The Great Commission and Discipleship

By: Barry G. Allen

Early in Matthew’s Gospel (4:18-20), Jesus called the first two of his disciples, namely, the fishermen brothers, Peter and Andrew. He called them to leave their nets and to follow him to become fishers of men. Matthew’s Gospel closes dramatically and forcefully with the resurrected Jesus giving his eleven disciples the Great Commission.

As critical as the concern for man’s salvation is in the Great Commission, we in the church have been so preoccupied with the lost world we have failed to focus on that aspect of the Great Commission that is the call to be brought under Christ’s discipline and to be taught to obey all that has been commanded by the one to whom all authority had been given. The call to discipleship is the call to submit to the kingly rule of God in our lives (6:33).

Therefore, we in the church must realize a lot of spiritual maturing had to take place between Jesus’ call to Peter and Andrew to become fishers of men and his commission to them and the others to go and make disciples of all nations. The same is true for us today. There’s a huge amount of teaching from Jesus between Matthew 4 and Matthew 28. Before we can effectively go and teach others to be obedient to Jesus and all he commanded, we ourselves must become obedient, and we have not.

I agree with Henry Blackaby’s assessment of where we are as Southern Baptists and where we ought to go from here. He has said, “If Southern Baptists want to see a Great Commission Resurgence, we need to focus on the relationship between disciples and the living Lord Jesus, not launch a new emphasis on evangelism. Southern Baptists have focused on evangelism and missed discipleship. The heart of the Great Commission and discipleship is to teach them to practice everything I have commanded you.”

Finally, at the heart of discipleship is financial stewardship for Kingdom advancement about which Jesus had more to say than any other discipline (6:19-21, 24).

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

Barry Allen is the retired President and CEO of the KBF and currently serves as a consultant to the interim management team. This article published in this week's Western Recorder also appeared in a previous edition of the paper. 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.

Biblical Examples of Giving

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

Someone once said, “Two things I’ve had in life in ample supply, good advice and poor examples.” One of the great things about the Bible is it not only gives good advice, it gives good examples. Below are six worthy of emulation.

First is the example of the poor widow (Luke 21:1-4). In terms of the coins she used she made the smallest gift. But to Jesus, in comparison to what the wealthy gave, she made the most significant gift. To Jesus, the gift that counts is the gift that costs; it’s not the size of the gift but the size of the sacrifice; it’s not the amount but the proportion; it’s not the depth of our pockets, but the depth of our love and commitment to Him. No one is excluded from making a worthy gift to our Lord.

Second, Zacchaeus is an example of a person of wealth who gave over and above the normal (Luke 19:1-10). He was such a successful businessman and tax collector he had become wealthy. When he decided to follow Jesus, he freely vowed, “…I give half of my possessions to the poor.” What an example of generosity for those who have wealth!

Third, the woman with the alabaster jar of expensive perfume (Mark 14:1-9) is an example of a single person who was just getting by financially but out of gratitude made a sacrificial gift to the Lord.

Fourth, Barnabas (Acts 4:36-37) used a piece of real estate to make a legacy gift for the Lord’s work “with no strings attached.”

Fifth, the Macedonian Christians (2 Corinthians 8:1-5) literally gave out of their poverty and beyond their ability for the privilege of being involved financially in the Lord’s work.

Sixth, the Lord Jesus Christ stands as the supreme example and motivation for us as Christians to give faithfully, generously and cheerfully (2 Corinthians 8:9).

The Bible is true (Acts 20:35) and these examples above provide proof, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” So, give it a try; I promise you will be blessed.

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.

State Missions: Now More Than Ever!

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

As I reflect upon my 44 years of vocational involvement in state missions in Kentucky, I am struck by the dramatic changes that have occurred in the population, especially from the immigration of the many and varied people groups who have come to Kentucky, the impact of the secular culture on all Kentuckians and the exponential power of technology that spreads instantaneously the negative impact of the secular culture. As a result, the challenge of the Acts 1:8 challenge has become more formidable than ever, and “state missions” now has an “international missions” element inherent in it.

Since 1913 Kentucky WMU has taken an annual offering through the churches for state missions. In 1976 the offering was named for Eliza Broadus, who was a contemporary of Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong, and who led Kentucky WMU in 1913 to begin a state missions offering. And now, more than 100 years later, this offering is more important than it has ever been because of the growing number of lost, unchurched and dechurched people of the Commonwealth as well as the impact of secularization. This offering undergirds, enhances and supplements on-going ministries as well as special projects focused on reaching the lost and making disciples in Kentucky. You may live in or near a community that is impacted directly by ministries that receive funding from this offering.

Because of the added importance of this offering in the future for reaching Kentucky for Christ, let me encourage you not only to continue to give generously to and through the annual offering, but also to consider making a legacy gift now and/or through your estate plan for the benefit of state missions through the Eliza Broadus Offering. In this way you could continue to contribute to this vital effort beyond your lifetime. What a legacy that would leave of your love for Christ and His mission in Kentucky!

You could begin now to contribute to an existing perpetual endowment administered by the KBF from which the earnings are added annually to the offering. Or, you may prefer to establish an endowment yourself. This is the season of prayer for state missions and the EBO offering. What a wonderful time to give Laurie Valentine or me a call to assist you.

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.

Time, Talents and Treasures

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

The remarkable story of the KBF comes to life not in its impressive financial statements, but through the men and women who trusted the KBF and committed to it for administration all or a portion of the resources God entrusted to them for the benefit of their families and the Kingdom causes near and dear to their hearts. It’s a story of Christian stewardship that linked these men and women together with the KBF in a sacred trust.

Among those men and women is a couple with two adult children who wanted to use appreciated assets to honor the Lord with a legacy gift for the benefit of their church as well as assist their adult children in financing the cost of their graduate studies.

With the assistance of our trust counsel, Laurie Valentine, this couple established an endowment fund with the KBF that will provide perpetual financial support in perpetuity for their church. In addition, they established a short-term charitable remainder trust with the KBF as trustee that provided financial assistance to their two children to complete their graduate studies, and following their graduation, the remainder of the trust assets was added to the endowment fund they established for the church.

As a way to maximize the timing of the tax advantages of donating appreciated assets, this couple utilizes a donor advised fund with the KBF from which they make distributions periodically to the charitable causes that are near and dear to their hearts.

Here’s how they described their involvement with the KBF staff: “we were raised in Christian families that taught us the stewardship of time, talents and treasures was what God expected. When God blessed us with a financial benefit, we turned to the KBF because we were aware of its faith-based mission, its staff, which was competent, open, honest and with a proven reputation. They presented us with ways to provide for our children’s education, to help our church in a perpetual way and to benefit other charitable organizations. We have been able to generate larger than expected gifts because of the tax benefits derived from the gift ideas suggested by the KBF staff, who were knowledgeable professionals and able to explain clearly the different giving options.”

Please give us the privilege of assisting you in stewarding out of the “treasures” the Lord has entrusted to you.

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.

Stewardship Truths- #1

A 12 part series discussing stewardship.

By: Barry G. Allen

Acknowledge with all your heart what the Psalmist declared in Psalm 24:1 and what the prophet Haggai said in Haggai 2:8, namely God is the owner of everything; we are his stewards/trustees.

Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it….”

Haggai 2:8 “The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty.”

This is where stewardship begins – acknowledgment that God is the owner of everything, and He has entrusted it to us to manage in His behalf. So, that car you drive to church is not yours, it’s the Lord’s. That house you live in, that brokerage account, that retirement plan – they are not yours; they belong to Him. Until you can acknowledge this biblical truth, you will not be able to receive the benefits He has promised His faithful stewards.

Master of Multiplication

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

The great truth of Jesus’ miracle recorded in Mark 8:1-9a is: Jesus in the “great satisfier” and the “great multiplier.” Through this feeding of the four thousand we discover the “master of multiplication.”

As the crowd gathered around Jesus had compassion for them and expressed to his disciples a concern for all the people in the crowd. He did not want to send them away hungry. How did the disciples respond? The same way you and I would have responded, and too often do respond today when faced with challenges beyond our human comprehension. They responded with a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. They responded “where in this remote place can anyone get bread enough to feed them?”

But what did Jesus do? He asked the disciples how much food was available. They replied, seven loaves of bread. Then Jesus told the crowd to sit down; he blessed the loaves and fed all the people. There also were a few fish, which he blessed and the disciples distributed among the people. Then Mark’s gospel recorded this: “The people ate and were satisfied.” And, there were seven basketfuls left over. So, the lesson for us is when we focus on Jesus, he satisfies our hunger and multiplies our potential. He takes what we give him and multiplies it to impact people in need and who need what Jesus has to offer. He truly can multiply our little into a lot. He is the master of multiplication.

Like the disciples, we too often focus on what we do not have, what we cannot do and why we cannot help. Remember this: when the disciples put the little they had into the hands of Jesus, he multiplied it to become a lot. As Dr. Paul Powell observed in his stewardship book some years ago, “Jesus takes our insufficiency and makes it sufficient; he takes our inadequacy and multiplies it into an abundance.”

As you prayerfully ponder what Jesus would have you to do in the use of the resources entrusted to you, remember the master of multiplication can take your little and make it to become a lot. And, in the process you will be blessed with contentment and satisfaction.

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.

I Have a Dream Too

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

August 28 was the 50th anniversary of the late Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I read the text of that speech every year on the anniversary date and reflect upon the power of its message for all generations. As I was reading and reflecting this year, it occurred to me I have a dream as well. Here’s what I would include in my “I have a dream” speech.

I have a dream that every adult Kentucky Baptist would have a greater propensity to become a more Kingdom-minded steward. As such, we would acknowledge with all our hearts that God is the owner of all things, and we are His stewards in the use of that which He has entrusted us. We would shift our priorities to let God, not money or anything else, be first in our lives so God would work more effectively in our lives. We would demonstrate our dependence upon and dedication to God through our giving. And, we would give generously, thoughtfully, thankfully and cheerfully. By connecting the dots between what we claim we believe the Bible teaches and applying those truths in our lives, we would learn to exchange what we cannot keep for what we cannot lose. We would recognize we do not have to be financially wealthy to make a worthy gift to our Lord. We could enjoy the resources He has entrusted to us, we would share them to help others and we would make eternal investments that touch peoples’ lives and connect them to Jesus Christ.

I have a dream that every Kentucky Baptist church would take more seriously its discipleship duty to challenge its older generation to leave a legacy gift of their love for Christ and His mission in this world, to sensitize and teach its younger generation how to live according to biblical principles of financial stewardship and to incorporate legacy giving into its on-going stewardship education and expectations.

I have a dream that more and more Kentucky Baptist individuals and churches will call upon the KBF to assist in educating, encouraging and enabling Kingdom-minded stewardship. We await your call.

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.

Famous Last Words

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

Recently a pastor called me and informed me a church member wanted to make a gift of appreciated stock to the church. He needed help in how to do that. I asked him if the church had a brokerage account to which he responded, “no.” I suggested step #1 was for the church to open a brokerage account. Not only would that accommodate this member’s stock gift but also would open the door to a whole new way of giving for other church members who likely would make non cash gifts for the benefit of the church if such opportunity were available to him. The pastor was a bit resistant to the idea, and guess what he said? “We’ve never done that before.”

Those are the “famous last words” of too many Baptist church and denominational leaders. Instead of those words, church and denominational leaders should be encouraging, educating and equipping church members in how to give non cash gifts to and through their churches. I urge pastors and church leaders to communicate regularly to church members your gratitude for their faithful, consistent and generous support of the church and other Kingdom ministries. In addition, I urge pastors and church leaders to ask church members to consider extending their stewardship beyond just offering plate gifts to include estate gifts. More often than not when I speak in churches about estate stewardship church members respond by saying “you know, I’ve never thought about that before, and my church has never asked me to consider such giving.”

If your church is going to be effective in reaching for Christ your community, this state, the nation and the world, it must encourage, educate, equip and enable its members in how to steward out of their estate assets. Offering plate dollars will not be sufficient. The Kentucky Baptist Foundation exists and stands ready to assist your church. Please do not delay. Contact Laurie Valentine or me today.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ I want these to be the “famous last words,” of my life: “… Well done, good and faithful servant!” What about you? 

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 2013- Business Sale- Brings Unique Stewardship Opportunity

12 Things to do in 2013- #4- Laurie Valentine

Business Sale- Brings a Unique Stewardship Opportunity

For many private business owners, virtually all of their net worth is concentrated in the value of their business. As the owners of privately-owned businesses approach retirement, plans for exiting the business must be made.

Only one in five business owners expect to transfer their business to a family member (PricewaterhouseCoopers study).

The sale of a long-owned business may result in substantial capitals gains tax liability.

Demonstrate your faithfulness to the One who entrusted you with such wealth by including a charitable gift of a portion of the business in your business exit planning. Your charitable gift must be completed before you make an agreement to sell your business.

Benefits of such a giving plan include reduction of your long term capital gains tax liability, a charitable income tax deduction based on the market value of the portion of the business you give to (or for) charity, and the potential for increased income if you use a life income giving plan.

For more information go to www.kybaptist.planyourlegacy.org/GIFTbusiness.php.

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.

E-Devotional- Week 27

Creative Giving Ideas-Week 1

  

The churches, associations, institutions and agencies of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Southern Baptist Convention are making a difference for the Kingdom of God in our state, nation and around the world.  They are worthy of significant and sacrificial support that will enhance and undergird their missions and ministries.

Perhaps you would like to make gifts above what you give out of income as tithes and offerings to provide on-going support to one or more of these causes, but you may be concerned that such gifts could affect your financial security and that of your family.  There are a variety of creative giving options that allow you to “make a lasting difference” while also assuring the future financial security of your family.

As you begin these lessons, take a moment to pray for God’s guidance in this month’s study.

Week 1 – Why Should I Give?

Scripture References:  Psalm 24:1a; Matthew 6:19-21; Mark 12:41-44; 1 Timothy 6:7, 9.

Please read these passages in your Bible now.

What Does the Bible Say About Giving?

The scripture references noted above remind us that everything belongs to God and comes from God.  We are to be good stewards of all that God has given us.  We are to use what God has given us in ways that will benefit the Kingdom of God, not just our own comfort on earth.  No matter your financial station in life you can make a gift that counts because the gift that counts is the gift that costs.

Are There Temporal Benefits to Giving?

Both federal and state tax laws encourage charitable giving.  There is an income tax deduction allowed for lifetime gifts to charity (this would include your tithes and offerings) and an estate tax deduction for charitable gifts made at death.  If you use appreciated securities or real estate to make lifetime gifts, you will also save capital gains taxes.  Life income gifts, discussed in Lesson 4, may actually result in an increase in your income.

What is “Social Capital” and How Should It Factor Into My Giving Decisions?

Our federal and state tax laws were enacted to provide an incentive in the form of tax savings for making gifts to support those agencies and institutions that are providing vital services to our communities.  The government’s philosophy is that private giving does many jobs that otherwise the government might be called upon to do out of tax money.  “Social capital” is that portion of your wealth that will either pass involuntarily to the government as taxes or which can be directed voluntarily by you to charitable causes.  If your social capital passes as taxes, you permit the government to choose what institutions and programs will be supported. Charitable giving allows you to direct what would otherwise pass out of your hands as tax dollars to those causes and organizations that will perpetuate your highest personal values.

Directing your social capital is good stewardship.  The tax savings resulting from your charitable gifts may actually leave more for you and your family to enjoy.  Those savings may also permit you to give more than you ever dreamed possible.

Prayer Focus: Take some time now to pray that God will provide understanding about why you should be considering how you can make gifts above and beyond your tithes and offerings.

Next Week:  Giving Out of Your Assets vs. Your Income

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.

Your Own Foundation

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

The Kentucky Baptist Foundation was established in 1945 and exists today for you and your church.

It exists for you as an individual or family so you do not have to incur the initial and on-going administrative costs and responsibilities inherent in having your own private family foundation. As a result you and your family, now and into the future, regardless of your level of wealth, can accomplish your philanthropic goals through an arrangement with the Kentucky Baptist Foundation.

In addition to avoiding the administrative costs and responsibilities of a family foundation, there are three other benefits of an arrangement with the KBF. First, there is a privacy benefit. A private family foundation must file detailed and public tax returns on grants, investment fees, trustees’ names and staff salaries. Through an arrangement with the KBF the names of donors can be kept confidential and distributions can be made anonymously. Second, a private family foundation must distribute 5% of its net assets annually; through an arrangement with the KBF there is no annual distribution requirement. Third, there is a tax advantage. The tax deduction limit for gifts of cash to a family foundation is 30% of one’s adjusted gross income; it’s 50% through an arrangement with the KBF. The deduction limit for gifts of securities or real property to a family foundation is 20% of one’s adjusted gross income; its 30% through an arrangement with the KBF.

The KBF also exists for your church for the same reasons in terms of not having to incur the initial and on-going administrative costs and responsibilities associated with having its own church foundation. In addition, through an arrangement with the KBF your church can facilitate the estate stewardship interests of its members in sustaining and enhancing the financial future ministry of the church and other charitable causes near and dear to the members’ hearts.

Call us toll free for information about how the KBF can become your foundation and your church’s foundation for charitable giving.

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.

Who will take care of your child if you die?

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

As a parent you may find this question a difficult one to answer. I trust, however, you will agree it is a crucial question you must answer – and – the sooner the better. Not to answer this question leaves the fate of your “orphaned” child entirely up to a stranger, namely, a judge. Therefore, naming a guardian for minor children in a will is one of the most important stewardship actions a parent should perform.

Remember, a guardian isn’t forever. If you decide to change the guardian you can always make that change either with a codicil to your will or a new will. For example, if your child or children are young, their grandparents may be the best choice; however, when they become teenagers, grandparents may no longer be the wisest choice. The person or persons you choose do not have to be blood relatives; it should be someone you feel would be the best surrogate parent.

Geography, religion, education, family size, financial resources and lifestyle are also important factors in choosing a guardian. You might decide an aunt, your sister, is the clear choice, but she lives quite a distance away in another state. As a result, your children could be uprooted from their community, church and school at a time in their lives when they most need those relationships.

After considering all of the relevant factors, you may conclude you still have not identified the “perfect” candidate, and therefore, you continue to delay the decision. Perhaps in such cases an imperfect choice would be better than no choice at all.

And, finally, I recommend you talk in advance to the one you choose, and secure his or her consent before naming them. Although the law does not require it, it’s the prudent thing to do. Even though the overwhelming majority of guardians named in wills never have to fulfill the duty because most minors reach age 18 with at least one parent alive, it’s wise stewardship to name one. So, parents, don’t wait! And, grandparents, make sure your children have taken care of this for the sake of your grandchildren.

More for Christ Via Your Will

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

Traditionally the month of January has been set aside by churches as “make your will” month. Since 60% of the population dies without a will, and it is estimated that 70% of the 40% who have a will do not have a currently updated will, the “make your will” month emphasis is a worthy one indeed.

Since the scriptures clearly reveal everything we possess, regardless of how much, is from God, and He has entrusted it to us to use wisely and for His purposes; and since how we plan our estates likely will be the single most significant act of stewardship we shall ever perform, it is, vitally important to use the best resources available to you in this process. The Kentucky Baptist Foundation is one of those resources, and specifically our estate stewardship consultation service. I encourage you to set aside some time between now and January prayerfully to consider a “more for Christ” provision in your estate plan. Perhaps you should consider a tithe or more of your estate to advance Christ’s Kingdom in the future through your church and other Christian ministries in which you are involved. Offering plate gifts alone will not be sufficient. A “more for Christ” provision in your estate plan offers you the opportunity to make a lasting difference for the cause of Christ beyond your lifetime. A “more for Christ” provision could be in the form of a bequest provision in your will or trust, or a beneficiary designation of retirement plan assets or a life insurance policy. You may be in a circumstance where it would be more desirable beneficial to you to go ahead now and make a “more for Christ” legacy gift rather than defer it through a provision at death. We stand ready to provide you information about all of the “more for Christ” giving ideas and their benefits.

Also, I encourage pastors and stewardship leaders to use January 2012 as “make your will month.” Let us assist you with ideas for bulletin inserts, websites and newsletter as well as our stewardship education seminars.

Biblical Giving Pattern

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

I am indebted first to my parents then to my childhood pastor, church training leaders and Sunday school teachers for most of what I know and practice in financial stewardship. But it was my parents primarily who modeled financial stewardship for me. Here’s the biblical pattern they taught me.

First, be a priority giver. “Bring the best of the firstfruits” (Ex. 34:26). Second, be a proportionate giver with the tithe as the floor, not the ceiling, of my giving. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse … test me … says the Lord Almighty , and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (Malachi 3:10). “The gift is acceptable according to what one has” (2 Cor 8:12). Third, be a premeditated giver. “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give” (2 Cor 9:7). Be a periodic giver. “On the first day of the week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money” (1 Cor 16:2). Fourth, be a progressing giver. “But Zacchaeus stood up and said … Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor ….” (Lk 19:8). Fifth, be a pleasurable giver. “…for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7). Sixth, be a perpetual giver. “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead” (Hebrews 11:4).

Across the years I have proven both the reasons and the promises Malachi, Jesus and Paul made to the people of God about giving. I urge you to do the same. To the extent we in the Kentucky Baptist Foundation can be of assistance in facilitating your perpetual giving, please give us that privilege.

Accountability

By: Barry G. Allen - President and CEO

     Among the important qualities of a mature steward is accountability.  A mature steward is accountable.

     A mature steward knows by nature what Jesus meant in the parable found in Luke 12:48, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

     A mature steward lives each day knowing the end of the story is what Jesus taught in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:19, “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.”

     A mature steward enjoys a sense of security in knowing someone is overseeing him or her, and his or her efforts in behalf of the overseer, or master, matter.  This encourages initiative and quality in the mature steward’s efforts, which pleases the master. 

     On the other hand, a too cautious, do-nothing-for-fear-of-the-consequences attitude is totally unpleasant and distasteful to the master as revealed in that part of the parable found in Matthew 25:24-28.  “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.  See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘you wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.  For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.  Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

     May we be faithful and accountable in our stewardship in 2011.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

  

          When it comes to financial stewardship too many churches operate under a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  It’s what I call the financial stewardship paradox.  Jesus had more to say about our relationship to money than any other spiritual discipline, and yet, church members and church leaders do not want to discuss it at all.  Both the pastor and the people dread the annual stewardship sermon (mutual intimidation).

            This unspoken attitude is a self-serving attitude in that stewardship in churches has been narrowed to institutional fundraising, concentrating solely on the church’s immediate needs and the task of raising so much money for the church budget to the neglect of the larger meaning of money in our lives and how this reality should be regarded in an overall philosophy of life. 

            Author Randy Alcorn has observed we regularly witness the gifts of teaching and prayer, but we rarely hear stories of church members exercising the gift of giving money.  So, how do young people in the church learn to give?  Where can they go to witness what giving looks like in the life of the believer captivated by Christ?  Why are we surprised when, seeing no other example, they take their cues from a materialistic society?

            Somewhere between Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:1 and Matthew 5:16 is the appropriate place for stewardship testimonies.  In Matthew 6:1 Jesus teaches us not to give in order to be seen by men; in 5:16 Jesus teaches us to let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

            Also, be instructed and encouraged by the Apostle Paul’s words to the Macedonian Christians recorded in 2 Corinthians 8:7: “But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”  Remember, the grace “of” giving is also the grace “for” giving.

Fulfilling A Vital Mission

By: Barry G. Allen- President and CEO

When you consider your involvement in accomplishing the Great Commission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you likely do not consider involvement through the Kentucky Baptist Foundation to be a part of that effort. And yet, at the heart of the Foundation’s mission is teaching disciples of Jesus Christ to obey the biblical mandates of financial stewardship to the end more financial resources will be available for accomplishing the Great Commission.

Reaching the world for Christ takes money. And, it will take more in the future than it has in the past and present. Every component of our cooperative missionary, educational and benevolent enterprise will require more money to fulfill its part of the Great Commission effort. Churches and associations will need more money; Baptist colleges, academies, schools and seminaries will need more money; Baptist children’s and other benevolent ministries will need more money; mission boards and missions support organizations will need more money.

Providing the financial resources to accomplish the Great Commission by putting checks and cash in the offering plates on Sunday mornings will not be sufficient. Only when Christians in mass begin to practice what we proclaim we believe will significant progress be made in accomplishing the Great Commission. We proclaim we believe God is the owner of all things, and He has entrusted us to be His managers (stewards) for His purposes. However, there a huge disconnect between what we proclaim and what we do.
We believe the single most important act of financial stewardship a Christian likely will ever make is how we plan our estate. Furthermore, we believe through faithful estate stewardship more resources will be available to accomplish the Great Commission.

So, I invite you to get involved in the Foundation’s vital mission by becoming a friend. Since our traditional sources of support will no longer provide the financial resources necessary to fulfill the mission, we need friends who believe in what we do to begin to provide financial support. Call us to learn how to become a friend.