Archive for August 18, 2012

Randy Alcorn’s Fourth Law of Return

Posted: August 18, 2012 in Book Reviews
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Alcorn’s reward principle # 4: When we see our lives through the lens of eternity, our attitude toward wealth will change drastically. Alcorn wrote what a recent dying friend said to him with a smile: “I don’t buy jumbo shampoo like I used to. I don’t even buy green bananas.” David in Psalm 39: 4-7 also had the proper perspective on life in light of eternity:

“O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths (the width of a hand),
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6     Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.

David described the brevity of life as a breath. Because this life is so short, we might conclude it’s inconsequential. Our lives may seem like pebbles dropped in a pond. They create ripples for a moment, tiny wrinkles that smooth out, then are gone forever. What do you know about your great-grandparents? What will your great-grandchildren know about you? Our brief stay here may appear unimportant, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible tells us that although others may not remember us or care what our lives here have been, God will remember perfectly, and He cares very much—so much that the door of eternity swings on the hinges our present lives.

Alcorn makes this possible life changing observation: “Eternity will hold for us what we have invested there during our life on earth.”

Jesus didn’t say, “Follow Your Heart” But “Your Money Will Follow Your Heart”

Posted: August 18, 2012 in Book Reviews
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In Matthew 6:21, Jesus said, “Where you treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Randy Alcorn observed, “What we do with our money doesn’t simply indicate where our heart is. According Jesus, it determines where our heart goes.” So when a believer says, “My heart is not in this ministry” it could also mean, “My money is not in this ministry.” Jesus would say, “Put your money in your ministry and your heart will follow and also be in the ministry.”

Does that mean we should not invest for the future? Of course not. Proverbs 6:6-8 describes the wise ant storing up in the summer provisions for the winter. So should we prepare for the winter years when our income earning ability is less. But when does our savings become stockpiling, our retirement our security, or our nest egg our idol? When these investments become excessive and draw our hearts away from investing in the Lord’s work.  Best cure for hoarding is giving. Listen to what Paul told the already poverty stricken Philippians who sacrificially gave to him in his first Roman imprisonment: “Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account” (Philippians 4:17). That statement could be revolutionary. When we give to support our church’s ministry when the offering plates are passed it is like we are making a deposit in the bank of heaven. “When we give, we withdraw funds from our earthly account to have them credited to our heavenly account” (Alcorn, The Law of Rewards, page 40).

Financial advisors tell us, “Think thirty years ahead” and invest in a Roth IRA. Paul would tell us, “Think thirty million years ahead” and invest in or through your local church ministry.

I just read that if you invested $5,000 in a Roth IRA at age 18 at 13 percent interest and left it alone until you were 72, you would earn over 3 millions dollars. What is the percentage of interest if you invested in God’s work? Jesus informed us the interest rate is 10,000 percent: Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:28-29). You make the choice!