Skip to main content

Financial Stewardship by the Christian Family- Part 1 Resources

The start of a new year tends to bring on new goals. Normally we think of health goals, but we would challenge you to develop some financial goals and knowledge over the coming year. Over the next several weeks we are going to be presenting a new series on what the Bible says about finances. We hope that this series is an encouragement and challenge to each of you as we explore the topics. Included below is a list of the topics that will be coming in future posts, if you have questions on additional topics please leave them in the comments below. 

  • Debt and Taxes
  • Savings and Investing
  • Giving and Generosity
  • Financial Temptation
  • Work and Work/Life Balance
  • Inheritance and Legacy
In this first post, we want to get you thinking about where you have gathered your financial knowledge and provide you with some additional resources that should be added to your reading list for the year.

How have you learned about family finances?
  • Parents- formal
  • Parents- informal
  • Siblings or other family members
  • School- formal
  • School- hard knocks
  • Church
  • Books
  • Websites
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
As you learned, what were the main topics?
  • Balancing the checkbook
  • Credit Cards
  • Debt
  • Tithing
  • Saving
  • Thriftiness
  • Earning
  • Warnings
  • Taxes
  • Other?
With these topics in mind, here are some solid resources that you can read to help grow your understanding of financial matters. As with any book, please be discerning as you read through the content. No matter what topic you are reading about there will always be good and bad information. One author may have a great viewpoint on debt but have a terrible understanding of financial communication with your spouse. That does not mean that we should throw the entire book out the window, but we should not take the book as truth. There are aspects in all of these books that we do not completely agree with, but much of the information presented is useful in your financial journey. 
  • Your Money Map- Howard Dayton
  • The Total Money Makeover- Dave Ramsey
  • 8 Important Money Decisions for Every Couple- Russ Crosson
  • Your Money Made Simple- Russ Crosson

Hopefully, you have taken some time to consider your existing views on finances. As we start this series please keep those views in mind so that you can critically analyze them to help you determine what is helpful and what needs to be changed. Our goal is to help you grow your understanding of finances from a Biblical worldview.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rental of a Church Parsonage to a Non-Minister

Question: A church owns a parsonage, but the pastor does not use it as he owns his own home. The church rents the parsonage to a tenant other than a minister or employee of the church. Will the church be responsible for paying income tax on these monies as Unrelated Business Income (filing a Form 990-T) even if the money is used to carry on the business of the church? Answer: Whether the money is used for church purposes is irrelevant.  IRS Publication 598  states: "If an exempt organization regularly carries on a trade or business not substantially related to its exempt purpose, except that it provides funds to carry out that purpose, the organization is subject to tax on its income from that unrelated trade or business." Fortunately, in the case of rental income from real property, such income is "excluded in computing unrelated business taxable income" (Publication 598). Caution: see content below regarding debt-financed property.  However, a second concern not a...

Review: Form 1099 Payments to 501(c)(3) Organizations

Question: A church rented space from another church last year. Should it request a completed Form W-9 and issue Form 1099-MISC? Answer: Payments from one 501(c)(3) organization to another 501(c)(3) organization are not subject to Form 1099-MISC reporting. The IRS Instructions for Form 1099-MISC state that "payments to a tax-exempt organization" are exempt from reporting a Form 1099-MISC.  The following are typical examples of payments of $600 or more by a church which are subject to reporting a Form 1099-MISC: Rent paid to an individual (non-corporation) Payments for services rendered by individuals who are not employees (e.g. janitorial service, facilities, snow removal, guest speakers) Support sent directly to missionaries

Housing Allowance and Form 1099-MISC Reporting

Question: A church provides its minister a housing allowance but believes it must report the full amount of compensation (including the non-taxable housing allowance portion) on Form 1099-MISC in order to demonstrate the full earnings of the minister. (Starting in 2020, Form 1099-MISC is replaced with Form 1099-NEC for non-employee compensation.) If the church reports his compensation, including the housing allowance, on the Form 1099-NEC as taxable income, will he be able to deduct his housing expenses somewhere else on the Form 1040? Answer: This question brings up a couple of issues. First, most ministers are properly classified as employees who receive Form W-2 , not as independent contractors who receive Form 1099-NEC . Box 1 on Form W-2 reports taxable compensation. It is reduced to reflect the church's designation of a portion of his pay as non-taxable housing. Then, in Box 14 (Other), Form W-2 typically reports as a memorandum item his additional non-taxable, housing allowa...