ABOUT US
INTRODUCTION
Christian Financial Ministries
Thank YOU for answering God’s call to be part of God’s work through Christian Financial Ministries. Our prayer is that you and your family will be blessed and that God will continue to grow within you the desire and the abilities to be used by Him to bless others. Thank you to our current and past volunteer Board of Directors, leadership, and staff members who have so faithfully given their time and talents so you and others can be blessed. A special thanks to all the individuals, families, and organizations who support Christian Financial Ministries with their prayers and “Donate It Forward” financial gifts.
Overview
Christian Financial Ministries, Inc, prayerfully designed and presented to help you understand, apply and pass-on Bible-based financial principals and practical applications. The President and founder of Christian Financial Ministries (Rev. Bob Louder, MBA, Ph.D.) prayerfully organized this Ministry based on the following:
- Long-time associations with Mr. Larry Burkett and Christian Financial Concepts as a Seminar and Workshop Author and presenter, Certified Teacher, Trainer, and Coach beginning in 1988;
- Initial work with Crown Financial Ministries serving on the Christian Financial Concepts/Crown Ministries transition team prior to Mr. Burkett’s untimely death; and
- Continuing work with the Dave Ramsey organization as a Certified Coach since 2004;
- Continuing work with the John Maxwell Team as a Certified Team Member since 2016.
- In addition, this ministry is the result of considerable research and review of many other Christian and secular financial teaching, training, and coaching resources to include the Good Sense Ministry at Willow Creek Community Church, Reverend Pat Robertson, and Reverend Rick Renner.
Our Mission Statement
Our Mission Statement describes the ministry “business” we are in, and how what we do will benefit those whom God brings–why we exist and what our purpose is.
Our Mission is to “Help Bring People To Or Back To A Personal Relationship With God Through Jesus Christ. Then, Help Equip God’s People for Works of Service.”
How We Do It: Prayerfully mobilize community resources to help community individuals, families, churches, businesses, and organizations prayerfully help people help themselves and others spiritually, and financially prepare for Bible-based works of service.
Our Core Bible Verse:
“…prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:12
Our Vision Statement
Our Vision Statement Reveals the picture of what we prayerfully anticipate we will BE, DO, and HAVE within ten years (2030) as we pursue our Mission.
- What we will BE:
- Recognized as the community “go-to” ministry for professional, Bible-based financial teaching, training, mentoring, and coaching.
- Attract and care for the best volunteers and generously reward our paid contractors.
- Prayerfully set and meet aggressive social entrepreneurial targets.
- What we will DO:
- Prayerfully practice what we teach financially. We will operate from a budget, remain debt-free, give, and keep a reasonable cash reserve.
- Prayerfully train and support others to offer Ministry services.
- Update our programs with the most recent content and delivery methodologies.
- What we will HAVE:
- An established and experienced LOCAL Board of Directors.
- An established and experienced LOCAL Leadership Team.
- An established and experienced LOCAL Community Advisory Group.
- Established LOCAL Community Partnerships.
- Established grant, grantor, and fundraising programs.
- Established and professionally operated Social media programs.
Our Mission Methodology
God willing, we will accomplish our Mission as the Lord leads us to prayerfully
- Mobilize community individuals, businesses, and organizations to serve community individuals, families, businesses, and organizations.
- We will prayerfully help people help themselves and others to spiritually and financially prepare for Bible-based works of service.
- Practically speaking, we will help individuals successfully identify, correct, and overcome root spiritual, financial, and relational issues rather than just treating the financial symptoms.
- We will use the best individual and small group methodologies, technology, the Internet, and leverage the spiritual gifts God gives His people. Individuals will receive the highest quality, highly accountable, Bible-based financial and relational teaching, training, coaching and mentoring services and products that help individuals and families:
- Come to, or come back to a personal and growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ,
- Strengthen their families,
- Keep their finances out of bankruptcy, their homes and businesses out of foreclosure, and their marriages free from divorce all by learning how to dump debt then work to build and pass on wealth. do it all God’s way, and
- Help others do the same.
Our Motto:
“Financial Freedom God’s Way–Learn It, Live It, Lead Others To it.”
Our Core Values
Our Core Values speak to the character or “personality” of Christian Financial Ministries. Various things, for us, will never change. The values we operate under offer the perpetual representation of the Lord’s work through us.
- We are Christ-Centered. We:
- Base our Mission and Operations on our faith in God through Jesus Christ.
- Facilitate His Gospel.
- Acknowledge His ownership and our stewardship.
- Seek His direction.
- Expect His provision.
- Facilitate His Gospel.
- We are prayer driven. We:
- Pray individually.
- Pray with our Ministry and Team Members Leadership Team members.
- Facilitate others to pray for our community, state, Nation, Israel, and for the Peace of Jerusalem.
- We are built on ministry and business best practices. We:
- Follow Jesus’ small group discipleship model to develop and employ Bible-based methodologies and other innovative combinations of Bible-based financial services and products that are excellent and effective.
- Care for our Ministry and Leadership Team Members in every way possible.
- Provide “Second Mile Service.”
- Build, grow, and submit to an excellent Board of Directors.
- Embrace “risk” in order to practice social entrepreneurship.
- Maintain our membership in and support of appropriate associations, organizations, and networks.
- Work to increase our knowledge and proficiencies.
- Meet or exceed all applicable federal, state, and local statutes, licensing, insurance, and/or bonding requirements.
Our Vital Objectives
Our Vital Objectives are general statements and, although unmeasurable, support one another. Over the next three to five years (2020-2026), as the Lord leads, we will prayerfully implement the following six Vital Objectives:
Our Stop List
- Stop all live Seminars and Workshops except those we offer locally.
- Eliminate traditional operating costs by using home offices.
- Defer recruiting new Ministry Team Leaders. Focus on growing our current Ministry Team Leaders.
- Do not pay for digital or print advertising by creating and posting our own material when possible.
Our Second Mile Service
Going the Second Mile comes from the book of Matthew. Jesus says, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” (Matthew 5:41)
In ministry, as it is in life, people have certain expectations: Be nice, work hard, be ethical, and say “please” and “thank you.” We should do those things because it is right. It is expected. it is obligatory, and most of the time a compulsion that takes little. It is the First Mile.
Going the Second Mile ups the ante. It is the “above and beyond.” It is under-promising and over-delivering. It is analyzing Ministry Applications to find what people value and to discover their expectations. It is sending personal emails, making personal phone calls, and listening. It is helping Team Members work through a financial crisis. It is sending electronic birthday cards and personally responding to their Blogs, Prayer Requests, and Praise Reports. It is making available to any Ministry Team member any of our published content to use as the Lord directs–all at no charge.
Going the Second Mile means putting others before yourself in a world that is all too often about “me, me, me.”
Our History
In the past, we were not particularly unique. We ministered with Larry Burkett, Crown Financial Ministries, the Dave Ramsey organization, the John Maxwell Team, and served as a Bible-based consumer credit counseling ministry.
Our Calling
We are NOT called to train the masses. We ARE called to help train you, so you can help train another, who will help train another. Along the way in the discipleship training process disciples will become debt-free. The blessing of being debt-free is not something you hold in a tightly clenched fist. Like all of God’s blessings, becoming debt-free is a process that Jesus expects you to give back to Him so He can bless it, and multiply it even as much as a little boy’s lunch.
Along the way not everyone is going to want to learn to help lead others, at least not right away (more program approaches are simmering on the stove!). And that’s fine. But there will be a few—to start there are already a few. Since 1900, God has brought a core group of LOCAL men and women to learn to train and disciple others to train and disciple.
