In 6:1-5 the writer of Proverbs warns us against taking on debt or co-signing for someone else. The wording of the passage suggests it is entirely about co-signing, but the reality of co-signing is that you are willing to take care of the debt if your friend is not able to pay the debt. Essentially you are agreeing to take on the debt yourself. In the event that the one who owes the debt cannot or does not pay, you are as responsible for the debt as the one who owes the money. Here in 6:1-5 agreeing to a debt in this way is considered foolish. The author asserts that one should humbly beg and plead to be released from this obligation or do whatever it takes to be released from the debt. The reason being that you are now at the mercy of your neighbor. He or she (along with the creditor) can easily dictate your financial future! Do not sleep until you are freed from this obligation! See also 11:15 & 17:18 for a similar line of thought.

Proverbs 22:7 makes a wise point that buying on credit is a dangerous trap. Quite simply the “borrower is servant to the lender.” This does not mesh well with a life that is to be 100% committed to following Christ and keeping our resources at his disposal to advance his kingdom. Borrowing money means that less of the money the Lord has given you will be yours to give back to him for a long time to come. Personally, I think it also shows a lack of faith that the Lord will provide and do so in his own time. Taking out a loan says, “I want it all and I want it now” (to quote the Dr. Pepper commercial). That’s a huge risk, especially in light of the fact that Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, what you will eat, drink or wear…but seek first His kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well (see Mt. 6:25-34).”

Taking out loans is gambling with your future…a future in which the Lord promises to provide for his followers. Proverbs 22:26-27 indicates as much in saying not to strike hands in pledge (take on debt) or put up security for debts (co-sign). The reason given is if you are not able to pay it back in its entirety, then everything you have will be taken from you.

I actually started writing this article in the beginning of May. It is interesting how much the financial landscape has changed even since then. Consumer confidence is near all-time lows, gas prices are soaring with no end in sight, financial institutions are struggling to make ends meet (ironically because they struck hands in pledge with far too many people who could not pay them back!), and all the while people still think that the only way out is to take out more lines of credit just to get them by. Certainly, debt is a downward spiral and difficult to get out of. The operative word is “difficult” not “impossible.”

So, you are probably thinking, “Are you saying we should never take on debt?” That appears to be the best case scenario and most wise decision based upon Scripture. I can make a case for taking on debt for the purchase of a home or to finance an education. Both of those are fairly safe investments, but the older I get, the more I realize just how dangerous even “investment” debt can be. The simple reason is that we just don’t know or control the future. If you ask me what is the most wise course of action, I’d say, “Don’t feel like you have to finish school in 4 years or whatever the length of your fulltime program is. Go at a pace you can also work and pay for your education as you go. It wouldn’t hurt to save up for the majority of your expenses before you start school. The same goes for purchasing a house. Wisdom says that saving up for the house and buying it outright is a much better decision than buying on credit. You don’t know if or when you will lose your job or if your house will suddenly drop so much in value that you are paying more for it than it is (or ever will be) worth.”

There are certain things which I believe you should never buy on credit, including: cars, clothes, food, toys, furniture…pretty much everything. The bottom line is that we don’t need everything as much as we think we do. Going without the latest and greatest for a while can be a very wise thing to do. According to Proverbs, the wisest among men and women do not buy things on credit if they don’t have the money to pay the debt immediately. I’d be interested in hearing what others think about this and why.

If you need help or guidance in some steps to get out of debt, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m not a financial guru and I’m not going to give you any money, but I can help you with common sense budgeting if you are willing to work at it. You’ll be glad you did!

In any case I just got back this past Sunday and besides life being somewhat busy since I’ve been back, I needed some time to recover from my trip (flying for 4 hours with a 2 year old will wear anyone out…plus after 2 weeks of being in a different time zone, I’m just not resetting my internal clock)!

I hope to post something new within the next week or so. Thanks for your patience (all 5 or so of you!).

I recommend that everyone read this book. However, you must be issued a warning before you start. This book will turn your Christian world upside down…in a good way of course! I’m warning you – Your response to this book will almost certainly be either wholesale disagreement and rejection of what is said, or you’ll be excited about being the church and feel liberated to do so! Viola and Barna leave little middle ground.

This book filters every major practice of Christianity through the grid of Scripture and church history. When did Christians start worshipping in buildings called churches? When did clergy start getting paid a salary? For that matter, when did the distinction of clergy and laity begin? Why does the order of worship look so familiar no matter what church you go to? Where did that order of worship come from? When did Christians start paying a tithe and why? When did the sermon take up prominence in Christian worship and why? Are any of these things Scriptural? Are any of them clearly against Scripture? Whoooo…a can of worms I tell you! This book asks these hard questions and more. You’ll be surprised, if not shocked, by the answers.

My advice to you is that you should never utter the words “We are just doing things by the Bible” with regard to church practice until you read this book. You’ll save yourself some lies (from ignorance of course). So much of what we think we are doing by the book we actually borrowed from pagan culture. If nothing else, this book should leave you with a sense of gratefulness for the mercy of God who saves us even from our own messed up religious practices that have no biblical merit whatsoever.

Christianity needs this book. I’m glad to find out it has been written. I didn’t want to be the one to write it. Besides not being nearly as good at research and writing as this tandem, I’m glad that someone else can claim ownership of such a controversial call to change! I’ll take enough heat for recommending the book, I’m sure. What Viola and Barna write in this book is not rocket science. It’s plain as day, right before our eyes in the Scriptures themselves, but we’ve missed the forest for the trees. Go ahead, read it! You know you want to (and need to)!

Of course there are statements in Proverbs that are always true. Very early in the book (1:7) we find one of those sayings. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” When all of Proverbs is filtered through the lens of this verse, it makes every statement much more clear. This is particularly easy to see with regard to money. Wisdom is essential for handling money. Without wisdom poor choices will be made that will almost always result in eventual poverty…or in our culture, extreme debt.

There are two kinds of wisdom: worldly wisdom and wisdom from God. Really, there is only one kind of wisdom. The wisdom of the world is actually foolishness. Wisdom from above is true wisdom. One cannot claim wisdom in any arena of life without first fearing the Lord. It’s the beginning or foundation of true wisdom. You cannot handle your money wisely if you don’t believe there is a God who is in control of all things. You won’t use your finances wisely if you don’t believe there is an eternal life after this temporary one where we will be given or denied true riches based on what we do with what the Lord gives us in this life.

Proverbs says a number of things specifically about the fear (or trust) of the Lord as it relates to wealth. In 3:5-10 we find the familiar verses (3:5-6) that tell us to trust in the Lord with all our heart, acknowledge him in everything and he’ll make the path of our lives straight. Few realize that within the flow of thought in this passage that Solomon relates the concept of trusting and acknowledging the Lord to our wealth. The Lord will provide beyond our needs when we treat our wealth as though it is His. When we use it for his purposes before our own, he will bless us. For the Old Testament believer this meant tithing (much more than 10%). For the New Testament believer it means using our money to obey Christ’s commands to care for the poor and needy, the orphans and widows, and to share with our brothers and sisters in Christ (among other things). When we do this, we are promised that our needs will always be met (see also Matt 6:25-34). Not to mention that such obedience is viewed by Christ as performing the act of kindness directly to him. Such obedience comes with the promise of an eternal reward. (Matt. 25:31-46).

Long life, being satisfied with what one has and not being affected when calamity strikes (19:23) are characteristic of those who fear God. Often the financial situation of those who fear the Lord, and therefore follow his pattern of handling worldly wealth, typically find themselves in good financial standing by the world’s standard. This is not what this passage promises, however. Though this verse does imply that God will provide for the needs of those who trust him, it is clearly stating that those who fear Him characteristically are satisfied with what they have no matter how wealthy they are. Therefore, when calamity does strike, they know they are just as okay as during times of plenty, because their trust is in the Lord and not their possessions.

“The reward for humility and fearing the Lord is riches and honor and life.” (22:4) One might be tempted to develop some sort of prosperity theology out of this verse, but I think it is impossible to do so without ignoring the rest of Scripture. This proverb assures God fearers that humble and fearful obedience to God in this life means they have their focus set on the promised life to come. Obviously, this verse does not come right out and say that in as many words, but it is an assumption we can make when we take the entire counsel of God’s Word into consideration. There was a sense that the people of Israel were promised prosperity in this life, as God’s chosen people, for fearing and obeying God. Under the new covenant we are promised that our needs will be met and we are promised reward in the life to come.

If we are to handle our finances in a God honoring way, then it starts with a correct view of God. He is a God to be feared (as in tremble in fear while lying face down on the ground for lack of strength to stand kind of fear). Though he is a merciful God his glory is too awesome to behold. Those who have seen even the reflection of his glory were either maimed, blinded, scared to death…or in fact died. We will all stand before him one day, either covered in his grace or wishing we could flee from his presence. One evidence that we are covered in his grace is that we fear him enough to obey his counsel concerning our finances.

She is willing to work outside the home. This is not the life she pictured at any point before 2-3 years ago. Her skills are more valuable than mine in the business world. She works to support our family financially for two very important reasons. First, so that I can take care of our daughter…as of the beginning of July we’ll also have another daughter. Second, it allows for me to not have to take a salary from the network of churches we are starting. This is absolutely monumental for what we are trying to do here in Vegas and around the world. We want to be an example of a family who uses what they have to honor God. We want to show that every Christian is a minister of Jesus Christ, not just the ones who get paid for it

Although I’m always proud of my wife for being a team player, the reason that prompted me to write this post is that I’m especially proud of her today. I am increasingly seeing a desire build within her to live out her faith…to take seriously the commands of Christ. Christ has much to say about caring for the poor. His teachings are not things he made up during his 30 or so years on this earth, but rather a reflection of what the Old Testament scriptures had been teaching all along (not ironically Scriptures he himself inspired through the Holy Spirit). When we see the poor, we are supposed to help them. I’ll write more about this in a couple “Proverbs on Finances” posts that I’ll be doing shortly, so I don’t want to go into it too much here. Let’s just say the poor are a subject Christ is not silent about.

Anyway, Kelly goes on walks during lunch. It is no understatement to say that there are LOTS of homeless people in Vegas. She sees a number of them every day. I’ve been encouraging her to help them when she sees them. Sometimes she gives them an orange, an apple or something else from her lunch. Today she called me to let me know she bought lunch for a homeless man she sees on a regular basis. I’m so proud of her obedience to Christ!

Some people might say she’s just enabling him. I say she’s loving him as Christ does. Christ doesn’t ask us to assess the situation when we see someone in need and guess as to whether or not we’re actually helping them or hindering them. He asks us to love them (read: help them by meeting their immediate needs…regardless if they deserve it or not). Period. Who knows if this guy will ever straighten his life out or get off the streets? Who knows if he will come to know Christ as Savior and Lord?

What is clear is that he is seeing Christ through my wife. That is important…both for him and for my wife. It’s important for him because the Gospel is not simply a message of fire insurance from hell…it is also a way of life that is modeled by obeying Christ’s commands to love our neighbor (Yes, loving our neighbor also means loving the homeless druggie on the corner). It’s important to her because there is clear evidence that the message of truth has been implanted within her, she has humbly welcomed it and is living it out (see James 1:18-27).

I’m proud of her and am encouraged that her faith is becoming more alive and active with each passing month. My hope and prayer is that we can cultivate a community of believers that takes Christ’s commands seriously every moment of every day, just like my wife did today.

This is the first in a series of posts that I’ll discuss what I’ve learned. Much of it is review and common sense, but maybe for some people it will be eye opening or helpful in some way. In any case, keep an eye out for other posts. I’ll try to keep them coming at a clip of once every 2-4 days. This series could be as many as 14 posts long, but I haven’t decided how to break them down yet. I have 14 topics to cover, so that seems most logical. I might combine a couple of the smaller ones. We’ll see.

Here’s a list of the topics to, hopefully, perk your interest:

1. Blessings are typical for those who trust God.
2. Bribes are a shady business.
3. Faithful stewardship preferred over rapidly gained wealth.
4. Generosity is a characteristic of the godly.
5. Righteousness is preferred over riches.
6. False friends are ever-present in times of wealth.
7. Co-signing or taking on debt should be avoided at all costs.
8. Wisdom is preferred over wealth.
9. Finding security in wealth has a false bottom.
10. Satisfaction – wealth is a matter of perspective.
11. What Proverbs has to say about the poor.
12. The righteous response to the poor.
13. The false appeal (and stupidity) of unjust profit.
14. Contrasts between the diligent steward and the lazy sluggard.

I won’t necessarily cover these in this order. I tend to operate as the wind blows and time allows. I’d love your interaction throughout the series!

One of the things I liked about this book is that it was not bitter towards the traditional models of church. Sometimes house church people can be renegades who have an agenda against anything traditional. You won’t find that attitude with Kreider and McClung. In fact, their last chapter suggests ways in which simple churches, mega churches and community churches can work together to accomplish Christ’s purposes. While they both admittedly prefer the micro church model, they admit no one model of church reaches everyone, and the Scriptures extend great freedom to various expressions of church life. Working in unity will allow us to be more effective as a whole.

There was also a very helpful chapter on “Pitfalls to Avoid” (chapter 14). They give much good advice on where not to tread and what to expect if you do. I found myself all too readily identifying with some of the pitfalls, so it was a good warning from a trusted source. I’ll let you read it yourself, but here’s a quick list of the pitfalls to avoid…maybe it will perk your interest:

The Pitfall of:

1. Consumer Christianity
2. Inauthentic Community
3. Pride
4. Fear
5. An Independent Spirit
6. Heresy
7. Discouragement

If you are beginning your search on starting a house church, this is a good place to start. If you’re like me and are already convinced that starting a simple church is a good idea, then we must continue our search for the definitive “how to” guide. I’m open to suggestions at this point!

As I began reading the book, I was immediately confronted with the fact that this book is written for established churches that “do church” from a traditional perspective with buildings, multiple paid staff, large budgets, many programs, and lots of people and programs already in place. We are not in that situation as we still only have the four people who originally moved here to start this church planting movement. Once more, we don’t intend to become a church organization with a building, paid staff, etc. We desire to grow through a simple house church network organically. So, immediately within the first two chapters, I was disappointed that I bought the book and it was not what I expected.

I determined to keep reading it anyway and found it to be quite useful nonetheless. Here are few positives and negatives from my perspective…the bad news first:

1. If your definition of simple church = house church or organic church, then be warned that this book is not a “how to” manual for getting your network going.
2. While this book does identify a major problem in our churches today…that they are complex and ineffective as a result, it does not in my mind take the reader far enough into the problem. I believe the way churches are typically run are complex even when Rainer and Geiger’s advice is followed. It is a good first step to simplify the entire process of making disciples, but the complexity runs much deeper than just the program level of the church. It extends to church budgets, buildings and professional staff. I don’t believe the first Christians ever envisioned the church as an economic giant as we have here in America in the 21^st century. The greatest percentage of our time and resources are spent just keeping the organization running from a legal and business perspective. Believe me, I know…and we JUST started. Identifying the complexity problem and committing to fix it runs deeper than Rainer and Geiger acknowledge in this book.
3. It seems that numerical growth is the main concern. I know Rainer and Geiger would say it is not and that making disciples is. However, church life is not always simple. Sometimes its members require discipline or even exclusion. Numerical growth is not all important in these instances. The health of the body is at risk when cancerous individuals are allowed to continue in it. It may be that they just refuse to comment on the subject because it is outside the scope of this book’s purpose, but it is certainly something to keep in mind while reading.

Now for the good:

1. Even if you are trying to start a simple/house/organic church network you still need to have a plan. This book will help you keep that plan simple. We thought our plan was pretty simple, but turns out it needed to be simplified even more. The four words that Rainer and Geiger repeat over and over again are Clarity, Movement, Alignment & Focus. We needed work in each of those areas and this book is helping us move towards simplicity in all of them. This is a great time to do so, because, as the book mentions, the longer you’ve been in existence, the more difficult it is to simplify. What better time than at the beginning!
2. We are urged to simplify down to our ultimate objective…developing followers of Jesus Christ. All our plans and processes need to fall in line and work towards that objective. Everything else must go.
3. We were challenged to improve our clarity. We had a simple stated mission, but a simple mission statement does nothing for you if you don’t make it clear to everyone involved. Already the only ones who could probably tell you the mission statement were my church planting partner, Andrew, and myself. Our wives probably can’t tell you what it is unless they look it up on the website. Everyone needs to be clear where they are going, so we need to constantly talk about and clarify where we are going.
4. Movement is also key. We have lots of ideas as to how to minister to our community in Las Vegas, and how to make disciples, but we don’t have an organized process for how to lead someone from a casual observer to a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Simple steps to the process are needed. The process needs to be visual and a clear invitation must be made to the next step in the process for those who want to go. We must be proactive about moving people through the process and not just assume it will happen.
5. The book challenged our focus. Again, we have many good ideas, but ultimately our focus needs to be on following Christ and leading others to do the same. Adding more programs, events, plans, etc. will not necessarily help. Most of the time more is actually less. More stuff activity can detract from the process. Be willing to say “no” to stuff that doesn’t develop followers of Christ. Be willing to eliminate stuff you are already doing if it isn’t part of the simple process of making disciples.

Overall, I recommend the book. It is worth a read. This is the first book I’ve read that would be of significant help to established churches. They are not offering another model, but a solution to a major problem (complexity) in our churches today. It can also be helpful for the house church network leader in terms of developing a strategy, but you must bear in mind that this book is not specifically directed towards that model in spite of the title.

1. Christ prayed for the unity of the church. It was a major concern of his. (John 17)
2. The basis of the unity that Christ prayed for is the unity of our Triune God. (John 17)
3. Our unity is essential for building up the body of Christ as a whole. (Ephesians 4)
4. Christ gives spiritual gifts to each member of the body so that it will be 100% unified down to the last supporting ligament. (Ephesians 4)
5. Our salvation is based upon the life, death, burial, resurrection and expected return of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1)
6. Our rich heritage, as great as it might be cannot save us. Our rallying point is in the person and work of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1)
7. In the end, God’s people will all be one. (Revelation 21-22)
8. Our very life depends on the living water that will flow from Christ’s throne. (Revelation 21-22)

One person or even a group of people cannot fix the problem of division in the church. However, we serve a God who can. Might I suggest we do at least these very important things while we wait for God to make all things new?

1. Echo Christ’s prayer for the unity of all believers (John 17). Pray the barriers we have created will be broken down in our lifetime. Pray that we can worship our Trinitarian God in unity just as Christ prayed to the Father. Pray that we will set our eyes collectively on eternity rather than the present moment. The problem of division is enormous and the solution will only be found through tapping into the power of the only being in the universe who can redeem what we have destroyed. Jesus said we can move mountains with faith as small as a mustard seed (Mt 17:20). Disunity of the church is a mountain of epic proportions and it cannot be moved without prayer.
2. As far as it depends on us as individuals, seek to embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of their race, culture, location on earth or the denomination they have chosen. If we are worshipping the Triune God together, then in the end we will be one. Our worship will be singularly focused in eternity. Why not beg God to allow a taste of that unity now?
3. Can we agree to point to common creeds instead of dividing lines? If believing rightly is the major issue, then the history of the church has provided us a rich tradition of creeds that we can all claim. Why do we all have to go our own way?
4. Admit that there IS a problem and we need to work towards a solution through God’s grace.
5. Focus our attention on multiplication rather than division. The Great Commission is about multiplication. Certainly we can’t all meet in one building, but we need to strive to bring the sweet message of the Gospel to everyone. Through the power of the Spirit, we need to multiply to the ends of the earth. Division always slows down multiplication.

I believe we should do more than the above, but even this would be a great start!