My Ministry of Biblical Financial Advice Session 5 Session Summary: In session five, Ron recognizes the Christian financial advisor as a profession with a holy calling that requires intentionality in practice. He explores the role and impact of a trusted advisor. I. Preview II. Perspective and Paradigms III. Principles and Precepts (Biblical Wisdom) IV. Personal Convictions (Biblical Philosophy) V. Practice (Client Counsel) I. PREVIEW Trusted Advisors: 1. A in the decision-making process using professional expertise while integrating the appropriate Biblical principles. 2. A leader by encouraging clients/donors to implement the decisions that they have made. 3. A contributor to the of clients/donors because their goals are being accomplished. 4. Because of the wisdom of God s truths, the trusted advisor ultimately helps clients/donors overcome economic uncertainties such as fear of the economy or government, security in their bank accounts, investments, etc. 5. When this is accomplished, a significant ministry occurs. The Holy Spirit is free to work in the lives of clients/donors, contributing to the fulfillment of the Great Commission as they come to Christ and/or grow in their relationship with Him. 6. The natural consequence will be financial freedom and dollars flowing into the Kingdom. II. PERSPECTIVE AND PARADIGMS Here are Some Hard Questions to Consider: 1. Is my His practice and His calling? Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 1
2. Does my mission statement clearly reflect that this is all about the Kingdom? 3. Do my clients know that I am a Christian? 4. How is my different as a Christian? 5. How would my staff evaluate my faith? 6. How would my family evaluate my faith? 7. What consequences have I observed in my clients as a result of their relationship with me? III. PRINCIPLES AND PRECEPTS Biblical Wisdom: Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12 NIV) Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to His work. (John 4:34) I have glorified You on the earth, I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. (John 17:4 NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 2
exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:1-8 NKJV) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ s gift. Therefore He says: When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men. (Now this, He ascended what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:1-16 NKJV) Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 3
The Hedgehog Concept from Jim Collins: IV. PROCESSES AND UNDERSTANDING I. His Work: The Great Commission All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV) The Great Commission for the Christian Financial Advisor: 1. 2. Discipleship Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 4
Biblical Advice: 1. Our advice is unchanging because it is based on 2. We give God the glory by pointing others to His wisdom Discipleship: We have an opportunity as a trusted advisor to ask. My Goal in Discipleship We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. (Colossians 1:28, 29 NASB) A disciple of Christ lives by alone, to the glory of God alone. Os Guinness Discipleship Begins With Me The things you have and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:9 NASB) Discipleship Includes My Staff And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2Timothy 2:2 NKJV) Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 5
Discipleship Is Focused On My Clients Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. (Matthew 28:19 NKJV) The Results of Discipleship: 1. I will become more like 2. My clients will become more like Christ 3. Client and spouse will experience God s peace 4. Client will be engaged in work 5. My client will hear, Well done my good and faithful servant. 6. God will be glorified II. His Way: By Faith Now faith is the of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 NASB) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) The best question an advisor can ask his clients is, What do you think God would have you to do? When you exercise faith in your practice, it transcends: 1. Advice given 2. Decision-making 3. management 4. Stewardship mentality 5. a. Employee b. Employer c. Clients d. Vendors e. Family 1. Biblical Relationships a. Based on the Great Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 6
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV) b. Becoming the Servant to those Underneath your Authority For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45 NKJV) c. Takes Different Forms with Each Person within your Sphere of i. Will not always be a discipleship relationship ii. Is Me-Centered that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:10 NKJV) 2. Mentality Stewards, not owners Of our clients (relationships) Of our capital Of our staff Of our reputation III. His Results: Eternal Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness! (Matthew 25:21 NIV) Eternal Results Occur in Two Areas: 1. IN our Work 2. OF our Work IN Our Work: 1. Our 2. Commitment to Prayer 3. to Authority 4. Willingness to Serve (All Others in my sphere of influence) OF Our Work: 1. A New Mindset Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 7
Steward not 2. Results that are God s a. Changed Lives b. Changed Families c. Changed d. Changed Communities e. Changed Nation f. Changed World g. Trillions of Dollars freed up for Kingdom Work 3. Clients/Donors Experiencing Financial Freedom 4. Clients/Donors Receiving Eternal Rewards Ron s personal convictions on My Ministry of Financial Advice : 1. I am called to be a of Christ and a discipler of others. 2. I am called to my present vocation. 3. The stewardship of my practice is a calling and requires intentionality. 4. How I manage my life and my practice has eternal consequences. Practice The Secular Advisor CANNOT promise as an option to his/her clients. Financial Contentment 1. Perspective 2. Faith-based decisions 3. Unity with 4. Biblically Wise Counsel Eternal Perspective Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit ; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. (James 4:13-15 NKJV) Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 8
Faith-Based Decisions But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) Husband/Wife Unity Submitting to one another in the fear of God. (Ephesians 5:21 NKJV) Biblically Wise Counsel For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. (James 3:16-17 NKJV) Application 1. Is my vocation and my ministry one and the same? 2. Who owns a. the practice? b. the clients/donors? c. the clients /donors money? d. the staff? Please take the time to complete your first pass at your own personal convictions related to this session on the Personal Convictions Worksheet. Session 5 Kingdom Advisors Training 9