LORD and King,
I come to you this morning with the children and younger people of CRCC in my heart. I set them before you…from the unborn and suckling babe to the most mature teen.
Oh LORD, Thou hast been so good to them. Thou hast created them. Thou hast taught them. Thou hast made us, their parents, aware of the immense responsibility set before us…to oversee and shepherd precious and eternal souls made in Your image!
And we are so grateful for them! Your Word declares that children are a blessing from Thee, that happy and blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them!
Master, Thou hast commanded that the children of the covenant, children with Christian parents, be taught the things of God. Thou hast commanded that they be instructed diligently, as we sit in our homes, as we walk with them by the way, as we lie down, and when we rise. Help us obey Thee!!!!
LORD, Thy Word shows the pattern of worshipping with them, walking with them, singing with them, and serving with them. LORD, never let us forget that each crying baby among us is a joy…that each precious noise we hear reminds us of Thy love and faithfulness! Each talk with a teen is a privilege! Each time of family prayer makes heaven smile! Each time of discipline flows from love and a desire to see hearts change!
But Jesus, we also know that the enemy of our souls seeks to destroy the seed. We know the devil hates our children. We know he has concocted an all encompassing worldly net to teach them things contrary to Thy Word…a net that is woven through so much of contemporary life.
Oh LORD, rebuke him. Stop the plan of the enemy to teach, confuse, trap, and kill our children. Protect them oh LORD from perversions, lies about who they are, depression and despair, evil media, and ungodly worldviews. May our homes and our church be cities of refuge!
Help us to see that as parents, we must watch and pray. We must be mindful that our children, who might know Scripture and be familiar with the things of God, might yet be unredeemed.
Help us continue to preach the Gospel in our homes! Help us to keep checking fruit! Help us to be faithful in discipling them! Help us to pray for them continually, set them before Thy Word continually, and nurture them! Help us to love them as Thou hast loved them!
Precious LORD, open our hearts even more for hurting children, both down the street and around the world. So many need a father and mother. A big sister or brother. Show us the children who are starving, lost, desperate, angry, and crying out. Help us protect the children who may be aborted. Move us to action.
These and so many other things we ask, in Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
6am Prayer Day 1
Merciful Father,
This morning, I feel a burden from Thee to lift up CRCC Leadership.
So Master, I set them before You…the Pastors, Elders, Deacons, of CRCC. LORD, these men are tasked with carrying so much. They have been entrusted by You to shepherd and serve the flock of God. The burden of leadership can feel just like that, a burden.
But Oh LORD, Thou art merciful and gracious, kind and loving. Thou art a God of strength and deliverance. Thou art the God who spoke and all things came to be!
LORD, CRCC is Your Church. You command it. You also command its’ leaders. Send Thy Spirit again in power!
LORD, increase our humility. LORD, help us to understand the nature of impartation…that leaders communicate something to the saints even when they aren’t talking. Help leaders to know that the church will rise no farther than we do in the things of God.
LORD Christ, rebuke the devil and all unclean spirits around them. Crush our pride. Fill us again with the Holy Spirit and with fervor for Thee. Help us desire holiness. Help us to love as Thou hast loved. Help us to walk according to the precepts Thou hast laid down for Thy church, that Thy House would not be a source of confusion, but peace.
LORD, bless their precious wives, who are also carrying the burden of local church leadership, by example. Oh LORD, I’ve seen the stress and struggle. Please lift up these women of faith to a holy standard! Oh Lord, bless them indeed from the crown of their heads, to the soles of their feet! Oh LORD, help them see how precious and needed they are…that their example makes or breaks so much for so many!
Master, I’m so grateful for these men. May CRCC honor them at a greater level, and may the leader take every opportunity to point others to Christ and to help our church walk according to all that Thou hast given us that Thy loving and powerful hand might be upon CRCC in greater measure.
As leaders, we repent of our sin and ask for your forgiveness.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Our Debt Independence Day Story!
July 4th always holds a special significance for my wife and me. On July 4th, 2008, we paid off our last debt...our home. (Well actually, the bank was closed so I paid our mortgage down to $.01 online and our family went a branch with one penny a couple of days later. LOL) I wrote the following shortly thereafter. I pray it encourages someone to never quit!
A shout out to Dave Ramsey for all his help. Bless you brother.
--------------
Well my friends, we've done it. My wife and I have paid off EVERYTHING. House and all. We're DONE! DONE! DONE! DONE! Hold on...gotta go do the Snoopy Dance...
Ok I'm back. The bottom line is that we have paid off $200,000 in debt in 5 years. Here is our story. I hope it encourages someone.
Our Total Money Makeover journey began in earnest during the Summer of 2003. But before that, there is a story to tell. In the mid-nineties, my wife and I were both Naval Officers with no kids. We lived in the same house we live in now and I didn't really care about how we spent money. We made over $80k per year at least back then and had nothing at all to show for it. My wife gave me a copy of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace in the 1997 time frame. I "skimmed" it to appease her, but the info didn't stick. I continued to buy cars, motorcycles, motorcycle accessories, computer games, and just about anything else I wanted (on credit of course) at a rapid pace. Although you wouldn't think someone this immature would be in ministry, I was (and am) a minister and began a church in 1997. So I continued to preach, work in the Navy, and spend money like water like everything was all good: no savings, no retirement, no plan, and no clue.
Then it happened. She cried.
In the late nineties, my wife and I were on one of those timeshare tour things. I think they must have promised us free stuff to lure us in. Anyway, I declined the timeshare because I thought we couldn't afford it. My wife wanted it. But I, the one "in charge," declined (which of course suggested her vote didn't count...and back then...I'm sad to say it didn't). So not much later and after spending lots of time thinking about our lack of financial discipline and stewardship, my wife just broke down and cried. She looked at me and said, "Not only can we not afford to vacation...we make all this money and we don't have anything to give to those in need." (She no longer wants a timeshare, but you get the idea.)
Wow.
Like most men who are totally in love with their wives, her tears were simply torture for me. And like most men, I never really "heard" how important this money stuff was to her heart. Her tears were enough to begin the process of shaking me out of my little boy mindset and the beginning of my learning how to MAN-UP for my family.
To give some of you wives a bit of hope, it still took me another 3-4 years of making slow progress before the Gazelle Intensity light clicked on, but the light DID come on. LOL! I was now at least cognizant of personal finance and its impact, and the guidance the Bible offered on the subject was no longer "theory." I was beginning to pay attention, but I was still a slave to my big-ticket item impulses. During the next 3-4 years, I still made HUGE HUGE HUGE little boy mistakes...like buying an Acura MDX for $40k in 2001 KNOWING I was to soon leave the military to be a full-time pastor and take a big pay cut. The payment was over $800!!! DUMB! I did wise up though and sold that beautiful 2001 black on black mint condition wonderfully leathery smelling truck with a sweeeeet navigation system after about a year and shortly before leaving the Navy. But I'm over it. Really. I also bought at least three motorcycles during this same timeframe. Yes I said THREE: trading up all the time to have the newest and fastest. They loved me at the motorcycle dealership!
The light came all the way on in 2003. What happened? The Total Money Makeover book came out. Although my eyes were beginning to come open, my painfully slow progress was still frustrating my wife. We saw the book and I remembered: "Hey, the Financial Peace guy!" So I bought it (probably on a credit card) and read it. That was it. Something changed in me. I finally saw debt as an enemy, not a friend. I saw my wife as someone I was called by God to actually provide for. You'd think a pastor would know this right? LOL. And I did in fact "know" it. But "knowing" and "doing" are two different things. I went from a goober to a gazelle in the time it takes to read one book. I WAS DONE WITH DEBT!!!!!
My wife was soon convinced that I had really changed. During the summer of 2003, we had about $200,000 in debt: credit cards, two motorcycles, a $25k car (I didn't learn my lesson), and a $150,000 mortgage. I sold both bikes (it about killed me), rolled the car and the remaining cards into a mortgage refinance (I know, dumb. But hey, I was still a TMMO newbie!) on a 10-yr note at 4.75%, declared war on debt, and haven't looked back.
By January 2004, all we had left was a $180k mortgage (on a house now worth about $350k). It has taken us from then until now to kill that bad boy. From Jan 2004, WE JUST DID THE PLAN. No credit cards or borrowing of any sort, doing a budget each and every month on paper on purpose, using the envelope system, getting the right kinds of insurance, fully funding an emergency fund (done by end of 2004), investing in retirement, cash flowing home repairs (about $20k worth! Take that Murphy!), cash flowing an adoption, working TOGETHER, and staying intense.
It's amazing how following what Dave teaches can add up to huge savings and increased income. As some quick examples:
- Extra jobs, focus and sacrifice: Our income has increased by at least 30% since we started TMMO.
- Budgeting: Another 5% "increase" at least in terms of doing smarter things with money.
- Insurance: The HSA alone saved us $400 per month! (We now use a Christian health sharing ministry: Samaritan Ministries.)
- Getting rid of car and bike payments: easily another $1000 per month.
Oh well, on with the story. Our precious little girl was born in Jan 2005. Her birth had a huge impact on me. Now I had two girls to provide for; two to ensure had a good life and a bright financial future. It's on now!!!! In Jan 2006, we kicked it up a notch on the mortgage and started going all out. No vacations. Extra work. Yelling at a red "NO MORTGAGE" circle with a line through it on the fridge. I'm talking about total attack mode. And it worked. Today, on Independence Day...we are proud and blessed to say, we are done. We are at Baby Step 7. Praise the Lord!
Over the last few years, we brought FPU to my church several times and most recently, took it up a notch with Dave's Momentum program. We put 80% of the church through FPU at one time. It was awesome. The whole culture of the church changed. So many families are following our lead and getting in position to bless others and change their family trees forever.
My unsolicited advice? Get on a plan and follow it with as much Intensity as you can muster. Seriously. Try not to play around with it. Try not to rationalize why you are different. We just read The Total Money Makeover and did what it said. It worked.
NO PAYMENTS!
Ok...time for more Snoopy Dancing!
Self-Denial?
Luke 9:21-26 And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; 22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
The follow are comments by Walter Chantry. They continue to bless me!
-----------
"Only one entrance may be found to the Kingdom of God. There is a narrow gate set at the head of the path of life. "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). No one with an inflated ego can squeeze through the door. There must be self-effacement, self-repudiation, self-denial, even to become a disciple (a student) of Jesus Christ.
Our Saviour made His demand quite clear by explicitly requiring self-denial. He then re-emphasized the point by using a vivid illustration of renouncing one's self―an illustration he would soon seal with His blood, "Let him deny himself, and take up his cross." Six times in the Gospels our great Prophet refers to His followers' taking up a cross. It was one of His favorite illustrations of self-denial. At other times He would speak of selling all, or of losing one's life.
"Cross" is a word that first brings to our minds the picture of our Lord on Calvary. We think of Him bleeding while fastened to an instrument designed to inflict an agonizing death. Then perhaps we expand the idea of taking up a cross by thinking of Stephen who was stoned to death, or of Peter and John, who were beaten and put into prison, and of other martyrs across the ages. In the light of such courageous physical suffering, the Christian at ease may say to himself, "I don't have any cross to bear." Perhaps this repeated demand of Christ even brings alarm to your consciences as you read it over and over in Scripture.
Some who call themselves "Christian" in fact have never taken up their crosses. Being ignorant of the experience of self-execution, of self-denial, they are of necessity strangers to Christ. Our Lord Himself intended His illustration and His demand to deepen alarm in such individuals. If this is your condition, then there can be no relief to conviction but in taking up your cross and following Him.
Others, however, are true servants of Christ but feel a sense of dismay through a misunderstanding of our Lord's demand. It is quite possible to have taken up your cross and not to know it. Careful examination of our Lord's meaning will then be an encouragement.
In either case, the subject is vital to you. Your Master's life was dominated by a cross. He has called you also to a life with a cross. This clear gospel note is so easy to forget in flabby Western society. With a great chorus of custom, advertisement, and temptation, this world is beckoning you to a life of self-indulgence. Your flesh is drawn to that appeal, and will fall in with the world's suggestions. But the Lord of glory has called you to a life of self-denial, to a cross.
The demand of bearing a cross is universal. It is made of all who follow Christ, without exception. Our Lord addressed these words "to all," not to a select few who walked nearer to Christ. Mark 8:34 indicates that this mandate was not issued to the twelve alone. It was spoken 'when he had called the people unto Him with his disciples'. The cross is required for "any man" who will go after Him. There are no peculiar cases released from this necessity. Repeatedly our Lord was emphatic that none could be considered His disciple in any sense unless he bore a cross. "And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38).
Again in Luke 14:27 our Saviour turned to a multitude following Him, to insist, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." It is an absolute impossibility to be a Christian without self-denial. Whether you live in a Christian land or in a culture hostile to God's Word, you must bear a cross.
The only way to avoid the cross is to follow the world to hell. As verse 24 explains, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it." The "for" indicates a connection with the preceding verse. Religion without self-denial will not endure the judgment.
It is this most obvious aspect of our Lord's teaching which has been forgotten or ignored by modern evangelism. Anxious to bring sinners to life, peace, and joy in the Lord, evangelists have failed even to mention that Christ insists upon denial of self at the outset. Having failed to pass on our Lord's requirement, and forgetting it themselves, evangelists have never questioned whether their "converts" with self-centered lives are true followers of Christ. "
------------
Amen!