God blessed me with a trip to Catalyst Conference this past week. On Tuesday I loaded up in a big van with 8 others to make the 13+ hour drive to Atlanta, Georgia. We enjoyed a late dinner in Birmingham, Alabama at the famous barbecue restaurant, Dreamland, and arrived at our hotel well after midnight.
For the next three days (Wednesday through Friday) I was privileged to listen to some of the top pastors and business 
consultants teach on leadership, passion, culture, and other similar subjects. For example, Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, emphasized how “we aren’t imprisoned [or freed] by our circumstances; we are freed [or imprisoned] by our choices.” (additions mine). And Seth Godin, marketing genius, author of Purple Cow, and the author of the newly released book “Tribes,” talked 
about leadership in the context of tribal identification.
One speaker who really caught my attention was Dave Ramsey given the current focus on our economy. Dave can be watched on Fox News from time to time as he contributes to Fox Business, he has been on all the major networks recently in light of the economic situation in the world, and he has a daily radio show that can be heard all across the country. He owns his own business and teaches on personal finance. Many churches teach classes based on his Financial Peace University. The bottom line with regard to Dave is that he is a well-respected voice on the economy and on personal finance. He also is a follower of Jesus Christ who emphasizes the biblical principles regarding money in all of his teaching.
As he ran on the stage before the more than 12,000 men and women attending he began with this:
“The world ain’t comin’ to an end; God is still on His throne and He is crazy about you!”
He admonished everyone present to take a deep breath and stop fearing the end of the world. He noted that fear is driving the precipitous drops in the markets. He continues to do what he has always done: invest at least 10% in God’s Kingdom; invest at least 10% for personal investment; and live on what remains. He does not use credit. He challenged everyone present when he said that the Body of Christ could be a huge witness to the world if, when all the rest of the world was hurting because of economic failures, the Church stood strong because it had no debt. Unfortunately, most of us are in the same financial position that everyone else is in.
Here are some additional quotes from the talk:
- Knowledge and perception removes fear.
- Fear is a spirit and it is not a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
- We are seeing an artificial low [in the markets] based on the emotion of fear.
- No one can lead in fear.
I appreciated his homespun common sense advice. I definitely think if you have fear because of the current economic outlook it would be worth your time to check out his website. You also should ask yourself (and God) whether you are trusting in God or in your pocketbook.
