Jesus said, "render unto Ceasar the things owed to Ceasar, and to God the things that are Gods." We know God owns it all, but he entrusts us with the things he created.

Money is a medium that the Lord has given us to conduct business with. This is a very broad subject with many opinions. I will try and just give you a nugget of how important it is for we as ministers of the gospel to handle our money as wise stewards.

The minister has to be many things. Handling money is one of the things he must learn to do. The Word instructs us, "that a good name is rather to be chosen than gold."

Our name and reputation goes before us. If we do not endevor and strive to have a good name, we cannot minister effectively.

The old saying, "you don't miss your water till your well runs dry," is very true. We don't miss our name until we lose the intergrity of our name.

Money has been the downfall of many people. For some it has been the lack of money that has caused them to do bad things, such as mis handle funds.

For some it has been the lack of training that has caued them to fail in the arena of money.

For some it has been debt, maybe credit card debt, hospital bills, bad choices, etc.,

For some it has been youthfulness that has brought on financial failure.

In ministry the minister must ever be the good steward. A good accountant. A good overseerer. If the minister has a problem in the disicpline of money, it will affect all other areas of his or her life, both public and private.

I have in my 33 years of ministry made myself accountable to my mentors with many things including the way I handle my personal money and the way I handle the money of the church I pastor. If not, I would be a loose cannon, causing harm to many innocent people.

In ministry we should look at our finances and understand, that God blesses us through the medium of money. As God blesses us we should undersand, that people are observing the way we handle the money God has blessed us with.

The one thing that is important to me as a pastor, is I live within my means, and don't rise above the people I minster to with my lifestyle. I try to say within the middle of the road. In doing so this has bought me respect with the church body and respect in the community I live in. My effectiveness can be destroyed if I have the attitude, "well its my money and I can do as I please with it." Yes it is your money and my money, but I am accountable to God in the way I spend it and take care of it.

The word of God instructs us to "owe no man anything." The word of God teaches us, "be not slothful in business..." We must adhere to these teachings as a way to bring us into accountability with our finances.

There are many self help books and instructional viedos that are available on the subject of finances. Reading and viewing this material will help us avoid the pitfall of finincial disaster. I currently use Dave Ramsey's viedo teaching tools on finances. It has been very helpful fo me and the people I pastor.

I hope I have provoked some thought in  you as you have read this article. I understand this is a broad subject, but I mainly wanted to start your thought process, so you could visit the way you handle your money.

My mentor Bro. T. F. Tenney once told me, "money is called legal tender. Tender when you have it and tough when you don't." He also has told me, "Let me see your checkbook, and your daytimer and I can tell you how you conduct your business and how you spend your time." These things have helped me through the years.

I pray the blessings of the Lord upon you. The word is true. God blesses cheerful givers.

Yours for the love of the Harvest

Rick Maricelli