today, and I appreciate you raising it. And Rob, what if you are a member of this particular church?

I'm sure there's more than one in the United States somewhere. If you're a member of the church and you don't agree with what's going on, what's the biblical and respectful way for bringing an issue like this up? Well, I think whenever we have an issue with anything or a question, perhaps there's a lack of understanding as to why decisions are being made, whether that's something that's being taught from the pulpit or something else. I think there's very appropriate ways not to cast dispersion among the body, not to talk about it with those in the church, but to seek out leadership in a conversation, to invite feedback, to raise questions, to hear from the pastor or others in leadership why things are being done, why decisions are being made. At the end of the day, you have to decide whether that is going to be your church home. I think if you do, you come under the leadership of the under shepherd, the pastor. And so with those parameters in mind, might this be the right time for us to discuss my dressing room and or my parking space?

No, for some reason I just don't think so. We'll be right back. How should we as Christians think about investing? What if we could invest our money in a way that aligns with what we believe? At Eventide, we believe it is possible to love God and love our neighbor in the very practice of investing. We design investments for performance and a better world so you can invest for the future with a sense of wholeness and purpose. We call this investing that makes the world rejoice.

More information is available at investeventide.com. Christian Health Care Ministries enables believers to meet their health care costs affordably, biblically, and compassionately. It's not insurance, but a voluntary cost sharing ministry based on the biblical example of Christians sharing each other's needs.

And members aren't fined under the law for not having health insurance. Christian Health Care Ministries might be your health cost solution. Call 800-791-6225 or visit chministries.org Hi, my name is Hal Hudson, a biblical studies major at the Moody Bible Institute. As we remember our nation's veterans, the Moody Radio Verse of the week is found in Deuteronomy 31.6. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them. For it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. That's Deuteronomy 31.6, the Moody Radio Verse of the week.

That's Deuteronomy 31.6, the Moody Radio Verse of the week. Do you know if you have enough? Enough money? Enough house?

Do you know how much is enough? If not, Ron Blue can help with his book Master Your Money, a step-by-step plan for experiencing financial contentment. Learn how to save, invest, and give wisely, how to create a long-term financial plan, and how to get out of debt.

You'll find it all in Master Your Money by Ron Blue, available when you click the store button at MoneyWise Live. With SRN News, I'm John Scott. President Trump has fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Esper, the president's second defense secretary, succeeding Jim Mattis, who resigned in 2018.

Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will serve as acting secretary. Secretary Ben Carson has tested positive for the coronavirus. Carson, the first member of President Trump's cabinet known to have tested positive. Pfizer may be the first to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, early data suggesting its vaccine may be 90% effective. The University of Notre Dame has implemented mandatory coronavirus testing for students and strict penalties for those who don't comply. That's after students rushed the school's football field to celebrate a double overtime upset of Clemson over the weekend.

Stock's finishing mix today, the Dow gained 834 points, the NASDAQ lost 181. This is SRN News. Here's what God's Word says in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 13, 3.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but I do not have love, it profits me nothing. Cleveland, Ohio, Charlene, thanks so much for your patience and what's on your mind? Yes, I would like to know. I own the home that I currently live in. It's a two-family home, and I wanted to go through some programs to get some work done. But they told me since it's one partial, I have to get the consent of the neighbor so we can enter the program together.

And I wanted to know, is there anything else I can do besides that? Yeah, interesting. Charlene, is this a duplex?

No, no, it's an up and down, no. Okay, and you're trying to go into a program. Give me a little bit more on that. The program is called the Heritage Home Program, where they come in and do some repairs, and you can take out a low-interest loan. But since it's not a duplex, I have to get the consent of my neighbor. Yes, I see. Have you had a conversation with your neighbor about this yet? Well, we haven't come together and talked about it because hers is different, you know what I mean? That's hers. I'm downstairs. She's upstairs.

So I don't know what to do. Well, I think the key here is, and I don't know specifically as to the rules and regulations on this particular program, and I can understand and appreciate that this may be true, in fact, that you would need the neighbor's signature. I think the key would be twofold. Number one is whether or not this neighbor is taking on any liability or in any way going to have some responsibility toward what you're taking on here in the way of borrowing. Clearly, that's going to be of interest, and if not, that that's made aware. And then secondly, I think what might be in the neighbor's benefit here is that, you know, these improvements perhaps may increase the property value, which would have a benefit to both parties, you and your neighbor. And I think if your neighbor understands that, what am I going to incur as a result of this, if anything, and probably nothing, and make that plain? And then secondly, what's the overall benefit to the property itself that your neighbor could benefit from upon resale? So I think it's going to need to involve you making sure you're real clear on exactly what's required in terms of the neighbor signing off on it, what they're attesting to, so you can explain that. And then thirdly, just in good faith, making it clear that you believe there are benefits, assuming you do, to both of you as a result of you doing this. So I'd probably get the information, if you don't have it all in writing, and then explore that and see if you can invite the neighbor to a conversation where you can explore this together. And make sure you ask the Lord for some wisdom before you go into that conversation. It may take a little bit of time.

Charlene, we wish you the best with that. That's a hard one. Rob, is it a possibility that a third party actually owns the building, owns the house, so you've got three families you're dealing with here?

Yeah, it's a good question. I'm just not sure enough about the situation and the particular program she's talking about, but I could certainly understand that if they were going to go in and offer this kind of assistance through this program, that it would require both owners to sign off on it. I think it's always going to come down to what are they actually agreeing to, and hopefully they can find some common ground here.

And Charlene, perhaps the people that run the program have run into this before, and perhaps they'd be willing to sit down with the two of you, you and your upstairs neighbor, to talk through the pros and cons, and that might help you in that they would be somewhat of an objective third party. We wish you the best with that. Thanks.

Chicago, Illinois, Sharon, how can we help you? Yes. I was sent a video in regards to velocity banking, whereas you can pay down your mortgage within five to seven years by taking out line of credit or a HELOC, and whatever you're comfortable with, $10,000, $15,000, and just taking that amount, applying it to the principal of your mortgage, and then your paychecks will go directly into the HELOC, or the line of credit, and then you will pay all of your bills through that, and you do that for maybe five to six months, however long that it takes you to pay off that HELOC, and then it's like a cycle.

You can continue to do it until your mortgage is paid off. Have you heard of that terminology before? Yes, Sharon, I am familiar with the program. In fact, we did a whole program on this, at least an opening segment on it recently. You might want to go to our website, MoneyWiseLive.org, and look for that.

It was in the last two weeks, and you can get a bit more information. Bottom line is this is not a scam, and there's some legitimacy to the math. The problem is it's very complicated, which is why most of these programs involve you buying a software program to help you manage it. That's how complicated it is.

You have to have software to do it. And to even start, you really have to have a very healthy cash flow, lots of discretionary income left over at the end of the month for it to work most effectively. You've got to be very good at staying on budget, or you'll end up just borrowing even more and racking up more interest. And typically, you're going to end up paying an extra $20,000 a year on your mortgage, which means you're committed to do that and have to have the cash flow to do that as well. And then, of course, if plans change and all of a sudden you have a drop in income or an increase in expense, another child decides to start a business, large medical bills, it can set the strategy back by years because you no longer have the same scenario in terms of the income that's being committed to it.

So for me, I advise against it, not because, again, it's a scam of any kind, but just because it's complicated, and I'd rather you not spend the upfront money to buy into the system or the software package. I'd rather you just stay focused on keeping your expenses dialed in, having plenty of margin. And once your emergency savings is funded, once you're giving systematically, once you've got 10% to 15% going toward retirement, then any extra can be used to accelerate the conventional mortgage by perhaps sending one extra payment a year or maybe one-twelfth of your payment in addition to your payment every month, something like that. I think that's just going to be a little more understandable, a little simpler, and you'll still accelerate your mortgage by five years or more on a 30-year mortgage doing that. Sharon, thank you very much. Let's quickly move to Fort Lauderdale.

Edline, you're on with Rob West. Yes, thank you for my call. My question is regarding insurance. I had the term life insurance for over 30 years, which is just mature in September. I don't know what is my next step.

What should I do? I was leaning toward burial insurance. I just turned 65, and my husband is 63. Are we worried? Because right now we have nothing in order.

I would love to hear your input. Yeah, Edline, I think if you're in good health, even at 65, you could replace this policy that's lapsed with a new policy. Perhaps 10 years would be good. Term insurance, another term policy, is going to be the most cost-effective way to do that. In fact, it's going to be probably less expensive than burial insurance. You'd only need a small policy. I think the key is you've got to define why are we getting the insurance. What's the purpose of it? Is it purely just for burial expenses on you and your husband?

Or is there some other purpose? Remember, we need to be saving throughout our working years so that you no longer have a need for insurance when you get to retirement. So I'd look at getting a policy that aligns with when you might no longer be working, perhaps at a point where you're going to live off Social Security in any savings you have.

But a new term policy of 10 or maybe 20 years is going to be the most cost-effective way to do that. Edline, with that, we're going to have to let you go. We have to hit a break here. We appreciate your call today. We'll be right back.

when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. It's breaking news for every unbeliever that everything happening was prophesied in the Bible. That gets their attention real quick. It's never been this easy to get people talking about God. Everyone wants to believe there's an all-powerful God who has everything under control. And you don't have to answer prophecy questions. It's far better to send than to Google, searching for scriptures on end times prophecies, signs of the times, the rapture, the antichrist, and Armageddon.

But do it yourself first so you know how easy it is. Join us at IgniteAmerica.com Do we worship people or things that are here today and gone tomorrow? Or do we bow our lives down to something or someone eternal, someone who loves us with the most amazing love, someone who cares about even the smallest details of our lives? Do you know Jesus, this Jesus who heals lepers, this Jesus who loves the poor, this Jesus who died for you and me, the Jesus who rose again? Do you know him?

This Jesus who aches for you, do you know him? Money and life run on the same track. But unfortunately, sometimes it seems like your money is heading in a different direction from your goals. In Never Enough, Three Keys to Financial Contentment, author Ron Blue helps you to break down all your financial options to a basic four and then shows you how to keep it all chugging along in the right direction on the same track. Never Enough, Three Keys to Financial Contentment, available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. Hey, we just want to thank you for tuning in today, and thank you also for your financial support that allows us to come to you Monday through Friday, 52 weeks a year. You can give, if you'd like, to this ministry when you visit MoneyWiseLive.org.

There's a lot of information there, a lot of free resources that you can look at and download yourself. And at the top right hand of the homepage, you'll find a link that says, what does that link say? It says donate. It does say donate, absolutely. Yes, donate being the key word there.

It's a new word for my vocabulary, obviously. And if you'd like to make a gift of any size, we would certainly be blessed. MoneyWiseLive.org. All right, Chicago, Illinois. Hello, Shannon. How can we help you today?

Thanks for your show. I'm standing here looking at my mirror, which I've taped, Romans 13, 8, that says, oh, no man anything, save to love one another. And so my question is, I have been carrying debt, 30,000 right now for years, and I'm just tired of the burden, and I'm believing God. Even though I lost my hotel job, and I've got two smaller store cards that are under 1,500, one's 1,500, one's 1,200, and then two larger cards, one's too large to name.

And then so I'm just, I just keep, I saved my stimulus money in a part-time job that I had, and I'm thinking, should I take that 3,000 and just pay off those too small or put it towards one of the larger? Okay, give me a rundown of the numbers, Shannon. And first of all, I'm really sorry to hear about you losing your job.

I know the hospitality industry has really gotten hurt in the midst of the pandemic. And let me just encourage you, God is your provider, and I'm clear, it's clear just by even your question that you want to honor the Lord in managing his money. And I'm confident that he will provide for you. It doesn't mean it's not going to be a difficult season. It doesn't mean that the church body, friends, and family may need to rally around you during this season. That's what we are called to do. But at the end of the day, God is your provider.

He will not abdicate that responsibility to anyone else. But I appreciate your desire to be found faithful here. Did you say you have 30,000 in debt? And if so, give me the quick breakdown on credit cards versus other types of debt. So two store cards, one's about $1,500. The other one's about $1,200. And then one major card is about $6,200. And then the other major card is about $26,000. Okay, all right. And you're paying the minimums on all of those right now?

They're current? Paying the minimums, right. And I tell you in the past, I, you know, paid off my student loan balance. It was a burden lifted. I paid off my Macy's right before the pandemic hit. I could just feel the load lifting. And now I do feel like the blessing in the pandemic is that not using the cards. One of the major cards premiums went down from 200 since March down to 158. And I still feel so encouraged by that. And I just feel like God is like saying to me, I'm going to do this, not you.

And so it took this pandemic to show me that. So my question is, should I just wipe out those two small ones which would make me feel so good or put that towards one of the bigger ones to help me get that premium down? Tell me what you have in savings right now. What's the total of your savings? About $10,000. Okay, about $10,000. And so, you know, that's the extent of your savings right now. And what income are you living on? Unemployment and odd jobs.

Okay, all right. And you're obviously looking for work and trying to get that income up. But in the meantime, with what you're collecting in unemployment and the work that you can find at least month to month to this point, you've been able to cover your living expenses plus the minimums on these cards? Or are you going further into debt? No, I'm not going further into debt. And I do have a wonderful support of friends and family.

Such a blessing. Yeah, no, that's great. Well, you know, apart from you just really having a conviction in your time with the Lord on paying off one of these, I'd be real hesitant in your current situation, Shannon, to take this $10,000 and put a lump sum against any one of these cards. Just because right now we need to try to preserve cash until you get to the other side of this unemployment situation. If you can find steady work and you've got some extra money and you say you want to take six months of emergency savings down to three months and try to knock out a couple of these cards, I think that would be a good thing. But right now while you have limited income, I'd be hesitant to do that. The other thing is I would reach out to our friends as a next step if you haven't already done something like this at Christian Credit Counselors. A debt management program could be a great alternative for you.

It may or may not work just given the employment situation. But if it does, getting on a regular monthly payment that fits into your budget probably no more than you're sending currently. But with the interest rates dramatically reduced, you can pay this off in credit counseling 80% faster with a fixed monthly payment. And you'll know you're making real progress every month as opposed to the majority of what you're sending going to interest.

So I would start there. They're going to pray with you, Shannon. They're going to evaluate your situation, get a listing of all your creditors, help you understand how much the interest rates will come down and what that monthly payment would be. And I think you'll be really encouraged. If you have questions when you're done, you can give us a call back. But it's christiancreditcounselors.org. I would start there first before you make any lump sum payments. And Shannon, your call to us is encouraging today to hear how God is working.

Obviously, we'd all like to see God work a little bit quicker than what he does sometimes, but that's where the faith component comes in. So you keep us posted and let us know how God works as you work through the rest of this debt and he helps you find your next full-time job. We're glad that you called today. Thanks very much.

Helping you understand and establish God's plan for your finances. If we can help you do that today, give us a call. We have a couple of open lines. Call right now. Get in.

800-525-7000. Fort Lauderdale. And Michael, we know you've been holding a bit. We appreciate that. And what's on your mind?

Hey, how are you guys doing? Thank you for taking my call. Sure. All right.

First of all, I'd like to congratulate everyone on our new president and decency in the White House. And my question is, people don't trust churches because they see pastors with jets and mansions and millions. But I understand that the Bible promises abundance, which applies to pastors as well. But do you think that people overjudge the situation with pastors and giving them charities, as long as the pastors are giving charities and following Jesus' teachings? Or do you think that they should live more of a modest life because people like Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell Jr., they have a lot of... Michael, I appreciate your question.

Let me weigh in on that. Here's my thought. Number one, you look across this country, most churches are very small, most pastors are often underpaid just because the churches have limited resources and they're trying to keep the lights on and hire enough staff to be able to serve and meet the needs of the body. And we're seeing often pastors who can't afford to put anything away for retirement or churches that aren't able to help doing any matching because so many of them are dramatically underpaid. And clearly, in God's Word, we are to give to the local church.

That's God's plan A. And we should be compensating appropriately to the ability of the church, our pastors, for this work that they do. Clearly, we see that in the New Testament. Obviously, if there are some examples of people who are living incredibly lavish lifestyles or highly compensated, I think those would certainly be the outliers when we look across the church landscape. Somebody who's been a part of a finance committee for many years at multiple churches, there's a process for how you appropriately determine the compensation of the pastor. And it has to do with salary surveys and experience and the number of people in the church and the level of responsibility. And you've got to answer to the IRS as to what's appropriate and customary for those salaries. And I think that's the job of the church leadership to do that appropriately as that compensation package is set.

And that needs to be transparent to the body. Now, as to how the pastor who takes that appropriate compensation uses that in terms of the decisions that are made with regard to lifestyle, I think that's between the pastor and the Lord. Each of us is going to give an account, right, as to how we handle God's money.

What are we doing with it? Are we living a life that is a testimony to the world of generosity and holding God's money loosely? And I think with that, living modestly, absolutely.

I think that's clear in Scripture. But as to how somebody divides that for their own home and answers the question, what kind of house am I going to live in? What kind of car am I going to drive? How much am I going to give? How much am I going to save?

What is my financial finish line? I think we all need to be on our knees before the Lord answering that question. But again, I would say the vast majority of people in full-time ministry, we're all full-time ministers, right? But those in churches, on leadership teams, pastors and executive pastors and youth pastors and education pastors, in many cases, if not the vast majority of cases, they are being paid. And I would say in many cases under what I would hope they would be paid, just because the church resources are limited. So you bring up a good point that we all need to be asking what's an appropriate lifestyle, but I think clearly we see a mandate in Scripture to pay our pastors appropriate compensation levels.

Michael, we're glad that you called today. Interesting subject, obviously one that we've talked about many, many, many times in the past. And Rob, you don't think it's inappropriate, again, for members of a church who are the ones that actually pay the pastor to ask if they see something in the church financially that doesn't seem to ring true. There's nothing wrong with asking in a respectful way, why are we doing this, who makes these decisions, how can I have some input, things like that, right?

I mean, the pastor is not above anyone else in the church when it comes to these things. Oh, clearly, Steve, and I think transparency needs to be really clear in terms of making plain to the congregation the budget and what's being done with the resources at an appropriate level of granularity, of course, but there needs to be transparency with God's money. MoneyWise Live! This program is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. Thanks for listening. Join us again tomorrow.