This episode is your financial and faith reset. We ditch the guilt trip and explore a fresh take on Christian stewardship with none other than Pastor Scott LaPierre. Here's the lowdown:
Adulting 101: We break down the idea that everything you own is basically on loan from God. Kinda mind-blowing, but hear us out. It's about managing your resources (hello, side hustle!) with purpose.
Materialism vs. Meaning: We're bombarded with "get rich quick" schemes, but what if true wealth is about something bigger? We'll chat about using your resources to make a real difference, not just buy the latest gadget.
Faith in a Frayed World: We'll get real about the Middle East - a place where religion and conflict collide. Exploring figures like Abraham and Moses, we'll see how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all connected.
Beyond the Sermons: We ditch the boring lectures. Pastor Scott and I will share our own stories of faith helping us navigate life's curveballs. Plus, I'll spill the tea on raising a whole family on one income (spoiler: it's doable!). This isn't your average church podcast - it's a heart-to-heart with actionable insights.
So, ditch the hustle culture and join us for a conversation that goes beyond the pulpit and straight to your soul (and maybe your bank account).
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Sign Up for our Newsletter and get our FREE E-Book where you'll learn everything you need to know about creating financial freedom through multifamily syndication.
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com now!
Introducing the 60 Day Deal Finder!
Visit: www.MartinREIMastery.com
Use the Coupon Code: WEALTHYAFfor 20% off!
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Build Generational Wealth As A Passive Investor In Multifamily Real Estate Syndication!
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com to find out more.
This episode is your financial and faith reset. We ditch the guilt trip and explore a fresh take on Christian stewardship with none other than Pastor Scott LaPierre. Here's the lowdown:
Adulting 101: We break down the idea that everything you own is basically on loan from God. Kinda mind-blowing, but hear us out. It's about managing your resources (hello, side hustle!) with purpose.
Materialism vs. Meaning: We're bombarded with "get rich quick" schemes, but what if true wealth is about something bigger? We'll chat about using your resources to make a real difference, not just buy the latest gadget.
Faith in a Frayed World: We'll get real about the Middle East - a place where religion and conflict collide. Exploring figures like Abraham and Moses, we'll see how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all connected.
Beyond the Sermons: We ditch the boring lectures. Pastor Scott and I will share our own stories of faith helping us navigate life's curveballs. Plus, I'll spill the tea on raising a whole family on one income (spoiler: it's doable!). This isn't your average church podcast - it's a heart-to-heart with actionable insights.
So, ditch the hustle culture and join us for a conversation that goes beyond the pulpit and straight to your soul (and maybe your bank account).
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Sign Up for our Newsletter and get our FREE E-Book where you'll learn everything you need to know about creating financial freedom through multifamily syndication.
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com now!
Introducing the 60 Day Deal Finder!
Visit: www.MartinREIMastery.com
Use the Coupon Code: WEALTHYAFfor 20% off!
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Build Generational Wealth As A Passive Investor In Multifamily Real Estate Syndication!
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com to find out more.
This is Wealthy AF, your ultimate guide to understand what it truly means to be Wealthy AF. And today's guest is Scott LaPierre. Scott is a teaching pastor of Woodland Christian Church in Woodland, washington, and author of Finances, god's Way and a conference speaker. He holds an MA in Biblical Studies from Liberty University and he and his wife, katie, have 10 children Amazing. God bless you, brother, for that. Scott is a former school teacher and an army officer. Scott, welcome to the podcast. Really appreciate you being here.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Martin Glad to be here.
Speaker 1:So, Scott, today's topic we're going to talk about Christian stewardship. What does that mean? What does Christian stewardship mean? Let's start there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, great. So a steward is a manager. A steward doesn't own anything. A steward that's probably one of the premier points to understand about stewardship is the absence or lack of ownership. You are essentially responsible for someone else's possessions, and that can be a real paradigm shift for Christians or for anyone to recognize that everything they think belongs to them doesn't and belongs to God, and that they're simply stewards of it. And so when I say everything, I literally mean everything. There's nothing in our lives that we should see belonging to us but that we should see being stewards. So if it's, you know, we talk about stewardship and our minds kind of go to money, and that is a hugely important stewardship, which is one of the reasons that so many of Jesus's parables were about finances.
Speaker 2:But we're stewards of our time. My marriage, my wife, doesn't belong to me. You know, she's a daughter of the king. My marriage is a stewardship. My children is a stewardship. My children is a stewardship. My home, any of my investments, my job as a pastor, my books, these are all stewardships, and God expects me to be faithful in these, because we're going to be held accountable. That's what we're judged for how we handle the stewardships, not judged for our sins, because Christ took the punishment for our sins, but our faithfulness is judged and then rewarded. A sin? We're faithful.
Speaker 1:How does a good steward? Well, let me rephrase that what is the definition of a good steward? What does a good steward look like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's great. So you kind of have a worldly definition. And then you have a Christian definition. So worldly definition, let's say, would not include the Lord. And someone would simply say, well, you're a good steward if you have this amount of money and you cause that money to grow over time, right? So you have $100,000 and it becomes $150,000 or $200,000 in a few years, we would say, well, that's a good steward.
Speaker 2:Well, when the Lord is introduced, and I would say that someone could be a really good steward in the world's eyes, but not be a good steward in God's eyes. And so to be a good steward in God's eyes requires that whatever resource we have is being used for the Lord, for his glory, for his kingdom, and that doesn't mean it doesn't also benefit us. It doesn't mean that everything has to be given to missions or to the gospel or something like that. But I would say a good steward is someone who's using the resources time, energy, investments, gifts, blessings God's given us for his glory. And so, for example, you have a home, right? So if you invite people over to your home or you're hospitable.
Speaker 2:The other day we had our Tuesday night Bible study. We saw some Mormons walking down the street. Three Mormons and a friend of mine ran out, invited the Mormons. They came into our home south of the Bible study. So I think that was just one example of hopefully being a good steward with our home. We opened it to others, had people come over to Bible study, but that doesn't mean we have to have people over all the time or anything like that, and so it's not like you're only being a good steward when whatever you're using is being used for the Lord's glory. But that's what it is to be a good steward is to ensure that God's kingdom is kept in mind regarding our possessions and blessings and gifts In today's consumer economy, culture.
Speaker 1:How do we cultivate a spirit of gratitude and of responsible consumption?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question. I'd respond to that by inviting people to think about what is a common parable. But just in case there are some listeners that aren't familiar with it, I'll go ahead and briefly explain it. And it greatly relates to what we're talking about. It's probably one of the premier parables about stewardship.
Speaker 2:It's known as the parable of the talents, and so there are three individuals who are given varying talents, which is a reflection of us being given different amounts. We're not all given the exact same amount of time or energy, or the same house or car or skills or gifts, and so one guy gets five talents, another guy gets two talents, and then the third servant, who isn't really a servant, is given one talent. And so the man with five talents takes his five talents and they become 10 talents. He stands before the master and the master says well done, good and faithful servant, and turn to the joy of your master. And then the second servant comes and he had two talents and he produced four talents, and so he actually produced less than half of what the first steward produced. But because he was equally faithful, he was equally rewarded. He had an identical reward as the first servant, even though he was not as productive as him, and that's super encouraging to me.
Speaker 2:If I just use myself as an example, I'm a pastor, I'm an author, I do some speaking. If I had to compare my ministry to John MacArthur, you know, or Tim Keller, or somebody super prominent, famous pastors, or Billy Graham, or something, I'd feel like this huge failure. But God isn't expecting me to produce as much as those men, he's just expecting me to be faithful with what he's given me. So they might take 10 talents and produce 20 talents. Maybe God's given me one talent compared to them and he just expects two talents. And so the issue isn't that we do as much as others. This is why we shouldn't really compare ourselves. The issue is that we are faithful with what God has given us.
Speaker 2:And so then the third servant comes, and he was only given one talent. And it's interesting because he was given so little. We could be tempted to think that God would not expect anything from him, possibly. But he took his talent. He hid it in the ground, which pictures his really unfaithfulness. He did nothing with what had been given to him, and then the master called him a wicked and lazy servant.
Speaker 2:And so it's interesting because I think, martin, we generally think of wickedness associated with what we do. Like if you were going to say someone was wicked, you would say he's wicked because he murdered, or she's wicked because she committed adultery, or he's wicked because he hurt children. But Jesus said that this guy was wicked not because of what he did, but because of what he didn't do. He was a terrible steward. He never did anything with what the Lord had given him, so he lived his whole life without ever thinking of serving Christ. And so God looked at him because he called him wicked and lazy. Now, we would expect the master to call him lazy because he looked lazy, but it could be surprising to us that he also called him wicked because, like I said, we generally associate wickedness with what's done. But it shows that failing to do what God wants can make us as wicked as people who do some of those things that we think are wicked.
Speaker 1:What message are you sending to those that don't believe in a higher being right? So you got people that are they don't believe in God, they don't believe in anything. They believe in evolution. What's your message to that sector of the world?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's great, martin. Thanks for asking that, and I'm super glad that there would be unbelievers or atheists or evolutionists tuning into your show. I would slightly push back or disagree with one thing. You said that they don't believe in anything because they do believe. There's kind of this belief, if you want to call it, that only believers or only Christians believe. Well, that's not true.
Speaker 2:Everyone believes in something, and so atheists or those who would deny God's existence, I suppose, typically believe that the universe created itself. That might not be the exact language they would use, but essentially, if God didn't create the universe, whether it's the Big Bang provided millions or billions of years, then life begins from nothing. So that's why I say the universe created itself in their, in their minds, and I'm not intending to offend anyone, I'm trying to trying to capture accurately this belief. Well, what I would say is you know, the universe didn't create itself. You did not come from some primordial goo over thousands or millions of years. Instead, there's a God who loved you. He created you in His image. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to hear from you through prayer and because of all that God's given us, we have a responsibility to live for Him and we will be judged.
Speaker 2:This universe is not just going to go on indefinitely. Our lives do come to an end and at that point we stand before the Lord and we give an account of how we've lived, and we will be judged for our sins, and so God, not wanting to punish us for our sins, has given his son to take that punishment that we deserve. That's the gospel, and if any of your listeners have more questions about that, I'd love to hear from them and try to answer them. But if people are listening and they have believed in evolution or atheism, I would say that's a lie. There is a creator, and he is not super far and detached from his creation. He wants a relationship with his creation, and so the first step would be to look to him, to put faith in Christ and begin a relationship with him, and then a product of that will be a conviction to live for the Lord. We don't do things to be saved, but we do things because we are saved.
Speaker 1:We're not saved by works, but we do works because we are saved If Jesus was Jewish and he comes from Jewish faith, right the Bible, and I'd like for you to share the Moses story. I just saw a documentary on it. Great story. Shouldn't we all be Jewish? Shouldn't we all be following? Because the Quran identifies Jesus? I mean they believe. Muslims identify, obviously, the Judaism, christianity and Islam. Islam, what's their Bible? The Tadka, that's the Jewish Bible. So they all acknowledge Jesus, shouldn't we? You know, for centuries, for thousands of years, in the Middle East, people have been fighting over the promised land, israel, right, which is when we look at the current war that's happening there, it's over the promised land. So I know that's a loaded question, but before you answer that question, I'd like for you to briefly give the listeners the story of Moses.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'll back up. I'll start with Abraham. So God called Abraham in Genesis 12. He made what's known as the Abrahamic covenant with Abraham. And he chose this man not because he's better than anyone else. In fact, abraham did plenty of unfaithful things. So God calls Abraham, makes a covenant with him, tells him he'll make his name great and it'll be the greatest name over the face of the earth.
Speaker 2:And you how great abraham's name is? Because abraham is exalted or esteemed among more religions than jesus. So jesus is esteemed in christianity, but you do have abraham being esteemed in judaism, and in judaism, jesus. Orthodox, orthodox Jews today, who reject Christ, clearly don't esteem Jesus as the Messiah, but they do esteem Abraham. Within the Islam or Muslim faith, abraham is an esteemed individual. So you've got Christianity, judaism and Islam all looking to Abraham. So God was. So Abraham's name was great.
Speaker 2:Abraham as Isaac. You know his son that he sacrificed Moses too, moses too. So then, abraham as Isaac. Isaac has Jacob. They was great. Abraham as isaac. You know his son that he sacrificed. Moses too, moses too. So then, abraham as isaac. Isaac has jacob.
Speaker 2:Jacob has 12 sons. These 12 sons become the 12 tribes of israel. They multiply within the land of egypt. And so when they first entered egypt as 70 people and this is all just at the beginning of the end of genesis and the beginning of exodus one, if anyone wants to read it in scripture so these 12 sons begin to multiply and have children, and they're growing so much that Pharaoh looks at them. The Pharaoh of Egypt looks at them, begins to see them as a threat, tries to persecute them or not tries to, but persecutes them begins murdering the baby boys. Moses's mother hides Moses in this basket, sends them down the river. Pharaoh's daughter pulls him out and that's how Moses gets his name.
Speaker 2:And then Moses grows up not knowing that he's of the Hebrew people. And then, when he reaches a certain age, he wants. God calls him to deliver his people. So he returns to Egypt after having fled from it, and he delivers Israel out of Egypt. And Israel continues as a nation waiting for their Messiah. And then the Messiah, jesus, comes from his earthly mother, mary, and then Joseph was his earthly father, but it was a virgin birth. So God, the Father, would be his father. Now, god doesn't expect us to become Jewish or convert to Judaism. He expects us to believe in Christ, which we can do as Gentiles, so you don't have to be Jewish to be a Christian. Now, regarding the Middle East, it's interesting, I think. The Holy Land, or Canaan, or the Promised Land, or Israel. It's a very small part of the world, but it is exponentially responsible for conflict. It is shocking that you have so many people, over so many centuries, fighting over this little piece of land. No-transcript.
Speaker 1:So where do you stand as a pastor on what's happening in the Middle East right now with Israel and Gaza and that whole big mess?
Speaker 2:I think Christians have a responsibility to be pro-Israel. We don't agree with everything they're doing, we don't think they're perfect, but in Genesis 12, kind of going back to the Abrahamic covenant God told Abraham I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you. So I'm convinced one and we've seen this throughout history there's really no nation that has ever come against Israel the Jews that has not suffered or been wiped out. If you want to think about the Third Reich under Hitler, you know the Holocaust in our day is the most. I mean there's people alive in our day who lived through the Holocaust or fought in World War II, and so Hitler would be the most recent example of someone coming against the Jews and being wiped out. There's no Third Reich today, and so throughout history, everyone who's come against the Jews has suffered.
Speaker 2:Now the United States has this long history of friendship or alliance with Israel. I tend to believe it's one of the main reasons we're blessed so blessed as a country, because according to Genesis 12, god said I'll bless those who bless you. I believe if we do break our alliance or relationship with Israel, we will suffer as a result of that, and so I think Christians have a responsibility to be pro-Israel. And again, it doesn't mean you affirm every single thing they do, but it does mean and I think I heard a good quote that if, let's say, the Palestinians laid down their weapons, then the war would come to an end, but if Israel laid down their weapons, then they would be wiped out as a people. So I think that generally, israel is responding to being attacked versus being the aggressor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's talk about Christianity and money. There's some movement within the Christian people that almost vilifies wealth, like it's noble to be poor. I personally believe, as a believer, that if I am God's son and I truly believe that right, that if I am God's son and I truly believe that right, and as an earthly man, I have sons and as a father, I want nothing but the best for my boys and my sons, my daughters. I want them to have nothing but the best. I think that's a natural, natural, natural inside of us, right, and as a father, what is mine is also my children's. Whatever I have possession my children should be able to enjoy freely. Right, because they're my children.
Speaker 1:I'm of the belief that if I truly believe in God right, and God is and I'm his son then God wants nothing but the best for me and in all of my doings I do, all of my business dealings, and all of my doings is God wants the best for me. Therefore, I should have the best. Therefore I should have you know. This is, if God's house is my house, what are your thoughts about that community that believes that equates that section of the Christian community that equates being poor as being noble, and that's the way, and to me that's total BS. That's just total BS. I don't buy that notion. I'd like to get your feedback on that.
Speaker 2:Most people experience sickness, disease, loss of a loved one, and we can assume that it's a bad thing, but it could be a trial that God uses for good in someone's life. Conversely, someone could receive something that could look like a blessing, like perhaps some amount of money. If they're a good steward, then that money is a blessing, but if they're a bad steward then that money is almost like a curse, because it just generally covetous people and we're all covetous to some extent. So I'm not going to say there's covetous people like we're not covetous. We all covet in different ways. So when covetous people get what they covet, it just makes them covet more. And so if you covet money and you get more money, it doesn't satisfy you, it just makes you want more money. So that's why I'm not always quick to say what God is or isn't doing in someone's life, or whether something is good or bad or blessing or cursing for people. God's the only one who really knows that. And I've seen some things happen to people that we might think were horrible or that were trials, and God produced something really good or wonderful through that, whether it was their maturity. So one example and I could give you a bunch of examples, but one example is my brother died of a drug overdose and that was super tragic.
Speaker 2:But then I was invited to church following his passing. That's when I heard the gospel. That's when I preached the gospel to my parents. Soon after that, and one evening I think it was a year ago we were having a Bible study because we try to read the Bible as a family in the evening and my daughter was reflecting on me coming to Christ and everything that's happened from me coming to Christ.
Speaker 2:And again, I don't compare my ministry or my life to other great men or something, but I've been a pastor, I've written books, I've tried to preach God's word faithfully. My family has come to Christ. Many of my children have come to Christ and my daughter recognized that these things happened after my brother died. And if my brother had not, it was my brother's death that led these teachers around me Christian teachers at the school where I was teaching to invite me to their church where I heard the gospel. And my daughter was just saying, wow, there was this horrible thing your brother's death but it seems like God's brought many really good things from it, and so it's not to say God kind of brought me to faith some other way, but generally I think God works through trials, and so that's why I try to be careful not to say when that I know for sure what God is doing in people's lives.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's tremendous insight. How old is your baby girl?
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's going to be 17,. But she was 15 or 16 when she started, that's tremendous insight from a young person.
Speaker 1:Tremendous insight.
Speaker 1:Most young people can't reflect in that way and see things in that way, but what an amazing, you know, reflectional moment for her and for her to see that, you know, when I think of great things that have happened in my life and like my biggest growth and I want to challenge the listeners right when you think about your biggest growth that you've had in your life we're not learning when we're just winning all the time.
Speaker 1:We're not learning when we're growing all the time, when we're just everything's perfect. That's actually when we learn the least, because we think we're on top of the world, we think we've got it figured out. It's when we're going through some trials, it's when things are challenging that we don't know and we pray and we're like god, it's yours, I don't, I don't know what to do. And it's through those difficult times and those difficult moments that in the end, if you reflect, like your daughter did, you realize that God used those things to make you better, make you wiser, make you stronger. If you take that approach, to look at it from that perspective, we would love to be able.
Speaker 2:I would love to be able to grow through blessing and gifts. I mean, I would just love it if God.
Speaker 2:All the time, absolutely yeah. It's like God just give me, bless me more, give me more gifts, you know, and I'm not saying that we can't be thankful or that gratitude can't produce some maturity, but scripture is overwhelmingly clear that trials mature us. And whether you like it or not and I'll just read a few verses, so James 1, 2 through 4, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, knowing the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect, complete, lacking nothing. So it's describing the maturity from trials. Romans 3, or Romans 5, 3,. Not only that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. Endurance, character, character, hope. So it's just all about how suffering produces these good things in our lives. First, peter, one verse six. In this you rejoice. So now, for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. So we're actually told to rejoice even though we're grieved by trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith trials test our faith and reveal the genuineness of it, which is more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory. So the point of the verses in Peter is that trials are revelations of our faith or reveal the genuineness or sincerity of our faith.
Speaker 2:And so to me let's say I'm not discounting that there are Christian athletes, but you know how it is. Like some athlete wins the big game, they put the microphone in their face and he praises Christ. Well, it's like who can't praise Christ when they just won the big game? I want to see the guy that has lost the big game that says, hey, you know what, the Lord is sovereign and I'm content and sure. I wanted to win, but I trust the Lord's will in my life, you know, I like to see the person who this sounds strong but maybe got a disease or lost a loved one that can still exalt Christ. Because who can't praise Christ on the on the hilltop?
Speaker 1:They're winning, I mean I'm not mad at them. I'm still grateful that they're, that they're doing it because they're. I'm actually really, when I see an athlete, I'm not mad at them. I'm still grateful that they're doing it because they're. I'm actually really when I see an athlete.
Speaker 2:I forget the football player. What's his name?
Speaker 1:Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow, yeah, I love it when they do it. I really, I really love it because they give the glory to God and the higher purpose and whatever your God is is fine. I mean, this is not I'm pushing religion on anybody. We're just talking about what we believe in and I love when they do that, that they acknowledge that it's not them.
Speaker 1:I often, often, I often quote myself saying I'm not that smart, I'm not, I'm not. Some people are like, hey, how do you do that? How do you buy this thing? How do you buy this building? How do you do it? It's like I'm not that smart, I'm really not. I just go to work and I put it and I have faith. I'll share a story with you, pastor.
Speaker 1:So not too long ago we're working on a 12-unit redevelopment apartment building. We're redeveloping. My team, tells me my project manager, we're looking for an electrician and the electricians that are coming in, they're coming at these crazy bids, they're coming at $250,000 to do this, to do this rewire this building. Now I had the same electrician came when I bought the property, looked at it and he agreed to do it between 55 and 60,000. Now he comes in after I own it and he wants $260,000. I had another electrician come in 175. So I had a budget of 55, $60,000. So he comes in at this at this exuberant amount of money. Right, he wants this job done, he wants to do this job. And I lost it. When my project manager called me and he said, oh, he wants this, I said you tell him to get off my property immediately, to erase our number and never call me, I was, I was pissed off, to say the least. I was. I lost it. Right, and tell them to disappear, never call and never, never expect to do business with us. Again. Time to lose it.
Speaker 1:After I calmed down a little bit, I pulled my team together and they said okay, guys, so here's what we got. Here's our budget. We got to execute on this thing. I know that we are praying for God to give someone to bring literally what I told them. I know we are praying for God to give us someone within our budget. And there's also an electrician out there praying for us that wants to work with a group like us and a company like us, right To come and do it on this and at this budget and he would be super grateful for the job.
Speaker 1:And everyone was like, well, we're getting bids at 260, 170, 135. These are the bids I'm getting. I said I don't care, none of those bids, I just went with faith. I was like that, I don't care, call everyone hands on deck, find them, go and find them. Sure enough, we found them within three days. Sure enough, we found them within three days. We figured it out, we worked it out with a GC and we bought the material and we're going to do it not at the budget but way on the budget.
Speaker 1:And to me, to me, this is an expression of how I express my faith, right, like, hey, I just know God's going to figure it out for me. Like there's, this is, this is I'm not going to negotiate it with and I'm not going to. God's going to figure it out. Let's get resourceful and let's go do our part and let God do the rest. I don't know how right, cause they were all looking at me Like I had two heads.
Speaker 1:We're going from 260. You think you're going from 175, 135, we're going to get it at 50?. I was like, yeah, we are. I know we are, just do the work. We all just got to do the work. What are your thoughts for those that are trying to build faith, that are looking to build that faith muscle and they're always complaining that things are not going their way or that things. They're always complaining that things are not going their way or that things that life is just. God is not real, because everything's bad in my life, everything's horrendous, and I can't win when I reject that. By the way, for all of us listeners, and yourself and myself.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So two thoughts, martin. So when I get asked questions I hope this has even been evident through this interview I like to look to God's word. I don't think my opinion is particularly important or trustworthy, but I believe God's word is, and that's why, if I write a book, or definitely if I preach a sermon, I'm preaching from God's word.
Speaker 2:Romans 10, 17 says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And so if we're talking about where faith or belief comes from, it comes from scripture, it comes from the Bible. We can't muster up more faith. We can't just decide okay, today I'm going to multiply my faith or I'm going to multiply my belief. It's like someone trying to pick themselves up by their bootstraps. Right, you can't do it. And so where is that faith going to come from then? Well, it comes from God's word. So first I would tell someone hey, if you want to believe, or you want to have faith but you don't, or you want to have stronger faith or greater faith, then I would say look to scripture and I think you can pray for it. You know, the disciples prayed that the Lord would increase their faith. I think that's a good prayer. Sometimes people want to like, hide things from God and act like he doesn't see them, or say, hey, I'm not going to tell God, I don't want God to know, I have doubts, you know, I don't want God to know that my faith is weak, so I'm going to pretend like it's strong. Well, god knows us better, we know ourselves. And so I would say to that person hey, pray and just say, lord, I'm having some doubts here. I'm struggling in my faith. Can you strengthen my faith? No-transcript.
Speaker 2:This child, she thought that God was upset with her and so she had the loss. She had the suffering from losing a child. Now she also has the suffering of believing that God is upset with her and God is disciplining her. And I wrote her and I said, ma'am, this is not discipline, this is a trial. Discipline is when you've done something wrong and God is spanking you or disciplining you because of your sin and he wants you to repent.
Speaker 2:It's very problematic to experience a trial and think it's discipline, because then you think God is upset with you when he's not. So, for example, let's say someone leads a healthy life and they get cancer or Alzheimer's. They didn't do anything to cause that. Now some people, they might smoke and then get lung cancer or something. But for many people they receive cancer or experience accidents and they didn't do anything to cause that. It's not a result of their sin, so that's a trial. But if you do something wrong and you suffer or God disciplines you, that's not the same as a trial, so it's really unfortunate.
Speaker 2:Let's say you're talking to one of these people you described and they say why is my life always so bad? Why am I always suffering? Why do I have it so much worse than others? But maybe they're engaged in habitual sin, maybe they're making sinful or bad choices. Well then, if you want to be honest with them and they say why do these bad things keep happening? You could say, well, because you keep doing bad things and God is disciplining you and he wants to see repentance in your life. And so it's unfortunate when people experience trials and think it's discipline. But it's also unfortunate when people experience discipline. God is disciplining them to see them repent, but they think that they're simply unlucky and unfortunate in experiencing a trial.
Speaker 2:So if someone gambles or wastes a lot of money or gets drunk and loses, let's say someone is habitually late for work, let's say they're lazy, they do a poor job. They show up, they're slothful, they mistreat employees and then they get fired and they turn around and say why am I so unlucky? You know, this is the third job I've lost. Why do I keep losing jobs? Why is everyone else have it so much better than me? Well, if you're honest with this person, you'd say because you're a terrible employee, you're late, lazy and you mistreat others, it's not your boss's fault. You're losing your job. But until that person sees that, he or she's never going to grow and they're going to continue that pattern. So it's really important to recognize when we're the cause of our own problems. No-transcript 100%.
Speaker 1:Pastor, I want us to talk about your book a little bit, the Finances of God's Way. Why don't we give people a couple of nuggets from there right One, two, three, four really good strategies, and then people can go and grab your book. But let three, four really good strategies and then you know people can go and grab your book, but let's give them some good strategies.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good Thanks for asking that, martin. And I think one thing I'd say is people, I think one of the reasons Harvest House wanted me to publish this book because if you ever want to write a book, the publisher is going to say why don't you tell me what distinguishes your book on finances or marriage from all these other books on the market about finances and marriage. And I think they looked at me and I said, hey, I'm a single income pastor. My wife stays home and homeschools our kids. We have 10 children. Before this we were a single income. I was a school teacher, so I've never had tons of money, and so they I think they understood that for me to be able to take care of my family on a smaller income, it's not because, you know some people maybe they have money and it's like, well, they're rich because they were given a lot of money. I think my publisher looked at me and said this guy probably knows what he's talking about because he's been able to thrive with so many children and being single income when much of the world acts like you have to be double income. And so I just say that to perhaps have some credibility. But one of the other things I would say.
Speaker 2:One of the main points or principles I would invite people to take away is that managing finances well, regardless of how much you have, requires sacrifice and self-denial. If you're indulgent, if you cannot be a responsible individual, if you can't say no to yourself or to purchases, if you can't save, if you can't give, you're never going to thrive financially. No, even there's kind of that saying a fool and his wealth is soon parted, I don't care how much money you have. If you're foolish, you're not going to have much money for very long, and so whether people have a lot of money or a little money, they're going to lose it quickly. If they're foolish and by foolish I mean they can't deny themselves and they can't say no to certain purchases or do research. And maybe that's a second principle I would say Take your time.
Speaker 2:Just something very practical that I encourage people in my financial counseling is I say hey, if you're looking at buying something, don't buy it for at least two weeks, or maybe even four weeks, because most of the regret that people experience associated with finances happens within that first two weeks, or generally even the first week. Someone buys something and they say man, I wish I hadn't bought that, I just threw that money away. Well, if you wait that two weeks, you can typically avoid many of the financial purchases that you regret later. And second, during that two weeks, you can be doing something really important, which is research to determine whether you should make that purchase. Now, I'm not saying you need to do this for a pair of pants, but as soon as you're looking at something of a few thousand dollars or more like homes, vehicles, computers, you want to do your research on these things and look to see if you can find them on sale.
Speaker 2:And then the third principle which I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to talk about, martin is simply stewardship. We're managers. We don't own this. It's God's resources that he's entrusted to us and he expects us to be good stewards and use it for his glory.
Speaker 1:You know, I heard something. It's interesting because I heard it this morning and something I was watching I don't remember if it was on my feed. It was about actually right on this on stewardship and money, and it was the guy that has or it was a podcast on my run, I might've heard it the guy that has a lot of toys, meaning the rich guy that has flamboyant and got a lot of toys and the guy that has no toy. There's no difference in both of them because they're both going to die and they're taking none of their toys with them. So I was like man that is so powerful, we're all going to die. You have a lot of toys or no toys. We're all going to die and we're taking none of what we have here with us. So it's just, we have what God gives us while we're here for a period of time and our job my mindset is my job is whatever God gives me is to make it better and make it grow. That's it. It's not mine, I'm just. I'm just managing this or that.
Speaker 1:I look at my real estate and it's like you know, this was owned. I do a lot of journaling and reflecting. This was owned by someone you know, a hundred years ago. Where are they? Why did they sell it? I just think about these things sometimes. Why did they sell it? You know they didn't take it and they probably had an idea about what they wanted to do with this thing. And you know, what am I? What is it for me now? What am I supposed to do with this thing that I got? Am I making it better? Someone else will own it in a hundred years. Who knows? Maybe it's my lineage, maybe it's not, I don't know that. I just know that while I'm here, I'm using it. Again goes to my mindset around hey, if God is my father, then everything that's in this earth is for me to enjoy freely, right, while I'm here, because this is God's house. God created this and if I truly believe that I'm a child of God, then I can enjoy everything that's here freely. It's just my mindset around money and just the world, and I'm just grateful to be here and I'm grateful for the little things. And to your point you made earlier, scott, about that person that complains constantly and they're not looking at the common denominator hey, you've been married three times. Who's the common denominator? There's one common denominator here to you, buddy? You lost three jobs in a year. Who's the company that? You need to do some self-reflection.
Speaker 1:Often, I think it could be from gratitude. I literally have it, I have it right here in front of me. I'll show it to you. I have a gratitude journal where, every day, I'm writing three things I'm grateful for.
Speaker 1:And it's just gratitude, being grateful for the things that you've been given, just little things, and that's a muscle that we have to practice and we have to build as human beings. We can easily look at everything that's bad in our life. It's just the way we're wired. It's just the way we're predisposed to self-preserve. We need to learn how to be grateful for what God's given us, for the little things.
Speaker 1:And I don't know, man, it's just I could have this wrong I just, I think it's part of it's part of my secret sauce and my blessings. It's just, I'm just grateful for, I'm just grateful to God for the little things. I just. What did I write today on my gratitude here? I'm grateful for my lungs, right, I was going for a long run this morning and that's what I wrote. I'm just grateful for my lungs. I just, I'm just grateful for the little. Some people are on on the machines to breathe right now, and here I am. So I'm just grateful for the little things, and when you, I think when you're grateful for the little things, god blesses you and gives you more of the things you're grateful for when your focus goes, your energy flows. Pastor, any last thoughts, any thoughts that you might have, anything that I didn't ask you, that I should have asked you, that you think will bring a tremendous amount of value to myself and the listeners that we might have not talked about yet.
Speaker 2:I think we did briefly talk about Amarn, and I would just reiterate it, because if you're talking about value, I don't think you get more value than the gospel. Our lives are going to come to an end, we're going to stand before the Lord someday, and you don't want to be separated from Christ. And so we're reconciled to God, we're brought into relationship with him through faith in his son, jesus Christ, and so I would just encourage any of your listeners that haven't put faith in Christ that today can be the day of salvation for them, and if they have any questions about anything I talked about, you know I'd love to hear from them. They can. They can reach out to me through my website. I'm sure you'll probably put the link to it.
Speaker 2:We'll put it all in the show notes in the show notes, my website, scottlapierreorg, and that's where people can find my books, my messages, my contact page, my conference messages, and I'd love to hear from any, and there's a free gift too. I'll just mention this, my website. It's called Seven Biblical Insights for Marriage. Marriage is actually my joy to talk about, even more than finances, and so if any of your listeners go to my website, they can download a free copy of that book that I hope can be a gift to them, and so I appreciate what you're doing, martin, thanks for having me on the show and giving me this opportunity to talk with you and share with your listeners.
Speaker 1:Thank you for coming on, pastor. I really appreciate that. I appreciate you sharing the Word of God. I mean, every Sunday I have this journal and every Sunday I write in my journal what my intentions are for the week, like, hey, what do I, what do I intend to accomplish this week? And this week I have this journal and then I have another, another notepad, kind of another little journal, and on Sunday morning or evening I think it was evening I was preparing, getting ready for my week and setting intentions for my week.
Speaker 1:I was like, um, I want, uh, god, whatever it is that you want me. I was like, whatever it is, however, it is that you want me to empower people this week. Um, let it be, let me, let me serve my purpose in whatever, whatever way, whatever way. Um, it is that you want me to to empower people. And I, I really hope that this message and that this pot, this episode and, guys, this is the first episode we do on anything remotely religious If you've been listening to this podcast for a long time but this is what got put in my heart and this is what got put and this is what it is.
Speaker 1:So I hope it bless you and I hope that it empowers you and if anyone has any questions or they want to connect with Pastor Scott, we're going to have it all in the show notes. Make sure you go, you pick up his book, go visit his website and, if anything, hopefully you know if this is not your thing. Hopefully you have gotten some value out of this and something that will make you better in some way, some way, shape or form. Pastor, appreciate you coming on. Appreciate it very, very much. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and insights with us.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Mark. God bless you and your listeners.