Radical Grace for Finances

By Four Craftsmen Publishing

Are you feeling convicted of double mindedness in your Christian life? You give to the church, even tithe, but you're anxious about food, drink, clothing and shelter. You know Jesus Christ is asking you to let go of the anxiety. How? Martin and CeCe Jackson tell you how their experiment with radical trust and shrinking anxiety works for them in Radical Grace for Finances.
To follow your own version of their path takes setting aside a lot of worldly common sense, which is not God's wisdom. Each chapter ends with a take-home lesson you can pray about applying to your own life. Even if what Martin and CeCe suggest is too radical for you, this is a good Christian adventure story.
God is not a vending machine, operated by just the right prayers and faith. His answers are tempered by His wisdom, love and foreknowledge. So if you decide on a radical journey of financial faith, expect adventures and moments of panic soothed by the words of Jesus. Martin and CeCe write of their adventures in dialog form, alternating their voices. Some of the events are great fun, now that they're in the rear view mirror of memory, but they offered plenty of chances for anxiety at the time.
Chapter 31 invites you to enjoy unexpected answers. Chapter 32 asks you to cast aside the distrust taught by the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Four Craftsmen Publishing
• Release date: Feb 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9780963964458

Four Craftsmen Publishing

Martin was born in what was to become an Arizona ghost town,Jerome. He grew up in southwestern National Monuments, finished high school in Hollister in central California, and obtained a degree in international relations at Pomona College in order to launch a journalism career. He met his future wife, CeCe, there and they married while he was news editor of the Arroyo Grande (CA) Herald Recorder. Journalism was interrupted by two years in the US Army, much of it teaching missile electronics. He returned to Journalism, at small newspapers in California, Arizona and again California. He led the news side of The Winslow Mail and The Hemet News as each began daily operation. Both have gone out of publication years afterwards, part of an industry-wide trend, but he'd quit that high pressure environment to spend time with his family and follow the leading of his Lord. After an offer to pastor a church in Hawaii fell apart, he and his family returned to Arizona. There he turned to driving school buses, repairing computers, installing and repairing telephone systems, and treating the sick and injured with a fire department rescue service. Finally he returned to publishing and is the owner of Four Craftsmen Publishing. Martin married his college sweetheart after college and they're well beyond the 50 year mark together. An ardent Christian, Martin says he met Jesus Christ in a long decomissioned Spanish mission church building in Southern Arizona. The Holy Spirit later trained him in spiritual warfare.

Book preview

A certain young man inherited a large and productive farm. He had anticipated this day and had taken agriculture courses at a major university. After graduating he had worked on the farm with his grandfather. As soon as he owned the farm he began putting what he had learned into practice. He used the latest science, the best seeds, and proven methods. He used fertilizers and irrigation as wisely and well as he could.

Just in case it would make a difference, he joined a church, and tithed the income from the farm. As far as anyone could tell, he did everything right.

Even so, the results were disappointing. Frost far later than normal killed crops. Hail pounded them flat. Insects and diseases cut the yield. The bottom fell out of market prices the day he was ready to sell. His debts grew. If your life resembles this in some way, read on!

Then came a year when everything clicked. Hail struck his neighbors’ fields, but not his. Rain came at the right times, cutting his irrigation costs. He’d chosen the right crops, and they grew well. Even before harvest he had future delivery contracts for part of his crops at prices he’d never dreamed of. He had to build warehouses to hold what couldn’t be delivered yet. He cleared his bank loans and still had cash for a few diversified investments.

Then one night death came knocking at his door. This rich farmer had spent his life focused on secondary things as if they were the first thing. So he was not rich toward God.

Jesus told this story, in a little different way, in Luke 12:13-31. He called the rich man a fool. He followed the story with advice to seek the kingdom of God first. There is a loving Father in heaven who knows all our physical and financial needs, and can take care of them. Matthew, a former tax collector, is a second witness to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34.

Notice that the young man never lacked for food, clothing, and shelter, all that he really needed for physical life.

Jesus’ financial teachings are radical, departing markedly from the usual or customary. They’re also true. Because they’re so radical we’re tempted to pick and choose among them, and modify or ignore the ones that don’t square with our common sense.

Martin and CeCe are human. We’ve made that kind of mistakes. By God’s grace we’ll confess them to you as we go along. Together we can try for a new way of life that is far better than the rich fool’s.

Father God offers you a life governed by grace, not greed.

Jesus Christ bought us out of slavery to the old way with His blood and life. But we need a new nature to enjoy our freedom. The Holy Spirit brings a new nature to life in us when we begin to believe in Jesus Christ. His work equips us for the new way of living. We can aim for new and better objectives. As our new guide and counselor, He’s a better leader than any other we’ve followed. He will lead us into a fruitful life with value and impact. Who we are and what we do will change lives around us, sometimes subtly, sometimes obviously.

When Jesus spoke about money, food, clothes and shelter, He told us truth we can live by. We think you’ll find living by grace, not greed, is worthwhile.

Jesus really is Lord, in money matters as in all else. Jesus and His Father God and the Holy Spirit are very interested in how you manage your finances. How much money you have is less important to them. This is the financial side of the Trinity’s concern with your character. You’ll leave money and goods and even your present bodiy behind some day, but the Lord gets to live with your character forever. Character determines how you behave when you’re sure nobody is watching. It is the combination of your true motivation and your methods. Your money stays behind. Your earthly experience shapes that character in many ways, and financial affairs are one of the strongest tools for this work. More about that in Chapter 14.

We’ve tried out some other books, and found their advice and plans unable to deliver all they claim. The most reliable source of advice is the Bible. So let’s look there.

CeCe — Father God, the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in them says of Himself, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty. Exodus 34:6-7.

The word gracious means to act mercifully toward someone, to be compassionate, to be favorably inclined, to bestow favor on a person in need. Notice He is also just, not clearing the guilty unless they repent.

Father God gives every person the choice to love Him and to live by His ways or to love self and live by the world’s ways. Everyone is born self-centered, bent on living their own way.

Psalm 51:5 says, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. Iniquity is the evil bent within human beings, the crooked direction and warped deeds of people. Psalm 53:2-3 says, God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.

You know what? God has a choice, too! He could choose to give up on people because nobody wants Him. But for some amazing reason He chooses to keep going after people because He passionately loves them. He is zealous for the companionship of people! So He went to great lengths to provide grace so He can have fellowship with people.

Therefore just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam…But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Romans 5:12-15.

This grace of Jesus Christ applies to our financial situations, as well as all other aspects of our life. Believers in Jesus need to learn God’s economics and He is our teacher. Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.’ Isaiah 48:17

The Lord God tailor makes His lessons in finances for each of His companions. Each of us has our own crooked, worldly thinking about economics. Some people are reckless spenders running up too much debt. Others are stingy and too cheap to get what they really need. Some steal from others in various ways. Some seek to get rich quick through gambling. Some take irrational risks in the stock market and so on and on. You can think of other selfish attitudes about money.

When we let the Lord God work in our financial matters, His grace meets us in our weakness. He straightens out our crooked thinking by His individualized instruction.

Martin — The bad sounding news is that God doesn’t plan to make us all financially rich in this life. He doesn’t plan to level out all the financial differences between Christians, either. He does lay special responsibility on the financially able to care for poorer brethren. He also has a plan for you and me to become content with our circumstances. It often involves a journey through wilderness to get there. None of this is the main event. The Kingdom of God centers on God, not food, drink, money and possessions, Rom. 14:17. The glory, love and fellowship of God are the first, most important thing. All else is secondary or farther away from the center. Our faith in Jesus must become the central matter in our lives, not the frosting on our cakes.

Your cost for living by God’s grace is accepting Father’s definition of provision. He says adequate provision is a human variation on what the birds of the air have: Clothing enough for survival in the weather we live in and food enough to keep our bodies going. Housing is optional. Jesus Himself was content with that provision. Paul also states in 1 Timothy 6:7-8 that we are to be content with this. If Father grants us more, we have an additional reason for gratitude. Our benefit is partnership in what God’s up to: Turning an upside down world right side up, a little at a time. This is an adventure that outshines all other adventures, a project more important than all other projects.

Listen to the truth of grace. You do not have to earn God’s love, nor His gifts. They are truly gifts, springing from his loving, generous nature. You might have to meet conditions before receiving gifts. Children have to go through waiting for birthdays, all the learning and practicing involved in obtaining a driver’s license before being given a car, even when a wealthy donor stands ready to give the car.

No matter what strand of teaching, theology or denomination you listen to, we are in the world and yet not of it. The kingdom of this world is obsessed with money. The Kingdom of God considers it paving stones at best (Revelation 21:21). The result is unease and stress for believers in Jesus Christ who have one foot in each kingdom.

Some stress is healthy for people. Psychology labels this eustress. Destructive stress is labeled distress. God understands this. He created us this way. Teaching that offers to lead us out of all financial stress in this life has missed two crucial points: 1) Without enough stress we’ll develop physical, mental and spiritual diseases; 2) God’s Kingdom is here, but not yet fully here.

The point of this book is to help you live in the eustress zone, not the distress zone, in your economic and financial life. God’s grace is more than sufficient for this. Jesus’ teachings were and are more radical, new and different than we usually let ourselves see. They work, but not always as they will when the Kingdom is fully here.

Along the way we’re going to suggest some radical actions and prayers. Do not follow these suggestions until you have checked them out in Scripture. Our suggestions go beyond the exact wording of the Bible. If it were not so, we could simply hand you a New Testament to read. But if you find them contrary to the teachings of the New Testament, reject them swiftly and write to us that we may repent and correct our teaching.

Please renounce any inner vows and promises to yourself to become rich, to own a big house or a fancy car or any other material status symbol. Vowing to pursue poverty is equally destructive and needs to be renounced if that is the direction you have taken. Vows we choose for ourselves become idols. Monastic orders where vows of poverty are part of an accepted calling from God are exceptions, but outside those special situations vows in either direction are not usually asked by God nor blessed by Him.

Vows are unnecessary for living adventurous, productive lives. Jesus is already upsetting the comfortable and confronting the wicked. He’s also comforting the afflicted and bringing hope to the oppressed. He’ll make us partners in some part of His work, if we’ll let Him. We can expect to be busy enough working with Him we’ll gradually forget to be obsessed with food, clothing, possessions and money.

When Jesus walked the roads of Galilee and Judea, He kept telling people that the Kingdom of God was already at hand. His followers could look at Roman soldiers in the street and tell that something about the Kingdom was not yet at hand. Our eyes, ears, fingers and noses give us the same sort of message. Both things are true: The Kingdom is now at hand, and not yet at hand. Things will be that way for the rest of the church age. In financial terms that means we live in an age when the Kingdom operating principle of grace is in effect, but when all the riches of heaven are not yet at our disposal to enjoy.

Take Home Lessons: Some years ago a medical doctor supervised pre-hospital care for Navapache Regional Medical Center. He often closed monthly run review and training sessions with a summary starting, The take home lesson from tonight is… Through this book we’ll end chapters with take home lessons. They will summarize or emphasize things we think God is teaching us and others.

Take Home Lesson for this chapter: The world we live in is distorted by sin. It teaches us a lie that we must rely on ourselves and our power over others. For reasons of His own, God the true ruler of the universe, allows this to go on, and lets us choose belief in the lie, or belief in truth. This book will seem like fantasy, a fairy tale, or perhaps science fiction, unless you are a Christian believer. A guide to becoming a believer appears in the appendix. If you are a Christian, you have power to choose a new way of extreme commitment to all of Jesus’ teachings, or a life of trying to mix familiar old ways with the new. Don’t rush to decide. Read on. The Holy Spirit may have other priorities in your life. But if you’ve been growing more and more uncomfortable with your financial life, walking by radical grace may be for you. If so, please ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any vows you should renounce.

Our teaching picks up with a fresh look at money and the ways we entered God’s school of grace for finances.

Chapter Two: Multi-Use Tool

Martin — Money solves the lump problem. Many economic goods come in lumps, package sizes imposed by the universe. Potatoes come one to a skin. If you’re an elephant hunter, they come one to a skin too, and trading one elephant for one potato seems unfair, at least to the elephant hunter. Money lets us subdivide economic lumps into something small enough to provide a common trading point. After its invention it swiftly became central to human economic activity everywhere it appeared.

Before money, specialization limped on one leg. When each family catches or raises its own food, makes its own clothes, and builds its own huts or tents, there’s no need for money. But if Bob likes building boats, and Fred is a terrific fisherman, they need to do some trading. Now Bob would rather eat fruit and nuts than Fred’s fish. Ned has great nuts to trade, but he can’t swim and is afraid of water. Sam hunts elephants and Roger raises potatoes. The more specialties you add in, the more complicated this gets. Things we can’t eat or wear have value too. Bob’s reputation for building better boats than some other maker has value. So does customer satisfaction with Fred’s fish.

Money to the rescue! It can’t build boats, plow fields, turn screws or nourish our bodies. But we trade money for physical things we need or want, boats or plows, screwdrivers or food. We use it to hire others who will build boats, plow fields, or turn screws. It converts the value of everyone’s products into something commonly accepted, widely used, and easily carried and saved up until needed. Money is the most versatile and flexible tool ever invented.

That flexibility brings its own problems, because prices become a balancing act between buyers’ money and sellers’ goods. Real world prices can change suddenly even in officially price controlled economies. Stock and commodity markets demonstrate these sudden changes regularly.

CeCe — The study of all that is called economics, which deals with the production, distribution, and use of goods and services. Americans are very much concerned about economics and put a lot of thought and effort in figuring out these things. In fact we can get so caught up in this that it can be the sole motivation of our life. In poor cultures all one’s time and effort can be used up just getting food and clothes.

Martin — Money has been invented over and over again around the world. I believe the Holy Spirit inspired the invention out of love and mercy. The benefits of some sort of teamwork have been clear from the beginning. The selfishness built into us has kept us from operating an entirely cooperative system except in the simplest cases. Money and the trading it facilitates let us cooperate and yet remain selfish.

But the inspiration of money was almost as risky as giving mankind free will. Money is our most dangerous tool, deserving special warnings in the Bible. Riches even compete with God for our love and for control of our lives.

CeCe — Jesus said, No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. NIV Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. NIV We can either love and serve money or we can love and serve the Lord God, but we cannot do both. Loving money is going after a false god. The Holy Spirit has to teach us how to put money in its proper place in our lives.

Martin — Someone might fall in love with a weapon. Weapons give power over others, something fallen man lusts after. Someone might even fall in love with a plow used in farming. It makes larger yields of food possible. Falling in love with screwdrivers, pliers and other small tools has to be pretty unusual if it ever happens at all. I’ve never mistaken any of my electrical tools for my God or my wife. But love of money is commonplace, and tragic. Money never returns our love or cares for us in any way. But money competes with the true God for mankind’s love. Pity the man or the woman whose life is really centered around money. Cold Cash becomes a harsh and cruel master.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 comments that people who love money will never be satisfied. Those who long for God’s righteousness will be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 and parallel passages.

For this reason we’ve devised a little checklist on whether you love money. Because the natural, fleshly heart is deceitful this isn’t a perfect checkup. Jeremiah 17:9 You may deceive yourself. But if you are a believer in Christ, the Holy Spirit will show you truth in His good time, even if not today. People who know you but are not intimidated into silence or pretense, can help you see yourself clearly. Your husband or wife is a possible source of truth, especially after a spat. So are your teen-aged children.

Here are the questions:

√ Do I give alms in secret, as Jesus advised in Matthew 6:2-4, and is this unusual? I once met a man at a blood drive who feared giving his name to the blood bank lest he lose his credit in heaven. He needs to understand grace, but giving to gain admiration is indeed low in profits.

√ Do I store up treasures, either possessions or money, especially with no clear need or use in sight, like the rich fool?

√ Do I dream about storing up treasures and lust after them, even if I have none ? 1 Timothy 6:9.

√ Do I avoid Bible passages such as 1 Corinthians 16:2 and 2 Corinthians 9, which talk about giving money to the church?

√ Do I resent sermons on tithing, giving and the like? Jesus often taught and preached about money and possessions. A few church leaders probably speak out of greed or misunderstanding, but many are faithful. Jesus is the only authorized judge of the unfaithful.

√ Do I resent the money paid to pastors, teachers and other church staff? 1 Timothy 5:17-18.

√ Do I feel conviction from the Holy Spirit? Conviction from God offers a way out through repentance. Condemnation from Satan or the old selfish nature locks us up without hope or tempts us to fresh sin. If you are not under conviction, the Holy Spirit isn’t trying to remove love of money from your character just now, even if it is present. He tailors our learning to our real needs, and something else may be more urgent.

√ Do I avoid marriage and choose living with someone instead for financial reasons such as keeping insurance, alimony or pension flowing?

√ Do I maintain a sham marriage for access to an inheritance or trust? Choosing cohabitation instead of marriage to preserve an insurance policy, pension, or alimony/child support is idolizing money.

If these questions show I love money, it is time to repent, crying out to God for forgiveness. Love of money leads to many kinds of evil. 1 Timothy 6:10. Abandoning that love will leave us free to use money as a tool for godly purposes pointed out by the Holy Spirit. He has already prepared good and important work for us to do, if we’re willing. Ephesians 2:10.

CeCe — Decisions driven by money considerations alone can leave us serving mammon, the god of money. Making every family decision on the basis of money is easy. It costs too much, is a simple answer when children ask for something. Never mind whether it is something they really need. In deep poverty we may be unable to see any other choices. But the Lord God can bring other means of having what is needed, if we depend on Him.

The opposite error of giving our children all the money they ask for is just as simple and just as destructive. It is easier to give money to someone than it is to build a good relationship with that person. When we see money as our security, our source for love and care, and the handle for controlling our lives, we are in great danger.

Martin — Money isn’t the only measure of cost. Jesus spoke of counting the cost before setting out on a course of discipleship. Luke 14:26-33. He seems to have had rejection by our families, loss of jobs and prestige, and persecution in mind along with money. A book on finances has to concentrate on the small part of the universe where everything has a cash price.

Father God wants something better for every child He has adopted. He wants the children of the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills to trust Him for everything, in everything.

That’s one reason He doesn’t fill our pockets with money once we become believers. We might easily come to rely on our riches, not Him. Deuteronomy 8:17-18.

Still, a few of the faithful are rich by the standards of men. There is no condemnation in Christ for either poverty or wealth. Philippians 4:12-13. In the Kingdom of God, there is no superiority in either one. There are different assignments and responsibilities.

When I never had money in my pocket or bank account, my decisions about using it were simple. When I came to have money I could spend on my pleasures