So have you checked out the price of college these days? I remember my first semester back in 1989, the tuition was $600 for the entire semester. (I am not even sure that would buy you a single credit hour today, especially if you add in all of the fees.) OK, so I may be exaggerating a little bit, but the point is still just as true, a good college education is not as inexpensive as it once was. While it is true for all education, it is especially true for private educational … [Read more...]
MBF clarifies church loan terms, offers savings options
On February 5th of this year my wife, Kendra, will have been married to me for 25 years. I know what you are thinking, she deserves a medal or something. And I would agree. She has been forced to live in four different states (while often visiting the state of confusion) having had at least 13 different addresses in those years, has had to leave jobs and friends she loved along the way, and endured child birth two times. And those are the easy things. Yet at the end of the day Kendra … [Read more...]
Stewarding finances to make disciples
Last month at the annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention, we introduced a brand new look and logo for the Missouri Baptist Foundation. This new logo represents our past, our present and our future together. I thought it would be good to take a moment and tell you what this new logo represents. You will notice the simple logo consists of three green bars of ever increasing length along with our name. The three bars remind us of our original mission, as we were created to … [Read more...]
Stewarding finances to make disciples
Last month at the annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention, we introduced a brand new look and logo for the Missouri Baptist Foundation. This new logo represents our past, our present and our future together. I thought it would be good to take a moment and tell you what this new logo represents. You will notice the simple logo consists of three green bars of ever increasing length along with our name. The three bars remind us of our original mission, as we were created to … [Read more...]
Happy Anniversary
Happy one year work anniversary to me. Ok, so not only is that a little self-serving but it is also a little short sighted. Last year we recognized one team member who had been with the Missouri Baptist Foundation for 20 years and next month we will celebrate our corporate secretary’s 40th anniversary working with the Foundation. Since we at the MBF work on a fiscal year of October 1 through the end of September, it is time to begin a “new year.” But it’s also an opportunity for me to … [Read more...]
Preparing for tomorrow
I recently had a wonderful weekend sharing at one of our Association’s Annual meetings. It was a great time of fellowship, encouragement, remembrance and planning for the future. As I was looking over their annual meeting book of reports I was struck by something I found interesting. The “youngest” church in the association was founded in 1985. Now, while I remember 1985, there are a growing number of people who don’t. The next youngest church was 1944, the one before that was 1909, and … [Read more...]
Unity amid diversity
A quick google search of the phrase, “unity in the midst of diversity” produced 51,000,000 results in 0.61 seconds. That is quite a response and indicative of maybe one of the greatest issues of our day…We as a nation continue to struggle with perfecting our nation’s motto, “e pluribus unum,” out of many – one. Not only has technology brought us closer together than ever, but the physical distance between nationalities, ethnicities and lifestyles has increased as we live next door to one … [Read more...]
Christian Stewardship: ‘Count your blessings’
In 1897, Johnson Oatman, Jr., wrote the hymn, “Count Your Many Blessings,” and we Baptists have been counting them ever since. But we are also good at counting other things – say, like attendance, though we have a tendency to attribute more attendance to what the census bureau could rightfully attest. But the other thing we Baptists love to count is our money. Even though we don’t have nearly as much of it to count as we may like, we love reporting finances. Budget numbers, designated … [Read more...]
What does the Missouri Baptist Foundation do?
What exactly does the Missouri Baptist Foundation do? I have heard that question lots of times over the last six months. My standard answer has become a lot more than any of us realize. On the one hand, we help manage endowment funds for churches and entities helping them grow ministry funds in order to accomplish ministry both today and tomorrow. We also provide church loans, cash savings accounts, short term fund management along with coaching, education and seminars for churches … [Read more...]
Considering the tax code and charitable giving
You more than likely have heard at least something of the recent Tax Code changes. While there was much in the media about the potential changes, the final bill was not as dramatic as some predicted. However, it does not mean there were not some significant changes that could affect you and may warrant a conversation with your tax professional. Some of these changes include some adjustments to the tax brackets, repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate in 2019, a cap on … [Read more...]
Making investments that are biblically responsible
Robert Netzly had a problem. He was a committed Christian and an active member of his local crisis pregnancy center advancing the Pro-life cause, but he was also a part owner in an abortion-providing business. How could he do that? Well, he didn’t really know. Maybe you don’t either. You see, Robert owned stock in companies that profited from abortions. No, he did not purchase stock in the local abortion clinic down the street nor did he individually purchase stock in a company that … [Read more...]
Estate planning: Decisions that could last forever
By the time you read this many people who had made resolutions for the New Year have already broken them. Whether or not you made one, the New Year does provide an opportunity to make a decision that lasts forever. What decision’s impact might last forever? The decision you make about your estate, of course! Outside the decision to follow Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, the decision you make over the stewardship of your relationships and your possessions is the second most … [Read more...]
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