Randy Alcorn - Managing Gods Money: A Biblical Guide

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Managing Gods Money: A Biblical Guide

Copyright 2011 by Eternal Perspective Ministries. All rights reserved.

Some of the content in this book originally appeared in Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn, published by Tyndale House Publishers under ISBN 978-0-8423-5360-1.

Cover photo of dollar copyright by Brian Weed/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.

Cover photo of coins by Dan Farrell, copyright by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cover border copyright by Dover Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Author photo copyright 2007 by Ken Rada. All rights reserved.

Designed by Daniel Farrell

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible , English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NKJV is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Alcorn, Randy C.

Managing Gods money : a biblical guide / Randy Alcorn.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4143-4553-6 (sc)

1. Christian stewardship. 2. Christian stewardshipBiblical teaching. I. Title.

BV772.A43 2011

248.6--dc22 2010044879

Dedication

I dedicate this book to some brothers who have long been Kingdom influencers through financial stewardship and giving.

Just as I honor my precious wife, Nanci, for walking with me for decades in the path of stewardship and giving, the men below who are married would give tribute to their wives, many of whom I havent had the privilege of meeting. (Those I do know typically outclass their husbands!)

I am also aware that many other women (Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Sharon Epps among them) deserve to be on this list. So do countless men and women of every tribe, nation, and language. Unfortunately, my knowledge and memory and the space in this book are all limited, so Im sorry to all those I should have included but didnt; God knows who you are.

Some of these brothers are living with Jesus; most are still serving him here today:

R. G. LeTourneau, Art DeMoss, Larry Burkett, Bill Bright, Stanley Tam, John Edmund Haggai, Ron Blue, Howard Dayton, Gene Getz, Tony Cimmarrusti, Daryl Heald, Todd Harper, Hugh Maclellan, Peb Jackson, Jess Correll, Alan Barnhart, Brian Kluth, Scott Preissler, Paul Meyer, Chuck Bentley, Tom Conway, Jerry Schriver, Dick Towner, Al Mueller, Forrest Reinhardt, Chris Duncan, Todd Peterson, Dave Hannah, Scott Lewis, Jay Link, Lee Jenkins, Fred Smith, Wes Wilmer, Craig Blomberg, Gary Hoag, Scott Rodin, Ray Lyne, Ralph Douderas, Jerry Caven, Don Christensen, and last but not least

David Wills, who suggested to me nearly twenty years ago, after the publication of the original Money, Possessions, and Eternity, that I should write a smaller stewardship book like this one.

Okay, here it is; I decided not to rush it.

Introduction

Our perspective on money and possessionsand how we handle themlies at the very heart of the Christian life. Does that sound like an overstatement? Its not. The Bible emphatically demonstrates that how we view our money and possessions is of utmost importance. What we do with them will influence eternity.

The title of this book, Managing Gods Money , is not some cute, figurative expression. Its a precise depiction of what the Bible says we areGods money managers.

Jesus told his disciples, There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer (Luke 16:1-2, NIV ).

This parable, like the other stewardship parables (see chapter 3), shows that God, who is infinitely rich and owns all things, has assigned to human beings management responsibilities over his assets. We can manage his money and possessions well, oras in the case of this manpoorly. One day we will stand before God and give an account of how we have managed what belongs to him. Have we taken good care of it, using it wisely for purposes he approves of? Or have we misused or wasted it?

Now, it might seem unfair that we wont formally answer to God for our work as his asset managers until our lives here are done and its too late to implement changes based on his performance review.

But its not unfair. Why? Because God has recorded in the Bible everything we need to know about his investment priorities, his high standards of management, and the rewards he offers his faithful stewards.

Gods Word is his Kingdom manifesto, his investment manual, and his code of business ethics. When we stand before him at the end of our lives, suppose we say, But, God, you didnt tell me this all belonged to you; you didnt say it was my job to do with it what you wanted me to; you never told me how to conduct my business; and you never made clear which investments you considered important. He would need only to lift up the Bible and reply, Yes I did; you simply didnt pay attention.

Thats why the pages of Managing Gods Money contain a great deal of Scripture. Gods words are far more valuable than anything I have to say because he is, after all, the Creator and Owner of the universe. He promises, [My word] shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11, ESV ). God does not make that promise about your words or my words or the words of any investment guru, but only about his Word.

This book wont tell you how to achieve your financial goals, but it will provide the light in which your financial goals should be formulated. Thats why the central focus of this book is not insurance but assurance , not securities but security , not trusts but trust , not principal but principles , not real estate but real estate.

You will not find any net-worth calculations (which we easily mistake for self-worth calculations), but you will see how God measures your lifes worth. You wont find advice about tax shelters, IRA contributions, or choosing between term and whole-life insurance. There is a place for such thingsbut only after a close look at what God has to say about money. That is the purpose of this book.