The Gospel in a Nutshell

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO 

John 3:16 has to be the most often quoted verse in the Bible. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

As part of my 2013 devotional plan I am using “The Joshua Code,” written by my friend and president of GuideStone Financial Resources, SBC, Dr. O.S. Hawkins. By the way, all royalties from the book go to support Mission:Dignity, a GuideStone ministry that enables thousands of retired ministers and widows who are living below the poverty level to live out their days with dignity and security.

In the book, O.S. reminded me the late evangelist Angel Martinez referred to John 3:16 as salvation’s formula revealed in one verse – the entire gospel in a nutschell. During my growing up years in Mississippi in the late 1950’s and early 60’s our church had Angel Martinez as the spring revival evangelist on several occasions. O.S. further observed Martinez suggested John 3:16 revealed salvation’s cause, cost, condition and consequence.

First, God’s love for every person is the motivating cause of His salvation plan, and not just that God loves us, but He so loves us.

Second, the forgiveness of our sin and the promise of life abundant and eternal come with a cost. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners. Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8). Our salvation in Christ came at great cost: God gave His one and only Son.

Third, our good works are not the pathway to eternal life. Our salvation has been purchased for us by the blood of Jesus Christ. The condition is to believe, or as O.S. Hawkins stated, to transfer our trust from ourselves and our own efforts to His finished work on the cross of Calvary.

Fourth, those who do not believe in His finished work are perishing; and those who believe have the promise of eternal life. And what a promise! What a consequence!

Let’s share the good news in 2013 like never before!

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

12 Things to Do in 2012- IRA Rollover

Each Month, the Kentucky Baptist Foundation will share "12 Things to Do in 2013." CEO Barry Allen will share 12  article on faith, philanthropy and stewardship. Trust Counsel Laurie Valentine will focus her 12 on financial, tax and estate planning. 

The IRA Rollover has been extended and expanded!

That’s right ---the recently enacted tax bill extends the IRA Charitable Rollover through 2013.  It also provides a window of opportunity for you to make a gift from your IRA by January 31, 2013 and have it count towards your 2012 charitable contributions.

The Charitable IRA Rollover provisions permit a person who is 70 ½ or older to make tax-free outright gifts in any amount up to a total of $100,000 from a traditional or Roth IRA directly to qualified charities. Your church and our KBC and SBC agencies and institutions are “qualified charities”. Private foundations and donor advised funds are not.

You are not entitled to a charitable income tax deduction for your IRA Charitable Rollover distributions.  They do, however, count as part of your required minimum distribution.

Your IRA Charitable Rollover gifts for 2012 must be completed by Jan. 31, 2013.  You have until December 31, 2013 to make another $100,000 in IRA Rollover gifts for 2013. 

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Charitable Gift Annuities

By: Laurie Valentine, COO & Trust Counsel
Would you like to provide support to your church or another favorite Baptist cause while benefiting from lifetime payments, management of assets and tax savings? If your answer is yes, a charitable gift annuity may be just what you are looking for.

A charitable gift annuity is a contract between you and the Kentucky Baptist Foundation under which you agree to make a gift of cash or appreciated stocks, bonds or mutual fund shares and, in exchange for your gift, the Kentucky Baptist Foundation agrees to pay you a fixed amount each year for your lifetime. The lifetime payments to you are backed by the general assets of the cause(s) that will ultimately benefit from your gift.

The annual payment to you depends upon the value of your gift and your age at the time you make the gift. The older you are the higher the payment rate. The payment amount is not dependent on what your gift earns.

Establishing a charitable gift annuity during your lifetime allows you to provide for your financial needs and those of your family, while at the same time assuring vital future support to the causes you designate to ultimately benefit from your gift.

Tax savings may be available from the charitable income tax deduction that is allowable and also from the fact that part of each payment you receive is tax-free. These benefits can make the cost of establishing a charitable gift annuity very reasonable.

Using appreciated stocks, bonds or mutual fund shares to establish a charitable gift annuity can also provide capital gains tax savings.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Giving: Charity or Worship?

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO 
What is your attitude toward giving to your church and to other Christian ministries? Do you find yourself sometimes giving grudgingly instead of cheerfully? Is your attitude affected from time-to-time by fear or greed, or a concern for how your church or charity will use your gifts?

As you begin the New Year, let me encourage you to get a lesson from the Apostle Paul on the proper attitude toward giving. In his famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, Paul contended it is love alone that counts, love alone that triumphs and love alone that endures. The love about which Paul spoke to the Corinthians then and to us today is the agape kind of love, the caring love that expresses God’s nature and that He extends to us undeserving creatures. It’s God’s gift; we cannot earn or gain it; we receive it in response to His love in Jesus Christ. It comes not through self assertion, but self surrender. It evokes faith that in turn evokes love. It is centered on concern for others. To follow the way of love is to follow the very nature of God Himself, for God is love.

Therefore, God’s love should define our attitude toward giving. He wants us to give cheerfully, prompted by love and in response to His giving.

In 1 Corinthians 13:3, Paul shows the relationship of love to giving and to deeds of goodwill. He clearly stated it is possible to give and to do good deeds for some motive other than love, and when we do, we gain nothing; in fact, such giving reflects selfishness, not love.

Starting now, each time you give visualize placing your gift in the nail scared hands of Jesus, who loved you enough to die in your place for the forgiveness of your sin and that you might have life abundant and eternal. And, give thanks to Him for His unending love and for the privilege of participating with Him in reconciling the world unto Himself. In so doing, your giving attitude will be much more than an act of charity; it will be an act of worship.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.