The Pew Forum today released their latest finding about voter preference between Obama and McCain. Over all they show 52% to 36% lead over all registered voters. What is very interesting and very revealing is the survey break down by religious groups. Here are the break downs:

White Evangelical Protestant Registered voters favor McCain 65% to 22%.

White Mainline Protestant Registered voters favor Obama 47% to 46%.

Black Protestant Registered voters favor Obama 94% to 1%.

White Non-Hispanic Catholic Registered voters favor Obama 49% to 41%.

Registered voters without any religious affiliation favor Obama 65% to 22%.

While it may appear that the polling between Obama and McCain is narrowing it does look like it will be an Obama win. Almost everyone, even those that think Obama’s win is a lock, expect it to be closer than many think. In many states his win will be by less than 5%. What is amazing is that Evangelical and religious voters who in the last election put George Bush in the White House will this time, by not giving McCain a better percentage, put a Pro-Choice Democrat in the White House.

What does this say to we the church in terms of our leadership?

For one thing it means our members politely listen to us and then go out and vote as they see fit. Look at the Catholic Bishops that have come out strongly against Biden and yet Catholics by and large are going to vote for Obama. The reality is that we have lost our prestige and standing with many members and they simply tune us out.

On the other hand I think it means that we have not done a good job of educating our people. We need to not sit back for the next four years and watch liberties be eroded. We can preach and teach moral values and relevance to our members. We must train the next generation up with the truth. This same generation is being pounded daily in our public educational institutions to reject biblical truth. We have to find a way to counter that.

Sixteen years ago when Bill Clinton looked to be pulling ahead of Bush and Perot I told my staff that I was not coming in the day after the election. I was going to stay in bed and pull the covers over my head as I would be too depressed. The next day after Clinton won I showed up first thing at the office. As my staff trickled in they were perplexed at the turn around of attitude. I was upbeat and enthusiastic. I told them that I had come to believe that that day was the beginning of a new start and that I was committed to start working to bring about change.

So, on November 5th I plan on being at my desk working on Kingdom business. I learned sixteen years ago living through perhaps the most immoral president in our history that God’s work goes on. While I disagree with Obama’s policies and views I do have better hope for his character than Bill Clinton’s. Much will be undone and we will face danger from a court system that will become ever more open to re-interpreting the Constitution. Yet I have hope that like Jimmy Carter we will see the light and vote Obama out in four years. Even if that does not happen I have learned as a result of the dismal Clinton years that you can still see the Kingdom grow.

After all our hope is not in Washington but in heaven!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

I have decided to get out of the stewardship business and open a pet shop. Why? Because despite the 0.3% decline just announced today in the GDP pet product sales are booming. The American Pet Products Association estimates that Americans will spend $43.4 BILLION this year on their pets! What is even more amazing is that this figure represents a 26% increase from 2004. Today’s economic report released by the Commerce Department stated that consumers ratcheted back their spending at a 3.1 percent pace in the third quarter, the most since the second quarter of 1980, when the country was in the grip of recession. One area they did not ratchet back was spending on Fido.

Don’t look now but 007 could be stealing money out of your offering plate! Very soon the new James Bond movie will be released. While we struggle with the economy and watch our 401K’s melt analyst are predicting that the new 007 film will be a box office smash. Think about how much the average family will spend at the movies on the weekend this film comes out. My guess is that the amount the spent will in most cases be more than they put in your offering plate on Sunday.

So, should you beat your people up over their pets and movie attendance? Not if you want to long term enlist them as donors. The key is to have an effective stewardship plan that will make your offering plate an appealing place for your members to contribute to. There are churches right now that are seeing an increase in their giving. Your church and ministry could be one of those if only you had a plan in place. Otherwise Fido might be eating your biscuit.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Stewardship Coach

What will happen with the economy? No one knows. Even the so called “experts” are clueless. That however does not keep them from making predictions. Those predictions and statements often drive the market up or down. Yesterday former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker said we were in a recession. He said in a speech in Miami, “I don’t know how deep, but it will be rather long before we see a robust growth.” While I would not question someone with the knowledge of Mr. Volcker I could not help but notice that he began that sentence with I don’t know and then followed it with an opinion stated as fact. Honestly, while he might be right, he is just doing what all the other experts are doing, guessing.

This past summer as we were watching gas prices climb daily based upon the cost of a barrel of oil I happened to be in Oklahoma. If you are from Oklahoma like me you almost by accident know a thing or two about oil. Tulsa my home town used to be known as the “Oil Capital” of the world. I had flown into Tulsa to drive up to Bartlesville the home of Phillips-Conoco. On the way I saw oil rigs pumping. That always tells me what the price of oil is a barrel. Those wells yield very little and unless the price of oil is high they typically leave what oil is left in those wells in the ground. On this day all were pumping madly away.

In my meeting with the church that day was an executive of Phillips-Conoco. I figured I had an inside track to what the future of the oil market was going to be. I asked, “Will oil reach $200 a barrel?” Yes was the reply I got back. Here was an insider, someone in the know making an educated guess. Well guess what? It never got near that mark. Now it hovers around the $60 a barrel mark. My point? The experts simply don’t know with assurance what is going to happen.

This includes the supposed experts on giving. People say giving will certainly be off but frankly no one knows by how much we just all assume it will be down. As we have reported here in some recession years giving has actually gone up. While I do think that giving will be off across the board I do not think that it has to be off in your church if you take the right steps.

Frankly you know more than the experts know as you know the God of the Universe that owns the cattle on a thousand hills! We know that despite tough times God is still on His throne and in control. We know that IF we follow His principles we can and will survive tough times.

So, don’t let the news get you down. Seize this time as an opportunity to show your church and your community the way out of this crisis. That way is THE Way and THE truth and THE Life, Jesus!

He is the true Messiah, not, well you know…

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

P.S. My friend Ronnie Floyd who has authored many books himself just read my new book “Recession Proof Your Offerings,” and said this about it, “In Mark Brook’s Recession Proof Your Offerings he has really challenged us greatly. It is time to run to God and we do this by practicing biblical stewardship, regardless of the economic times. His chapter on “Vision: The Reason People Give” is worth the price of the book! Get it. Read it. Buy another one. Give it away. This is one timely book. Every Christ-follower needs to read it.

Email me today to get on the list for a first edition signed copy.

Mark@TheCharisGroup.org

George Barna today released his monthly update today with this headline, “American Spirituality Gives Way to Simplicity and the Desire to Make a Difference.” Here are a couple of the opening paragraphs that are packed with opportunities for using to help raise your offerings. The article states, “The nation’s population has always possessed an appetite for active spirituality. This streak continues to shape the thinking of millions of Americans, who describe their religious faith as personally very important (71%). Two-thirds of the nation’s adults think of themselves as “deeply spiritual” (64%). All of this focus on spiritual matters seems to provide people with a confident self-assessment: 82% of adults describe themselves as “spiritually mature.”

Yet, in addition to spiritual identities - and in some ways beyond spiritual labels - Americans also think of themselves as difference-makers and concerned about the world around them. In all, three out of every four adults say they are “making a positive difference in the world” (78%). In fact, close to nine out of every ten Americans (86%) describe themselves as “caring deeply about social injustice.” A similar percentage of adults are “concerned about the moral condition of the country” (86%).”

How do these facts help you raise funds? What better place but giving to the church can your dollar go towards making a difference? I would if I were you be emphasizing all the positive things that donating to your church accomplishes. I would focus on missions. I would focus on your benevolent causes. I would focus on the spiritual education of children that helps them learn how to be responsible and godly. I would tell the story of what you are doing showing how it makes a difference.

What about the money that simply goes to pay the preacher? In most churches as much as 50% goes to salaries. I would not run away from that but position it in a positive way. Of course we pay our preachers to live without worry of the bill collector. What do we get in return? We get men and women who are there when we have a death in the family. We get staff people to run the ministries of this church freeing up our time and resources for where God has called us to serve. We get staff members to train our children and youth in spiritual disciplines. We get pastors to care for us in times of trouble and stress and in times of joy. Our ministers are our local missionaries spreading the love of God and the good news of the Gospel. They work long hard hours for this congregation and deserve every penny of the pay they get.

The bottom line is that nowhere else can you invest your money to get the same return on the dollar as in the church. You want your life to make a difference? You want your charitable gift to matter? Give to a local church!

Remember, good vision trumps bad economy. Tell your story!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Go figure. Here we are fretting about what some erroneously call the greatest crisis in our country since The Great Depression and we are flocking to the stores to buy stuff for Halloween. Consider…

* Estimated Halloween spending this year: $5.77 billion.
* Average spending per person: $66.54
* Biggest spenders: 18 -24 year olds; expected to spend an average of $86.59!
Source: National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey

What is amazing is that this year’s estimated total of $66.54 will surpass last year’s total of about $65.

Now how do you think your offering plate will fare today? The next time one of your members complains about the economy ask them what they spent on Halloween. For those of you who prefer you can ask them what they spent on their Fall Festival. Either way I can not help but wonder if some of the money missing in your offering plate went for Junior’s Batman costume.

Off to church…

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

If I could answer that question accurately I would write a book, retire to Italy and learn Italian. How about two out of three? I am writing the book that will give advice and predictions on giving during what now everyone is admitting is a recession. More on that later. What got you here is probable the headline. So, here goes a discussion on the economies impact on giving especially your giving!

We have seen all kinds of wild predictions about giving being down in 2008. I find that most are based upon what I call urban legend. A friend tells a friend that their church is down by 25% and all of a sudden after it gets repeated enough everyone believes it. Its kind of like some of the promises a certain politician makes, but I digress. What are the facts about the current state of giving?

No one really knows. The Empty Tomb group annually studies religious giving but they do not file their reports until about two years after the fact. This past summer they released findings on 2006. So, at this point it is difficult to find data.

You can give educated guesses. My educated guess is that over all giving will be down by about 10% nationally. I was with a UMC church on Monday and their giving is 8% above this time last year. Several of my clients are showing indications that their giving will be slightly up from last year as well. On the other hand I have talked with others that are reporting that their churches giving is down, most around 10%. At this point no one has done a definitive study so we are left to our hunches. Most are simply assuming that since it is a recession that giving will be down. That would be an erroneous assumption as in some recession years giving actually went up.

Southern Baptist’s, who count everything, give the best data about current giving. It several recent Baptist Press releases they have reported that giving to the denominational Cooperative Program, a good indicator of SBC church giving, was only slightly below last year. Further more their research arm at Lifeway found that most churches did not expect a significant decline in giving this year.

Some will see declines and some will see slight increases. In this mornings news was a story that Schwab Charitable one of the country’s largest and fastest growing national donor-advised funds with 12,000 donors and nearly $2 billion in assets, announced today that grants to charities during the third quarter of 2008 were up 12 percent from 2007 levels. I predict you will see the same for churches when the year is up. Some will see an increase and some will have a shortfall.

Here are some difference makers in whether your ministry will see a decrease or an increase:

Churches will compelling vision will see giving remain steady and even increase. Churches will no compelling vision will struggle.

Churches that have taught stewardship on a regular basis will fare better than those that never or rarely teach stewardship.

Churches that pass an offering plate or basket, i.e. have an offering moment, during their service will fare better than those that never mention giving from the platform and do not pass the plate.

Multi-generational churches will fare better than those comprised primarily of adults under 40 years of age.

Denominational churches will fare better than independent churches.

Blended approaches to worship and ministry will fare better than contemporary approaches.

Churches that have a stewardship plan will fare better than those that have no plan and are relying upon hope.

Hope is not a strategy! Yet countless churches right now are essentially hoping that their donors will support them through the end of the year. Here is a thought, don’t just sit back and let this happen to you, do something! Develop a plan of action.

And now for the shameless advertisement, we at The Charis Group offer a plan of action for you. We call it Stewardship Enhancement. We can help you determine where your giving is right now and give you advice on how to finish out the current year strong. We also are now booking our weekend stewardship emphasis called “Recession Proof Your Life.” If you use us the small fee you pay will be more than covered by the increase in giving you see.

Do you have a better plan?

Call us at 800-750-7095.

Or email me for more information at: Mark@TheCharisGroup.org

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

If you want to start your day off happy don’t check the current status of your 401K! It could well depress you for the rest of the day. One day the market is up the next day it gives it all back and then some. Your 401K could have lost an incredible 40% this last year. This last month I have been thrilled that my main 401K is earning almost 1%. A couple of years ago that slight increase would have thrown me into depression. Now I feel like a genius!

Manage your investments wisely.

While I certainly am not a genius I have advocated for a long time that one way to build wealth is to manage our investments. I make it a practice every Saturday to review how my various 401K’s are doing. I have at various points adjusted the mix of my funds to give me a better chance to earn more or in some cases lose less than other funds.

Most 401K’s come with a cafeteria plan of funds from aggressive to conservative. Almost all of my retirement is in the Southern Baptist Conventions GuideStone service since I was a SBC pastor for ten years. There are 21 different funds to to invest in. A couple of years ago I had the majority of my money in the International Equity fund and made very good money. Today that fund has lost 20.14% this month and -44.16% year to date. So you can see why I am thrilled that the funds I am currently in are “only” gaining a combined 1%.

Most plans will allow you to make a few changes yearly. I got tired of the roller coaster the market was imitating and pulled out of the funds that I was in and put most of the money in the Money Market fund and a Low-Duration Bond fund. I only wish I had done so about this time last year and I would really look brilliant.

I have a friend who is in the same GuideStone retirement account as I am. As late as two weeks ago a major portion of his funds were in the International Equity fund losing significant dollars every day. I have another friend who never looks at his 401K, ever! While it is not helpful to look at it day to day it is foolish to not look at your funds periodically. It is after all your money.

Invest for the long haul

The thing to remember is that you invest for the future. I have written here in several posts how the market after declines always rebounds. So that fund that today looks less than sterling in two to five years will be much more robust. For those who are ten to twenty years from retirement you have a better chance of your fund coming back to its full strength and then some.

Set realistic expectations

One of the problems has been the unrealistic expectations of the last few years. We have been told that we ought to get a 10% return on our investments. That number is almost impossible to hit and set up many to put the majority of their holdings in riskier funds that were the first to plunge. By setting a realistic investment goal you will avoid making careless mistakes trying get rich quick investment schemes.

Don’t stop investing

It is tempting to simply put that money under the mattress but don’t do it! With a good diversified account you can compound your interest over time and have what you need for retirement. Making consistent donations to your fund will give you more options as you near retirement. Believe me you blink an eye and you are past the big 5 0! Retirement will be here before you know it. Plan now.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Some look at the current situation and express dismay or depression. I look at the current situation and see opportunity!

I am reminded of the words of a businessman that I met with a few months back. The church he attended in Michigan had engaged us to help them raise funds. As we always do we met to discuss this with the leaders of the church to get their feel for the project and whether or not they felt it was achievable. Here is what this guy said, “This has been the worst three years of business for me in the last thirty. Yet I think that as people are hurting they will be looking for some place for an answer. We must build this building to be ready to meet that need!” When others saw a weak economy and were skeptical this man saw opportunity and was encouraged.

Be a leader! Our country is crying out for leadership and their is none coming forward. Get beyond the sound bites, the teleprompters and all the rhetoric and our current leaders are like the emperor with no clothes. I remain in my position that the economy will run its course despite who is elected. Congresses approval rating is at an all time low and if we could many would check the box marked “None of the above.” This leaves an opportunity for you to rise up and be a leader! Now is the time to offer a way out of this crisis. It starts first locally with your congregation and ministry. We as Christians have the answers for the here and now not only for the by and by. The Bible is full of practical principles that if applied can help Americans rise above this crisis. Those principles simply need to be discovered and applied.

Proclaim it boldly! Use your pulpits as a bully pulpit not for some politician or political party but for hope and a plan of action. Why are you not preaching to the point of need your people are feeling? Sermons about love and peace and predestination have their place but now is the time when people are looking for answers to problems they are facing today. So preach! Put this crisis into context. Give people a hope. Give them real practical answers and a plan of action. Stand up show them the way when the rest of our leaders are clueless or wringing their hands and you will win their hearts.

Stop waiting for someone else to stand up it’s God calling you to stand up! What are you waiting for? Put together a plan of action. Call your leaders to rally to support it. Proclaim it to your members. Be bold during this time and God will reward your courage.

I am reminded of what the late great evangelist Manly Beasley said, “My problems are a platform upon which God can work a miracle!” Don’t let the challenge of our present situation derail you from pursuing the dreams and visions that God has given you. What an opportunity for leaders and leadership to show them the only true answer, Jesus Christ.

Mark Brooks

P. S. I have a new sermon series entitled “Recession Proof Your Life.” We are putting together a weekend mini retreat for churches that will give your people a plan of action through this time. We believe it will increase your offerings as well. We are doing one weekend a month on a first come first serve basis. Found out more by emailing me at Mark@TheCharisGroup.org

Sunday we again went to worship with our neighbors. Last week their church launched their annual stewardship campaign and I wrote about how NOT to take up an offering. This past Sunday it was nominally better but it was ruined by the minister beginning by apologizing for the fact that the message was a stewardship message. I have many times listened to ministers do that instead of simply preaching the word.

Why is it that ministers so fear to preach on stewardship? I have some theories.

They think it is not popular. We have all heard the reply, “All the church ever talks about is money.” As a result most preachers hardly ever talked about money. Let’s step back however and ask who is it that stewardship sermons are unpopular with? It certainly is not the faithful that tithe and give. They want you to preach on it as they want some help! It is typically a small minority of people that don’t give anyway and hate to be convicted about their disobedience. So, for the sake of a minority that we “think” might be offended we shy away from this vital doctrine. In the end not only is the church hurt by this but also the members who lose out on the blessing that God gives those that do give.

They are not convinced it is their role. Who else beside the spiritual leader of the congregation would it be? Who is better qualified to talk about it? I would contend that it is the role of the minister and no one else.

Don’t feel fully trained.I think that many simply do not feel equipped to handle the subject. Tragically few Bible colleges or seminaries teach stewardship at all. What most of us learned we learned on our own. However there is no excuse as the bookstores are filled with good books and you have sites like this and others to give you ideas and guidance. If you don’t feel trained self educate yourself!

Whatever the reason is ministers need to get over this fear and boldly preach the Word. Not only will you be helping your offerings but you will be helping the members receive God’s blessing upon their lives. It is not that you preach on money that people mind it is how you go about it. Apologizing for preaching on it to start your sermon is not the way to get me to listen to your message.

I have a sermon that begins with the statement, “Today I want to talk to you about how you can get rich!” From that opening line I define true wealth, which is the freedom from financial worry. I talk about how it begins by putting God first and then move to practical application. Something like that is much more likely to get your congregation attention than, “Today I have been assigned to preach a stewardship message and given our current economic times I really dreaded preaching on this topic.” That essentially how the sermon I listened to this past Sunday began. Which would you want to listen to.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

P. S. I have just finished my first book, “Recession Proof Your Offerings.” We are hoping for a delivery date of December 1st. For the first ten that respond you will receive a free auto graphed copy as soon as it is off the press. Email me at Mark@TheCharisGroup.org

I have a pastor friend that has just about worried himself sick with regards to his investments and his future retirement. If you have been following the roller coaster ride the market has been doing and have checked daily your 401K you probable can relate. Many Americans like us, in our 50’s and contemplating retirement, are worried. While we have good reason to be there is also some words of hope we can take to bed with us at night so we can get some sleep.

I spent 20 years as a Southern Baptist pastor. When I left ISS three years ago I rolled all my retirement from that account into the SBC’s retirement program called Guidestone. About 95% of my retirement money is held with them. I want to copy here advice they had on their website to all we who are invested with them. It is good advice.

Updated 10/16/08: Market swings shouldn’t panic investors October 16, 2008

DALLAS — The Dow Jones Industrial Average – spooked by soft retail sales – dropped more than 730 points Wednesday (more than 7.8%). The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were off almost 8.5% and 9% respectively. This came on the heels of a record trading day Monday when the Dow had its biggest one-day point gain ever.

Soft retail sales in September, coupled with a Federal Reserve report indicating tight credit lending was hurting business activity nationwide, contributed to Wednesday’s sell-off.
While Wednesday’s market performance may be disheartening for stock and stock mutual fund investors, it’s important for long-term investors to rely on their investment strategies, and not make decisions based on short-term market changes, good or bad.

“Certainly, many investors are alarmed by the recent volatility in the markets,” said Rodric E. Cummins, chief investment officer of GuideStone Financial Resources. “The important thing for investors is to remain calm, consider your financial goals and not let your emotions guide investment decisions.”

GuideStone continues to stress important principles for navigating today’s troubled markets:

* Always focus on your objectives, not your emotions.

Specifically regarding retirement participants, these assets are to serve needs for a long period of time. Make sure your objectives and actions are consistent with your time horizon.
Consider that over long time periods the stock market has been friendly, yielding many more positive returns than negative ones. Industry research firm Ned Davis Research. Inc., looked at stock performance over an 80-year period, 1926 and 2006. What it found was:

* 88% of the five-year periods and 97% of the 10-year periods yielded positive returns.
* 100% of the 20-year periods yielded a positive return.

Essentially, you could choose any five-year period of time between 1926 and 2006, and almost nine out of 10 of them would show growth in an investor’s portfolio. While past performance is no guarantee of future performance, the market itself has been resilient through the years.

* Avoid making impulsive decisions.

Guard against making ad hoc changes in your portfolio. Making changes based on short-term market movements is almost a guarantee for failure as it promotes “buying high and selling low.” The performance of your account moving forward will be determined based on results of the financial markets in the future, not the past. Selling today cannot avoid yesterday’s losses in a down market. Likewise, in an up market, you cannot buy yesterday’s performance by investing in the hottest fund.
If you absolutely have to make changes in your portfolio, consider making them in small increments. This allows you to dollar cost average and gives you time to more seriously consider your actions.

Getting out of the market during roller-coaster rides is seldom a smart move. What happens if you’re out of the market and the market goes up? Consider an investor who invested in an S&P 500® Index fund from January 1985 until March 2007. An investor who parked his money there for all 5,607 trading days would have an average annualized return of 12.8%. That period includes “Black Monday,” Oct. 19, 1987, the tech bubble burst of 2001 and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

On the other hand, consider another investor who got jittery every time the market pendulum swung from profit to loss. He missed the 10 best days over the course of those 12 years and the average annualized return drops to 10.2%. Miss the 30 best days, and the average annualized return is 6.6%. If one misses the 50 best days of market performance, the annual average return drops to 3.7% — barely above the rate of bank certificates of deposits.

* Don’t count your losses.

Tallying up how much has been lost in your account serves no purpose. If you want to measure the progress/status of your investment account, focus on the gains realized in the equity (stock) markets over longer periods of time.
“It may seem difficult as investors watch their account balances decline, but the reality is that a focused investment discipline, diversification and persistence will likely be the key to weathering this and other storms,” Cummins said. “While lower market prices do cause uncertainty, this can also be an excellent time for opportunistic investors to move into the market while values are off their highs.”

Market volatility and indiscriminate selling of assets by others often creates investment opportunities that can be captured by insightful investors whose long-term financial objectives are properly tuned to long-term investment strategies. Consistent contribution to a retirement plan affords investors a systematic way of taking advantage of investment opportunities as markets ebb and flow.

* Maintain realistic expectations about market behavior.

Financial markets move up and down over time in response to social, political and economic events. Further, equity investments are by nature more volatile than other asset classes such as cash and bonds. Equity investors should be able to accept significant short-term fluctuations in the value of their portfolios.

“Markets negatively react to uncertainty,” Cummins said. “As situations begin to return to normal, we expect to see the markets stabilize and, if history is any guide, begin to return to profitability.”
Hopefully, you will use these principles as you consider what to do with your retirement account.”

Good advice for chilling out for the weekend and watching your favorite team play.
Mark Brooks

P.S. Today I finished my new book “Recession Proof Your Offerings.” For the first ten that email me saying you read this post and like my Mom you love everything I write I will see that you get a signed copy as soon as it is printed. You can email me at:

Mark@ThCharisGroup.org