A Day In The Life - 8/21: Dave Ramsey

For those of you who don't know who Dave Ramsey is, he is an author who is well known for his financial counsel regarding getting out of debt and building wealth. He has written several books, does his own radio shows and has been a guest on a myriad of television and radio shows. He is also a devout christian and ties his advice back to the scriptures.
So, we heard that Dave was coming to Phoenix. But that was going to be quite pricey to go to the event to hear him speak. As Gaye, my wife, was telling this to a co-worker, she told us that he was speaking at a local church for free. Free is good. We are always looking for a good free date so this hit the top of our list.

The event was held at the Central Christian Church in Mesa. There were about three thousand people there for the session and it was a wonderful opportunity for this church to share Dave's philosophy with their own members as well as the surrounding community. Afterward they handed out free (good again) ice cream sandwiches. It was a great experience.
Here are a few of the items he touched on during his 45 minute presentation:

• The scriptures affirm that people make mistakes and God still forgives them and uses them to do his work. The people in the bible who were perfect only get a line or two. The great stories are about people who really screwed up and then God used them to do a great work.
• You can't skimp on doing the right things. Sooner or later the truth will come out, the consequences will happen and, as he so eloquently put it, "you can tell who was skinny-dippin' when the tide goes out."
• Dave made a lot of money and then lost everything. He said that he found God on his way up but he got to know God when he hit bottom. And he learned a few things then. He said, "I whined a lot. It's a little known form of prayer." The bible is full of financial advice and counsel. If you really studied Proverbs you would have a masters in finance.
• The scriptures are the winning playbook from the Lord on how to not screw up your life. When you play this way you win. When you deviate, you don't do so well.
• Real stewardship is Lordship. If you are a good steward of the things that the Lord gives you then you manage your money (and other possessions) rather than have them manage you. You don't give in to your appetites but exercise self control. It takes discipline and pain to change how you do things and to become a good steward.
  
• The bible tells us that a wise man counts the cost before he begins to build lest he run out of funds before he is finished. (Luke 14:28)
  
• Provers 17:18 tells us that he who co-signs for a loan is stupid.
• Psalms 24:1 tells us that "The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof." Everything is his to begin with. When we think we are giving something to god we are just kidding ourselves. He already owns it all and he is just lending it to us. We had better do something great with it.
• Proverbs 22:7 tells us that, "The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender." Don't borrow from others - it puts you in bondage. It restricts your freedom. It stops you from doing what you want to because someone else controls your life.
• MYTH 1 - Money is evil and so are people who have money. Money is NOT the root of all evil but it is the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil (I Tim 6:10). Money enables us to go more good. The Good Samaritan would have been forgotten had he not had some coin. He owned a fast, convertible mule which he place the man on to get him help. He paid for the help and lodging given to the wounded man. He had supplies to bind up the wounds. The poor Samaritan could have done nothing to help the man in need.
• Myth 2 - I can't become rich. Becoming rich is just like playing the piano or playing football. There are those who do it poorly and there are those who have figured out the rules and do them well. You can learn how to do it, too, just as you learn any other skill.
• Becoming rich, like learning to barefoot-ski, takes practice and pain because you are going to fall down a lot. But the Lord will help you if you seek him. (Hebrews 12:11) It will be painful at times. Keep at it until the light goes on and you get it.
  
• Get your act together first and then you will have opportunity to help others. David could not build the temple because of UFOs [Unclad Female Objects] even though he had the funds. So he passed the funds to his son, Solomon, so that he could build the temple. After we learn how to gather wealth, we need to take care of our family before we move on to helping others.
  

Live now like no one else so that you can live later like no one else.

Gaye got us signed up for the classes. Although we are doing relatively well, we want to learn how to be extraordinary with out money. Dave told us of a family that made an investment that ended up paying them about $450 a month. What did they do with it? Each month they pray to find someone who they can help. Last month they went to a restaurant to eat. They had prayed for the Lord to show them someone who they could help while there were there. Then here comes their waitress. She is about 10 months pregnant and still working. Things are not going her way and she has all of these problems. This family is just smiling. When they left the restaurant, they left her a $600 tip. Can you imagine her day? And can you imagine how that family felt being able to help her? Isn't that a great story? You can't do that if you're poor, if you're barely making ends meet, if you're in debt up to your eyeballs. You are slave to the lender.
That is where we plan to go. Thirteen weeks of training on how to make money work for us better, smarter, faster.