Today, we continue our series of messages called "Monopoly." Each week we're letting this long-time best-selling board game teach us some important biblical principles about stewardship. So far, we have asked, "How many hotels?" It was a message on greed. To overcome greed, we need to be content with what we have and we need to be generous with what we have. Then we asked, "Who owns Boardwalk?" and talked about God's ownership of everything. Most everyone here stood as a public declaration that you were transferring the certificate of ownership of every aspect of your life to the sovereign care of God.

I hold in my hand two $100 bills of Monopoly money. Who can tell me what this $200 signifies? It's what you collect every time your man goes entirely around the board and passes "Go." The quicker you can get around the board, the more times you can collect. When those dice get into a funk and roll 3's, 4's, and 5's, usually that's not in your favor.

When you play Monopoly, you better have a sound financial strategy. If you buy too many pieces of property on your trip around the board, your money will be about gone by the time you reach "Go." You better always have a cushion of money for those unexpected bills you have to pay. There's a school tax of $150 (I wish my school tax was $150), a poor tax of $15, a luxury tax of $75, and the dreaded income tax of $200. Being a good steward of your money is one of the positive principles Monopoly can teach you. Because if you spend too much too quickly, you're bankrupt and out of the game. At the same time if you're too conservative, someone's going to eat you alive.

Think about this concept of passing "Go." Many players find themselves living from "Go" to "Go." They're in a financial mess and they can't wait to go around the board and collect $200. What is the cause of their financial mess? They could have spent their money unwisely and bought too many pieces of property or they just hit a streak of bad luck. Either way they discover that they have no financial freedom. They simply survive by living from "Go" to "Go." Does that lifestyle sound familiar? It's like living from payday to payday. How we all look forward to payday. For many, the days between paydays are filled with high stress because we're in a financial mess and wonder if we can survive until the next one. We may find ourselves in financial bondage instead of financial freedom.

Is there hope? With any problem I face, I find that if I go to the Bible, God has something to say about every issue. So, what can the Bible teach us about how to handle our money? Jesus had a huge crowd following Him. It was a crowd mostly made up of wannabe disciples. He turned and began talking to this multitude about what it costs to be a true disciple. He spoke to them about how He had to take first place in their lives and how every other commitment needed to take second place. He talked about how they needed to carry their cross, suggesting that they must do whatever it takes to be a true follower.

Then he told them a couple of stories. The first story, although its primary application is to Christian discipleship, certainly applies to our subject for today. Let's read the story. (Luke 14:28-30).

How many have seen unfinished commercial buildings or homes along the roadside? How many have seen big time activity on a future development, only to see the work come to an unexplainable standstill? We always wonder about the story behind the unfinished project. In many cases, people did not complete enough background research before they started. They ran out of money before the project was completed.

Even though Jesus told this story to talk about the cost of discipleship, the story can apply to the person living from "Go" to "Go." The wise builder will sit down, assess the situation, and estimate the cost before launching his building. When it comes to finances, every person needs to do the same thing.

In my last newsletter column I wrote about my wishes for you in 2007. One of my wishes is for you to have financial freedom. Why do I wish that for you? Because I know that financial pressures have a negative effect on every aspect of your life. It messes you up spiritually because you carry a load of guilt for not following biblical principles with your finances from day one. It messes your marriage up because you're all the time fighting about money. It messes you up physically because living from "Go" to "Go" generates tons of stress and anxiety, both of which easily lead to many kinds of sicknesses.

I received a call from a woman this week. She was in a desperate situation. Her husband had just tried to kill himself, primarily over money issues.

Each week in this series I have tried to give you a very simple, practical way to put the biblical truth into your life. Today—here it is. If there is one thing I want you to take away from this message….Are you ready? Plan your budget.

I know it's simple. I know it's common sense. But you would be surprised at how many people never take time to plan out their budget. Whether you are a high school student trying to save for spending money for college or for a mission trip this summer, or you're a millionaire trying to invest your money wisely, you need a budget. And then you need to live within the means of that budget.

Look at our Bible story again. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower." Suppose you want to plan a vacation. Suppose you want to buy a home or a new car. Suppose you want to set aside money for your child's education. Suppose you want to purchase insurance that will protect your family. I suppose I could keep on listing scenarios. I just want you to put your name in the place where Jesus said, "a man." That's you. You want to do something that will require money to pursue.

Notice the next phrase—"will he not first sit down…." Bingo! To plan a budget requires that you take the time to sit down with calculator, pen, paper, and financial records. This is so simple. Some of you, I bet, could attain financial freedom if you did this simple exercise. When I do pre-marital counseling, I ask the couple to prepare a budget that lists their monthly income as matched against their monthly financial commitments.

Can I mess with you for a minute? I often notice two common major interferences to marital harmony when it comes to finances. First, in most cases, I believe separate checking accounts are a bad idea. If you're married, what is hers is his, and what is his is hers. Separate checking accounts are usually a symptom of deeper marital issues which will certainly keep you at odds with one another.

The second common problem occurs when only the husband or wife takes care of the finances without the two ever sitting down together for discussion. So, if you're married, you both need to sit down together and discuss your financial situation.

How you spend your time is a lot like how you spend your money. If you take time to schedule your week, you will accomplish many more of your objectives than if you sort of let things happen as they happen. When you don't plan your schedule, you allow more interruptions and find yourself operating in emergency mode.

The same with money. If you don't plan a budget, the money just disappears. Maybe you can relate to this verse from Proverbs. "Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle" (Proverbs 23:5). When you plan your budget and commit to live within that budget, it builds your morale, it gives you a better perspective for the future, and it makes you more fiscally responsible.

Look at the rest of Jesus' comments. "Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" Isn't that good, solid, biblically-based common sense? In other words, Jesus simply says, before a level-headed person goes out and makes a purchase or begins a project, he makes sure he has enough money to do it.

Did you know that some of you are two hours away from being on the road to financial freedom? For some, you earn enough money right now to be financially free. You just need to take a couple of hours, along with your spouse if you're married, sit down, and plan your budget. However, let me add—that time will be completely wasted unless you discipline yourself to live within the budget.

Before I close, I want to give you what I believe is a very simple formula for financial freedom. It's called the 10-10-80 principle. Give 10 percent, save 10 percent, and live off the remaining 80 percent. Outside of the first ten percent, I can't prove to you from the Bible that this is the exact mathematical formula God proposes. But I can assure you it is true to the spirit of biblical principles.

Give the first 10 percent. Next week I will teach the tithing principle more extensively. For right now let me use one verse as a basis to teach the 3 P's of giving. "On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made" (1 Corinthians 16:1). I believe the Bible teaches priority giving. "On the first day of every week…." In other words, you should always bring the first ten percent of your income as a tithe offering to God.

The second "P" is percentage giving. Some of you are giving the same dollar amount in the offering plate that you have given for the past fifteen years. Yet your salary has practically doubled during that time. The verse above says that for the purpose of giving, we should set aside an amount in keeping with our income. Some translations say, "in proportion" to income. I firmly believe that you will always struggle with financial stress and bondage until you put your life in complete obedience to what the Bible teaches about percentage and priority giving. Give the first ten percent. "I can't do that." The reason you can't do that is that you haven't been a priority giver, because when you give the first ten percent first, then you know how much you have left to spend on other things.

The third "P" is progressive giving. God uses the ten percent as the bottom threshold. As God blesses you, you should prayerfully consider increasing the percentage you give. If you tithed as a child earning $1 a week allowance, why not increase to 11 or 12 percent now that you're making more than a thousand a week?

The second part of the formula is to save 10 percent. We don't have time to look up some of the verses. But, trust me, saving money is a genuine biblical principle. Read about the ant in the book of Proverbs.

When I counsel couples preparing for marriage, I strongly encourage them to try their best to establish a lifestyle that can make it on one paycheck only. I tell them to take the other spouse's paycheck and invest it. That way, when they decide to start a family, they already are living off one paycheck and they can more easily make the decision for the mom to stay at home and focus on raising their children.

If your company provides matching funds for retirement, take advantage of that benefit to the maximum. That's like free money. In years to come you will be glad you did.

Saving money is extremely difficult to do. But it's so important. It requires tremendous discipline. If you crunch your numbers and determine there is no way you can save money, you might need to seriously consider making some major adjustments in your lifestyle. Give the first ten percent. Save the next ten percent. And live off the rest. Very simple math. But I know, very difficult to adhere to—that is, until you make it a hard fast habit.

Before I close, I want to tell you about a specific way you can get help in planning your budget. Preaching these messages may motivate you to see the need to give and save and get out of debt. But many of you may need some counsel and hands-on help to get your financial situation better organized. With that in mind, we are planning a weekend financial planning workshop led by trained professionals to assist you. These folks have a heart for helping families get out of excessive debt so that you can pursue financial freedom. We will announce the date soon. $200. This represents what you bring home when you get paid. What are you going to do with it? Remember, it's God's money. He wants you to be a good steward. He wants you to plan a budget so that you can give, save, and then live off and enjoy the rest.