¤ ¤
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What talks, burns a hole in your
pocket, doesn't grow on trees
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and makes the world go round.
Yes you got it, money. It plays
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such a big part in our lives.
It affects nearly everything we
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do and influences virtually
every decision we make. Money
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is one of life's necessities. We
just cannot survive without it.
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For most of us money can be
a problem, usually because we
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don't have enough of it.
But today we're going to meet a
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businessman who has a huge money
problem, not because he hasn't
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got enough money, but because
he's got too much. Julian Archer
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learned the hard way that when
a person prospers either God
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gains a partner or the person
loses their soul. He knows all
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too well that when we feel
abundantly blessed we are often
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in the most spiritually
dangerous stage of our lives.
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Today Julian's going to take us
on a frighteningly honest soul
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baring journey into the
world of a successful Christian
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businessman. He's an outwardly
blessed man with a sinister and
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secret struggle, an eternal life
and death battle, to try to keep
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God's blessings from becoming
curses. This isn't fiction. Stay
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with us and discover the secret
of becoming truly financially
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independent. Julian's amazing
story will surprise and inspire
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you and may even
change your life forever.
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¤ ¤
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Money, money, money. We all need
it. Money's important. It's as
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necessary in our daily lives
as food is for the body. Just
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as you can't get along without
food so you can't survive long
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without money. Money enables
us to have the basics of what we
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and our family need to survive.
Food, shelter, education, health
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care. It assists us in achieving
our goals and dreams. It's a
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blessing and we all want to
receive God's richest blessings
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especially the cash ones. But
money can also become a curse
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in our relationship with God and
others. What happens when you
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realize that you're truly
blessed but that your spiritual
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life has become damaged in
the process? What if you started
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worshipping God's gifts instead
of the Giver? None of us want
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that to happen. So how can
we become financially secure
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without becoming spiritually
bankrupt. Our special guest
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today, Julian Archer, is the
founder of Faith vs. Finance, a
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global organization working
with affluent people who seek to
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wisely balance their finance
and faith. He's an international
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speaker and best-selling author.
His popular book, Help! I've
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Been Blessed has sold widely
around the world and he's here
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today to share his
experience and insights with us.
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Julian, welcome to our program
today. You've lived a very
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different
lifestyle. Tell us about it.
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My parents met when they were
young, had children very young.
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Got into business and
then another business and then
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another business and another
business and another business.
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By the age of 24 they had five
businesses. They were what we
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call serial entrepreneurs. But
there was a challenge and that
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is that while they were
successful in business their
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marriage was absolutely shot.
And they had to make a choice
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between marriage and business
and they chose marriage. And
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they sold four of the businesses
as we moved to the bush in
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southeast Queensland just west
of Brisbane and became hippies.
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Barefoot existence, growing up
in the bush, trying to grow your
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own food, living in a little
tiny shed. There wasn't a lot of
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clothes. We didn't have a
washing machine, we didn't have
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running water, we didn't have
electricity. So it was a very
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barefoot existence. Sort of
Huckleberry Finn if you look
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back on it, you know,
from that point of view.
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How did your family move from
hippies back to being business
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people?
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You know, we were trying to
grow our own food and so we had
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a little health food store and
that was fine but we wanted to
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grow everything, our fruit,
our vegetables, our oil and
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everything, we want to grow
ourselves. And so we planted
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lots of little trees and
found out that we had too many.
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So you plant
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20 seeds and hope that one or
two would come up for a family
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and 20 would come up. So we
thought well let's start selling
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some of these excess plants
that we have and so we started
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selling out of the back
of our truck on the side of
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the highway, fruit trees. And
that became a little nursery and
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then a bigger nursery and
then things grew from there. But
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during those times we became
Christians. We met some people
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who loved Jesus and they shared
that with us. That filled a hole
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in our hearts that we probably
didn't even know existed to some
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degree. Once we found Jesus it
completely changed the game for
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our family's life, for our
lifestyle, for what we were
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doing in business, everything
changed. The businesses that we
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had been running took off.
They grew incredibly quickly. We
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ended up have an importing
business, exporting. We had
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distribution, we had a
consulting business, we had
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ran tours in other countries
around the world. We were
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exporting to 25 countries and it
was crazy days. The businesses
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were just going so well,
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beyond anything that we
could ever, ever dreamt of.
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Money was pouring in, we didn't
know what to do with it. We
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weren't accustomed to this. It
was just quite overwhelming. And
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I realized as this was happening
that it was actually having an
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impact on my heart, it
was having an impact on my
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spirituality. I thought that
well God just wants to bless you
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lots and that's what we all want
that's what we pray for. You
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know Lord bless me bless me. But
I didn't realize the other side
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of it and that is that sometimes
when we are blessed we start to
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worship blessings. We lose
our relationship with God, our
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spirituality.
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So it's a real
battle, faith versus finance.
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Just everywhere I looked in
the Bible, in Jesus life, in his
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teachings, through the whole
of the scriptures, it was there.
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Faith and money. So I wrote
it all down and in that process
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gave my heart back to the Lord.
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I said, Lord it's
yours. So I did it. It
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turned into a book, a book
called Help! I've Been Blessed!
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which is a unusual title. But
Help! I've Been Blessed! How to
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stop God's blessings
from becoming curses.
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Are there any principles or
words of wisdom that you've come
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across that have been
particularly helpful in your
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years of battling
faith against finance.
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As I did a lot of research to
try and work out how to sort out
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this faith versus finance battle
I came across all sorts of
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people across all centuries
who had been in the same battle.
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It surprised me because I
thought I was the only one
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originally fighting this thing.
I came across a guy called Oscar
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Wilde who actually
made a statement. He said:
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And I thought, you know what,
yeah there's some truth in that.
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And then I came across a guy
called John Wesley who in 1789
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this has been a couple
centuries He wrote that:
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Wherever true Christianity
spreads it must cause diligence
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or hard work and frugality,
or careful spending, which in
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the natural course of things
leads to riches! And then he
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went on and he said:
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It's a see saw situation where
as the affluence goes up the
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religiosity or spirituality of
a nation goes down. When there's
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a great financial crisis, or a
war or something like that, boom
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back up it comes. So the
faith comes back up. But then as
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things become good again and
everybody's got enough and all
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the rest, the faith goes down
again. I've seen it happening in
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my life. It happens in nations.
And that's where my ministry is.
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I now travel around the world
speaking to different groups
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about that challenge
and what can be done then.
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I was trekking a number of years
ago in the Himalayas in the fall
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with my two sons and I was
at a tea house way up in the
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mountains. And there was a
little poster up on the wall
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and it had a quote on it
by Mahatma Gandhi and it said:
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Whenever financial security
occurs spiritual bankruptcy
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also occurs. I can only speak
for myself but as my finances
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increased my spirituality
decreased. It doesn't have to
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be, it doesn't have
to. But it often does.
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In a day when most Christian
books on money are about how to
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attract God's financial
blessings, why have you chosen
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to refer to these
blessings as curses?
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What I've found is that the
blessings coming from God I was
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taking those blessing and
getting very distracted by them.
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I was spending a whole lot of
time maintaining, insuring them,
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trying to grow them, investing
in them, worrying about them,
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all the different things that
you do when God gives you a lot
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of stuff. And realized that
those blessings had actually
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become a curse in my spiritual
life. Those blessings were now
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getting between me and God and
so that's why my book and the
00:10:39.47\00:10:43.20
ministry that I do. I talk about
those blessings and how they can
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be curses. God doesn't give
them to us to curse us. It's our
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reactions to them that becomes
a curse if we react the wrong
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way.
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Julian, you suggest that
it's almost impossible to be
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financially secure without
becoming spiritually bankrupt.
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That's quite a statement,
especially coming from an
00:11:02.86\00:11:06.80
affluent Christian. What
evidence to you have to back
00:11:06.83\00:11:10.47
this up?
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It's interesting in scripture
that Jesus makes a statement.
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He said that it's easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a
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needle than for a rich
person to get into heaven.
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That's pretty challenging
words especially when you're an
00:11:21.28\00:11:25.61
affluent person. Maybe you're in
that one percent club of people
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So we see it over and over
in scripture where people are
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blessed and then they turn
away. The good news is that with
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God, Jesus said this as well.
He said that with God all things
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are possible. That's the secret
whether a person is wealthy or
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not. Are they with God? The key
word is with. And if they are
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with God then it's possible for
them to live a Christ like life
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even in a wealthy environment.
But if they're not with God then
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they're not going to be living
that life regardless of whether
00:12:07.69\00:12:11.26
they're wealthy or not. So it is
a battle. The Scripture is very
00:12:11.29\00:12:15.80
clear. But we also have examples
in scripture of people like
00:12:15.83\00:12:19.13
Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea,
Abraham and others who were
00:12:19.17\00:12:26.68
affluent, were wealthy, but they
had a very strong relationship
00:12:26.71\00:12:29.38
with God as well. Once they
got it sorted out, once they
00:12:29.41\00:12:32.01
realized the relationship
between wealth and their
00:12:32.05\00:12:34.82
spirituality they maintained
a strong relationship with God.
00:12:34.85\00:12:37.25
That's an interesting picture
on the cover of your book.
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What are you
trying to illustrate?
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When I knew that a book was
coming from all of this, I got a
00:12:42.46\00:12:47.46
friend to illustrate a cover for
me and I said to him, I said,
00:12:47.50\00:12:50.90
Andrew, I want you to draw what
the inside of my heart looked
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like when I was in this battle.
And so he drew this illustration
00:12:54.90\00:13:00.34
of Jesus standing at a
door, knocking on that door, and
00:13:00.38\00:13:05.28
there's a guy inside, that was
me, trying to get to the door.
00:13:05.31\00:13:08.98
I wanted to open the door of
my heart to Jesus, I wanted to.
00:13:09.02\00:13:14.12
But I had so filled my heart
with all the blessings that he
00:13:14.16\00:13:17.76
had given me, that I couldn't
even get to the door. I could
00:13:17.79\00:13:20.73
hear him knocking but I couldn't
get over all the stuff to get to
00:13:20.76\00:13:25.50
the door. I'm reaching out
trying to open that door and I
00:13:25.53\00:13:29.20
couldn't do it. There was a guy
called Billie Sunday, American
00:13:29.24\00:13:32.51
guy who once said that:
00:13:32.54\00:13:34.94
What are the warning signs
that a Christian has started to
00:13:40.88\00:13:45.65
worship God's blessings
rather than God himself?
00:13:45.69\00:13:48.02
In my life I find that if my
morning devotion time, my time
00:13:48.06\00:13:53.73
with God in the morning, is
starting to be compressed and
00:13:53.76\00:13:56.63
cropped and shortened or non
existent then I have to go, Hey
00:13:56.67\00:14:02.50
Julian where's your priority?
The blessings that he's given
00:14:02.54\00:14:06.78
you are starting to overcome
your life again, your spiritual
00:14:06.81\00:14:09.84
life. The other way that I know
it is if I look at my calendar
00:14:09.88\00:14:15.38
and my bank statements. Very
revealing. When I look at my
00:14:15.42\00:14:18.32
calendar and see how I'm
spending my time and I look at
00:14:18.35\00:14:22.02
my bank statements and see how
I'm spending my money it's very
00:14:22.06\00:14:25.19
revealing the way my priorities
really are. Are my priorities
00:14:25.23\00:14:29.06
on God? Is that obvious
in my calendar and my bank
00:14:29.10\00:14:31.53
statements or is it on something
else? And it could be just about
00:14:31.57\00:14:35.30
anything else. But God says,
Julian I want your heart, I want
00:14:35.34\00:14:38.87
your whole heart.
00:14:38.91\00:14:40.24
Are there any stories in
the Bible that show how God's
00:14:40.28\00:14:44.41
blessings can become curses.
00:14:44.45\00:14:45.78
Yeah, the Bible's actually full
of stories about God's blessings
00:14:45.81\00:14:48.75
becoming curses. But I'll just
share one with you. Back two
00:14:48.78\00:14:55.62
thousand years ago Moses and the
children of Israel had spent 40
00:14:55.66\00:14:59.53
years traveling around in the
desert around Sinai, the Sinai
00:14:59.56\00:15:03.40
peninsula in Egypt today. They
only had food and clothing and
00:15:03.43\00:15:08.24
a little bit of shelter. That's
all they had for these 40 years.
00:15:08.27\00:15:10.71
They then come to the river
Jordan. And Moses knows that
00:15:10.74\00:15:16.01
on the other side of that river
is what they called the promised
00:15:16.04\00:15:18.88
land. And this promised land is
flowing with all the good stuff.
00:15:18.91\00:15:22.55
In fact, Moses knew that when
they crossed that Jordan, they
00:15:22.58\00:15:26.19
would be, and he said this to
the children of Israel, he said,
00:15:26.22\00:15:29.82
when you cross over this river
you're going to live in cities
00:15:29.86\00:15:32.23
that you didn't build, so the
inhabitants are going to flee
00:15:32.26\00:15:35.63
before you, you're going to live
in their cities. You're going to
00:15:35.66\00:15:38.07
live in houses that you didn't
build. You're going to eat from
00:15:38.10\00:15:40.07
vineyards and olive groves that
you didn't plan. You're going to
00:15:40.10\00:15:43.41
drink from wells that you didn't
dig, so basically they were just
00:15:43.44\00:15:45.97
going to be blessed as soon
as they crossed over that river.
00:15:46.01\00:15:49.44
And what did Moses say? He said,
But when you have all this stuff
00:15:49.48\00:15:52.58
don't forget God. What do they
do? They cross the river, they
00:15:52.61\00:15:59.35
have all this stuff and
they forget God and this is what
00:15:59.39\00:16:03.29
happened in my life. This
is what happened in my nation.
00:16:03.32\00:16:07.30
And it's a real warning that
this isn't something new. This
00:16:07.33\00:16:11.40
is not a new problem. This is
something that's been around for
00:16:11.43\00:16:13.23
thousands of years. And if
we are going to take our faith
00:16:13.27\00:16:17.17
seriously then we have to really
seriously look at this faith vs.
00:16:17.21\00:16:20.44
finance issue in
our lives and beyond.
00:16:20.48\00:16:22.44
Your book addresses a lot
of questions that affluent
00:16:22.48\00:16:25.11
Christians need to consider.
Please tell me more about the
00:16:25.15\00:16:29.32
last one, on
raising Godly children.
00:16:29.35\00:16:31.89
One of the challenges that
we face as Christians living in
00:16:31.92\00:16:36.73
affluent society is how
do we raise Godly children?
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It's really hard in a
materialistic world where they
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are being bombarded and
surrounded by all these messages
00:16:43.40\00:16:46.20
saying we need all this stuff;
you won't be happy without all
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this stuff. It's really hard to
raise Godly children. In my book
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I have 12 different steps that
my wife and I have done. We're
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not claiming to be perfect,
our boys are 18 and 19 at the
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moment. They've been
great through their teen years,
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they're going to look after us,
but they still got a life ahead
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of them. But those points take
parents through some of the
things they can do.
00:17:10.13\00:17:14.13
Tell us a little about these
12 points for raising Godly
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children.
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One is pray. You've got to pray
for your kids. Family worship.
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Be intentional. Not just
thinking well our kids they'll
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sort it out.
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We have to be very intentional
about this. We need to pass on
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our values. Quantity
time. Limited screen time.
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Choice of peers.
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Take them on mission trips.
Wisdom, pass on your wisdom.
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And what I call the rule of tens
That's basically very simple.
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It's an old Jewish principle.
The first 10 percent of your
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income goes to God, the second
10 percent goes to others, gifts
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for other people and the third
10 percent goes into your own
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savings. The other 70 percent
it'll go fast enough, but those
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three 10's. That's the rule
of 10's. Financial planning:
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Actually helping our children to
plan financially and another one
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that we had, my wife and I, is
abstinence. We said to our boys
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we want you
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to abstain from certain
things in life. And that's from
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drugs, sex before marriage,
alcohol. We want you to abstain
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from those things because we
know that those things can bring
00:18:21.43\00:18:23.70
a lot of challenges
to a young person's life.
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Lots of Christians are
struggling with these issues
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in our affluent society.
What can you offer them?
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Look all I can really offer
Christians who are struggling
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with these today is Jesus Christ
and my testimony of what Jesus
00:18:36.11\00:18:42.12
has done in my life:
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And it's quite true. I found
that the more that I focus on
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Jesus on a daily basis all
the blessings, all the material
00:18:52.19\00:18:57.07
things that he's given me just
grow strangely dim, they're no
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longer a priority,
they're no longer what I'm here
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for. And I'm able to just focus
on things that really, really
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matter. People just think if
I just had that bigger house or
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another ten thousand dollars
a year salary, that would be
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enough. But I can tell as
somebody who's had the bigger
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house and the million
dollars a year extra salary,
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it's never enough
unless Jesus is what you want.
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When Jesus is what you want,
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He's enough. If you're chasing
stuff, you'll never have enough.
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But if you're chasing Jesus,
when you get what you're chasing
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you've got enough.
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Julian, I've heard you say that
you've got manure in your wallet
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Really? What do you mean?
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Clint Murchison, Jr., who
was the founder of the Dallas
00:19:44.21\00:19:47.45
Cowboys made a statement
many years ago. He said that:
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And I see a lot of truth in that
You know, if we pile up all our
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money, we hoard it for ourselves
selfishly for ourselves it
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starts to stink.
00:20:08.10\00:20:09.44
What do you suggest is the first
step for a person who realizes
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their busy lifestyle is
damaging their spiritual life?
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Ultimately it's about our heart
it's about our heart. Are we
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filling our heart with the
blessings or are we filling our
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heart with Jesus. This can
be more than just affluence. You
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might be blessed in other ways,
but if your blessings are going
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up, your knees need to go down.
It's as simple as that. So I
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just encourage people, if you're
being blessed, if your blessings
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are just pouring into your life
get down on your knees and be
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thankful for them, humbly thank
God for them. And that will lead
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to sacrificial generosity
because that's what God wants us
00:20:49.91\00:20:52.95
to do. He blesses us so that we
can pour those blessings out and
00:20:52.98\00:20:56.75
give them to other people.
00:20:56.79\00:20:58.29
Julian, it's been a pleasure to
have you on our program today.
00:20:58.32\00:21:01.62
Thanks so much for sharing your
journey with us and I'd like to
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wish you God's richest
blessing in all your endeavors.
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Thank you very much, Gary. It's
been an absolute pleasure being
00:21:09.76\00:21:11.93
with you.
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The Bible has a lot to say about
money. Did you know that there
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are over 2300 references
to money in the Bible? That's
00:21:19.01\00:21:24.75
almost twice as many as verses
about faith and prayer combined.
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And Jesus had a lot to say about
money too. In fact, Jesus spoke
00:21:29.35\00:21:35.76
more about money than he
did about love and more than he
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talked about heaven and hell
combined. Nearly 15 percent of
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everything Jesus spoke about
related to money and possessions
00:21:44.83\00:21:49.14
Over 30 percent of his parables
deal with the topic of money.
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That's a lot. Money is a
big deal to Jesus. Why? Because
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Jesus knows that there is a very
clear connection between our
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spiritual life and our attitude
toward money and possessions.
00:22:08.12\00:22:11.36
And he knows that we need lots
of direction and clarity on the
00:22:11.39\00:22:16.56
whole money issue. Jesus knows
that money is one of the most
00:22:16.60\00:22:19.80
likely reasons for us to reject
him, ignore him or leave him.
00:22:19.83\00:22:24.41
Jesus knows that it's a heart
issue. Notice what he said in
00:22:24.44\00:22:30.15
Matthew chapter 6 and verse 21:
00:22:30.18\00:22:32.21
Jesus knows that how we think
and behave with money affects
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our spiritual condition and he
outlined very clearly just what
00:22:43.79\00:22:48.83
the issues are and what's at
stake a few verses further on in
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Matthew chapter 6 and verse 24:
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Jesus presents us with a very
clear choice. Will we serve God
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or will we serve money? Jesus
says you cannot serve both.
00:23:15.96\00:23:20.30
It's impossible. It's one or the
other and all of us must choose.
00:23:20.33\00:23:26.70
Yes, the issue is simple.
Who will you serve. Jesus want's
00:23:26.74\00:23:33.31
only the very best for us.
He loves us and cares for us. He
00:23:33.34\00:23:38.58
doesn't want anything to
come between us and him. And he
00:23:38.61\00:23:43.18
knows that our relationship with
him can be deeply affected by
00:23:43.22\00:23:47.76
our relationship with money.
He doesn't want money to harm us
00:23:47.79\00:23:52.29
or separate us from him. So he
lovingly warns us to be careful
00:23:52.33\00:23:57.43
and to get our priorities right
and to use money as a tool to
00:23:57.47\00:24:02.77
bless our families, others,
those in need and to use it to
00:24:02.80\00:24:07.28
share his love with others and
expand his kingdom. Jesus offers
00:24:07.31\00:24:12.41
us a friendship, a relationship
with him that brings peace and
00:24:12.45\00:24:18.12
happiness. If you'd like to
ensure that you keep your life
00:24:18.15\00:24:21.06
in balance and in harmony
with God, and that nothing ever
00:24:21.09\00:24:25.26
separates you from him, why not
reach out to him and ask him to
00:24:25.29\00:24:30.00
assist you right now as we pray.
00:24:30.03\00:24:33.13
Dear heavenly Father, thank you
for your love and goodness to
00:24:33.17\00:24:39.21
us. Thank you for the promise
to provide what is good and best
00:24:39.24\00:24:43.24
for us. Thank you for helping us
to deal with the challenges and
00:24:43.28\00:24:47.42
temptations of life. Thank you
for guiding us and helping us to
00:24:47.45\00:24:52.42
get our priorities right. May
we not allow anything to come
00:24:52.45\00:24:57.29
between us and Jesus. Lord, we
want to experience happiness and
00:24:57.33\00:25:03.03
live life to the full. Please
bless us now as we reach out to
00:25:03.06\00:25:07.94
you and move forward in our
lives as you intended us to do.
00:25:07.97\00:25:13.48
Bless us and please give us hope
and fulfillment. We ask this in
00:25:13.51\00:25:17.88
Jesus' name, Amen.
00:25:17.91\00:25:22.25
Julian Archer learned the hard
way that when a person prospers
00:25:22.28\00:25:26.05
either God gains a partner or
the person loses their soul. He
00:25:26.09\00:25:31.86
knows all too well that when
we feel abundantly blessed we're
00:25:31.89\00:25:36.30
often in the most spiritually
dangerous stage of our lives.
00:25:36.33\00:25:40.30
But he reminds us that the Bible
is full of guidance and wisdom
00:25:40.34\00:25:45.11
on how to balance our lives, get
our priorities right and stay in
00:25:45.14\00:25:50.48
harmony with God. If you'd
like to find inner peace and
00:25:50.51\00:25:54.08
happiness, if you'd like to
strengthen your relationship
00:25:54.12\00:25:57.39
with people and with God,
if you'd like to be financially
00:25:57.42\00:26:01.19
secure without becoming
spiritually bankrupt, if you'd
00:26:01.22\00:26:05.36
like to find a better way then
I'd like to recommend a free
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gift we have for all our viewers
today. It's a booklet called
00:26:09.10\00:26:14.07
Money, God and You. This booklet
is our gift to you and it's
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absolutely free. There are no
costs or obligations whatsoever.
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So, please don't miss this
wonderful opportunity to receive
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this free gift we have for you
today. Here's the information
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you need: Phone or text
us at 0436333555 in Australia
00:26:33.46\00:26:42.06
or 0204222042 in New Zealand
or visit our website www.tij.tv
00:26:42.10\00:26:54.74
to request today's free offer
and we'll send it to you totally
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free of charge and with no
obligation. Write to us at:
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Don't delay. Call or text us now
00:27:21.94\00:27:26.51
If you've enjoyed today's
journey into the world of money
00:27:26.54\00:27:29.21
and finance and our reflections
on the Bible's wisdom regarding
00:27:29.24\00:27:34.05
balancing our lives and ensuring
that we are financially secure
00:27:34.08\00:27:38.49
without being spiritually
bankrupt, then be sure to join
00:27:38.52\00:27:42.19
us again next week when we'll
share another of life's journeys
00:27:42.22\00:27:46.80
together. Until then remember
the ultimate destination of
00:27:46.83\00:27:51.13
life's journey. Now I saw a new
heaven and a new earth. And God
00:27:51.17\00:27:55.54
will wipe every tear from their
eyes. There shall be no more
00:27:55.57\00:27:59.54
death nor sorrow nor crying.
There shall be no more pain for
00:27:59.57\00:28:04.11
the former
things have passed away.
00:28:04.15\00:28:06.88
¤ ¤
00:28:06.92\00:28:21.13