Friday, February 23, 2007
Crunch Numbers then
I am facing the largest financial crisis of my life.
I am not sure exactly how big it is.
But God has given me a plan.
NUMBERS
I have gathered all the numbers related to my finances both on my computer and the online service named Mvelopes.
I have been bumping against a familiar wall. When the math of my finances is unpleasant I tend to avoid looking at it.
I need your prayers so I will crunch the numbers from now until the first of March then for the month of March.
I know from previous experiences that when I can ask for prayers for a certain amount of money by a certain date then it works better than vagueness. Also when I am clear about how much is needed in each area I can ask people to sponsor all of part of that area.
BENEVOLENCE
After the numbers are ready I need to create a simple and brief way to ask.
At first I am asking for mercy from members of the body of Christ.
Their contribution will be an act of benevolence.
This presentation will include
how I got into this trouble
what the immediate needs are
how I will not repeat this.
SHEBAA
Shebaa got her ID and visited one food bank.
All they could give her was a few canned goods and a loaf of bread.
She called another one that has much to give at this time.
But first she needs to catch up on her sleep.
The pain of her wisdom teeth has kept her up for days.
She took a pill that could put her to sleep for a day.
Thankfully one person sent 20 dollars and anther sent a bag of meats.
A third person will help out soon.
INVESTORS
This morning after prayers I had this new idea.
This spring is for building the online business.
Then in the summer I will be ready to go serve after a hurricane.
I can stay for as long as needed.
My websites will keep generating income.
Everything will be as automated as possible.
I can then use the business hardware and software for ministry.
That would be a tax deduction for the business.
So by leading with the business I need to seek investors.
In the business world there are those who contribute funds for start ups.
The ones who help get a business going in the earliest stages are called angles.
These people understand the huge risk.
They are promised to get their money back with a large per cent increase.
Mostly they do it to help a promising person with a good plan.
A few thousand dollars from these angel investors will get the ball rolling.
It will not take long for the online business to make money.
The funds can repay the investors then pay me an income.
Every week I work many hours on various projects.
It will be good have a way for a big part of that time goes to what will earn income.
After the initial phase is in place then the more I add to the site the more I earn.
THANK again for your prayers.
Remember to pray in the name of Jesus.
There are precious promises in the Bible rooted in that simple direction.
John 4:40 PM
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Peek in My Workshop
You are invited to take a peek into my workshop.
What you will find here are works in progress.
These parts are not ready to be promoted to the public.
I want you to see some so you can pray better.
There are many projects underway.
I do my best work on them according to priorities.
The ones I am working on now are to share a rough prototype of things to come.
These are not pretty but they are functional.
After the functional bugs are worked out and funds arrive I will improve the looks.
METS WISH LIST
During the last year I have invested hundreds of hours into web research.
I enjoy researching and needed to explore this much because there is so much chaos.
The emphasis was the field of building a home based business based on Internet Marketing.
This is a fairly new industry because the Internet is not that old.
During my explorations I encountered thousands of webpages.
I bookmarked the best ones.
I have begun to review my bookmarks and select only some of those.
I am putting them into a free online service and organizing them by lists and tags.
This is only a phase in the process of sharing them with those who come to my websites.
The interface of MetaWishList is good and serves its purpose well for an individual.
I am leveraging it as a temporary staging area for the online business.
I have been going through many pages of notes and putting the links here.
The next phase will be to put these on a social bookmaking service.
The social bookmaking service like Furl www.furl.net is a better way to share these.
The current location works to appeal to donors to designate contributions.
I will go through these options and rank the ones that would best help start the business.
The social bookmaking service will provide a way to interact with others.
Then these organized, categorized and commented upon links will be shared.
Lord willing I will work with web developers to design an attractive interface.
The aim is that a person can come to a central website and find the links they want.
There will need to be ways to search the database as well as browse it.
This is just another manifestation of my serving as the Resource Guy.
But the difference is that with many of those links I will be registered as an affiliate.
So if a person links from my website to their a special code will go with them
If they choose to buy there then I earn a commission.
Affiliates are one of the five income streams I have been planning for years.
There are people making thousands of dollars a month just on this kind of service.
Here is the Meta Wish List for Pie Bridges http://metawishlist.com/user/PieBridges.aspx
If you will click on many of those links then you will get a feel for the chaos I mentioned.
The links I offer are the best and there are 90 percent that I did not save after the first look.
Most of them are sales centered; they want you to buy today.
Others want you to subscribe to a free email then they will teach you.
Then you will buy later.
I have set up an email address that I use when I fill out these forms.
That does not clutter my personal messages.
And when I have time I go to that account to do focused learning.
Note that nearly all of them are mostly text.
Some of the text sales letters are super long.
That is okay, it is proven to work for them.
But what I want to offer that is new is how to put audio and video on the sites.
I have found that this is easy and affordable.
By teaching others how to do that I will attract students and customers.
SITE SELL
One of the oldest and most mature companies in this field is Site Sell http://sitesell.com/
The more I examine other options the more I admire this one.
It is not for every one but it can suit many.
They have begun a new facet called Work At Home Moms http://wahm.sitesell.com/
Recently I linked from their website to the testimonies on You Tube.
WOW I got it.
I was deeply touched by what these women said.
The Holy Spirit has reminded me of how my mom stayed home with me.
She had been an elementary school teacher.
Due to my dad’s job she stayed home with me and my brother three years later.
That was a huge blessing.
I would be delighted to use my time and talents to help women work fro m home.
Like I indicated previously my knowledg3e on line media could prove profitable.
SCREENCAST
Likewise there is another staging area for the screencast videos.
This wiki is too plain to be promoted to the public.
But it can give donors a window into what I have done.
With funds I can improve the look of the wiki and make better online videos.
Here is that link http://tinyurl.com/3cvufd
MIND MAPS
The current focus is on completing some of the initial mind maps for Pie Bridges.
I have a few that are part way done.
I have most of the research and thinking done.
I need lots of anointed time on task to just crank it out.
I hope that the Saturday most of the basic mind maps will be complete.
Then I will print them out and laminate them.
These are handy to show donors.
I have dozens related to previous projects.
The size ranges from 8 and an half by 11 to poster size of 2 feet by 3 feet.
Lord willing after these are done I will create screencast videos of them
That will allow me to both follow up on meetings and reach those out of town.
THANKS for your prayers.
And remember to persevere when you pray.
That is the part of the lesson that stood out to me in the prayer workbook today.
John 12:37 PM
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Above Our Ways
There is a word picture in the Bible that seemed like abstract poetry to me for decades.
Here are the pungent words.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9
BLACKABY
The in 1999 I took the course on Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. It was based on his study of the Bible, personal experience and church leadership for many years.
That series of Sunday school lessons profoundly shaped my understanding of God and His will. I have highly recommend the book and especially the workbook with videos. The VHS videos are available for seminary students to check out where I work.
Part way through the class I made a photo copy of the seven point outline for that set of lessons. And I have been carried it with me in my wallet ever since. A few times a year God uses that small piece of paper to help me encourage another believer.
As a fellow pilgrim the Christian often forgets the vertical and eternal perspective amidst his present challenges.
Also God uses these sentences to give me orientation and direction.
For me they give specific handles to the poetry in Isaiah 55.
In case you have never read these or forgotten them here they are.
1. God is always at work around you.
2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.
5. God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
7. You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.
These relate to my current financial challenges as well as the challenges that Shebaa is facing.
Typically when I draw this slip out of my wallet for another person they are in pain. Usually they are at number 5 in a crisis of belief. There is often an outline of the faith and action required. They are often squirming about number 6 because major adjustments are not fun.
So what is needed is to review the whole context. It is critical to recall the personal thoughts and feelings associated with 1, 2 and 3. Then the main thing is to carefully review 4. I have had many lively discussions on the seminary campus about how to know the will of God in a wide range of situations. Each time I have been amazed at how much wisdom is packed into the sentence 4.
God is not hiding His will for those who are committed to obey Him. And He uses not one or two methods but all four Bible, prayer, people and circumstances.
The most difficult part is to embrace that what God does and does not reveal. God is eager to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways. What He does not usually do is answer the WHY questions or give detailed instructions.
REMINDER
Going through crunch times is a great reminder of many spiritual principles.
The Bible promises and principles become more important.
The theory about depending on God for everything becomes more of a personal reality.
Some verse sand out as never before for example
apart from Him I can do nothing
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
Unless the Lord builds the house those who labor work in vain.
The theology about the power of God becomes evident in the smallest ways.
When passing through a spiritual valley there are lessons that can only be learned there.
When God seems far away that is an illusion. God never moves. And during difficult times He is fully aware of all factors internal and external.
The major challenges include
Continuing to trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ
Not blaming or complaining
Praying with faith
Waiting patiently for God to act
Give thinks genuinely for the little things and things in the past
John 3:43 PM
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Down and Dirty
I have had more difficulty writing this email than any others I have written in years.
I had nightmares last night.
Thankfully that rarely happens.
Anxiety about my current financial condition was surfacing in the nightmares.
I continue to keep record of how I use my time. And I have been sleeping far more than usual. This is partly to deal with the stress and partly as an escape.
After praying this morning I have a peace from God that this will all work out soon.
What follows is the down and dirty about the current conditions that need your prayers.
FAITH
Before I give specifics let me remind you what the Holy Spirit reminded me of at the end of prayer time today. The tendency in prayer is to just tell God the problem. That is not needed. God already knows everything.
What is needed is faith. And that faith needs to be directed to the person of Jesus Christ. He already has the more than enough grace to spare. His goodness gives Him the desire to do good in every situation.
It honors God for His people to come to Him boldly and ask with hope filled expectation. Then let go of when and how the answer will come. Just watch for God to glorify Himself soon.
NEEDS
I still owe for February rent and late charges. I have nearly no groceries. And there are bills coming due before the next paycheck. The total need is 900 dollars.
There are moments when my faith is high that I confidently believe God for this provision. Then the roller coaster goes down to doubt, depression and despair.
BOTTOM LINE
The bottom line is that God needs to provide this immediate need through some generous people. And then I hope He makes a way so that this does not repeat next month.
The ideal budget for March that I sent out yesterday is an optimistic view of the future. It is very possible that can happen when I meet with donors and share the vision. Their funds will help me get into business that in turn will help fund the ministry this summer. And I will be teaching others how to do both.
Deep in my gut I know that if I had responsibility before God for much wealth that putting some in to this kind of innovative venture would be a wise choice. It is still unproven thus the donor needs faith. But there are an abundance of online prototypes. And more will be added very soon.
My brother sent me a link for a free online tele-seminar yesterday. The speaker has helped many people become successful in their online businesses. He discussed the principles that he emphasizes in leading others. I found that I was using most of his guidelines instinctively. I have a natural talent to design marketing systems.
The online core is about half done and so is the offline core presentation. It could be as soon as two weeks that I could begin to meet with donors. I need to remind myself that everything does not need to be perfect before I talk with a prospective supporter. It is God who will be at work bringing in the funds for His mission.
REQUEST
I request for your prayers that God guide my thoughts, words and deeds. May He lead my prayers and how I ask for prayers.
I have been through this kind of challenge many times before. God has meet the needs right on time. It was always different.
There are a few people I will call on the phone. May God anoint those conversations.
And sometimes when I give the way to give online I am amazed at who gives and how much. So here is the link to Pay Pal. It is not tax deductible. But that could be possible by this time next month. http://www.fourbridges.org/Donate.html
THANKS for your prayers. And remember when you pray to include a mustard seed of faith that Jesus Christ will supply all the grace needed right on time.
John 2:09 PM
Monday, February 19, 2007
NEVER Been This Organized Financially
THANK God for HUNDREDS of answered prayers over the years.
Thank You for your prayers and patience.
There has been a MAJOR break through.
Bookkeeping has been my greatest weakness all my life.
I have tried every paper and computer system for a SHORT while.
I NEVER stayed on top of my finances for long.
There was a time that I sent out a weekly report to two close friends. But that was only a summary of the current condition and the near future. I never put that into a monthly report like most budget systems use.
It was just over a year ago on February 10, 2006 that I enrolled in Mvelopes http://crown.mvelopes.com/ I watched their online tutorials. I input some but not all the data needed to make it useful.
I promised myself dozens of times that I will get back to that. It has been like an over weigh person that keeps paying for a health club membership and telling them self that they will begin to work out next week.
Then I felt the strong leading from God to hire an administrative assistant to aid with the ministry, business and personal matters.
I paid the assistant to view the tutorials.
Major donors have indicated that I need better records before they will continue to give. That is understandable.
Finally for the last few days I have invested many hours to learn how Mvelopes works and set it up with my current numbers. It is set for my current condition plus initial season of the online business. That involved going over my financial records that were in various locations on paper and in computers. I found a very useful template on the Microsoft website that I adapted. http://tinyurl.com/yehx53
Now that my data is in Mvelopes http://crown.mvelopes.com/ there are MANY ways to instantly generate ALL kinds of reports as HTML, PDF and Excel.
I have changed bank accounts in the last year. So I deleted the old bank account and put in the new one. Their system will sync with my bank. Then that data will be matched with the planned budget. That will allow reports of the planned verses actual in each line item.
After I use this system for a while then I will teach my administrative assistant. The vision is still to be free to serve those impacted by hurricanes each summer while my personal, business and ministry finances are running smoothly.
The IRS requires that I keep excellent records and Lord willing I will do that. The Board of Directors and major donors will want to see summary reports and a separate account on Mvelopes will meet that need. Also some of the wisest money I will spend each year will be for consultants and coaches. They will be used of God to help me design and lead the online business. When wise counselors are hired those funds will multiply quickly.
Attached you will find an initial sketch of a budget with approximate numbers for March. Your comments are welcomed.
Pray earnestly that using this system will become a familiar habit.
In a way this is a new chapter of my life.
The attached is probably much more detailed than it needs to be. But I am a detail oriented person. And this is my way to closely track all key areas.
John 5:31 PM
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