Categories
Reviews of Books & Movies

Book Review: When Not to Borrow

When Not to Borrow: Unconventional Financial Wisdom to Set Your Church Free

By Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

In When Not to Borrow, authors Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall look at church debt. They expose how it can cripple an organization by limiting ministry, curtailing outreach, and stunting growth.

Though unconventional in its pronouncements, When Not to Borrow, does indeed provide financial wisdom to free a church from the burden of debt, opening the door to more effective and less stressful ministry.

Divided into three parts, When Not to Borrow addresses a trio of financial barriers that churches face when they have debt of any magnitude.

In short, these barriers render a church “overloaded” with debt, take them “off course” of their mission, and leave then “underfueled” for ministry.

In addressing these common and incapacitating issues, Bowman and Hall provide a series of difficult, yet common sense steps to move a church towards financial freedom.

The first is to move “from indebtedness to provision.” The second is to shift “from institutionalism to purpose.” The third is to progress “from insufficiency to plenty.”

Following these prescriptions is both difficult and lengthy, involving much sacrifice along the way, but the result is a church that is “free to fly,” no longer overloaded, off-course, or underfueled.

When Not to Borrow is an excellent follow-up to Bowman and Hall’s watershed book

When Not to Build, but it even more appropriately serves a worthy precursor, providing an astute path to follow before a church building project is ever contemplated.

Like its predecessor, When Not to Borrow, should be required reading for every pastor, church leader, and church board.

[When Not to Borrow: Unconventional Financial Wisdom to Set Your Church Free, by Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall. Published by Baker Books, 1996. ISBN: 780-8010-9021-0. 139 pages.]

Read more book reviews by Peter DeHaan.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Reviews of Books & Movies

Book Review: When Not to Build

When Not to Build: An Architect’s Unconventional Wisdom for the Growing Church

By Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

As the subtitle indicates, When Not to Build is “an architect’s unconventional wisdom for the growing church.” Veteran church architect Ray Bowman had been happy to design new churches whenever he was asked.

Then, after a 30-year career of doing so, he abruptly switched jobs to become a “church-growth specialist.”

Ray Bowman realized many churches who think they need a new building, really don’t. In many cases, they are underutilizing their present facility.

With a bit of creative planning or relatively minor renovations they can provide for an expanding ministry without embarking on a major building project.

In other cases, the desire to build is borne out of wrong motivations or false assumptions.

Additionally, the debt incurred in building new church structures is often crippling to the congregation, limiting ministry, curtailing outreach, and even stunting growth.

Bowman and Hall open this book by asking 15 questions. Each one that evokes a positive answer is in actuality a red flag against building, as it reveals a wrong motive.

Though these queries may seem to embrace conventional wisdom, they are more correctly false assumptions that lead many to build for the wrong reasons.

These questions reveal the foundation for the rest of the book. Springing from this are the first three sections, addressing the principles of focus, principles of use, and principles of provision.

The fourth section concludes with advice on what to do when it actually is time to build a new church building.

When Not to Build should be required reading for any church leader and board that is considering a building project or struggling with overcrowding or usage issues in their present facility.

(Also helpful is Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall’s second book, When Not to Borrow; it is an apt and useful follow-up work.)

[When Not to Build: An Architect’s Unconventional Wisdom for the Growing Church, by Ray Bowman and Eddy Hall. Published by Baker Books, 2000, ISBN: 978-0801091063, 208 pages]

Read more book reviews by Peter DeHaan.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Personal Posts

The Domino Effect of Home Improvement

This summer my bride and I began working together. This required that we convert an unused bedroom into her office. At the time, she made a reasonable request to paint the room first.

I noted that this would also be an ideal time to replace the carpet. I had planned to ditch the aged 25-year-old carpet throughout our home next year anyway, so we picked out and ordered the carpet for the entire job.

Candy’s office was painted and re-carpeted on schedule. However, re-carpeting the rest of the house set in motion a chain reaction, which I call the domino effect of home improvement.

It was pointed out that before installing the rest of the carpet, it would be preferable to have all the non-carpeted areas redone first, not later. That too had been planned for next year.

However, the existing bathroom cabinets—also planned for replacement in two years—had a larger footprint than what is currently available. So, new cabinets were picked out and installed first.

Between the cabinet replacement and redoing the flooring, both bathrooms have been out of commission for a couple of weeks. (Fortunately, the guest bathroom was still functional.)

Of course, this was an ideal time to repaint the bathrooms.

But, with the flooring tore up, it was the window of opportunity to try to fix the squeaking floors. The list goes on…

In the midst of this, I decided to move my office next to my bride’s, as opposed to being at the opposite end of the house on a different level. This meant buying a new desk since the other one wouldn’t fit in the new room.

At this point, every room in the house—save the guest room — is either in various states of remodeling or is storing furniture from the other rooms.

I think that our home is currently at the peak of disarray and can now anticipate steady movement towards getting back to normal.

As for dominoes, I think I’ve had enough of them for a while.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Personal Posts

Credit Cards Supplant Cash

There was a time when I traveled quite a bit. Nowadays, it is infrequent.  As such when I do travel, I am always treated to something new, to a different way of doing things.

On my last flight, instead of the usual admonition of providing correct change for our various in-flight purchases, the new rule was no cash—credit cards only. 

The flight attendants were equipped with some nifty hand-held credit card terminals, complete with a self-contained mini printer. 

While this didn’t seem to quicken the speed of the transaction (if anything, it slowed it down), there are several benefits to a cashless process.

Most importantly, it is more sanitary. No longer must the flight attendants alternate between touching germ-laden cash and preparing our food.

Next, it is more convenient for passengers. I suspect that nary a passenger would be flying sans credit card, whereas some might be cash strapped.  (I’ve been there a time or two). 

Having the correct amount is no longer an issue, plus for those on an expense account, a credit card makes it easier to track purchases.

It is also more convenient for flight attendants. They no longer need to handle money and are no longer challenged in finding change for those who only have larger bills (I’ve been there as well).

Lastly, I suspect that people spend more when they use plastic. 

A case in point was my seatmate, who flashed her card four times during our three-hour flight: twice for adult beverages, once for earphones, and a final time to eat (she actually bought two meals.)

Traveling still isn’t fun, but at least it’s interesting.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Personal Posts

Money or the Lack Thereof

A significant portion of the news lately revolves around money, be it directly or indirectly. 

The following numbers, courtesy of Love INC, provide some insight that helps to explain why people are so concerned about their financial situation. Consider:

Seventy-two percent of all consumers live paycheck to paycheck.  That means one missed paycheck and they have nothing to live on; they are in deep trouble.

Ninety-two percent of US family disposable income is spent on paying debt. That is mind-boggling and hard to even fathom. 

Though I guess if you pay everything via credit card, then the next month it becomes debt. (I wonder if the money used to pay off balances in full each month was included. 

To me it’s not debt until it begins accruing interest.)

Almost half of all Americans have saved less than 10,000 dollars for their retirement. I don’t know about you, but my expectations for social security are zero. 

My plan is that I need to provide for 100 percent of my retirement (if I retire). Anything I happen to receive from Uncle Sam will be a bonus.

Between 1989 and 2006 America’s total credit card purchases increased from 69 billion dollars to 1.8 trillion dollars.  That’s a 2,500 percent increase (or 25 times larger) in seventeen years. 

Although some of that is due to a convenience factor, with the balance being paid off each month, I have to believe that there are a lot of people seeking instant gratification, buying what they can’t afford.

Thirty-seven percent of marital problems stem from financial strain and stress. Actually, this doesn’t surprise me; I would have expected a higher number. 

Nevertheless, it confirms a connection between money problems and marriage problems.

Much has been made, in recent months, about corporate greed, but to be honest, this seems a lot like personal greed: spending every penny, mortgaging the future for satisfaction today, ignoring future needs, and flashing the plastic way too often.

There has to be a better way.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Personal Posts

Go Directly to Jail, Do Not Pass Go

The recent issue of Sojourners magazine cited some sobering facts about the state of the prison system in the United States:

7.4 million people were under the control of the US criminal justice system in 2007.

I’m not exactly sure what is meant by “under control,” but that is over 2 percent of the population, which is shocking.

67 percent of people released from prison are re-arrested within three years. So, the number of repeat offenders in prison is substantial. The question is, how much does incarceration contribute to recidivism?

More to the point, would crime decrease if we could keep first-time offenders out of prison? The environment has to be another factor, and in most cases, a released prisoner returns to the same environment; that doesn’t help.

Economics would be another factor; see the next point.

83.5 percent of the people in jail (in 2002) earned less than 2,000 dollars a month prior to being arrested. Certainly, economic pressure is a factor in the commission of crimes. 

Interestingly, a 2,000 dollars month threshold is quite a bit more than the poverty level, which the US Census Bureau put at 9,183 dollars a year for a single person in 2002.

Two thousand a month roughly equates to an hourly wage of 12.50 dollars, quite a bit higher than the current minimum wage. This all suggests that viable employment, at an appropriate wage, is part of the solution to lower crime and incarceration.

[The title of this post comes from the game of Monopoly and was chosen merely to be catchy and provoking. Interestingly, Go Directly to Jail is also the title of a book on this subject. I haven’t read it, but it may be worth checking out. The product description on Amazon is most promising, but the reader reviews suggest that it digresses from that tack. Caveat emptor.[

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Bible Insights

Investments You Can Bank On

In these times of economic concern and faltering financial markets, it is easy to worry about the future. Interestingly, the Bible has much to say on this topic:

“Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow.

Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous.

“If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.” [1 Timothy 6:17-19, The Message]

So, we are to trust God, not money. God will give us what we need. We are to use what money we do have for good, thereby putting our “savings” into lasting things.

With the stock market going down, this is certainly something to think about.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Timothy 4-6 and today’s post is on 1 Timothy 6:17-19.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Personal Posts

Donate Money to Your Favorite Charity Just By Searching Online

Earlier this week, I received an interesting press release. It was about search online to donate money to charity.

Though it’s not my habit to post press releases, this one seems worthwhile:

Supporters Turn To Innovative Ways To Help
Their Favorite Nonprofits This Holiday Season

Charities across the nation are bracing themselves for declining contributions this holiday season and people are looking towards innovative and free ways to help their favorite causes.

There is a solution with a new Yahoo-powered search engine called GoodSearch.com, and on-line shopping mall GoodShop.com, which enable supporters to generate donations just by searching the internet or shopping online.

What makes the system so compelling is that it doesn’t cost the users a thing. It’s philanthropy on a shoestring.

Consumers are helping their favorite causes with every search conducted on GoodSearch.com and shopping at GoodShop.com, where they can choose from more than 700 top online retailers.

I talked with one of the charities listed, and they are receiving donations. It is easy to use, just select your favorite charity and for each search you conduct through GoodSearch, your charity will earn about a penny.

With enough people involved you can funnel money to your charity month after month and it won’t cost you a thing. The same concept applies to Good Shop.

If there’s a cause you support, this is an easy way to direct money to them at no cost to you. Just use GoodSearch to search online to donate.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.