Michigan Camp Meeting 2024: As For Me and My House

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Things I Wish I Learned in My 20s

Jim Slater

01 Things I Wish I Learned in My 20s

You are about to enjoy a presentation recorded at the 2024 Michigan Conference Camp Meeting held at Cedar Lake, Michigan.

We pray that the Lord will bless you as you listen.

Father in heaven, we're so grateful that we get to come together and that we get to learn more about the things that we should know, whether it comes to our day-to-day lifestyle choices, when it comes to money, when it comes to relationships, when it comes to how we relate to you.

So as we learn about these different topics this week, I pray that you would come and join us in this room.

You know, I look around the room, I know a couple of you.

I don't know how to get this on but I do know a couple of you.

Number 1, I know Jennifer from when she was much younger.

Her brother and my son Bradley went to school together for a few years.

So we've known each other for a little while.

My son Bradley is also a good friend of Hedassah.

I met Austin, who runs faster than most of us drive.

But here's what I'm going to tell you, and I know Peggy.

Bradley's really the, he's the connection between all of us here.

It's funny, the facial hair all of a sudden.

But here's what I'm gonna just ask you guys.

Many people that know adults when they're young do exactly what I would have expected in what you did, Jennifer, which is they introduced me as Mr.

And I just wanna give you guys permission that as adults you can call me Jim.

Whether you choose to or not, totally up to you.

But I would love if you guys are comfortable just if you see me say, Hey Jim, and we can have a good conversation.

I do want to talk, I'm going to take a second and get this hooked up.

I do want to talk with you, just to give you a little background.

Jennifer mentioned a little bit, because I did a series last year on biblical finances, and we're going to talk about some of those concepts today.

But just so that you know a little bit more about me and some of my background, I've been 34 years in financial management.

And in my career, I had a chance to be a financial planner.

I had an opportunity to be an investment advisor.

I administered corporate retirement plans, 401K plans.

And for the last 13 years, I've been the chief investment officer for an investment firm over in Grand Hague.

So I've had the privilege or the honor of having a number of different roles within financial services and I think the nice thing is that as we talk about some of the stuff here today and tomorrow is an understanding that so many things that we're going to talk about I've actually had an opportunity to work with people.

But more than working with others from a professional standpoint, I just want to share with you part of my background that involved personal finances for 40 years.

I mentioned that, now, if you guys do the math, and you think, well, he got out of college at 22.

I know he looks old, but is he really 71?

When I was 8 years old, my mom somehow convinced the city of Olathe, Kansas to let my sister and I have a paper out.

At that time, you had to be 12 years old to have a paper route.

5 days a week, we would deliver newspapers.

Once a month, we would go around the neighborhood and we would collect the dues.

And my mom, the first month, said, you're going to need to know what to do with your money.

And we probably had 8 or 9 jam jars and we wrote on pieces of paper and we stuck with tape to every jar.

And she said the very first thing you're gonna do is you're gonna pay time.

We had a jar for offering, we had a jar for savings.

If I wanted to go to summer camp, it cost $40 back in the mid-70s, and I had a jar to save to go to Broken Arrow Ranch.

I had a jar for clothes, because back then I had to buy my own clothes.

By the way, when you're 8 years old, you figure out pretty fast, I say, don't brush my teeth.

So a lot of good things, a couple of bad things.

But the point is that I knew from 8 years old on that there were certain things, there were certain financial principles that were sound.

And for what it's worth, for the ladies here, never underestimate the power of a mom to make an impact in the lives of kids.

I know you guys are young, but just know, and dads too, as parents, we have this incredible opportunity to teach our kids good, sound, biblical principles, whether it's spiritual or even just in the realm of finances.

But I tell you that because something happened from the time.

I had a paper out from when I was 8 until I went to academy, paid my way through academy, paid most of my way through college, got out of college.

And 1 of the things I want to just share with you is that I want to talk about not just what I wish I knew, but what I wish I did with my money in my 20s.

Because the reality is, when I was done with school and I was kind of out in the real world, I found that a lot of things I had been taught and I knew I didn't follow Okay, and 1 of the things that I found that I think is really applicable as we start talking about this is Just because you know something doesn't mean you'll do it And a lot of the things I'm going to talk to you about are things I think you guys already know.

I often tell people, people need to be reminded more than they need to be taught.

We need to hear the same things over and over and over again because that's how it gets into our mind and we start saying you know what that's something that I want to do.

So the issue always isn't always knowledge, it's lack of willpower.

And so can we get the willpower by hearing things over and over and over again.

Hopefully there's some things that you guys haven't heard, but if there's something that you already know, just realize how beneficial it is to learn again what we've heard.

So, something really interesting, talking about this again, this idea that it's not just what we know, that we need to actually do something.

People seldom take a financial planner's advice, even if they have paid an hourly rate to receive.

If you paid to ask them, what should I be doing?

And they say, this is what I think you should do, why wouldn't we do it?

Okay, so someone says risk might be a reason we don't do it, anyone else?

We may not want to do what we've been told we probably ought to do.

Here's what I found, is that number 1, when someone says, this is what I think you should do, people sometimes will say, I think advice from authority can be a threat.

Sometimes they say, well, I don't know if there's actually a benefit.

You're telling me to do something, but I don't know if I can see the benefit in that.

That's another reason people don't always follow it.

They want advice that matches their own values.

That's not according to my value system, so they may not follow it.

And then a couple of others that people often say they don't think, or they think they know better, they don't want to admit that they're wrong.

A lot of times people will say, can you tell me what I should do?

02 Things I Wish I Learned in My 20s

Dear God, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here.

We recognize that all we have has come from you.

As we honor and glorify you with our money, Lord, I pray that you would be with this class today.

Help me to speak wisdom that comes from your word and not from my own.

May everything we do here bring honor and glory to you and that this is an opportunity for us not only to make better decisions, but as we recognize what you've done for us and what you're asking from us, That we see the great and awesome loving God that you are and we're drawn closer to you bless us now We pray in Jesus Holy Name.

Amen So how to get out and stay out of debt Number 1 We need to trust God The reason that we often get into debt, actually there's only 1 way to get into debt.

Otherwise, there's no debt problem unless you're spending more money than what you're making or than what you have.

Sometimes it's intentional and that's something that we need to really work on, how to make sure that I'm not doing that and I don't care.

Many times we end up there because we do care deeply, but as we were just talking about in kind of the introduction, circumstances in life almost force us into that situation.

And so how can we make sound decisions so that we don't get there?

But we need to realize that many times, the problem with debt is that we haven't trusted God to be the solution.

If I can just have more money, If I can have that now, I can fix whatever the issue is or I'll find joy, satisfaction today and I'm willing now to pay extra for that later in my life in order to have that today.

But it all boils down to the fact that we're really not trusting God.

We're believing that somehow money can supply us with what our needs are.

And so when I talk to people about getting out of debt or staying out of debt, number 1, let's make sure that we have a trusting relationship with God.

And that is difficult because again, money is so personal.

The fears that we can have that often crop up when things aren't going well financially are can be overwhelming and it's so easy We live in a society that encourages debt Am I right?

We live it up and actually believe it or not we go back 80 years ago 80-85 years ago people who lived in America were known as citizens.

That's what people were identified as, American citizens.

Do you know what we're identified as today?

Well that means that we've shifted from us as individuals who are part of what's going on politically, socially, and all that, and I'm not saying that we're not part of that, but we view ourselves as consumers rather than citizens.

And that's a very important change that's happened here in the last couple of generations.

So anyway, We need to trust God rather than ourselves.

It is not easy to trust ourselves or to trust God.

We like to think that we're in charge and we can take care of it.

But can we look in a situation that's difficult And can we say, I trust God?

And money is a great place for us to start that, because God's promised us that He'll take care of us.

Number 2, the second thing is have a budget, have a plan.

Remember we talked about the fact that God has a plan for us.

And if God has a plan for us, it should be consistent that we would have a plan for our money and that God would be part of that plan.

And so as we're talking about how to avoid debt, How many of you, I want to ask.

I was going to ask you guys and that's unfair to call you guys out and put you on the spot.

I used to think, because I deal in numbers in my head all the time, would that be fair?

Sarah's my wife And she would tell you that I live in the realm of numbers.

Every now and then I come up for air, we get into a good conversation.

I used to think I can mentally account for what I'm spending.

It is very difficult to do things without having a specific plan.

I have, and do you mind if I just share, it's not super personal.

I take, in our marriage, I take care of the things that if we don't get taken care of can get you in trouble.

So I'm paying all the bills, everything that's mandatory every month that needs to be, I'm taking care of all that and we have an account that I have the, I don't know if I say the word authority over, but I'm the 1 that's making the decisions on it.

It's our account, but I'm taking care of this.

Sarah gets to do, and I'm happy with this, all the fun stuff.

So maybe it's not fun to buy groceries, but the things that you do where it's not necessarily a bill coming in.

But she doesn't have to mentally account now for the fact that, oh, there's a mortgage payment coming up, and there's the phone bill, and all this other stuff.

I take care of this because I have 1 account, and for me, I have everything in Quicken, and I know exactly what's coming, what's happening.

Well, you know, okay, it's not that large, but you know what I'm saying.

There's a pool of funds that's used for multiple things, and I can account for it because of that system.

Sarah is much more oriented to you might have multiple accounts and there's groceries and there's Christmas and you know, late on.

Money goes in, I'm keeping track of how much I'm spending in each category.

She's able to say is there still money in the account.

There isn't a specific plan that you have to follow.

And I was actually taught something similar to Sarah when I was a kid.

I mentioned this yesterday, my mom got my sister and I a paper out when I was 8.

5 days a week we would deliver newspapers and we'd get paid once a month and at the age of 8 that sent me to summer camp.

I had my own money for summer camp, I bought my own clothes.

I joked yesterday I had to buy my own toiletries and you figure out pretty quick as an eight-year-old if you don't brush your teeth you don't have to buy toothpaste.

Money saved and now we're off to the store to get the little Debbie Swiss cake rolls.

But my point is that whatever the system is, most systems work if we're consistent with it.

So I'm not here to tell you which system, but have a plan.

And that's 1 of the greatest ways to have a budget and have a plan because you need to know how you spend your money.

Money itself is neutral but it seems and maybe you guys would agree with me it seems sometimes that money spends itself.

If we're not on top of what's going on somehow it's like how did that how did I get to the end and I don't have that anymore.

Don't let money spend itself We need to have a plan and we're gonna tell the money.

This is what you're gonna do for me Rather than have the money say this is what I'm gonna do And it sounds kind of silly but there's something to that.

The Bible says you can't serve 2 masters.

The other thing, this should sound like it's kind of self-explanatory, how to get out and stay out of debt.

Spend less than you make by cutting out unnecessary expenses.

It is amazing how many expenses on average we have that we don't need.

Alright, so take a look when you have a budget it becomes very easy to look at and say, do I really need to be spending money on that?

Kameron DeVasher

03 Things I Wish I Learned in My 20s

Dear Holy Father, thank you so much for this beautiful day.

Thank you for this particular seminar and for the people who've assembled in this room.

Bless us now as we study your word and this incredible theme of the great controversy.

Help us Lord to not only understand it as an intellectual concept but as a framework for our lives.

So Lord please send your Holy Spirit to teach us today for we pray it in Jesus name, Amen.

Alright, When I do this outside to a non-adventist audience, I will typically call it Questions Angels Ask.

Because they've never heard of the Great Controversy.

They might think it's the war in Gaza or Ukraine or something.

If you have your Bibles, you can turn there or, by the way, the first little section is going to be called, refer to it as, know your enemy.

Some days were full of healing, some days were full of parables, and I'm guessing that most days were a mix of all of them.

But on this particular chapter in scripture, there is, he told a parable, then again he told a parable, and then another parable, so there's a collection of parables.

And this one's kind of right in the middle.

Matthew chapter 13, starting with verse 24.

Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

So pause right there, and we're gonna break this down microscopically as our friend Randy Skeet would say.

A man, I'm not just asking myself, I want some retort here.

But, While men slept, and our first question should be in the back of our minds, hey wait a minute, we introduced a new character.

It just said, anyway, while men slept, Then it introduced another character.

His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

So this is still in the owner's field, it's still his place, but at night time, I suppose when winter's sleeping, the enemy comes in, And in the exact same spot where he sowed all that good seed, he then sowed tares or weeds among the good crop.

And then he slithered off and went his way.

Now, when I was a child, we would do these, whether it was a, you know, camp meeting, vacation Bible school, Sabbath school, something, church school, whatever they would do, they would give you this, like, try to inspire you about gardening and they'd give you a styrofoam cump with a seed or something in it and I had this jack-in-the-beanstalk expectation.

I was put a little water on it, set it on the windowsill and boom!

In a couple of days of that, and I'm done.

If you were to sow good seed or bad seed, do you see the results quickly?

Thus the text says, but when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tears also appeared.

So it didn't pop up overnight, it wasn't the next day, it wasn't even maybe a week, it took some time before anything started to pop up, And at first it was indistinguishable from the suit.

So it took a while before you noticed that, hey, not everything's lined up and they've got a little different shape.

So the servants of the owner, now this is an interesting thing, the servants of the owner, I'm gonna go ahead and submit to you since we don't have time to break it down, that these are the men who were sleeping.

The servants of the owner came and said to him.

So the servants bring their questions to whom?

Because they don't know there's an enemy.

What were they doing while the enemy was active?

They were completely unaware that anything was happening.

All they know is there's an owner who has this field, He sowed good seed, and notice they weren't the ones who sowed the seed either.

They're hired to work the crop once the seed is sprouted.

So they come to him and say, sir, notice they're being respectful, kind, courteous.

They're loyal, but do they have questions?

Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?

Notice, friends, there is a clear discrepancy between what the owner had said and what the servants can see.

He said, good field, good seed, everything's good.

They're like, yeah, you said good, but we see bad.

And I don't want to extrapolate too much from this right now but I'll tell you this is 1 of the main issues.

Whether you're Christian, Adventist, nothing at all about belief in God.

If there's a God who's so good and so powerful and all love, how can he have those good principles and those good attributes and those great qualities?

This is a lot of not good in his so-called field.

04 Things I Wish I Learned in My 20s

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this beautiful, sunshiny day.

Thank you for camp meeting and thank you for the seminars that we have available and thank you for the people that are in this room at this time and those who will be listening online later.

Please bless our continued study today as we look at this theme of the great controversy and some of these fundamental concepts that are in your word.

Help us to understand it and appreciate it and through all of this study see Jesus more clearly.

This idea of questions angels ask, of course, comes from that Matthew chapter 13 parable where Jesus is talking about these big picture issues of life, about the world and why is there sin and where did it come from and what's God doing about it.

And we're basically unpacking that Matthew chapter 13 parable multiple steps along the way.

And right now we're gonna look at a message or a presentation or a section of a presentation entitled Vacancies in heaven.

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Things I Wish I Learned in My 20s

03 Things I Wish I Learned in My 20s

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