Financial Coaching for Kingdom Men

  There is a specific weight that comes with overwhelming debt. It’s the sound of the phone ringing from an unknown number. It’s the pit in your stomach when you check the mailbox. It’s the tension that sits at the dinner table between a husband and wife. As a financial coach, I have sat across the table from many people who feel that the walls are closing in. I was recently asked by a faithful couple if it was right for Christians to file bankruptcy.  As I was contemplating this question and praying I was surprised at the response I got.  The song, “He Paid a Debt He Did Not Owe, I Owed a Debt I could not Pay” started running through my head.  Considering the Year of Jubilee, Old testament laws about issuing loans, The Lord’s Prayer, and the story of the dishonest manager among others, we as Christians are intimately familiar with someone else paying our debt.  Both spiritual and financial debts.   The Bible is clear that when something is borrowed it...

Do you feel the burden of debt—the constant payments, the rising interest, the lack of margin? Debt is a tool that can become a burden that limits generosity and future potential. Many of us use debt to make it through the month and if that is where you currently are, that’s OK.  Let’s continue to learn more about personal finances.   First we learned about our income and how  it is a powerful wealth building tool that God uses to provide for us.  We then discussed our expenses and how as stewards it's up to us to make wise decisions with the money God has given us.  Now what happens when we spend more than we make at any given time?  Often time that leads us into debt.   Some common causes of debt are lifestyle creep, keeping up with the Jones’s, purchasing a house, purchasing vehicles that are more than our budget, medical bills, furnace goes out, student loans, signature loans, payday loans, having poor insurance coverage, and retail thera...

Do you feel like you are shackled in the prison of debt and see a debt management plan as an easy break out plan? A "Debt Management Plan (DMP)" usually refers to a formal arrangement through a credit counseling agency.  The benefit of this process is that you sign up, pay a monthly fee, you pay the agency your payments for the debts,  and they make the payments for you to your creditors.  You give them the ability to access your account and make payment arrangements on your behalf.  One payment instead of 3, or 5, or 10 payments, sounds wonderful.  But does it help you to change your habits around money?  Is it faster or less expensive?  Are they really doing what is expected or are they pocketing the money, making interest on the money, not paying the bills until they are delinquent and then the creditors are willing to make a deal?   While the thought of making one payment and someone else will work their magic and the debt will disappear...