## We lead a pretty comfortable lifestyle in the U.S., compared to the rest of the world. It’s made many of us so complacent that we rarely question the price before purchasing something. We’ve forgotten how to haggle … a common practice in other countries.


Some may be reluctant to try negotiating for a lower price because they don’t know how to do it. Others might think that it’s dishonest or unbiblical to talk someone down in price, but it’s actually good stewardship, making the most of the resources God has entrusted to us.

The Bible has many examples of God’s people negotiating with others. The spies coming to terms with Rahab in Joshua 2 is just one of them … *“So the men said to her, ‘Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.’"* 

Negotiating is not at all like trying to dodge a debt or evade paying taxes, which, of course, is dishonest and unbiblical. As long as the seller has the freedom to say no, there’s nothing wrong with trying to get a better deal.

## So where do you start? The first thing is to determine where you can negotiate and where you *can’t*. There’s no sense wasting your time if you know that the offered price is firm.

If you’re willing to negotiate you can often get a better price on your cell phone plan, your cable package, your credit card interest rate and your gym membership. Sometimes all you have to do is ask to get a better deal.

Others that might require more work include your rent and car insurance. You may have to give up some things to get a better price. In the case of insurance, be sure that you maintain adequate coverage.

If you decide to negotiate for lower rent, start by doing your homework. Use [Zillow](http://zillow.com) or [Craigslist](http://craigslist.com) to find out what others are paying for comparable units in your area. Make a list of several with lower rents that you can cite in your negotiation.

Then be ready to offer something in return for a lower price. Maybe you can pay a few months in advance or you’d be willing to sign a longer lease. You might offer to increase the termination notice from 30 to 60 or even 90 days. Those are things landlords appreciate.

You can also offer concessions that won’t cost you anything. For example, if you don’t own a car, offer your parking space. You could promise not to smoke in the unit or keep a pet if they’re allowed. That could save the landlord money.

## The secret to successful negotiating is working toward both parties getting something out of it. You want to make it a “win-win.”

You can also negotiate for a higher salary. A lot of folks are shy about asking for a raise, but right now you’ve got tremendous leverage. Employers are still desperate to attract and retain good workers, so the market’s in your favor.

Start by making a list of problems you’ve solved for the company. Maybe you’ve decreased the accounts receivable balance or your ideas and suggestions eliminated certain expenses. That’s a great start.

Then make a separate list of problems you will solve going forward. Finally, determine your asking salary. You can visit [Salary.com](http://salary.com) or [PayScale.com](http://payscale.com) to get an idea of what others are paid for similar work in your area. Now you’re ready to negotiate.

Make an appointment with your boss to talk about your salary. During that discussion, show your lists of problems solved and problems you’ll address. The worst that can happen is the boss says no. If that happens, hang on to the lists you made. They’ll come in handy for your next job interview if you decide to move on.

If you’re buying a big ticket item, simply ask, “Is that the best you can do?” In some cases, the salesperson will bend over backwards to give you a better price or throw in something to sweeten the deal.

Asking for a better price never hurts. You just might get it.

You can also __[listen](https://www.moneywise.org/search?q=Talking%20Down%20the%20Price&videos=true&articles=true&podcasts=true&posts=true&groups=true&events=true&support=true)__ to the related podcast on this topic.

Biblical Wisdom For Your Financial Journey

MoneyWise

Articles

Asking for a better price never hurts. Here's how to increase your chances of getting it.

Talking Down the Price

Parenting is one of the most demanding and most rewarding endeavors a person can engage in. Trying to influence, shape, and mold another human being to grow up and be a good, productive, and responsible person is difficult. One day you’re the hero, and the next, you’re the villain because kids want to do their own thing, just like the rest of us. __When it comes to teaching kids about money, it’s essential to know when, what, and how to do it because so many major life decisions hinge on it.__

# When do you start teaching kids about money?

Much of the way we think, feel, and believe is shaped in the early years of our childhood. It is the time when our brains form neuro pathways and fully develop. During the first seven years, children are very impressionable as they try to learn and make sense of the world. __An excellent time to begin teaching kids about money is as soon as they become aware of money, which will most like occur between the ages of three and five.__

When your kids begin to ask for things they want, like a toy, a dress, or a coloring book, it’s time to teach them the value of money. I remember talking with our two daughters when they were 5 and 7 years old. My wife, Natalie, and I decided to begin giving them an allowance to teach them about money and encourage completing basic chores to keep our home more organized and clean.

We told them that daddy worked, and he earned a certain amount of money by working. Mommy’s work consisted of taking care of our home and providing for the daily needs of our family, which also included taking care of them. When daddy got paid, the money belonged to the whole family, and since it took everyone’s efforts to keep things running well in our home, we thought it fitting to pay them for doing their part. This system taught them the reward of work as well as the consequence of failing to do their work.

Although every child is different, and some may be more or less curious about money, you must begin asking them questions and answering their questions about money. __Children love to learn at this age, and if you make it fun and easy to grasp the concepts of money, they will show interest and begin learning about it.__

If your child is already past this age group, don’t worry. It’s never too late to begin teaching your kids about money. Depending on their age, you may have to offer more teaching and instruction that provides both the __philosophy of money__ (values and beliefs) and the __practical ways of managing it__ (planning and budgeting).

*For help on finding the best way to educate your child on money, make sure to check out the resources linked at the bottom of the page to assist you, no matter the age of your child.*

# What to Teach Your Kids About Money

The most important part we should teach our kids about money is what it is and what it means. Like so many other topics we teach our children, money is extensively portrayed and taught worldwide. __The world’s perspective on money is often tainted depending on who is teaching it.__ Much, if not most, of the education on finances comes from financial institutions and media outlets that have a financial motivation to cover this topic.

__The best source for financial education is the Bible. God’s word is full of wisdom and instructions about wealth, riches, and money.__ Financial principles like earning, saving, debt, investing, borrowing, co-signing, and many others are clearly defined in the word of God. Teaching our children what God has to say about one of the most important resources they will manage in life is essential because money will impact many of the choices they will make. __Having a proper perspective on it will help them avoid the trappings of money and wealth.__

Equally important is teaching kids how to practically manage money because they will make many mistakes and bad decisions without it. For younger kids, the 3-jar system of money management works great. This is made up of 3 jars labeled, Give, Save, and Spend. The first 10% goes into the Give jar, the next 10% to the Save jar, and the rest 80% goes toward Spending. We used this system until our daughters were 16 years old, and it worked.

Every payday after receiving their allowance, they split the money between these three jars. As they entered their teen years, we encouraged them to save for their first car by putting a bigger percentage of their allowance and any extra money they earned, in the Save jar, while cutting back on Spending. Then, when they started their first job, and the allowance stopped, we helped them create a basic written budget to plan their expenses and learn to keep up with their financial obligations.

Managing money isn’t the tricky part. After all, it’s just basic math; anyone can do it. __The more complicated part of managing money is establishing the correct beliefs and having the right convictions about money.__

# How to Teach Your Kids About Money

__The most effective way to teach your kids about money is to be a good role model yourself.__ “More is caught than taught,” which means that whatever you teach your kids to do will not be as powerful or as convincing as to how you manage money yourself. Being a good role model doesn’t mean you won’t make any financial mistakes. It means that when you do, you’ll be honest about it with your kids and help them see the consequences of bad financial decisions so they’ll avoid them.

![](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b28b3e945776e86f5212567/bdafb7d0-0550-4cf2-a25f-92f1d3b0ca7f/deut6.6.png?format=1500w)

Teaching your kids about money is no different than teaching them about any other important topic. The Bible tells us how to teach God’s commandments, principles, and statutes. *“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”* (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

__Teaching kids about money is something we must do intentionally and consistently.__ It’s not an occasional lesson but rather something we teach and instill in them while we talk, listen, share our ambitions for their future, and do all kinds of things together. Teaching them about money should be done in the context of everyday life and every season of life because money, its value, and meaning in life, when properly understood, will equip them for a meaningful and fruitful life.

# Resources

[Raising Financially Freed-Up Kids](https://goodsensemovement.org/product/raising-financially-freed-up-kids-workbook-videos/) - Good Sense Movement
[Give, Save & Spend Teen Video Series](https://compass1.org/product/give-save-and-spend-teen-video-series-student-ebook/) - Compass
[Foundations in Personal Finance](https://www.ramseysolutions.com/store/digital-products?snid=courses.see-all-courses) - Ramsey
[High School & College Courses](https://ronblueinstitute.com/) - Ron Blue Institute

We teach church leaders the biblical perspective on finances.

Christian Stewardship Network

Blog

Trying to shape and mold another human being to grow up and be a productive and responsible person is difficult.

When, What, and How to Teach Your Kids about Money

Taylor Standridge

There are a variety of great reasons why Christians should address the topic of money. Christians should bring it up is because God talks about money. Consider these statistics on Bible verses about money:

- 16 out of 38 of Jesus’ parables deal with money and possessions.
- Nearly 25% of Jesus’ words in the New Testament deal with biblical stewardship.
- 1 out of 10 verses in the Gospels deal with money.

There are more than 2,000 scriptures on tithing, money, and possessions in the Bible, which is twice as many as faith and prayer combined.

Bible verses about money are frequently used because there’s a direct correlation between the way we handle our money and our faith. When it comes to money, we will either worship wealth or worship with our wealth. That's why I decided to highlight 3 different saving principles that you find in God's word.

__1. Build An Emergency Fund__

*"Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine." - Genesis 41:34-36*

In this passage from Genesis, Joseph interprets a dream the Pharaoh has had about seven fat cows grazing by a river that get swallowed up by seven skinny cows. Joseph concludes that the seven fat cows in the dream represent seven years of prosperity for Egypt, which will be followed by seven years of famine. To plan ahead for this disaster, Joseph advises the Pharaoh to store up grain during the seven good years and use that stored grain to get the country through the seven hard years to follow.

In simple terms, this is an ancient form of an emergency fund! During the time that they had grain, they stored it up for an upcoming emergency which would ultimately prevent a ton of people from going hungry during this long 7 year period. In present day society, a good emergency fund is between 3-6 months of your expenses. Depending on the reliability of your job, you may want to lean on one spectrum of the 3-6 month more than the other so make sure you consider your own unique situation.

__2. Diversify Your Investments__

*"Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land." - Ecclesiastes 11:2*

This verse from the book of Ecclesiastes is a short, clear explanation of why it makes sense to diversify your investments. Nearly any type of investment can fall victim to risk at some point, whether it’s a plague of locusts that wipes out a grain crop, or a market crash that reduces the value of stocks or real estate. Because of this, it makes complete sense to put money into many different types of investments so that a single disaster can’t cost you everything you have.

If you were a merchant living in Biblical times hoping to make money by trading cloth or spices with neighboring countries, it wouldn’t be wise to load all your cargo onto a single ship. If that one ship sank, you’d lose everything you had in one blow. That would be devastating! However, if you split up your cargo to be shared among seven or eight ships, all headed along different routes, the chances that all of them would sink would be very low. Even if you lost one or two ships, you could still hope to earn enough from the others to make a profit.

It’s a basic principle of investing that the more you diversify, the more you reduce your risk. Simply put, don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

__3. Leave An Inheritance__

*"A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous." - Proverbs 13:22*

Of course, this verse doesn't highlight leaving an inheritance to our children, but our children's children. This will require some generational thinking beyond our own life because when we think about what we want now as opposed to what we desire later, we begin to see how temporary the satisfaction that this world provides. In comparison to generational fulfillment and a legacy of purpose, there is nothing like it! The mindset we should have with our money is how can we honor God with biblical generosity and how to keep that generosity going through our own family line.

I do want to clarify that an inheritance isn't just referring to monetary gifts or financial assets as a good inheritance also includes godly character qualities like: faith, integrity, selflessness, trustworthiness, and sacrificial love. When you are able to leave a financial inheritance as well as a legacy of wisdom and faith, you will ensure that your next generation not only will honor God with their life, but also with God's blessings that He gives them.

It's crucial that no matter where we are at in this life, that we always keep a heavenly perspective and generational view of our money. What decision can you make today that will impact the finances of your children's children?

You were meant for more. Your money was meant for more. You and your money are meant for an exciting, adventurous, and satisfying purpose. You were designed to live and give generously. And deep inside you know this and want this.

Art Rainer

Savings

There are a variety of great reasons why Christians should address the topic of money.

3 Money Saving Principles In the Bible

Before making the biggest financial decision of your life, it’s a good idea to get all the facts. What’s that decision? For most people it’ll be whether to buy a house. Today on MoneyWise, we’ll discuss the facts you need to know to make the right decision.
<ul><li>After the housing crash of 2008, when we saw home values plummet and stay low for several years, many experts advised people to not look at their home as an investment, but simply as a place to live.</li><li>That perhaps gave comfort to some, but it certainly didn’t help anyone who needed to sell their home, whether due to a job transfer or the inability to make the payments. They were stuck.</li><li>So while it’s easy to say that a home isn’t an investment, it sure has a lot of the same characteristics. You’re putting money into it … like an investment. And in the case of a home purchase, a LOT of money.</li><li>Also, like an investment, you never want to see the market value of your home decline, because if you have to sell, you’ll be taking a loss.</li><li>TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY</li><li>Of course, the housing market today is red hot, even though it’s beginning to show signs of moderation. “Would be” home buyers are still faced with a tough decision: to buy or not to buy and just keep renting.</li><li>The Wall Street Journal did an analysis of the current market to answer that question, and the most obvious finding was that anyone buying a home today will have to wait a good deal longer for the investment to pay off.</li><li>That means buying a home today is not just more expensive, it’s also more dangerous because the time needed to “break even” is significantly extended.</li><li>To determine the length of time for breaking even, the analysis compared the cost of buying a home to the cost of renting a similar home.</li><li>Both of those numbers have shot up since the pandemic hit. Rents across the country have risen sharply, but the price of homes has gone up even more.</li><li>The cost of renting a single-family home went up over 13% in February compared to last year, but home prices increased 20% in March over a year ago.</li><li>So, in the Wall Street Journal analysis, the break even point is where the cost of owning a home matched the cost of renting the home over the same period. It found that in Austin, Texas, an extremely hot market, you’d need to stay in the home 5.6 years before reaching “break even.”</li><li>That’s assuming a 10% down payment with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 5%. That’s a huge jump over the 3.7 years it took before the pandemic. And again, those break even times are based on a comparison to the cost of renting a similar home in the same market.</li><li>Of course, the results vary by market. In Miami, the cost of renting has outstripped the rise in home prices, so the time needed to break even actually decreased a bit to 2.3 years.</li><li>Well, the upshot of all this is that if you buy a home now and have to sell, you’ll be in for a big loss.</li><li>Let’s go back to that home in Austin, Texas with the 5.6-year span of time needed to break even. The analysis showed that if you sell the property after 3 years, you’ll lose $30,000 over what you’d have paid to rent over the same period.</li><li>Why is that the case? Because of all the added costs of home ownership … like closing costs, private mortgage insurance, property taxes and maintenance. Those expenses would be greater than the estimated appreciation on the home’s value.</li><li>Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy a home in today’s market. But you should know what you’re up against. Two things will help make sure you don’t lose money.</li><li>First, don’t buy unless you have 20% of the home value saved up for a down payment. That eliminates private mortgage insurance. Second, don’t buy unless you are reasonably sure you’ll be in the home 5 years from now.</li><li>Those two factors should give you enough equity to at least break even if you have to sell.</li></ul>On this program, Rob also answers listener questions: 
<ul><li>How can you set up a special needs trust</li><li>How do you determine whether you’re taking unnecessary risk in your investment portfolio?</li><li>What should you do about a joint credit card account when your spouse passes away?</li><li>What do you do if you find a credit card account on your credit report that you don’t recognize?</li></ul>RESOURCES MENTIONED: 
<ul><li><a href="https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action">Annualcreditreport.com</a></li></ul>Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000 or email them to <a href="mailto:questions@moneywise.org">Questions@MoneyWise.org</a>. Also, visit our website at <a href="http://moneywise.org/">MoneyWise.org</a> where you can connect with a MoneyWise Coach, join the MoneyWise Community, and even download the free MoneyWise app.

MoneyWise is a daily radio ministry of MoneyWise Media. Hosted by Rob West and Steve Moore, the program offers a practical, biblical and good-natured approach to managing your time, talents and resources.

MoneyWise with Rob West

Before making the biggest financial decision of your life, it’s a good idea to get all the facts - for most people it’ll be whether to buy a house. The more information you have, the more likely you’ll make the right decision.

To Buy Or Not To Buy (a House)

__Mart Green:__ In 1998 I had this impression of the head and the heart. Something I felt like the Lord put on me that was going to happen in the future. It was going to be a project so big that no ministry could do it by themself.



__Bobby Gruenewald:__ The question that I was asking was, "Could we be at a moment in history where if we could just leverage the technology that we have available today that it could transform how this generation engages with the Bible?"

### An Anointed Businessman

__Mart:__ The generosity story for me began with my grandmother, Marie Green, my father’s mother. Couple of the stories that just really impacted me as a young person growing up was that she would actually pay tithes even on the gifts that she received. And so if somebody gave her a coat, or a gift of food or whatever, she would figure out how much it was worth and pay tithes on that.



Grandma and Grandpa were both preachers. They wanted six preachers, and they got five. And so I saw my dad struggle with that. Missionary was the very highest thing you could be. And then a pastor. And then a business guy came way, way down here. And so he kind of felt second-class in his family for the longest time. And then he was at a church meeting, and he really felt God moved upon him to give a certain gift amount. And it was $30,000. And he knew he didn’t come up with the amount because he didn’t have $30,000. And so he went forward to the guy and says, “Look I feel like the Lord has told me. So I’m going to send you four checks. $7,500…September, October, November, December. Don’t cash ‘em till I call you! But I tell you what, if I do have it, it’s yours. And so this is my way at making a faith gift.”



And that was out of town. And on a plane flying back God really convicted by dad, “You’re not second class. I made you as a businessman. You’re anointed for what you do. And giving is one of your gifts.” And so my dad has never looked backed. Has never felt second-class. He’ll tell you he is an anointed merchant.

### Family Legacy

And then in 1997 we decided to come together as a family. And I always like to get things together to real simple things, real simple terms. And so what is the one word our family is going to be known for fifty years from now. I challenged myself. What would it be fifty years from now that people say, “Oh ya! The Greens were known for…” And I put it in a frame, because we’re framers and we’ve been gluing frames since I was nine years old. And in the biggest frame I had the word “Bible.” And as I look back even to the first gifts we’ve gave I’ve always felt like God’s Word was one of two things that’s going to last forever. God’s word lasts forever and the souls of men last forever. What greater thing to give to than making sure God’s Word is in people’s hearts? And so we’ve done that.

### Tithing Our Profits

When I was at school my dad called me when I was nineteen to talk about Christian retail. And boy, that sounded exciting. Now I love learning. I’ve been a lifelong leaner and I did well in school and I loved that. But when he called I really thought about that and I just felt like, “Wow what a chance. What an opportunity.” My dad was going to help me sign on the dotted line. He didn’t have enough money. He only had about five stores at that time. He was still trying to make a go at it at Hobby Lobby. And so…but at nineteen you don’t think through all of those things. I didn’t have a business plan or anything. It was just I called my dad and said, “Dad what do you think about that Christian retail? You’re really going to do it someday?” And he says, “Well, you wanna do it? If you come home I’ll help you get a loan.” And so I prayed about that. And I thought I guess I go back home and make some money again and if I don’t do well I’ll have some money to go back to school.



So I quit school, came home, and started Mardel in 1981 and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 34 years of my life. And we did do very well the first year and we were able to make a little bit of money. And so I really want to say,” Where does Mardel tithe its profits?” And so you know I thought, “We sell Bibles. Wouldn’t it be neat to help people get their Bibles?”



And I just found out about Wycliffe Bible translators. Had no idea there were 6,000 languages on planet earth. And that 4,000 of them don’t have adequate scripture. And all of this. And so I said, “What if we help pay for the printing of those Bibles that get translated.” It takes a long time to translate a Bible. So it would be hard for my employees to get excited about a ten, twenty year process. And so we pay for first-edition print Bibles. So that was a thrill for us at Mardel, something that all of our employees are proud of, to say, wow if we do better this year, we are going to help somebody get God’s word in their heart language.

### Guatemala & Gaspar

After doing that for a couple years Wycliffe Bible translators, Dave Witmer, one of the gentlemen that worked there said, “Mart you’ve got to come to one of these dedications. You’ve just got to come. You’re paying for the printing. Why don’t you just come to one?” And I said, “Yeah, that sounds great. I don’t know what a dedication looks like or feels like. So yeah. Let’s go!”



So on February the 7th I was going down to Guatemala, and on that flight they actually gave me a sheet of paper. And it listed Eastern Jaceltec people. There’s 30,000 people that speak Eastern Jaceltec. 8,000 of those can read. 1,000 of those are believers. And 400 believers can read. Well I’m a business guy. So there’s three letters that through my head. And that’s R.O.I., return on investment! What kind of return on investment is this!? And then I looked and I realized the translators that happened to be from my home town, right here in Oklahoma City, were there for 40 years. They went down in 1958. This is 1998. I’m born in ’61. This couple has been down there my entire life translating God’s Word for 30,000 people. Now is that a good return on investment? And I just paid for all those Bibles and only 400 of them can read it. So that’s the spirit I was in when I went to this dedication. Okay?



So I get to the dedication, and it was a big ceremony through town and they all had a parade. There was four of the Eastern Jaceltec people that helped translate the Bible over… some of them for 40 years. Some of them came along 20 years ago. One of those who had been there the entire 40 years was Gaspar. And when Gaspar went forward to get his Bible, because they gave it to him in this ceremony, he did something I’d never seen before. He openly wept. And I could tell in the culture that people didn’t cry. And he’s getting his handkerchief out. He’s wiping his eyes clear. And I’m stunned by this moment watching a man weep over his Bible. Because I have 1200 Bibles in the bookstores that we have. And I’ve helped people find the right one. And they’ve never wept over it.



At that same moment I felt like the Holy Spirit prompted me. “Now Mart, why don’t you go tell Gaspar he’s not a good return on investment.” You know I was embarrassed by the way I felt because I realized that everybody should have God’s word in their heart language.

### The Key

But it was at two o’clock that night, having just seen Gaspar weep over his Bible, gone through all that emotion, there were cats running on the tin roof, and so I couldn’t sleep. Four drunks were singing out the window. So I said, “You know what we are not sleeping tonight.” So it was two o’clock in the morning, and I finally got up with my flashlight. I’m reading a book by Kay Arthur and it made a very simple statement. “Being in God’s Word and knowing it for yourself is the key.” “Being in God’s Word and knowing it for yourself is the key.”



I’m a fifth generation Christian on my mom’s, third on my dad’s side. Don’t miss church when the doors open. I owned maybe fifteen or twenty Christian bookstores at that time. I just paid for that Bible that Gaspar wept over. I have over forty Bibles in my home. And yet I don’t read God’s word on any consistent basis.



And so I got convicted by the Lord and I think the Lord had three letters on his mind. “What kind of R.O.I. are you? What kind of return on investment is Mart Green?” Cause I realized I had every advantage in the world and yet I didn’t read God’s Word on any kind of a consistent basis. So February the eighth at two o’clock in the morning I made a vow to the Lord: I’m going to get up first thing and read God’s Word for the rest of my life.

### An Impression From God

In 1998 I had this impression of the head and the heart. Something I felt like the Lord put on me that was going to happen in the future. That doesn’t happen to me very often. But I just felt like this is going to happen someday. It was going to be a project so big that no ministry partner could do it by themselves. They would have to come together with other ministries. It would be so big no resource partner could do by themselves. They would have to come together. It would be so big both of those would have to come together and strategize if they were going to in fact accomplish this huge goal. I had no idea what it would be, but I just put it on my heart, wrote it in my journals, and just said, “Lord, we’ll just see what happens.”



It was in 2007 that I had a friend of mine call from Florida, and says “You need to meet a guy right there in Oklahoma City. This guys name was Bobby Gruenewald. He was at a church called Life Church, which was a newer church in our town, but was growing so I had heard of it.



I meet Bobby and man, I fell in love in with Bobby the first time I met him. Just one of those people that you meet the first time and your hearts resonate. And what I saw in Bobby was a generous person, with humility, who had integrity. And that’s somebody I can partner with.

### Could We Transform A Generation?

__Bobby:__ So it was October of 2006 and I’m in a long TSA security line at the O’Hare Airport in Chicago. The question that I was asking was, “Could we be at a moment in history where if we could just leverage the technology that we have available today that it could transform how this generation engages with the Bible?” So we built the website and launched it in September of 2007.



__Mart:__ And the idea was you would take a poem, or you would read a verse, and you would tie it to Scripture so people could like it. Or they could have video, audio, all kinds of different things tagged to a verse. And you could do it on a computer.



__Bobby:__ The results of it were really not what we had hoped for. Some people used it. We had some traffic. We had some people that came to it, some people that liked it. But really nothing that seemed like it was going to transform how a generation engages with Scripture. And right at that time as we were beginning to shut this down, Apple announced that they were making it possible to develop an App for the iPhone. And we thought, “What if we could build a Bible App that would be among the very first group of Apps that were available in the App Store?” Perhaps people that weren’t even interested in reading the Bible might see it and think, “Oh that’s a free App and maybe I’ll download it and put it on my phone. And maybe I’ll read it.”



__Mart:__ Of course I have a BlackBerry at that time, right? And so I said, “Bobby, you can’t get people to read the Bible on the big screen. How are you going to get them to read it on three lines?” Cause my vision was a BlackBerry where you only get about three lines of the Bible. But I said, “We already got the rights. So whatever!” He wanted to do it. He’s an innovative guy. And so sure.

### Among The First 200 Apps

__Bobby:__ Apple launched the App Store on a Thursday, and that Thursday our app was among the first 200 apps that were available on the App Store.



__Mart:__ I think we had talked about, what if they had downloaded about 60,000 Bibles that first six months. That was July-December. That’s a lot of Bibles to be downloaded. So sure enough they got it done. Phone comes out on Friday. Monday Bobby calls me. “Mart, you ain’t gonna believe this. We downloaded 83,000 Bibles this weekend!”



__Bobby:__ We were blown away. We had absolutely no idea that this was possible.



__Mart:__ I thought, “Oh my goodness!”



__Bobby:__ And even more importantly than the number of people that installed it between Thursday and Sunday was the fact that we could see that people were using it. And they were opening it. And it was something that was connecting. We were using it on our iPhones. And it became apparent this it was actually working. That God was doing something amazing. And it was actually changing how people are engaging with the Bible.



We believe that this generation has the potential to become the most Bible-engaged generation in history. Something that was unthinkable just seven, eight, nine years ago! We think we will be able to see that happen in our lifetime.



And so what was a part-time project on Friday became a full-time project for that 19 year-old on Monday when he came into work because we had all sorts of ideas on how to improve the app. We had more languages and versions. Lots of things that we wanted to be able to accomplish because we could clearly see that God was up to something.

### A Digital Bible Library

__Mart:__ And so when I hung up the phone I thought, “Oh no! He’s going to want Portuguese, he’s going to want Spanish, he’s going to want Chinese! He’s going to want all these languages of the world!” And we had to get the rights for English and it took us a year! So underneath my hat I just knew that was coming so I started thinking, “Man, how are we going to do this? How is this going to work?”



__Bobby:__ When we started YouVersion or were planning to build it we were completely ignorant. So ignorant that I had no idea that the Bible was actually owned by people. Something that today is somewhat obvious. There’s people that do these translations and own the rights to them. But we ran quickly into a brick wall of saying that we can’t actually launch this without getting the rights from the publishers that own the rights to these different translations of the Bible.



__Mart:__ So I started thinking and trying to figure out a way how to help Bobby. And so Bobby got on airplanes and he flew around the world trying to get rights and that was a struggle. And so finally I said, “Bobby, let me help you.” I will try and see if we can go together. I have a relationship. I’ll see if we can get all these guys in a room and let’s try to build a Digital Bible Library. I realized that what God had put on my heart in 1998 was to put together a Digital Bible Library that could centralize, digitize, and standardized text, which is what Bobby needed. But I had one more word I needed to put in this library. And that was to finalize. If we are going to build a library to hold all 6,000 languages it sure seems like we ought to get them in there.

We are going to eradicate Bible poverty. Which means we are going to finalize and make sure that every heart language is finished so that this Digital Bible Library that we built is not empty or have a bunch of empty shelves. Every shelf will be full with every language on planet earth. I have hope that all 7 billion people will all have access to God’s Word in my lifetime.

### A True Gospel Patron

__Bobby:__ Mart has been a true partner in this work. A significant partner. I mean, he’s a Gospel Patron.



What’s one of the most incredible things about Mart is not just what he has given and his family has given financially to be a partner, and not even just the time sometimes that he’s invested which is really incredible. I mean he would go anywhere and do anything to sort of help support it.



But there’s many times when, you know when you are discouraged, or when you are not sure how you’re going to move forward that Mart just has this ability to let you know that he believes in you. Sometimes it’s that direct. He’ll send a text message, and he’ll say something maybe a suggestion or idea, but at the end of it, he would say, “I believe in you.” And that simple phrase, as a leader, and someone that feels the weight of what we carry, sometimes just knowing that you have someone that supports you in that way, that is behind you in that way, that believes in you, that...that’s incredible!



__Mart:__ What’s been really fun for me is to be able to be a Gospel Patron. You know I have been a donor before and that’s money. But to be a Gospel Patron to me says, “I’m going to give you my resource.” Which is not just money. I have time. I have talent. I have trust. Sometimes I will use my trust to help you.



But I think that’s what a Gospel Patron is, kind of holistically, it’s all those kind of things. I can’t do that with all the ministries we are involved with, but there’s a few ministries that I am really passionate about that I say, “You know what I’m in for more than just the money and the donations. I’m going to be this patron with you. I’m going to come alongside you. I’m going to fight battles with you. We will go to hell together and back, but we are going to do it. I’m going to lock arms with you and we are going to do it.” And that’s what a Gospel Patron is to me.

Behind every great movement of God are generous leaders who partner with those who proclaim the gospel. We call them Gospel Patrons.

Gospel Patrons

Films

This outreach idea was going to be a project so big that no ministry could do it by themselves.

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Join a community of believers striving to be good and faithful stewards of the resources entrusted to them.

Integrate your faith with your finances

Learn

Manage

Connect

Grow in wisdom & knowledge

When, What, and How to Teach Your Kids about Money

3 Money Saving Principles In the Bible

This Book is Alive

To Buy Or Not To Buy (a House)

MONEYWISE APP

Steward your finances wisely

MONEYWISE COMMUNITY

Better together

Become a Patron

Grateful for our Partners

So much more than a budgeting app

Create an account

Important Links

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Biblical Wisdom for
Your Financial