Staying up late watching a crazy Big East game between Syracuse and UConn…they are in the sixth overtime…unbelieveable! I am looking forward to getting my bracket ready as the Big Dance starts next week!

I have been blogging about the church planting conference I attended last week. It was put on by Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, Ga. The lead pastor and founding planter is Shawn Lovejoy. I have had the privilege of talking to him a little bit over the years (my in-laws attend MLC) and seeing what God had been doing in that area. I was on Facebook and Shawn sent me an im saying "if I can get there, the conference would be free…" Well, that fits my church plant budget perfectly! Thanks Shawn!

He spoke on financing the vision that God has laid on our hearts, in spite of a tough economy/ recession/ whatever we are in…here are some things I wrote from his message…

- finance vision with wisdom and faith… gotta be balanced…

- money and faith are never used side by side in Bible…most of us church planters play the faith card when it comes to money

-Bible almost always mentions prudence and money together… being wise, good steward

-slow down, pay attention, proceed with caution

-use a finance team…provide counsel for leadership

-watch trends…week, month, year

-keep an eye on monthly budget…"cash flow" is crucial

-good, wise idea…minimum 6- 8 weeks of average offerings in savings

- position ourselves to be ready to move when God shows the next step

-10% give, 10% save, live off the rest (80%)

-hang on and keep at it when we make mistakes and fail… where have I heard this? marathon not a sprint!!

- pray, pray, pray!