Money Focused or Purpose Focused?

What is your Money View?

A great question to ask ourselves, because we spend so much of our life working for it – Chris Brady New York Times best-selling author does a talk explaining the concept of a money-view. Because like your worldview, your money-view determines how you approach money. And because we all have the need to earn money, how we view it determines the role it plays in our lives.

In a well articulated article Eric Blomdahl explores finding and living your GOD-given purpose. The challenge we seem to face as a society is we serve GOD on Sunday or in Bible study or on a missions trip, but 40 hours a week (80 for most couples) people focus on money by going off to a job. Many Christians feel that we are not doing GOD’s work if we make a profit, yet Christian authors are paid, and most Pastors are paid, and they usually have a paid staff to assist with the operation of the church. Our defense is the Pastor and staff, are doing GOD’s work.

In contrast most people work a job not because it was their life’s purpose or GOD’s purpose for their life, but because it paid better than the last job.  Where I live near the State Capital of Pennsylvania when asked where someone works if they work for the state you usually get the response with a reply like “I work for such and such at the state, only 12 more years to go. Does that sound like the response of someone whose job is fulfilling their life’s purpose? It sounds more like a prisoner who is doing their time for a crime committed. Maybe it should be considered a crime wasting the life and talent GOD gave us to make money when the only reason we do it because it pays more. In Scripture it states “the love of money is the root of all evil”. Well why else would someone devote their entire life to a job where they are counting the days until they retire if it wasn’t for the money? I doubt they would be there if they weren’t getting paid.

Perhaps our worldview has been shaped in the church. Many of us get our perspective on money from hearing people misquote scripture by saying money is the root of all evil or we attend a church that tends to criticize and make its members feel guilty if they earn income.

A white paper titled Pastoral Care in the Context of New Wealth authors Cooke and Moon researched to determine a Pastor’s capacity to counsel a church member who came into money through inheritance or financial success and found that most are ill equipped to provide such counsel or even know where to turn to provide direction for a church member. They cite several reasons but generally speaking it has to do with the misunderstanding of money and the role it plays in a person’s life. This confusion has been passed on in many cases to the congregation. Money in the hands of good people who understand it’s role can do amazing things.

LIFE challenges men and women to step out of a job where we work for money and into a life of purpose. What is that purpose you ask? That’s for you to decide, but let me offer a few suggestions. I’ve said recently if my children were young with today’s technology we would home school them and travel the country so they could see and experience life first hand. Imagine the memories that would be created stopping to view a sunset on the Pacific Coast of California or to wake up with your kids overlooking Lake Tahoe and have breakfast lakeside. How about going on a Missions Trip every quarter of the year? Would you take your parents on a trip to Bermuda, or a cruise to Alaska with their grandchildren? Would you volunteer more time to your favorite charity? Would you take time to really appreciate your family and each other rather than living the hurry scurry of life most families endure?

What legacy do you want to leave and when are you going to start living that legacy to leave one?

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The Power of 7 Billion

In an article posted by LIFE founder Orrin Woodward on the power of Social Capital where he discusses the potential of human interaction and its relative ability to affect change is staggering. Given the fact that the world population is growing and the power of that social capital is multiplying demonstrates that possibilities are endless, IF we come together and utilize that power.

Noted economist Paul Zane Pilzer in his book Unlimited Wealth brings his discussion on the Theory of Economic Alchemy to light. Mr Pilzer has long professed that the ingenuity of the human mind creates a never ending supply of new inventions and innovation of resources that can replace those that either have been depleted due to limited supply or societal demand. This thought process of endless versus limited resources coupled with an ever expanding population gives us more possibilities to solve problems and meet the needs of growth than most can imagine. How do you view our ability to solve the myriad of challenges we face, with optimism and belief, or with doubt and concern? GOD has created us with the unique ability to imagine and then decide. Einstein said “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand while imagination embraces the entire world” If we can embrace the power of Social Capital by expanding our Networks, and Norms and sharing our Values as described by Jon Tyson in Renewing Cities Through Missional Tribes perhaps change is closer than we think.

In our communities there is concern, a concern noted in every country and on every side of the political spectrum of the direction of our world cultures. Europe is financial chaos, the Middle East is in constant armed unrest, and America is facing both financial debt and class division. People destroying the very people and societies they live in and love. There is a cry for truth. We have become a world population of educated children screaming for our rights and for sane direction.

Never before has there been such a need for leadership, and truth in LIFE principles. Can we come together and harness this Social Capital for the good of all mankind? What could happen if we were to embrace the Social Capital of 7 billion people for the good of all mankind sharing truth and principle based leadership? If there was a plan to go to 1 million people in 5 years could we eventually change the world? ………..why not try?