Hosea 4:6 KJV My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing that hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Let me start out by saying first and foremost that the message of Faith-Based Investing is not a condemnation message. The Bible says that “there is now therefore, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..” (Romans 8:l KJV) God is love. You will never do anything to make Him mad at you. In fact, we all mess up but thank God for His grace and that all we have to do is repent and receive His forgiveness and His mercy. As the Scripture states, it is a lack of knowledge that we are destroyed.
Years ago, as a young boy growing up, I was always taught as most of you were too, to always be teachable and listen to my elders and my teachers because knowledge would take me where I wanted to go in life. It is important that we keep and maintain that mindset, even as we age, we must remain teachable and be hungry to gain more knowledge so that we may become the very best that God wants us to be.
When it comes to investing our resources that God has so richly blessed us with, it is important that we gain as much knowledge as we can and be good stewards of God’s money.
As I mentioned in my introduction page, to be fair to Christians and Pastors they are not doing it willingly, but rather out of ignorance.
When I was fresh out of Bible College and taking the pastorate at my first church, one of my spiritual fathers told me, “Anthony, you can fix ignorance with education, but you will never be able to fix stupid, so focus on educating people with the Bible and give them practical ways to apply it in their personal lives.”
Very few people never take the time to check the public record of companies to which they invest. Let’s be honest, who has the time to thumb through all of that stuff? That’s what your financial advisor is supposed to do, right? Wrong! Most financial advisors don’t want to take the time to thumb through your statements and screen your investments.
To be even more honest, most financial advisors don’t even care. Sad but true, all they want is your money to manage so they make a commission or a fee on their assets under management.
That is what makes me different. Being an ordained minister and a financial advisor, I answer to God for what stocks I advise my clients to invest in. It isn’t always about the return you make on your investment, although I am not suggesting you have to jeopardize any return on investment.
You do however have a moral and biblical responsibility to be a good steward of God’s money that He entrusts you with.
So how do we have the time to do it when other advisors don’t?
We use sophisticated software that does it for us. Once I have a person’s investment statement, I am then able to run it through a software screener that gives me a public record of where the companies you are invested input their money.
Faith based investing does not mean that you have to settle for less than the market as a whole. Last year we had some Faith-Based Investment clients make more of a return than the clients investing in secular companies. Why? Because
God blesses our obedience to His Word.
The second thing you must understand is that not all financial advisors are the same. Some advisors telling you that they do biblically responsible investment advice are just simply advisors that pay a fee to an organization that gives them the permission to use their name and the term “Biblical Responsible Investing” or “BRI” for short.
These two things make me, the investment preacher different. I don’t belong to a fraternity or club and pay an annual fee every year. I am an ordained minister and a licensed Investment Advisor Representative. I actually take the time to run every single company ticker symbol you are invested in, apply the Bible to your investment accounts, and then make sure they line up with what you are preaching, living and believing. Let’s not just talk the talk, let’s walk the walk.
I can’t force people or make them move their investments to where will they line up with their moral, biblical beliefs, but I will put in the time and energy to expose the truth of what these companies are doing with your money. Then it is up to you after that.
You maybe saying, oh preacher, come on man there are no clean companies anymore. Yes, there are! In fact, there are about 1,000 plus. And, you don’t even have to give up any returns on your money. In fact, you may even earn a better rate of return because you are now invested and lined up with God’s Holy Word.
Companies that are “faith-based” bring hope to the hopeless, bring healing to those that are hurting, and feed those that are hungry. They will not be a part of anything to do with abortion, anti-family or anti-Bible. That’s right, they are not anti-Christ. According to the Scripture, we are not to be lukewarm. We are either hot or cold. Therefore, if it is anti- God’s Word, then it is anti-Christ.
Who is funding this anti-Christ, anti-Biblical movement? Christians! That is correct and not a misprint. The very people that are supposed to be like Christ are the ones funding due to lack of knowledge. Not anymore, I want you to help me take the wealth of the wicked and put it into the hands of the righteous, just like the Bible says will happen in the last days. Now it’s time to turn to look at an actual portfolio. Remember, this could also be your invested money.
Anthony Wright is the president and CEO of RSG. He earned a ministerial degree from Rhema Bible College in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. After graduation, he built several highly successful businesses and then became Senior/Lead Pastor at Faith in the World Church which was pioneered in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
In 2012, after spending several years assisting friends and family with their financial needs, he decided to take the next step and founded Retirement Specialty Group, Inc. The company’s focus, Faith-Based Investing, ensures his client’s investments match their moral beliefs. Anthony holds his Series 6, 63, 65 as well as Life, Health, Property, and Casualty Licenses.
As an Investment Advisor Representative, Ordained Minister published author, and Faith-Based Investing Coach, Anthony is committed to developing long term relationships with all his clients and helping them make sure they aren’t investing in companies that use their money towards areas that are contrary to their beliefs. https://investmentpreacher.com/fbi-free-ebook-fb37081402
See an error in this article?
To contact us or to submit an article
