For a few months now I have prayed about writing this article and I waited until I got peace about doing it. As you read this please understand that it is done in Christian love and I hope it's received that way.

For too long we as Christians have not been good stewards with the finances God has entrusted us with. I in my past (many years ago) have done the same. God entrusts us with money through our jobs or ministries to use for the GOOD of the Kingdom of God and our family's good. Whether it be a little or a lot that we have, it should be seed that is planted carefully.

In our industry (Southern Gospel), we know all too well that we are not out here to get rich. If anyone believes that you can, please buy a bus and start a group and you will see very quickly that it is a labor of love, not earthly riches—although God has always taken care of my family and me through the wonderful people who come and support our ministry. 

As I see it, there are two things that seemed to be looked over in our industry that need to be addressed.  First is health insurance. You cannot afford to be without it for even a day.

I know that health insurance is expensive. I could be driving a nice new Mercedes for what I pay each month for insurance. But I owe it to my family and to this ministry to have it. If it means you cannot afford that new bus then so be it. It's time we get our priorities in order.  Yes, our bus has to be dependable to allow us to get our job done but when you are driving a more expensive bus that Taylor Swift (or other famous country artists) is driving, something's wrong. She makes more in one night than we make all year. Let's be sensible about our choices of how we spend our money. When people give in a love offering or purchase a ticket to see us, they become part of our ministry so we owe it to them also.

Second is life insurance. How can we take the chance of leaving our family with a possible financial burden when they are already grieving over the loss? We owe it to them to have at least 10 times our gross annual income in life insurance.

Life insurance is more than affordable. A man who is 35 years old can get $500,000.00 worth of insurance for about $25 a month. If you can't afford that then something's wrong.

Think about it—what would your family do with the expenses? It's NOT the responsibility of your friends in the industry or public to take care of you or you family if you've made bad business decisions. Please think about that before you buy that new sound system that you really don't need or trying to find a tax deduction (ha! ha!) to help you spend money at the end of the year.

Use that money to take care of the things that really matter!

I have learned a lot in the past 20 years since my wife and I went through "Financial Peace University" with Dave Ramsey. I don't have all the answers and I don't do things perfect but God has given me a desire to do better with what He blesses me with. Think about it—the better you manage your money, the more you'll have to help those who truly can't help themselves. That's what God has called us to do.  Like Mr. Ramsey says, "Live like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else."

          May God richly bless you and your ministry and may we ALL be good stewards of what He gives us.