The National Center for Family Integrated Churches welcomes Anthony Porter with the following message entitled, How to Have a Vision for raising capital for foreign mission projects. Well I'm glad you all are here and I pray that those that are listening to my voice whether it's here today or through the recording will be able to gain something very valuable from what I'm going to share today. I'm not sharing about my ministry, but I am sharing about things God has taught me and given me opportunity and learning and sharing with others that I've come in contact with when it comes to how to have a vision for raising capital for mission projects. And I believe the bulletin says that it's foreign mission projects, but I want you to know it's project, Mission Project's anywhere in the world, including here in the States. Or becoming a self-supported missionary, and those are two topics that, again, I've been very keen on developing in my own life and other men's lives that I've come in contact with.
So, if you are looking to become self-supported, I'm not going to be able to give you all the ins and outs in one hour or what all is going on, but I am open to questions afterwards or anytime that we're here and I can give you a little bit more input and direction in that. What we're going to be looking at are I've got three topics or three areas we're going to be looking at this and foundations for biblical investing. The second one would be two options for the use of capital raised and the third one would be two methods God's used in my own life to raise capital. I thought it was really pertinent that we started off with the foundation and it's this is I'm gonna take up probably the first 25 to 30 minutes because I believe that this, if the foundation work is not laid at the beginning, it doesn't matter how much money comes into your hand, you will not use it properly because we find ourselves in a society that encourages something differently. Romans chapter 12 is where I always start because this is my life verse and this is where God has used this verse, these two verses in particular, in changing me in many, many, many ways.
And every time I'm confronted with something, I always come back to the very fact that this is where God has us in our walk. Romans 12, starting in verse number one. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and reasonable service to me the word reasonable comes from the word logical the Greek word that we would get logical from it means it's thought out Your service for God has to be systematically thought out. You don't just accidentally serve God. If you are not applying yourself to the word of God and allowing it to work in through your life, you will not serve Him according to the Word of God and according to the way He desires you to because, as it goes on, and be not conformed to this world, because the world is trying to conform us and press us and mold us into an image, And its image is totally different from the image that God has for us.
It wants to force us into an image that is contrary to the very thing God is. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove, that ye may test, that ye may know, that ye may have confidence what is the good, that good and acceptable, something that's very acceptable, and perfect will of God. So we come to these verses, and again, I say these are my life verses, because the world is pressing us, but God is wanting us to present ourselves to him in a way that is contrary to the mold and the stamp that the world is desiring us to be stamped into. And you know that stamp that I'm referring to, or that Paul is referring to here in Romans, I call it the M.I.V. Version.
It's understood anywhere in the world. It's understood by every language group, and it doesn't matter what time frame you're born in. The book of Judges has this to say, Judges 17, 6. And every man did that which was right in his own eyes. M-I-V.
Me, international version. It speaks every single language there is the world is pressing us all into the same exact mole but God is not desiring us to be like that he's being desiring us to be conformed presenting ourselves to him to be conformed to the image of Christ. So today we find that we're surrounded so much by this me-ism. If you'd been to Jeff Pollard's speech this morning you would be hearing some of the same things I'm going to be talking about in this message because he talked about biblical evangelism and he talked about the sayings that are out there today which are if you ask the typical person give me the gospel message or to explain the Christian experience, they would say, Jesus is my personal savior, or God loves me, God saved me. And the reality is we immediately begin to to begin thinking that we are now the object of our faith it is true that God loves me and it's true that God saved me and it's true that Jesus is my Savior.
But the reality is there is more to the gospel message than just that. There's more to the message that He wants us to understand. It's just, it's not about me. He saved me for His purpose and His glory. We come to the Christian life again, and I say we're so influenced by these expressions.
And here's how we find these expressions being worked into our theology. Because, and I'm sure we've all said these expressions as well, I'm looking for a church that blesses me and makes me feel good. How many times have I heard that statement especially when I come in with with all of my children and we sit in a church and they say oh we got a children's church because I want a blessing from a church today and your kids might make a noise and I won't get a blessing from it. That's a total false philosophy. We're not going to church to be blessed folks.
We go to church to bless other people and to praise God for who He is. Our philosophy is we let that trinkle down into also other things in our life when we say well I'm looking for a church that fits my needs and I'm looking for a church that has a programs for my family. What trinkles down into other things like well I need a house that fits my needs or makes me feel significant or makes me feel important. I'm looking for clothes that express me. I'm looking for that job that makes me feel good or makes me feel like I have self-worth.
All of those things begin trickling down and they become the theology that we live by on a daily basis and we think that we're the center of everything. That everything God has created is for my benefit and for my good. That is true that He gives me things, but He does it for a specific purpose. And I want us to turn to the book of Ezekiel chapter number 36. I have a lengthy portion I'm going to read here.
Starting in verse number 22. This is what Ezekiel says. Ezekiel 36, 22. Therefore, saying to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes Oh house of Israel, but for mine holy namesake which he had profaned among the heathen Where whether he went I will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen which he had profaned in the midst of them and they heathen shall know that I am the Lord sayeth the Lord God when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart from out of your flesh and it will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and calls you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them listen to all the things God is giving to us and you shall dwell on the land that I gave your fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be your God and I will also save you from all your unclean uncleanness and will call the for the corn and for the increase of it and lay no famine upon you I will multiply the fruit of the tree and increase of the field and ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen and ye shall remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good. And ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways Oh House of Israel thus sayeth the Lord God in the day that I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities I will call also calls you to dwell in cities and in the waste shall be builded, and the desolate land shall be tilled, wherein I lay desolate in the sight of all those that pass by. And they shall say, this land that was desolate has become like a garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined city has become fenced and are inhabited. These are all the things God is doing to His people. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord God, built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate.
I, the Lord, have spoken it and will do it. Thus said the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. For to do it for them I will increase them with men like a flock and as a holy flock and as a flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feast shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men and they shall know that I am the Lord." God is doing all of these things. Why? It's not for your sakes.
He says in verse 23, He says, that the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, sayeth the Lord. He says, I am doing this not for your sakes, but I am doing it so that the nations will know who I am. We come to the book of Revelation, chapter number 7, verse number 9 through verse number 12. Why is he doing all this? Because there's coming a day, there's coming a day when we will all stand before God.
And it says in Revelation chapter number seven, verse number nine, After this I beheld in low a great multitude, which no man could number of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongue." This is everybody. Why is God doing this? Why has He blessed us so, so that we may consume things upon our own less? No! Because, he says, that there's going to be a day when there's going to be all nations that no man could number of kindred and people and tongue.
And they stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in a white robe and palms in their hands and crowd with the live voice saying God saved me no salvation to our God which sitted upon the throne and unto the lamb and the angel stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne and on their faces and worship God saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever That is the ultimate culmination of what is happening here on this planet. One day, we will all gather together with all the things that He had provided for us in this life so that the nations may know and may look and realize that God did this. Why? So that His name would be exalted and one day we would stand before him and give praise and honor salvation unto our God we are just vessels we are only vessels for his use The world wants us to believe that our job is our primary calling in life. That is, I'm a doctor, I'm a lawyer, I'm a farmer, whatever it may be.
The world wants us to believe that this occupation that we call ourselves in, that is the ultimate calling God has called us to. But the reality is, folks, God has given us a much higher calling in life, and that is we are proclaiming His message and a job, an occupation as we call it today, is only a facilitator of that higher calling. We are to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. That is the whole message we're hearing about as we're at this conference. So when we're looking at this, I'm starting from a biblical foundation.
We are just vessels for His use. Why? Because He wants glory from us. And He gives to us possessions to do that. He gives to us possessions so that the others may know that God has blessed us.
It is for his glory and for his use. Foundations for biblical investing. We're gonna look at three things underneath of this topic right here. We steward assets on his behalf for his glory. When we take this view we find the resources he has given us are not our own to consume.
You understand that? When we understand we're only a steward, then you understand that the resources he has given you are his to begin with. And he's only requiring us to be stewards of the things he's given to us. Many times we get a little bit extra cash or we want a little bit extra cash, what is the first thing we're thinking about? Wow, that's a nice house around the corner.
Oh, that's a nice car that just drove by. Every time God blesses us a little bit, we think this extra little bit of funds that is given our way is for our own self-indulgence. It's all me-centered. You know, but the gospel message is not me centered. It doesn't focus on me.
It's focused on him and what he is desiring to do through us. I'm only a manager of his assets for his kingdom. Luke chapter 16 verse number 10 and 11. Luke 16, 10, 11. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.
You need to pay attention to these verses, folks. And he that is unjust in least is unjust in much, also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon. If you cannot use, and I don't have an American dollar with me, I just got back from Australia, this is why I still got in my pocket, My kids needed, actually my wife needed some money yesterday and I had to borrow something from the kids. I only manage assets for him and he says if I can't manage this, if I can't manage, that's what it says here, if therefore ye have not been faithful in unrighteous Mammon this right here if I haven't been faithful in this Who will to commit to your trust?
The true riches. If you can't manage this, why would God give to you true riches? That's the reality of the statement. If you can't handle money, you can't handle true wealth. Verse 13, I'm sorry, verse 12.
And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, it's God's money, folks. It's his wealth, it's his possessions. If we haven't been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? Every time I read this verse, I think of, eh, eh, my wife says don't overdo this, but I'm telling you, folks, this is a, you know, we get the radio program that comes on and it does this little test of the emergency broadcast system This is only a test folks and if you fail this test God's not going to give to you true riches It's ultimately his he owns it all anyways does he really need it no But He's given us assets to manage for his benefit, to prove that we are faithful. We say, God, give me more and I will be faithful with it.
Give me more and I'll do something for you. And God says, you be faithful with what I've given and I will give you more. Don't switch it around. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse number 1 and 2 Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Stewards!
So let a man account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards! We're just stewards of the mysteries of God. That is the manifold riches that he's desiring to place upon us, the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in a steward that a man be found faithful." We're only stewards of what he already possesses. But he's asked us to manage it for him.
1 Timothy 6, verse 17 through 19, charged them are rich in this world. And you say, well, I'm not rich in this world, but you know that the United States alone has 90% of the world's wealth. I mean, We all live, 90% of us live above the other 10% of the world. Charge them not rich in this world that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things. Richly all things.
Who's going to trust you with true riches. He give us to you richly all things to enjoy that They I'm sorry that they do good this rich He that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves, that's investing right there, folks, this is investing for the future, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. Ready to distribute, willing to communicate, they're generous and they're sharing. God says I've given you these things and it's for a purpose. It's for my purpose, it's for my glory, and it's just a test.
2 Corinthians 8, verse number 12. For if there be first a willing mind, if you got a willing mind, God I wanna do whatever you want me to do, it is accepted according to the man hath and not according to the man hath not. And he's talking about giving in that section of scripture. Chapter 8 and chapter 9 is talking about giving. And he's talking about the Macedonians who gave.
And he's talking to the Corinthians and says you need to stay with the commitment that you made. But remember, God is not asking anything from you that he has not already provided you with. He's only asking you to do with what he's given you to manage. And don't worry about the things that somebody else has. You've already got these assets to manage and God's given them to you and they're the test.
They're the test to see whether you're going to be worthy for true riches. We are only stewards who manage assets on his behalf. Two, Point B. We are to be content with the things he has given. We are to be content with the things he has given.
True riches according to Luke chapter 16 verse number 10 are given when we manage properly And we manage properly when we're content, okay? It is not found Contentment is not found Buying it in a street corner or buying a new house or having the latest car or the latest clothes. We need to learn to be content with the things he has given. Philippians chapter 4 verse number 11 through 13. We all know these verses.
Not that I speak in respect of want, I have learned. I have learned. Contentment is learning process, folks. I have learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound.
Paul says I know how to suffer and I know how to have so much. He didn't, Paul never said even in Timothy, he didn't say the rich get rid of your riches. He didn't say I have a much so much I just get rid of it because I oh it's so dirty and he didn't disdain the things and when he had very little he says I know God's put me in both of those situations at different points in my life, but I've learned to be content, whether I am abased or whether I abound. I'm satisfied that this is where God has me and I'm trusting in Him. He's content.
He's confident. Verse number 13 goes on and says, I can do all things through Christ who has strengthened me. He's resting. That's a that is a sign of resting. That whatever God has brought his way, I know, it's for his good, it's for his glory, and he's gonna take me through it.
As long as we see ourselves as owner, whether it is a partial owner, you know, I'm a co-owner with God. God has never said we're co-owners with him either, folks. We're just stewards. Whether we see ourselves as owner, whether it's partial or full, we will not be content with the things God has already given us. We will never seem to have enough to invest in God's kingdom.
And this is where I find most people. They say, well, if I just had a little bit more, I could do more for God. And the reality is, He's already given you assets to manage. And you've been so consumed, you've consumed them upon yourself. He says you failed the test.
We will never seem to have enough to invest in God's kingdom for his glory. Here's what we say again. Oh, if I just had that raise. Oh, that big deal that got away. If I had just had that, I could have given a huge amount.
Again, how many times have I heard those kind of statements? If I just had a little bit more discontentment is related to what you want not what you already possess discontentment is related to what you want not what you already possess anyone discontent will constantly here's another one they will constantly pursue money Anyone who's discontent will constantly pursue money. Believing this is our occupation or our life's calling and that God is pleased with us because we are faithfully working to earn money. And I'm not saying we shouldn't be faithfully working to earn money because our family should be provided for, but we take it overboard. And God is not concerned with our busyness, folks.
He is concerned with the way we manage the things that we have, and that busyness part of it is managing our time as well. Colossians, chapter number 1, verse number 27 through 29. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Here's what Paul says, whom we preach, that's a job. Whom we warn, that's an occupation, every man.
Teaching, that is responsibility on a daily basis every man in all wisdom that we may present this is what Paul did that we present may present every man perfect in Christ. Where, whether unto, I also labor. This is a job. This is the thing Paul did on a daily basis, striving according to the working which worketh in me mightily. This is the calling God has placed upon us.
Ephesians chapter number three verse number eight. Undo me who am also the least of all saints was this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. First Timothy chapter number six but godliness with contentment godliness connected with contentment is wealth. You want to know where true riches are? It's in being content in the things God has already given to us.
For we brought nothing into this world we came in naked that's when time began for you and I we came in we came in with nothing so we started this journey with absolutely nothing and he says and it is certain we will carry nothing out Everything that you and I have surrounding us is temporal. It's earthly. Do you understand that? It's locked in time and space. It began at our birth and it will end at our death, and we do not take those things into eternity but we can lay up in store when we find ourselves supplying and giving and taking care of and stewarding the things God has given to us.
We steward assets on his behalf for his glory. We want to be content with the things he has given. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. For too long we've placed the emphasis on being out of debt. So here's another one of my concerns that we have today.
We have an emphasis on being out of debt. Many of you in this room may be in the same situation. Oh, I just wanna be out of debt. Or maybe you are out of debt. Here's what I wanna, here's what I want us to be thinking about.
It's not the ultimate goal. It is not godliness, Because if being out of debt was godliness, then the commission would be raising everyone's standard of living around the world. That's not our calling, folks. If being out of debt was the godliness that we all should be striving for, then we should be raising people out of poverty and out of debt. But that's not our calling.
And I'm not saying that we should be in debt. That's not my point here. I'm just saying that we've got an over emphasis going another way. Because if we're not careful, the false assumption is that we are doing exactly what God wants us to do and everything is fine. For the love of money 1st Timothy chapter number 6 verse number 10.
For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet after and have erred from the faith, pierce themselves through with many serals." Love, and if I had a chalkboard up here, just imagine, we've got love of money. Just put a big old dollar sign right in the middle of that heart. Money loving is an issue of the heart and you can be in debt or out of debt and still love money. So being out of debt is not the ultimate goal for you and I. It is to be careful with the things God has given to us that we are content and that we are stewarding and loving him with all of our heart.
We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul. Love is an emotion of the heart. This makes money a heart issue. Loving it. The rich young ruler was probably out of debt.
You guys understand that the rich young ruler that came to Christ was probably out of debt. We can easily be debt-free and living within our means and have a great budget and still be consumed with materialism and self-consumption. You can pay cash for everything and still have your heart in the wrong place because you're still consuming it upon me. I'm the object of my faith. And who else is worthy of that place but God himself.
God loves me so that the nations may know that he is God. He works through me so that his name may be declared to the people. 1 Timothy chapter number 6 verse 17 and 18 again, charge them that are rich in this world but they be not high minded nor trust that's an issue of the heart trust don't love money don't trust and uncertain riches but trust in the living God who's gonna Give us richly all things to enjoy. Richly be endowed with good works. Money only reveals the heart, folks.
Money, according to Luke, is only a test. Because money shows the heart on the outside. Luke chapter number 16 verse 13 which I have not read and again is a very familiar verse so we got 11, 12, 10, 11, and 12 and verse 13 is this no man can serve two masters for he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon money only reveals the heart And God says you cannot serve me and chase after money. You cannot do both. And if you're not content with what you already possess, and you're not stewarding what I've already given you, then it's not likely that you'll love the Lord thy God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
So we have to start with the foundation. If you can't handle money, then don't try to raise large quantities. It will consume you. And it will not bring proper glory to God. That is my point I'm trying to make as we get started in this last section here.
Last two points. Biblical foundation for investing. I pray that I've laid a little bit of groundwork there and Just some food for thought. Manage your assets, manage them well, and maybe God will give you vision for larger portions of money or possessions to be used for his kingdom, because it's only a test. We came into this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing.
What are you doing with this space in between? Two options for the use of capital raised. So this is where I want to go into, well, if we had money, what could we possibly do it? If we had capital, what could we possibly do it? And as the title suggests, and I have to look at it and make sure I'm quoting it right, how to have a vision for raising capital, for mission projects, or becoming a self-supported missionary, and so I'm gonna look at these in a little reverse order here, becoming a self-supported missionary, and I don't know if anybody in here is desiring to go to the mission field or you're desiring to be able to give more of Your time away to other people, but there is a way to do that And if you learn to manage money properly and learn to love the Lord I got with all your height and you're content with the things he has given you then you will find that God has given to you, especially as Americans, he has given to you assets already that you can manage and begin to use if we're not self-consuming them to begin to lay the groundwork to be self-supported.
Because again, I say occupation is bringing glory and honor to God in the great commission, going and telling and making disciples. That is my occupation in life. It just so happens that I manufacture a tool. It just so happens I have other business involvement I'm in, but those jobs only facilitate my real calling and occupation in life. Be a self-supported missionary.
A self-supported missionary could be short-term or long-term. I just said I got back from Australia. It was a business trip and I tried to wrap my trips into a multifaceted things. It was a business trip, pleasure trip, and a ministry trip. When I was in Australia, I spoke to a group of Australians.
So, a short term, I was only there for two weeks. I've made many short term missions trips. I don't feel that God has called me to long-term missions, but I'm not against it. I mean, my youngest daughter was born in Brazil. We're three and a half months down there.
I have taken longer trips and I have thought, God, is there possibly, you want me to do this long term one day? I'm open to that. I've never been closed to that. But at this point, I don't feel like that that is my calling in life. So I've taken short-term mission trips, but I do know that there is an opportunity of raising capital so that you can be self-supported and be a long-term missionary.
So there is, in order to do either one of those, though, it takes two things. It takes this one resource, it takes resources that are found in two ways, and that is capital resources and time resources, because if you're gonna go even on a short term, you still have to have time to do it. And if you're gonna go for long term, it takes, that's a pretty big commitment. So you have to have time, and then you have to have the funds to do it. And so with some of the methods I'm gonna tell you here in just a few minutes is, those are the opportunities that are out there because you can find time and capital.
Since 1995, I quote, have been retired. I left a factory job because I had a vision and I had a factory job and I went into this factory job and I, because I had, my vision was, I wanted to grow up with my children. This was in 1991 I said God I never want to be in this place again, and I started having children. I said I want It's not that I felt like I was immature You know I needed to grow up, but I mean literally I was immature. I was in my 20s and But I my motto was I wanted to grow up with my children.
In other words, I didn't want to wait until I was sixty to begin enjoying my grandkids and my kids that I never knew because I was off doing a factory job or working away from home all day long. My motto was I wanted to grow up with my children. I never wanted to serve money, and I wanted to give my life away to ministry for free. So in 1995, after I set those goals in 91, I accomplished that in 1995. I was able to leave a factory job and I was able to walk away being self supported.
I did not make lots of money, but I was content with what God had already given me and I was not willing to allow bigger houses and better cars and newer things to be clouding my vision. I want to grow up with my children. I want to give my time away to other people. My goal was half a year of my life would be given away to other people. And so since 1995 that has been my goal.
And I never wanted to be pursuing money. I wanted to be able to look opportunities in the face and say, nope, that's too much of a derailment from the goals God has given me I don't need that money this is God's vision for me so since 1995 I've been able to do that but again we come to a day and time where many men believe that money is a substitute for you. And again, that's another one I wish I had time to elaborate on. Money does not substitute you, men. It only represents you.
It takes time, talent, and energy to make money. It does represent your time, your talent, and your energy, but it is not a substitute for you and we know that from a biblical principle that comes from the Word of God again and that is in 1st Peter. 1st Peter chapter number 1 verse number 18 and 19, for as much as ye know you are not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold. That's money folks God could he owns it all does he not own enough wealth. He could have redeemed us and it is yes He bought us back from the slave market, but it wasn't with money.
It was with his own personhood He came and he lived and he ate and he was with us. He presented himself to us as the son of God. We think that we can go off and leave relationships and family and other things and pursue money and just shell out a few dollars to our kids and that substitute is now gonna be me. That this is me walking around here. You know, I don't know this lady right here.
I don't know her. I've never met her. It doesn't display the true character who this person is. Neither does it display me either. It does represent my time, talent, and energy.
But it's not me. So God is looking for us to be able to present ourselves and being a self-supported missionary. And again, I use this illustration because this is what God did in my own life. I wanted to present my body, and that's what he came from, Romans chapter 12 verse number 1, that ye present your body a living sacrifice. I desired that to be in my own life.
I wanted to present myself to other people and I had these goals. I wanted to fulfill the calling that God had upon me. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, again this is that giving section, chapter eight, verse number five, it's talking about the Macedonians. Paul says in verse five, and this they did. They gave out of their own poverty.
They gave in such multitudes of ways, beyond anything, not as we hoped. I didn't press them into this. I didn't ask them for this. This they did, not as we hoped, but gave their own selves to the Lord first. How did they give out of their poverty?
Because they gave themselves first. They presented themselves. My home, I pray, is known as a discipleship station. Any one of you in here can be a missionary in your own back yard. But it takes time and it takes managing the resources He's given to us and realizing they're all His.
Are we faithful with what we already possess so that we may use it for God's glory? So the short-term and long-term missions and again each and every one of us has that opportunity. We are all missionaries folks. So maybe you're saying I'm not going to the mission field or maybe you are saying I want to go to the mission field and I need some support. I'm saying that we're all missionaries in this room.
So this message applies to every single one of you. No matter whether you're here listening for somebody else or whether you're here listening is for you it applies to every one of us because we sell ourselves short on giving our time to other people which is a very valuable resource we all overlook God desires us to be investing our lives in other people. Okay, the other thing we can do with financial resources is is to actually support something that we're not doing ourselves. Okay, being a short-term or long-term missionary, and again we're all called to missions that is that is our calling in life that is the Great Commission for Matthew 28 from mark 16 that is the commission is given to us but there We can't be everywhere at the same time, and we can't be doing all things either. So our money can be used to do other things.
And that is we can support projects that help build disciples, or we can help support somebody else who can go someplace we can't go. Just like the gentleman that spoke last night, for those of us that heard a testimony of a gentleman who's in very difficult situations, comes from a country that we would not be easily accepted in either. So we could support other people. We have opportunity of purchasing Bibles, supplying Bibles. We can be...
What can this money do? What can the financial, what can capital do? It can do translation work. And I'm into, my ministry is into translation work, providing material, educational material for people. It's not the only thing that we do, but it's one of the things I want to focus on printing material and also helping to support men that are already there so and I'll give some illustrations here a little bit as we go to the last one and as we We'll start to close here.
Two methods God used in my own life. We looked at a biblical foundation. We've looked at two options that can be used. That is, we can be a self-supported missionary or we can raise capital in order to give to projects that are out there. Those are the two avenues that we have to use this capital for.
There are two methods and I've used both of those. I feel like I'm a self-supported missionary folks. I've given half of my year away to other people for free since 1995. I've supported printing material, I've supported missionaries, I've done it in a major way and I've done it with my own personal time and my own personal resources. And it's not to bring honor to me, but I'm just telling you, anybody can do it.
Anybody can do it. Again, I learned to be content. When I left the factory, my family lived off $1, 000 a month. I hate using the illustration at times because I have many men who will tell me, you can't do that. Well, we did do that and that was in 1995 and we lived all that way until up until just a few years ago when my business started doing a lot better and we raised it a little bit and the cost of living is a little bit higher but still I live off of less than five percent of my income.
And that's my goal. I don't want to waste the resources and the assets God has given me. Two methods God's used in my own life to raise capital and let me go back to 1st Timothy chapter 6 and verse 7 and 8. We brought nothing into this world. I came into this world with nothing and I'm going to leave with nothing.
So all these things he's given in between are just things I'm supposed to be managing. Having food, this is verse number 8, having food and raiment, let us there with be content. Be content. I learned to be content. Food and raiment is pretty simple living, folks.
It doesn't mention new cars and lots of new clothes and cell phones and expensive vacations and all the other things that we put on that. Having food and raiment led us there with Be Content. Remember, my goal was I wanted to grow up with my children, I wanted to minister to them for free, and I wanted to not chase money. I didn't want to serve money. And if we had time, I'd share my personal testimony.
I was serving money at $125 a week. I was pastoring a church and I felt like God called me to leave and go someplace else. But I couldn't leave because I didn't have another job to go to and I needed a hundred and twenty-five dollars a week to survive and that was in 1989 through 1991 and that's when I said I never want to be a slave to money again. A hundred and twenty-five dollars kept me someplace I knew God was moving me away from. So I said I never wanted to be in that situation again.
Two methods. Well, the first one is for me that started it for me was real estate. And that is CAMP International's Carpenters Aiding Missionary Projects. I'm not really here to talk about my ministry, but that's what my ministry does. That's what it stands for.
CAMP stands for Carpenters Aiding Missionary Projects. And in that, we have Given the vision for other families to join us, I've had some projects where we've had 15 or 20 families, whole families come in on a project, and we've gotten a project done. We'll buy a house and we'll do the renovations on it and then turn it over and sell it and whatever the proceeds are, go directly into missions. It can still be done in today's market, folks. It still can be done in today's market.
Real estate is what gave me, when I went into that factory, I got hired in that factory in 1991 and I left in 1995. I was there for four years and my goal was I wanted to have 10 houses and I wanted to make $1, 000 a month off my real estate so I could be free to have time and I was not a slave to money. And so in the four years I got eight houses and I had over a thousand dollars a month coming in and I quit the job. So real estate is what started me on my mission's journey being self supported from 1995 on, serving other people. But then I got a vision for, well hey, we can do this by taking this and forming this into a non-profit and we can funnel and do projects.
And so None of my projects have taken more than three weeks to do. I look at a piece of real estate and I'll try to evaluate it. I don't want to be committed more than three weeks. Some of our projects have taken only a week and a half or so, depending on how many people are involved. So it's a possibility.
And maybe if you want to work on your own, then it's going to take you a little bit longer. But I think the worst project we'd done had like an $8, 500 return on it. And in that return, I think it took us like two weeks to make that, and that was just my family working on it. So in two weeks, we made $8, 500. How many of you make $8, 500 in two weeks?
You know, most of you, that would be a vacation time. And I realize that you probably don't have the skills that I had, but when I started out, I didn't have these skills either. I read books. I watched this old house on TV. That was my cheerleading section.
I've never been trained by a carpenter anywhere. And I went to construction sites and I asked them, what are you doing and why are you doing that? That's literally how I learned to do construction. And I learned to be dependent upon me, myself, and I when I got to the construction site. So I learned how to do the electrical and the plumbing and the air conditioning and the roofing and all.
So my boys and I do it all together. And part of that vision has been to do all these things together so that they'll learn all these skills as well. I want them to go into life prepared for whatever. Maybe they'll never use those skills to make money, but they can sure use those skills around the house. How many of you don't even know how to change the faucet in your house?
You know, I want my boys to know how to do those things. So real estate, real estate can create cash, I'm sorry, monthly cash flow and freedom of time. And again, that's what I used in my life at the beginning. And that's what I encourage missionaries. So when I go to the foreign field and I'm talking to a missionary, I say, hey, you know you don't really have to go back home for deputation, you can raise support all on your own.
And if you wanna go back home, here's a way of doing it and you can stay at your own home church. Buy a house fix it up. So I have missionaries that have actually done that. I have a one missionary in in Texas who bought a house, fixed it up. He's making, how much did you say Joshua was making on his house?
$500 a month positive cash flow on a piece of property. You know how many months it would have taken him going around raising a deputation? And now he owns an asset. And he's not, other people paying him, and I'm not saying that that's wrong, but he's now earning his own living. He's managing it.
So you can buy real estate, you can create monthly cash flow, and freedom of time. So you can also buy a piece of real estate, and there's two mindsets for either one of these because they don't apply the same across the board. In other words, you're not gonna buy a house and decide I'm gonna make it into a rental and then all of a sudden say, ah, I'm gonna turn around and sell it because you'll probably get stuck. Okay, The math, there's different math for both of these scenarios. So you need to know before you start what you're going to do, because otherwise you'll get eaten alive.
But real estate can either provide monthly cash flow so that you can be free with your time and having your monthly needs met. Again, you have to be careful because you still have to have food, clothing, and shelter to survive, and you have to have it monthly. So if you buy assets that are not producing monthly income, you're gonna starve to death. So cash flow on a monthly basis. Large sums of money, we buy houses, fix them up.
I've had several that have been in the $20, 000 range where we've bought them, fixed them up, taken three weeks to do so, end up making about twenty thousand dollars and then we turn it over and we bought literature or we've given the money away to missionaries so that they can buy their own house and be debt-free. So a missionary comes back and he pays cash for a piece of property because the ministry I have has provided that opportunity. So that's a that's a that's ways that we're investing into other people and missions in particular and that's my life is and my desire is investing in to missions. The next one and again if you want to get more details on that, you're free to talk to me. There's a booth over here.
My son is doing bold t-shirts. Jesse Saint has his set up for iTech. And then I've got this little section. I think the booth was supposed to be mine to begin with and there was, anyways, I've got literally a spot about this big and it's right across from Calcedon that's behind me. There's a little monitor there, it's got some slides flipping through it.
We're not very organized with it. There's a little booklet there where you can flip through some pages. Again, it's not anything I'm trying to brag about. It's there just to give you a vision. I want to give other people a vision for raising money.
Okay? So Real estate's one of those. Talk to me, even my boys. My boys can explain to you some of those things. Aaron, I don't see Aaron in here.
Oh, Aaron is in here. Daniel's in here. Josiah's in here. So there's at least four of us. My wife can fill you in on some of the details.
Even my girls can do the same thing. The next thing is being a business owner. Don't believe you can't be a business owner and find freedom of time and resources. Again, we have too many people who believe that a business has to constantly Consume time. It has to grow and get bigger.
I've got one employee. I've got to have five. I've got five products. I've got to have 35. And I say, you know, God has called you to an occupation and that is to disciple the nations.
And a business. If a business is consuming more and more of your time, you got the wrong business. My philosophy is a business should be freeing me up more and more. It should not be consuming more of my time, it should be freeing my time up. So, businesses can be built that way.
They don't start that way, folks. And here's another one. Many people think being a business owner is being self-employed. A business owner owns the business. A self-employed is owned by the business.
OK, you understand the difference? A self-employed person is consumed. They have to show up to make it function. All their creative energy goes into it. They're constantly pouring their resources back into it.
A self-employed person is not necessarily a business owner. A business owner owns the business and the self-employed is owned by the business. He has no free time, he has no resources, He's consumed with it. So I want to make a distinction. Self-employed and business owners are not the same thing.
But you can take self-employed businesses, and it doesn't happen overnight. It took me what I thought I was going to be able to do Solar Pathfinder. I thought I was going to be able to do that in a year, but I laid the groundwork and the business grew. And I laid the groundwork and the business grew, and I laid the groundwork and the business grew. I laid the groundwork and the business grew.
And I never advertised. I didn't want my business to grow. And you can ask my family. I don't want this business to grow. We were able to do it out of the back of our van.
We were able to travel, do the things that we needed to do, be on the road helping other people, and we just packed right out of the back. Okay, we'd pull down the orders that morning, and we'd put a label on it, and we'd find a UPS truck driving around, and we'd just, hey, I got a package for you. And so he'd pull over and we'd stick it in his van and he'd drive off and we'd drive off and we'd keep doing what needed to be done. That's the way my business started and that's the way I wanted to stay. Because I had other things in life that were more important than making money.
But it kept growing. So it took literally about five years for my business to get to where I was a business owner. I was self-employed. It consumed lots of my time. More than I originally thought it was going to.
But it kept growing on me beyond what I wanted it to. I mean, anything I wanted it to do. So, businesses can be a way of producing income and free time. So, there are two business models, real estate and becoming a business owner and those things can provide you with either becoming self-supported missionary or finding ways to support missions in a major way. How many men, I'm gonna close with this with this thought, how many men have I heard say, you know if God just gave me, and I'm using one illustration in particular, it's almost a quote, We were doing a project and he came over and he was saying, oh, I told him how much we were going to make off of this one.
He said, oh, if God just gave me $20, 000, oh, how I would give it away. I would love to be able to give $20, 000 away." And I just thought, now I know just within the last couple of years, you just built a brand new house for your family that is now old enough to get married. You've lived in this little house and you just built this huge house and you got kids getting ready to walk out the door and get married. And you bought all this huge amount of land that you can't do anything with. You don't know how to farm it.
It's not possible to do anything with it profitable. And you're just asking for 10% of what you just spent on your house. God already... I didn't say this to him. I should have.
I should have confronted him and said, that $20, 000 is only 10% of what you just spent on your house. God already gave you the resources and you squandered it. You failed the test. You will never have $20, 000 because every time God may give you a little bit more or something does come into your possession what do you do? Well Jesus loves me and I must be the object to my faith I'm the center of everything that's going on So I have to spend it on me.
It's a good investment. Look, it's my house. It's a great investment And his property taxes tripled and his expenses for repairs quadrupled and all these other things and he moved further away from town from where he was working. So he had all these travel, so he had all these expenses that made this house a huge liability and it never was an asset. Because remember, you gotta have food, clothing, and shelter.
Okay? You still have to go to work folks even though he owned it free and clear. So that was the other thing. He says I'm gonna be debt-free and he's not done one thing to this day to provide his boys with being debt-free when they leave home. He believes it's a sin to be in debt but he's still not done anything to prepare his children and he's consumed every bit of his resources.
He has nothing to pass on to his children so they can walk out and be debt-free. And he has nothing he can give away because he's consumed it all upon himself. God is calling you to be a steward of something you do not own. He owns it. He is calling you to love Him with all your heart and He is telling you that if you don't have it with contentment you'll never be satisfied.
You'll never be satisfied. So, God's given you resources, managed them well, and he will give you, this whole thing was about how, That's the framework, how to have a vision. Okay, I can't tell you what your expertise is or what your skill level is, folks. I don't have that skill or ability. I'm trying to lay the vision, and the vision starts with the foundation, a biblical foundation.
What are the resources God has already given me and how am I to view those things? How do I love the Lord thy God with all my heart? And if I don't pass this test and I'm failing it, you will never be able to have a vision to support missions or to be a missionary on a foreign field in the proper way. I mean you can go with somebody else's money and squander their money someplace else too. God's calling us to manage our resources for His honor.
Father, again, I pray that we are laying the groundwork for a vision, for a vision. We're all looking for how-to books or tell me what needs to be done. But Father, you have laid down in your word vision. Vision. We do have how-to.
These are the things that we're supposed to be doing. We're supposed to be loving you. That's a how-to. We're supposed to be content. That's a how-to.
We're supposed to be stewards. That's a how-to. But Father, help us to have a vision. So once we understand those things, how we can have a vision to minister, to be about the real occupation you have called us to, and that is to be disciple makers. To be making disciples that are desiring to learn.
Father, help us to sow our lives into other people's lives and help us to be bringing honor and glory to you because if this salvation is not me centered it is not about me it is about salvation unto our God and glory and honor and praise belongs unto you because we brought nothing into this world and we will take nothing out. Help us to use these things wisely. We pray in your name, amen. Our time is really gone. I know it's lunch time.
I'm willing to answer any kind of questions, but this is, you're free to go. And if you want to catch me anywhere, you're welcome to do so. But I pray that this has been a good session for you. And to the establishment of biblically ordered churches. For more information, resources and products, please visit our website at www.ncfic.org.