Radio Seminar: Goals/Biblical Foundations
Dave Ramsey: Co-Signing
John Maxwell: “Personal Development”
(UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT)
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Financial Freedom God’s Way Radio. This is where you are going to continue to learn, apply, and pass on, Bible-based financial principles and applications so that you and your family will not only just survive, but thrive during these very uncertain times.
Hi and welcome everyone, this is Bob Louder from Christian Financial Ministries, and it is an absolute honor to have you with us again—it really is. What is on the schedule for our 30-minute time together?
- Today, first during the Your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar, you are going to review just a bit, take a quick overview of what yet to come, and then we will talk through some of the great reasons to be here each week—we’ll talk about some goals—some of our goals and what can be some of your goals.
- All of that, plus, a great, straight to the point teaching from Dave Ramsey.
- Finally, well finally you will hear yet another Minute with Maxwell where Christian leadership author, teacher, trainer, mentor, and Coach John Maxwell will share with us his thoughts on Developing Yourself…boy is that a good word for us today.
- My friend, during our time today and all of our times together yet to come, you are going to discover that FFGW radio is not for just casual listening, oh no, what you are going to hear, learn, and begin to apply will absolutely change the spiritual, material and financial areas of your life beyond what you could ever imagine.
So stay tuned, won’t you. It is going to be a great time together. As we start, let me pray for us. Father, thank You for meeting with us again today. Please give us ears to hear all that it is you have planned for us, to Your glory, in Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
BODY
Your Finances in Perilous Time Radio Seminar
Review/Overview
Ok, as we get started, first, recall that during this Your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar, you are going to learn how to best manage all the material areas of your life in ways that are pleasing to God. And you discovered that God’s way to get you ready to serve both spiritually and financially is to prayerfully and thoughtfully respond to His three questions—the same three questions He as has asked countless men and women down through the ages are the same three questions He is asking you right now.
What are those questions? First: Will you show me your hand—which is God’s way of making sure you have set or reset your relationship with Him. Second: What is in your hand—this is where you prayerfully figure out what He has given you to work with? And third: Will you give me your hand and what’s in it? This is where all the information He is giving you turns into lifestyle transformation.
Now, If you need to re-listen to or get a transcript of any of our previous times together you can do that on our website at www.christianfinancialministries.org. By the way, this Radio seminar started with program #88.
Now that your relationship with God is set or reset; now that you know why you’re here; now it’s time for you to see the opportunities you have to work out God’s three questions and get them up and operating in your life and hopefully and prayerfully help get them up and operating in the lives of others as well.
- And this is where you will set some critical scriptural foundations based on
- Two Key Biblical Principles
- Six critical Bible verses, and
- 7 important spiritual tools.
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- And, you’ll also see the important part the Holy Spirit has to play in your finances, and
- AND, how to get all dressed up in your spiritual financial armor.
- What you’re going to find is that most of what you’re going to receive during this seminar will be right from the Word of God. But along the way, I am also share with you some personal opinions, and I will always try to identify it as just that…opinion.
- I need to make something perfectly clear…I cannot tell the future. And as the matter of fact, I don’t know anyone who can tell the future.
- By the way, did you know that there were two kinds of prophets in the Old Testament—only two types? One told the future and the other told forth God’s Word. There were quite a few people back then who told forth God’s Word…but there were not a whole lot of folks who did a good job telling the future. And it’s the same way today. You and I, all of us, we are all prophets in the sense that we all can help tell forth God’s Word– that is the Holy Spirit working in and through us. But it was a rare person then and it is a rare person now who can foretell the future.
- By the way, do you remember how you could always tell if a person who tried to tell the future was from God? According to the book of Deuteronomy, if his short-range prophecies came true, he was from God and you were supposed to pay attention to what he had to say about the future—about the long term. But if the short-term prophecies did not come true, then he was not from God and what you had was a false prophet.
- Now, do you also remember the Old Testament cure for a false prophet problem? Sure you do. You see, when he gave you a short term prophesy that did not come true, you simply took him out to the rock pile and made him a part of it. That solved your false prophet problem.
- Therefore, I can assure you, I am not a prophet… I cannot tell the future. But I am going to share with you some personal opinions and I will always make sure to let you know that they are opinions.
- Now, if you’re like me, this seminar experience will be kind-a like taking a drink from a fire hose. Information is going to come so fast and furious, that it’s going to be real hard to take it all in much less get it all up and operating in your life. So what can you can prayerfully do to best hold onto what you hear? I suggest four things to consider.
- First, prayerfully listen to the broadcast, then
- Print out, read, and study the transcript at our website at www.christianfinancialministries.org.
- Number 3: Consider right now with whom you might be able to share some of all of what you are going to be learning during our times together. Why? Experts find that if you think about how you would share or teach new material at the same time you are learning the new material, you absorb and internalize that new material far faster than if you simply plan to learn it and use it for yourself.
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- # 1 Prayerfully listen. #2 study the transcript. #3 Ask the Lord to give you someone to talk with about what you are learning. Then #4, is to review. Again, the experts tell us that spaced repetition is essential to learning. OK, let me say that again, experts tell you that spaced repetition is essential for you to learn. So what do you need to do? Review. Review. Review.
- OK? OK. These are some thoughts on how to get the most from your times with the Lord during the radio seminar.
Seminar Goals
Now, with all this background, it’s time set some goals. Your goals are the most important but I want to start with some of our goals because once you understand what our goals are, they may help you set and meet your goals.
CFM Goals
- First, from our perspective, you need to give the Holy Spirit the chance to set a scriptural, biblical foundation for you.
- This biblical financial foundation starts with KNOWLEDGE from God’s Word. You need to understand what God has to say and why—those are the “whats and the why-tos.” But you already know that knowledge alone is never going to be enough. If you really want to get close to God and stay close to God, you already know that you need to learn how to apply what God’s Word has to say. So part of what you are going to do is to take some time to look at some practical applications as well—the “how-to’s.” You’ll begin to discover how to apply what God Word says on a day-in and day-out basis.
- But a quick word of caution: you need to start with the principles, and then move to the applications. That way you can recognize and deal with problems rather than simply treat symptoms.
- You see, according to God’s Word financial issues are always symptoms of spiritual problems. Did you know that? Finances are always the symptom of a problem and the problem is, according to the Bible, the problem is always spiritual.
- The good news is that for every spiritual problem, there is what? For every spiritual problem there is a spiritual solution. These spiritual solutions are found in Biblical principles. So you need to start with a foundation built on Biblical financial principles…what does God’s Word say and why.
- We’ll talk more about this in just a minute. But basically, when you finish up this Radio Seminar, you will know and be able to apply
- The two most important biblical financial principles in all of God’s Word,
- Six key Bible verses, and
- Seven critical spiritual tools.
- You need to give the Holy Spirit the chance to set a scriptural, biblical foundation for you. So, first, you’re going to work on your biblical knowledge—that’s one of our goals.
- Secondly, you also need to give the Holy Spirit the chance to change some of your attitudes about money and material possessions.
- What do I mean by attitudes? Your attitudes are the positive or maybe even the negative thoughts and emotions and feelings you have about whatever it is you know.
- If you stop and think about it, what you know about money you probably learned from from the world, not from God’s Word. Right? I’ll bet most everything you ever learned about money—how to make it, give it, save it, spend it, invest it, and all the rest—you probably learned looking through worldly eyes.
- So, what you need to do is to begin to see the subject of financial management through spiritual eyes, so you don’t yield to the pressures of the world any more. You need to be able to see and do the right things in the right way for all the right reasons and this means some of your attitudes about money and material possessions may need to change.
- And when you meet these first two goals, and you will meet them, you’ll be well on your way to meet our third goal which is to help free-up God’s people—not only for you to apply and receive a blessing, but to also pass along what you learn so others may be blessed as well.
- You need to know that Christians all over the country, and as the matter of fact, Christians all over the world are not only surviving economically today, they are thriving economically today because God’s people are coming to the absolute realization that the financial principles found in God’s Word form a blueprint for successful living.
- His principles are “supra-cultural.” That means that His principles applied back then, they apply today, and they will apply 1000 years from now should the Lord tarry.
- His Word applies. In His Word you’re going to find instructions on how to live to please Him in all the areas of your life, including your financial life. Your Bible is His instruction book on how you are to live.
- Let me tell you a quick story. There was a time when I used to spend a whole lot of time driving to and from live seminars all across the Southern part of the United States; you know, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. One time coming back from a seminar in Alabama I was trying to find something on the radio to help keep me awake. Best I can remember it was after midnight. Radio after midnight in the South at that time, well it was hard to find something meaningful much less anything to keep me awake. But I came across a Southern Baptist preacher who was waxing eloquently he was really going after it. Now, having said that, I don’t remember the subject of his sermon, but I do remember an example he used. He came up with the best, actually the only, acronym for the Bible I’ve ever heard. He said that the Bible—the B-I-B-L-E—stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Is that good or what? Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
- That’s it in a nutshell, isn’t it? Part of what you find in the Bible, happen to be basic, life-giving financial instructions in the form of biblical financial principles.
- And by the way, His financial principles apply if you have a little or a lot, they apply if you owe a little or a lot, if you are single or married, they apply whether or not you are young or if you are young at heart.
- If you really want to move into financial freedom God’s way, the first stop you need to take is right in God’s Word–the financial freedom principles found in God’s Word. This is a book of love. Did you know that? This is a book of mystery. It’s a book of revelation, a book of prophecy, a book of family planning, a book of financial coaching. This is your owner’s manual for your soul.
- So these are some of the goals we think are important.
- Allow the Holy Spirit to set some scriptural financial foundations for you—what does God say and why.
- Allow the Holy Spirit to change some of your attitudes about money and material management.
- And finally, begin to apply what you receive so that you and others can not only just survive, but thrive during these perilous financial times. These are some of the goals we have…
Your Goals
…but what about you; what are your goals for our time together. Why are you here?
- There may be lots of reasons for why you are here.
- On one hand, you may be looking to solve a particular problem or get an answer to specific questions. If that’s the case, that’s exactly what I pray will happen.
- On the other hand, maybe you don’t have any particular questions or problems. Maybe you just want to learn how to make a good thing even better, and if that’s the case in your case, Praise the Lord.
- Or maybe you are somewhere in between.
- Or, maybe you don’t know for SURE why you’re here.
- Or even better yet, maybe you do know for sure why you’re here, and he or she is sitting right next to you with a sharp, pointed elbow ready for a whole bunch of punching and poking.
- Whatever the case may be, in your case, it’s important for you to consider why you are here.
- So, after the program today, take a minute and write down your goals for all of our time together. For example, why are you here? What do you expect to learn? What do you expect God to do for you? What blessing do you seek? What do you want to learn to be able to share with someone else? If you are single, write them down. If you are married each of you write it down.
- Write down your goals…be clear and be specific. Experts will tell you what your already know…The most common time waster and the biggest obstacle to success in life is losing sight of what you are trying to accomplish, or forgetting what you set out to do in the first place. So, what do you do? You write down a least one overall goal for all of your time working with the Your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar.
- We’ll come back to these goals quite often. My friend, strong, clear, measurable, timely goals will help you swim against the natural current, they will help you violate the Law of Least Resistance, and keep you off of Someday Isle as well. Strong, clear and measurable goals will help keep you focused.
- Whatever the case may be, in your case, it’s important for you to consider why you are here.
Seminar Wrap Up
Well, this brings us to a close for this Radio Seminar time together…and what a time together it’s been. You now know that during our times together each week,
- you will set some critical scriptural foundations based on
- Two Key Biblical Principles
- Six critical Bible verses, and
- 7 important spiritual tools.
-
- And, you’ll also see the important part the Holy Spirit has to play in your finances.
- Plus, we did some goal setting—our goals and some thoughts about possible goals for you.
- And finally, recall what we know to be the four best ways for you to get the most out of the Lord’s radio time with you. Remember what they are?
- #1: Prayerfully listen hard.
- #2: Print, read, and study the transcript.
- #3 Ask the Lord to give you someone to talk with about what He is teaching you.
- Then #4, is to review.
Now, next time you are going to be in for a real treat because next time you’ll begin to see the part Rex, our Roman soldier friend has to play in your personal finances when we begin to talk about God’s spiritual financial armor.
I’m going to see you next time…don’t forget to write down at least one goal.
Dave Ramsey
Alright then, now it’s time to get a bit back to normal—it’s time that we have the time to listen to some great teaching words from Dave Ramsey. So, let’s do just that—let’s listen.
Now, that’s a great word—stay away from co-signing even for your family. Dave says don’t do it and so does the Bible. Don’t do it. Thanks Dave.
John Maxwell
Finally, as promised, Christian leadership author, teacher, trainer, mentor, and Coach John Maxwell has some great thoughts to share with us about self development—let’s listen.
Wow, those are some great words to consider for our Your finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar. Thanks John.
WRAP UP
And that, well, that is all the time we have for today, so, let me closes us in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for bringing us together today and for each of the days to come to Your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a blessed rest of your day, won’t you, and we will see you next time as we continue down your personal road to Financial Freedom God’s Way.
