money – Nickcarnes.com

February 11, 2013

Monday Rewind

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Sermon Series: Life. Money. Hope.

Sermon Title: “Money Talks”

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-21; Genesis 4:1-7

The Biblical truths in week 1’s sermon must be grasped in order to fully apply the rest of the messages we will hear from Dave Ramsey in the next three weeks.

The way we manage money COMMUNICATES our inward value system

Jesus, has a perfect record as a financial adviser
Matthew 6:19 – Jesus advises that the foolish way to invest our money is on earthly things. Everything on earth has an expiration date; it breaks down, devalues and you can’t take it with you to Heaven.
Matthew 6:20 – Jesus advises that the wisest way to invest our money is in heavenly things; in advancing the Kingdom of God through the gospel. Heavenly things are eternal and will never expire

A. Our financial investments communicate what’s most IMPORTANT to us

Matthew 6:21“Wherever your treasure (money) is (Earthly Investments or Heavenly Investments), there the desires of your heart (what’s important to you) will also be.”

(Gen 4:1-2) Adam and Eve are blessed by God with two sons, Cain and Abel
(Gen 4:2) Cain and Abel both grew up and took on jobs; Cain and farmer and Abel a shepherd
(Gen 4:3-4) At harvest (payday) both Cain & Abel brought a gift (offering) to the Lord out of the product of their labors (paycheck)
Gen 4:3) Cain brought SOME of his crops to the Lord as an offering
Gen 4:4) Abel brought the FIRST and the BEST of his flock as an offering

Cain’s gift of just some of his crops as an offering to the Lord reveals that he put little thought and little heart into his gift

People who just give some of their resources back to God don’t have a GIVING problem; they have a WORSHIP problem.

The root of every sin is a worship problem.

Abel’s offering was an offering rooted in his worship of God. It required effort and a lot of thought.

Abel’s offering of the first and the best of his flock required great faith on Abel’s part. He did not know what the rest of his flock would produce after his offering; this required total reliance on God.
When we tithe and give God the first and the best of the resources he has blessed us with, we should do so in worship of God and in faith, trusting that he will provide everything we need with the remaining 90%

Hebrews 11:4 It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did [read rest of verse]

TITHING has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with FAITH

Notice: God did not take issue with how Cain & Abel used their remaining resources, it was the offering that he accepted or rejected because it was this offering that revealed the condition of their heart and the condition of their worship.
Cain did not have a giving problem…he had a worship problem
If you are not giving God your first and your best, you don’t have a giving problem…you have a worship problem, too.

(Gen. 4:4-7) “Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you.” – When we are out of line in our worship of God it opens us up to being controlled and overtaken by other sin.

Cain was eventually overtaken and controlled by sin; he murdered his brother Abel.
Cain’s sin began when he worshiped the creation of God over God, who created all things.
Our sin begins with the same improper worship of God.

Practical Take-Home Truths:

Earthly INVESTMENTS will not survive; heavenly investments last FOREVER

An HONEST inventory of how I manage my money will reveal what I value most in life

God deserves my FIRST and my BEST not just SOME and the REST

Giving my first and best involves: WORSHIP, FAITH and OBEDIENCE

My mismanagement of God’s resources is not a GIVING problem; it’s a WORSHIP problem

My giving PROTECTS my heart from being overtaken by sin

February 19, 2011

Conversations with a Four Year Old

Gavin asked why a nurse came to our house the other morning, so Nicki was explaining to both Gavin and Tristan that the nurse came to do different tests so we could increase our life insurance.

Here’s how the conversation went (paraphrased):

Nicki: “If daddy died, life insurance would help pay to bury him.”

Tristan: “We can bury daddy in the backyard and pack the dirt down real tight so no one would see him”

He says he learned it in school!

I am glad my family has big plans for me when I die. I think I may go ahead and make Tristan the executor of my will, it sounds as if he will be frugal with what little money I am able to leave behind. 🙂

Join the Conversation. Have you had any interesting conversations with your children lately?

February 7, 2011

Pivot Points

piv·ot point: The point at which something pivots, changes, or turns (my definition)

This Sunday we kickoff our new marriage campaign I DO…Not Anymore at New Passion. As I’ve been preparing for the messages I was thinking about some of the pivot points in my own marriage. Nicki and I got married young and we face our share of struggles, but by God’s grace we celebrated 10 years of marriage last November. Throughout this series I will post about some of these pivot points we’ve made that were positive moves in our marriage.

This first pivot point was a subtle change that we felt led to make early in our marriage but the results and benefits of this change have lasted us and have been experienced over and over throughout our marriage.

PIVOT POINT #1: Shifted from tithing on our net income to our gross income.

Money has never really been an issue of contention with Nicki and me (We’ve had short spats, but no big brawls). When we first got married we had plenty of money. We never questioned how we were going to pay our bills and the term “pay check to pay check” was foreign to us. We always had money in the bank, we had new(er) cars and a nice house.

But, everything has to change at some point right? The life of financial ease would not last very long.

We were giving a tithe to God. A tithe is 10% of the income God provides to us. However, we were giving a tithe on our net income, meaning that when we got paid we were giving Blue Cross Blue Shield their share first, the U.S. Government their share second, and then God 10% of what was left over.

We heard a pastor preach a message about the tithe being the first fruit and how it should be our response to God’s goodness to us. In worshiping God through our tithe our best would be giving back to him that first fruit from the total of what he has blessed us with. I had never really been taught what was what. I had friends who were giving their tithe after paying all of their bills. This message not only struck home with Nicki and me, but also with some of our friends.

Nicki and I decided that we were going to start worshiping God with our tithe from the gross of what he had blessed us with. Because symbolically, we wanted God to be first in our money and first in our home. This was the best way we could demonstrate this to God.

A Back Story – – – (I am not presenting a prosperity gospel) – – I believe when we did this God communicated something to us. Here’s how. I had a four wheeler that I bought but never got to ride. So, I placed it in the IWANTA to sell it. Several weeks had passed and I heard nothing. The day Nicki and I decided to start tithing on our gross (with the right motivations) I had a phone call from a guy wanting to see the four wheeler. The next day he was at my house looking at it. I tried to start it three times and it wouldn’t start. On the fourth attempt it started. The guy bought the four wheeler that day and didn’t even try to negotiate a lower price.

Does this mean that if we tithe on our gross or tithe at all that God will always act on our behalf and become our personal genie? No! In fact, the impression that I felt God was communicating to me at that moment was this, “If you put me first in everything, I will take care of you (not give me what I want).” Since that day, we followed through with our goal of having Nicki stay at home with the children (up until last year she started working part time at a gift shop). Honestly, we have faced some very dark financial issues since this pivotal day in our marriage. We have had challenges as a family. But God, has sustained us. Are we rich? By America’s standards, no. According to the world’s standards, yes! Do we have the nicest material possessions because of this pivot point? No. Do we have everything together as a family? Far from it. The reality is, this pivot point was not a magic pill to give us everything we wanted.

This pivot point was our communicating and committing to God that he was first in our marriage, our finances and in our home. Even when we didn’t have the money to pay the bills, we put God first. It has not always been easy. But there are undeniable, obvious finger prints of God on my household because he has taken care of us in good times and in bad.

In addition, because we learned these principles in our marriage, they play a huge role at New Passion as well. It was set in our DNA from the very beginning that we would put God first in the church’s finances by giving at least a tithe as a church to missions. God has honored this commitment.

Join the Conversation…Have you had to come to a pivot point in your marriage with God and finances?

December 15, 2010

Depends and Bifocals

Well. It’s almost here. At 9:35 p.m. tomorrow (and not a second earlier) I will turn the big 30! I guess I need to carve out some time Friday morning to go get sized for my new life of Depends. I probably need to go by Eye Glass World or somewhere like that to treat myself to a brand new pair of bifocals too. We’re going to Sconyers BBQ on Friday night for my birthday, so I really can’t delay getting these things done if I want to read the menu, and only God knows what will happen with my bladder and digestive system as of 9:35 p.m. tomorrow, so I definitely CANNOT delay with the Depends, those will be top priority. I would hate to have an embarrassing episode, but then again, I will be a rookie goldy oldie so I guess it’s expected.

I wonder if 30 among the elderly is like being a freshmen in high school. I fear being hazed by the older, older people. I guess I’ll have to keep a close eye on my dentures and walker so no one hides them. You know how our memory gets lost with everything else, I’ll never find them if they get a hold of them.

While my memory is still flickering slightly better than it will be at 9:35 p.m. tomorrow night. I must remind you, because I know everyone reading this is ringing their hands right now and are nervous that you have not bought be a birthday gift. So, you are thinking that you are going to have to go battle the Christmas traffic or the long lines to get me the very best gift in the world. But, do not be afraid! That seems to sound familiar. Although I know you were going to lavish me with wonderful gifts, I must decline. I am asking you to celebrate the 30 wonderful years God has blessed me with by blessing those in Africa who do not have clean water. Many children will not live to see this ripe old age of 30 because they don’t have usable water. Will you go give a gift of any size to this effort? Instead of going out and buying that pack of Depends for me, you may want to give the equivalent amount (approx. $13) towards my campaign, or if you are really feeling generous you can give $1 per year I’ve been alive, that will provide 1.5 people water for the next 20 years! The direct link to the gift giving site is: http://mycharitywater.org/nickcarnes

P.S. Billy Wilson says he and Seree went to the Apple Store to buy me an iPad for my birthday when he pulled up my blog in the store and saw that I was asking for water instead. So, they put the iPad back. Do me a favor and please go to Billy’s Facebok page, his Twitter, and/or his Email and help remind him and Seree to donate the equivalent amount of money for an iPad in a water donation to my campaign, since they were feeling so generous this Birthday season!

July 9, 2010July 9, 2010

When Relationships Trump Ego – A Lebron James Story

I was happy when the Lebron James decision came last night. I couldn’t even turn on the news without seeing a report about it or being told to go to their website to answer their poll on where I thought he would go. Now, here I am diving into the conversation. Just to get it out there, I didn’t think LeBron would stay in Cleveland, I was leaning towards New York, after all, that’s what everyone has been talking about for two years now. After all, that’s what was going to be the best for Lebron’s brand, his bank account, and his ego.

Okay, great, that’s out of the way….

With every athlete there is an ego. I personally didn’t think Lebron’s television “Decision” on ESPN was the best decision. In fact, I thought it was quite egotistical, a little self-centered. I had a slight change of heart when I found out proceeds from the television performance was going to the Boys and Girls Club of America.

I also had a change of heart in Lebron’s choice from last night to this morning. When Lebron mentioned that he was going to South Beach in Miami, I at first wanted to tweet that he would never be seen in the same light at Michael Jordan, even if he did win multiple championships, I still believe that, but that’s the point of my change of heart.

I read an article on ESPN from Bill Simmons about a pact that Lebron James, Dewayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Chris Paul made two years ago. In the article Bill reports that the four players made a pact that they would all play with each other in a single city one day. It has been widely reported all over the media that Wade, James, and Bosh are all good friends and in the end, I have no doubt that is what made the final decision for Lebron.

I find it interesting that most of the outrage surrounds the decision by Lebron to go to Miami, however, the fact is, it is requiring a huge sacrifice on his part to attempt to win a championship. After all, that’s what professional sports are all about, winning championships. Lebron hurts his brand, he sacrifices his ego, and he sacrificed a lot of money (although Florida’s no state income tax may have helped there too). Chris Bosh and Dewayne Wade are also sacrificing many of the same things that Lebron is sacrificing, all to play with each other and to win a championship. That’s truly unheard of with All-Star athletes.

The media questions why things are progressing the way they are with the ego and selfishness of professional athletes, yet, we feed it. I think a majority of people who followed the Lebron situation wanted him to make a choice that would “benefit” him the most. Even his entourage advised him not to go to Miami because of the things he would be sacrificing. Instead of celebrating an athlete that would give his television proceeds to the Boys and Girls Club, sacrifice at least 30 million dollars in salary, sacrifice his legacy as a player that could win a championship in a “cursed” city and be the “leader” of the team; we make him the black sheep. We would rather celebrate greed and self-centeredness over sacrifice and selflessness.

I am sure there are plenty of things that we can fault Lebron on and I can definitely understand Cleveland’s hurt and pain with Lebron leaving, however, the fact is, this is a business and Lebron has to make the best decision as someone who is employeed in the industry. I am sure his decision was tough, but in the end, I think relationships trumped ego and that is at least one lesson that should be taught to our kids and at least one thing that should be praised throughout this situation.