Leading in Financially Rocky Times #1

Some people have asked me recently if I’m nervous about the church and the future as it relates to finances and this current economy. First of all, let me say we have NOT met our projected income for 2008, but we have also NOT spent our projected budget. As a result, we are in great shape as we close out this year. God has once again been super faithful to us.

That said, our financial strategy has to undergo some changes this coming year in light of our economic realities. Even so, I am deeply confident and excited about the future. We will be sharing more at the upcoming business meeting.

Well, I really like what I saw on swerve tonight. It captured two principles that I thought were enlightening. Here is what it said:

1. Christ’s church is resilient. The church has survived persecution, poverty, terrorism, genocide, and wars. A slow or crippled economy will not destroy the church.
2. People will turn to Christ. In our prosperous country, people have rarely had to pray, “Give us today our daily bread…” because our cabinets have always been full of bread. In many ways, our blessings have interfered with a need for the Giver of the blessings. In hard times people will turn to Christ.

Instead of being paralyzed with fear, church leaders should be postured with faith for how God will use these rocky financial times to draw people to himself.

--Noah