SNS 176: Saturday Night Special - Interview with Returning Guest Bob Lotich Author of Simple Money Rich Life

[00:00:00] Bob Lotich: Welcome to tonight's

[00:00:01] Scott Maderer: Saturday Night special episode 176.

[00:00:05] Bob Lotich: I'm Bob Lat. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to make your money simple and your life rich is key.

[00:00:19] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott.

[00:00:33] The power that I believe is when you walk in both of them, when you actually use the wisdom that is laid out in the Bible of how to manage your money while believing and praying and expecting God to do them where echos in your finances and you combine those two things. It's it's putting faith to your action or action to your faith and there's something powerful about that.

[00:00:53] And

[00:00:55] Scott Maderer: welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. [00:01:00] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your. And your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:27] And tonight's Saturday Night special I interview Bob Latik. Bob shares with you his journey to writing his new book, simple Money Rich Life. Bob also shares with you the approach he shares that we need to take with our finances. And Bob shares how, if you're struggling or if you're doing okay, these approaches can help you go further in your money by grounding your approach.

[00:01:49] One area that a lot of folks need some help with is around the area of productivity. Getting not just more things done, but [00:02:00] actually getting the right things done can be really tough. I've got a course called Productivity for Your Passion that's designed to help you do this and then to hold you accountable and walk with you so that you can tailor productivity, not just to be getting more done, but actually getting the right things done.

[00:02:23] What's more, we take the approach of looking at your personality and how you actually look at things in the world and tailor the productivity system to your person. Because the truth is, a lot of the systems that are out there are written really well for somebody with a particular personality type. But if you have a different approach to things, they just don't work.

[00:02:45] But there's tools and techniques and approaches that you can take that will work for anyone, and we help you do that and productivity for your passion. Check it out over@inspiredstewardship.com slash launch. [00:03:00] For the last 14 years, award-winning blogger and podcaster Bob Latte. C E P F has been a trusted voice for Christians wanting to find financial freedom the way God intended.

[00:03:11] He has shared timeless wisdom and practical strategies with more than 50 million readers, listeners, and students through his seed time.com blog. Online courses and Seed Time money podcast. He's appeared in media outlets including USA Today time, forbes.com, yahoo Finance entrepreneur bankrate.com and the Care Newh Leadership podcast.

[00:03:34] Bob lives in Franklin, Tennessee with his wife, Linda, and their three children. Welcome to the show, Bob.

[00:03:40] Bob Lotich: Thank you Scott. It is an honor to be here. Excited to chat.

[00:03:43] Scott Maderer: Absolutely. I look forward to it. So you were on the show once before, back in April of 2019. Folks can go back and listen to that.

[00:03:52] So it's been a it's been a while. . Yeah. And a few things I'm sure have changed not the least of which is your book is coming [00:04:00] out. Simple Money Rich. But catch us up a little bit on your journey over the last few years, and what led you to decide that you wanted to put this book out into the world.

[00:04:10] Bob Lotich: Yeah. I'm guessing, I'm trying to remember. So yeah, I would've been starting to think about the book when we were first doing that. But

[00:04:18] Scott Maderer: I think you'd just gotten off of your sabbatical at that point. Not that

[00:04:21] Bob Lotich: was exactly it. So that's a really interesting thing is that I think this whole thing of was birthed out of the sabbatical because.

[00:04:27] I've been doing this stuff, talking to people about money since 2007 and I never really wanted to write a book but it was one of those things I actually talked to a couple publishers over the years who were hinting at it and I'm like, eh, I don't really wanna do it.

[00:04:43] And yeah, on that sabbatical, I took a year long sabbatical. That's where this whole heart thing changed and I think God was just changing the direction of feeling in my heart and just saying, I think this is something I do want you to do now. And in 2019, that's when we began this journey.

[00:04:59] [00:05:00] Moving in that direction of creating this book and writing a proposal and doing all that. But that's pretty much been it. That's pretty much all we've been doing the last few years, . So

[00:05:09] Scott Maderer: I think when we talked then, you had mentioned that the sabbatical was really good for you, but I think it was right, if I remember right, you came on right as you were gearing back up and getting back into the swing of things.

[00:05:21] I think you even mentioned. You weren't really sure yet what direction you wanted to go what you wanted to bring back into your business versus what you wanted to let go of. Do you think that was all part and parcel of being called to write the book at that time?

[00:05:36] Bob Lotich: Yeah, cuz if I look back to before that year long sabbatical, my plans, my direction, trajectory, whatever, like it was very different than post sabbatical.

[00:05:45] It was just, God just did so many things in my heart in recalibrating things, and just small things like I don't, I wasn't had any massive heart issues, but like little things where directionally over a five or 10 year period, like if I was pointing this [00:06:00] way, Ended up being the wrong direction, too far gone.

[00:06:04] And God just made little shifts just to get me on track. And anyway and I do think part of this is this book, and I think it's part of one of the things he's called me to do. And and it was a lot of hard work. But I'm really glad that we have it under our belt now. And it took you basically three years to, to get it out into the world.

[00:06:22] Scott Maderer: What was that experience like of. Birthing a book, so to speak, .

[00:06:27] Bob Lotich: Yeah, then that's the analogy. It's always used cuz it I haven't birthed a child personally, but I watched my wife do it and yeah, and she was very involved in this process and she's yeah, this really does feel like that, and for a lot of different reasons. But yeah, it's like we started working the proposal in 2019 and didn't see it come out until April 26th this year. So it's just an incredibly long process and you just have to just keep going. Keep sticking it out, keep putting one foot in front of the other the whole time.

[00:06:59] And [00:07:00] especially if you're working with a publisher, you have a lot of other voices directing you and guiding you on what's good, what's not. And and just sorting through all that stuff. So in the book let's dive into the book a little bit. You of lay out this four.

[00:07:17] Scott Maderer: Four part approach. That is the formula that you're using in the book? Yeah. And the approach that you're using in the book. Tell us a little bit about the inspiration for this and where that four part approach came from.

[00:07:31] Bob Lotich: Yeah, you'll appreciate this. So it came from John Wesley quote that I read many years ago that just always kinda stuck with me, and it's been a little bit of a guiding kind of principle for my wife, Linda and I, which essentially in, it was a quote summed up, but he's written.

[00:07:50] Pages and pages about this explaining his philosophy. But long story short, he said I work really hard to make as much money as I can. And so he was a a [00:08:00] speaker and traveled all around doing this. And I came to find out, and I dunno if you know this Scott, but he was actually whenever this was early 18 hundreds, late seven, whenever he was doing all this, he was one of the wealthiest people in all of England, which was so fascinating to me that it was a preacher that long ago.

[00:08:16] Or wealthiest. I say that in terms of highest salaries. Because that's the interesting thing which we'll get to. So that was the first part. He said, I work as hard as I can, earn as much as I possibly can. Next part was I save or reduce my expenses as much as I can. I cut out any and all unnecessary spending and waste and I do all of that so that I can give as much as I can as you can.

[00:08:37] You and. And I just love that so much cuz he understood that the natural giftings that God had give, given him could be used for God's glory, could be used to generate income to impact lives just with the work that he was doing from day to day. But then also he could take the proceeds. Of those, and then use those in another way to give God glory and to impact other people's lives.

[00:08:58] And so I just [00:09:00] loved that approach and it just made a lot of sense to me. And so we just adapted that and added one more piece to it, which was to enjoy it all because There's so many people who you and I know, and we've seen people who hate their jobs. They hate what they do for a living. And then on the other hand, like there's so many people, like I was one, my wife was definitely one who we just hated saving money.

[00:09:19] Like we hated having to be strategic with our spending and actually think about our spending. I think that's what it comes down to. And then there's plenty of people who hate giving and they just. Despise giving. And the fact is, I think we can do all three of these with joy. I think we can actually have a whole lot of fun doing each one of them.

[00:09:36] And I think when we do all three of them with joy there's a balance here. There's a synergy that creates something really special. And that's what we're after in the book.

[00:09:47] Scott Maderer: So I want to, I wanna dive. First off, you're right. I love the fact that it comes from the John Wesley quote. Yeah.

[00:09:52] I will tell you, looking at the book, when I looked at the table of contests, that was the first thing that came to mind was I'm like, Hey, this is kinda, this feels very [00:10:00] Wesley and in its approach. No. His other famous kind of three part quote is do all the good You can. All the ways you can, all the times you can basically.

[00:10:07] Yeah. And I personally think the two are, there's a relationship between those in his mind as well. If you read his sermons and his messages, so when you used the term joy there. And I like, Words is one of those things that I think it's interesting what words we choose, and I like to dive in on that.

[00:10:28] You used the word joy instead of happiness. Is there a reason why you chose the word joy? When you're talking about what you

[00:10:35] Bob Lotich: do? Yeah. Yeah, it's just deeper. It's more significant. I at least. My understanding of the two words happiness to me seems much more fleeting, whereas joy feels deeper and longer lasting and more sustainable or something.

[00:10:52] And I think that's more accurate picture of it cuz we have moments of happiness, but we have moments where we're not necessarily happy, but [00:11:00] there's an underlying joy in what we're doing. And so I think it's a more appropriate word.

[00:11:05] Scott Maderer: With the approach. So what what are the the last part you said was enjoyment, but that kind of lays throughout them.

[00:11:12] How do if somebody out there was hearing what you said is yeah, I'm one of those people, I hate the whole budgeting and being strategic part, or I hate the giving part, or I hate that. How do they approach, how do you approach changing that heart from frustration, fear, anger.

[00:11:33] Whatever it is towards enjoyment and

[00:11:35] Bob Lotich: joy. Yeah. Yeah. I think it depends. I think each one of those sections is a little bit different, but in terms of making money, like starting there I think part of this. Understanding A, that we're working unto the Lord, but not under man and unto man.

[00:11:52] And that's an important distinction to make cuz it's like we have a boss who's given us instructions, but we have to understand that the work that we're doing is for the [00:12:00] Lord and not for the boss. And so that's one part of it. But then also I think, For me personally, I spent a lot of years working in a job I was not called to do or not, no, I'm sorry.

[00:12:12] Not the, that's not the right word to say. It. I wasn't gifted to do, let's say it that way. So I actually do think that God called me in there for a reason, but I wasn't gifted at the tasks that I was doing. And as a result, I was working really hard but not getting very far . And. And that's a frustrating feeling.

[00:12:31] And for me, like that was really hard. Every work day I'd get up, I'd drag myself to work because it's I know I'm gonna work really hard cuz I have to, I'm basically treading water. And I have to work really hard, but I'm still not gonna be great at what I'm doing. And that was just really challenging for me.

[00:12:47] And But the breakthrough, the big change in my life came when I started getting my work. The work that I was doing was lined up with my natural giftings that God had put in me and created me to do. And then that's just, [00:13:00] that's a game changer because now you're doing work that you're actually gifted at.

[00:13:03] So it feels like the wind is that you're back, it doesn't even feel like you're working anymore. It's yes, you're spending time, but it's time you enjoy because you're naturally gifted at it. So for me, that was like a big distinction in my life. To like drawing a line of stand when I was doing work that I wasn't naturally gifted at to work that I am naturally gifted at.

[00:13:21] And it's so much more fun. It's so much more enjoyable for fulfilling and everything else.

[00:13:26] Scott Maderer: And I think you're better at it as well. It's working in your strengths instead of working against your weaknesses. Yep. I've said before it's don't ignore your weaknesses.

[00:13:37] It's not pretend like they don't exist, but that's probably not where you wanna spend 90% of your time either, exactly. Cuz you're not gonna enjoy it. That, why do you think this kind of approach works of a simple. Not easy, but simple. Four step approach.

[00:13:55] What's the magic behind having this kind of understanding or this kind of formula?

[00:13:59] Bob Lotich: [00:14:00] What I liked about it for me personally is that part of what Wesley said in that que like the second part of that quoter in his writing, she explained that by following this has helped him prevent the deceitfulness of riches.

[00:14:13] Cause we all know this is a real thing. It's a real temptation. To just get to this position where we're serving mammo and where we believe that money is the thing that's going to provide for us, or protect us or keep us secure or make us happy, or all these different things. And and so it's really important that we have some like we have to guard our hearts, like Proverbs talks about.

[00:14:34] But I think it's also good to put practical kind of things in place to help assist in this defense of things, because at the end of the day, like the deceitfulness of riches is a thing. Applies to all of us. It doesn't matter how much money you're making I've run into people who were not making much money at all, but who were more lustful for money than anyone else who making way more and on the other end so it doesn't matter what your income is it's still a temptation.

[00:14:59] It's still a [00:15:00] challenge. It's still something that Jesus talked about that is relevant for all of us that we have to be. . But in terms of this approach, what I really like about it is particularly that third part of Give All You can it puts you in a position of maximizing your outflow. And by doing so I've just found that one of the best antidotes, if not the best antidote for greed in your heart is to just simply give and to give.

[00:15:30] It's just a fantastic anecdote for it. And so anyway, so with that in mind, I think just this idea of seeking to constantly press yourself in this direction of generosity and stretch yourself in that I think it's a great exercise to do, as a Christian, as a believer I think it's one of the best things that we can do when it comes to managing our finances in a way that's really God honoring

[00:15:55] Scott Maderer: well, and it turns our attention.

[00:15:57] You automatically, it begins to turn [00:16:00] your attention from inward to outward. Just by definition. How can I give as a outward facing question, , yeah. As opposed to how much can I keep or how much can I have that hoarding thing. You and I both have worked with people over the years with financial and like you were saying you, people.

[00:16:21] Yeah, I always laugh because when people come for help and the first questions, one of the first things they'll say is, I make good money. I literally have no idea what that means because I've had people that make $30,000 a year, and I've had people that make $300,000 a year. They both said, I make good money.

[00:16:38] It's whatever it means to them. Relative. Yep. It's very relative. So what are the differences or what is the thing about having goals for your finances, having. Maybe you're wanting to get outta debt, maybe you're wanting to raise your income, whatever it is. Having these sorts of financial goals, strategic ideas of what you should be doing, [00:17:00] versus having that mindset of contentment and security that Yeah, doesn't matter what the goal is, so

[00:17:08] Bob Lotich: to speak.

[00:17:08] Yeah. Yeah. This is a really tricky one for me. I'm not gonna lie. Like I tell a story in the book of. When I was in my career doing this job that I was just not good at, but working really hard and like I was in a really dark place with this because, I had all these dreams that God had given me, like my wife and I, we wanted to give away millions of dollars and I felt really trapped in my career.

[00:17:32] Like I wasn't moving anywhere. It wasn't going anywhere. And just miles from ever being able to give away millions of dollars. And I remember in that season and kind of the darkest point, I reached out to a guy in my church who seemed to be pretty successful. And I just said, Hey man, can we just have coffee?

[00:17:47] You just talk to me, see if you can gimme some advice. And so he agreed. And we went to Cheesecake Factory and sat down, had coffee. And he's like super blunt and like very direct guy. He's what do you want? And [00:18:00] I'm what do you mean? He's what do you want in our life? What do you want,

[00:18:04] And I'm like, I don't know me. And my life's just not good. I just want it to be better. And he's like, all right, we gotta start writing stuff down. So he tells me like, how much money do you want to earn? And they're like, More how I just wanna earn more, like I'm not earning enough. How do I earn more?

[00:18:17] He's Nope, it's gotta be the exact number. You gotta write it down. And so he like just drills me, holds me down to writing down these goals. And this is a five year goal we're set in at this point. And so he's my nose in. And he is you gotta write down a number, you gotta write down a number.

[00:18:31] So I really just to pacify him a little bit and. Get 'em shut up. Like I wrote down $250,000 a year and at the time I was making 33 or $34,000. It was so far beyond impossible in my mind that like it was literally just to get him shut up. I wrote it down and then he went on to, he's what else is important to you?

[00:18:50] What do you want? And I'm like we wanna be able to give a lot. And he's how much do you wanna give in the next five years? And I said $500,000. And he's that doesn't make any sense. If you're making [00:19:00] $250,000 a year and you tied off that, that's only gonna be 25,000 a year or whatever.

[00:19:04] Like just going, he's doing all the maths in, that's not possible. Don't set a goal that isn't possible. And I'm like, listen man, this is my own crazy stupid goal I'm setting. Just let me write down whatever I want, and so I wrote down this $250,000

[00:19:17] Scott Maderer: a year for five years. Assuming you made that instantaneously, which obviously isn't gonna happen but let's assume that you did and you gave away a hundred thousand dollars every year.

[00:19:28] You'd still be living on $150,000, which is a pretty dang good income. I

[00:19:33] Bob Lotich: agree. I agree. He was just assuming that I would

[00:19:36] Scott Maderer: just, you're just tied, just 10%. Yeah.

[00:19:39] Bob Lotich: Anyway, so we were having a little bit of a discussion, but either way, the bottom line was I'm like, I'm just gonna write something down.

[00:19:45] I don't. I'm doing your exercise, buddy, but I don't really care. And so I remember leaving the cheesecake Factor that day cuz I, I honestly did this without the best attitude and just wrote these things down and it felt, honestly, it felt painful to me. It felt [00:20:00] Yeah, it just felt like a kick while I was down.

[00:20:02] This is so far beyond possible. This is just honestly just painful. It's painful to even write this down as a goal knowing that I'm so far away from it and I'm never going to get there. I have no reasonable expectation. No unreasonable expectation to ever imagine that this could ever happen to me.

[00:20:20] And it was just, yeah, it was very painful. But I remember driving home and writing that down. And the really interesting thing that happened over the years is five years later, we hadn't reached that goal. But. Eight years later we did. And so like it didn't happen as fast as I wrote down, but I also, I would thought that would never happen in my life.

[00:20:42] And it was eight years later, we had given halfway a million dollars away by that point. And. Anyway, and looking back, like I, I've just tried to like, think about it. Like what was happening there? Was there actually some act of faith that was activated in that? And I think this was something that God had for us and something that he [00:21:00] wanted us to do.

[00:21:00] So it was a goal lined up with his will. But. For me, like from a mindset, from a faith perspective, like I was so weak. And so I don't know how all these pieces work together. I just know that's my story, and I don't think it's a coincidence. I think there's some pieces tied up in there.

[00:21:18] But yeah I don't know how that kind of connects back with. Contentment cuz it's yeah, I wanna be content with whatever I have. And like right now with our book, like I wanna sell a lot of books, but I was just praying last night, it's like, God I'm taking my hands off.

[00:21:32] Like I, if we don't sell anymore of this book then what's been done? And you do a work in the people's lives who read it. Cuz that's all we're praying for is that everybody who gets this book has their life financially changed. Like I just wanna be okay with whatever God wants to do.

[00:21:45] You know what I mean? It's that if you've touched one, then that was enough. Now that doesn't mean that you don't, I it, yeah. That's one of the things I've talked about on the podcast before and I'll throw it out to you and just let you riff on it and see what your take is that it? So often I hear people [00:22:00] who say contentment and is the opposite of being driven, and I'm like, I don't actually think those are opposites.

[00:22:07] Scott Maderer: Yeah. I think you can have both of those in your heart at the same time. I don't think those are in either or.

[00:22:13] Bob Lotich: Situation. Yeah. I think that someone with a bad definition of driven, like somebody who sees someone who is aggressive and overbearingly driven and so they're saying that is driven.

[00:22:26] I think if we look at a lot of. Heroes in the Bible. I think they were driven. I think it's a different type of driven than maybe whoever's defining what you're saying there. Go back to

[00:22:37] Scott Maderer: John Wesley. He was pretty dead.

[00:22:40] Bob Lotich: Definit. , definitely that dude for sure. A lot of good.

[00:22:43] But I think we have to look at the opposite too, right? Because if I look at the opposite of driven that. To me, that looks like if you go back to the Parable of Talents, that looks like the guy with one talent who didn't do anything with it. And that, that's concerning. You know what I mean?

[00:22:59] Yeah.

[00:22:59] Scott Maderer: [00:23:00] And and use the parable of the talents as the example, the, even the ones that grew the talents, it, it doesn't say that they did anything wrong or dishonest or they were praised. Yeah. They were praised for doing what they did. Yeah, because they did it in a right way is the implication.

[00:23:20] They didn't do it by taking advantage of somebody or cheating somebody or anything like that. Yeah I just, it's one of those, it's I've noodle about that for a long time because people. Have said you can't be content and driven at the same time. And I'm like, I don't. I, yeah, I like you.

[00:23:37] I think I'm with you. I'm not defining that the way you're defining that. Yeah. You mentioned your story of having that moment of sitting down at the Cheesecake Factory and setting some goals and all of that. Yeah. What about that person that's hearing us talk today and is yeah I've got some hopes and some dreams and some things that maybe I vaguely wish would [00:24:00] happen, but my money situation is just too far gone.

[00:24:02] I've got too much debt. I don't make enough money, I don't have the right education, whatever. And there's just no way that my money could turn around. What message would you give them,

[00:24:14] Bob Lotich: man? Yeah. The first thing I would say is I get it. Like I, it was in that season that my wife and I were living off of $45 a week for groceries.

[00:24:23] We'd run out of food or run out of grocery money or food, honestly, by Thursday or something. And there were many Fridays where I would fast for lunch because we didn't have anything. I remember gonna the, or the gas station and lemme see how many dollars I can find around the car and find two or $3 to fill up the tank.

[00:24:42] I remember like things being really tight and and I'm so thankful that like I went through that because we've seen God do so many miracles in our financial life and so many things that he's done. And I, so I'm sitting here in this situation where [00:25:00] it's like I've seen a lot over the years and before I had started seeing some of the miracles, all I knew was the challenge.

[00:25:07] And it's easy when all you've seen is a challenge to think that is all that can be. But you have to continue to keep your eyes on God and stretch yourself. There is no limit to what God can do. Like you are never too far gone. There's no situation that's too far gone. But one of the things that we're encouraging people at the beginning of this book to do is to.

[00:25:28] Partner with God, because I think there's so much of the church that wants to either do one of the two things here. So they either just do the wisdom, the natural wisdom of managing your money. So this is, okay, I'm gonna try to spend less than I earn. I'm gonna try to get outta debt or stay outta debt.

[00:25:44] I'm gonna try to do, and a lot of the stuff is in the Bible wisdom from Proverbs or whatever about managed money. That is good to do but then we also have a good part of the church who is I'm not gonna do any of that stuff, but I'm gonna pray and like when a crisis comes, I'm gonna stand in [00:26:00] faith and I'm gonna see a miracle from God.

[00:26:01] And then we'll see some people who see miracles. And I've seen so much of the church walk in one or two of these camps. But the power that I believe is when you walk in both of them. When you actually use the wisdom that is laid out in the Bible of how to manage your money while believing and praying and expecting God to do the miraculous in your finances, and you combine those two things, it's it's putting faith to your action or action to your faith and there's something powerful about that and.

[00:26:27] When I look back at all of the supernatural things that God has done in our life, as well as if I go through the Bible and look at so many instances of miracles that happened there was a natural component that people had to actually do something take some action, and then God showed up at the miracle.

[00:26:41] So there's something there. Yeah.

[00:26:43] Scott Maderer: There. I do think it's inviting. The action we take isn't saying we're going to solve the problem. Like you said, I love the word partnership that you used. Yeah it is a I'm not, I know I'm not big enough to solve it, but I also know I can't just sit on my but and wait for you to [00:27:00] solve it.

[00:27:00] Let me do something and then we'll figure we'll meet in the middle probably actually not in the middle. God goes a lot further than we do.

[00:27:07] Bob Lotich: Most God always does more. Yeah. I know. That's a beautiful thing. Yeah. So let's flip it on its head. What about the person that maybe is doing very well with their finances?

[00:27:16] Scott Maderer: They're doing that proverb stuff. They're they've got savings, they've got, they're outta debt, they've done the well. How do you think this approach in this book can help them?

[00:27:27] Bob Lotich: Yeah, I yeah, so there've been a fair number of people who I happen to know personally who are in situations like that, who have gotten the book and read it and reached out, which has been really fun.

[00:27:39] And and the common thing that I'm hearing from them is basically this, that they didn't have an internal mindset because the world's, and I think so much of the world's mindset of what financial success has seeped into the church. And I think this is a really scary, because the world tells us that financial success is having a million in the [00:28:00] bank or whatever, retiring at 40, or having a yacht, whatever the thing might be.

[00:28:04] There's not necessarily anything wrong with those things, but if that is financial success as a Christian, you're missing something. We have to see things eternally. We have to see the big picture. And so for us, I think the best way to measure our financial success isn't by what we accumulate, but by what we give.

[00:28:20] Because what we give is making an eternal impact in other people's lives. Not to mention multiple spots in the Bible hint to or indicate that we're storing up treasures in heaven. When we give, which is pretty crazy to think about, that we're doing something now in this short little sliver of time that we're on earth that will affect us for eternity.

[00:28:44] So combining those ideas a little bit. I think if you're someone who is doing real well financially and you're just tithing and you feel like you've reached the finish line of Christian giving, which is what I have felt like by the way, that's where I was when God [00:29:00] called me to something a bit higher, I would challenge you to to think eternally and not just think about the here and now, and not just be content with the I'll give God 10%, but the 90 is mine.

[00:29:11] It's all. It's all his and he has stuff that he wants to do through you. And so understanding that money that's entrusted you is a tool and it's not just a goal is a really important

[00:29:23] Scott Maderer: thing. Yeah. I think sometimes that's actually a really good dichotomy to point out.

[00:29:28] It's understanding that money along with everything else is just a tool that we can use. To do what God has put us on this planet to do. Yep. Not the end re you know, it's not the result, it's not the thing we're after.

[00:29:43] Bob Lotich: Yep. So true. Yeah. Cuz that's what the whole world like wants us to believe.

[00:29:47] That's what we're hearing. Good all around us. I mean from, this is the thing, like so many of us didn't get any kind of financial education and I see this all the time, Scott, like I see people who. This is, I [00:30:00] guess this is how I wanna say it. If you don't have any traditional financial education or if your parents didn't talk to you about money we all develop beliefs about money.

[00:30:07] We all develop habits about money from somewhere, so we're learning it from somewhere. So it's going to be, from what we're watching on Netflix or Instagram influencers or credit card companies or something. Some, something is gonna fill that void. And even if they're not specifically trying to teach us about money, like they're shaping the way that we think and the way that we believe about money.

[00:30:28] Yeah, it's just really important that we see it from a biblical worldview, so before I, I ask a few questions that I'd like to ask all of my guests. Is there anything else about the book or this journey that you've been on that you'd like to share?

[00:30:42] I don't know. Feel like we've talked about a lot.

[00:30:43] But yeah, I think just this idea of truly understanding that we are managers of what God has entrusted us with and that. When you see that, when you think through that lens and it's easy to forget cuz I [00:31:00] know for me, I forget this a lot and it's and I don't want to like cuz but it's so easy to like, yeah, I got that.

[00:31:05] I understand that we're stewards but then when it comes to day managing of our money, like to just lose sight of it until we reminded again three months later in a sermon or something. So one of the things that we did, like we stopped tracking what we call our net given and we renamed it for ourselves to assets under management.

[00:31:22] And that was part of the reason we did. Is because our, I'm sorry, our net worth. So we renamed net worth to asset center management because we realized that if we're. Managing this for God. A, it's I don't wanna be labeled by any number, big or small, is being my net worth. And at the same time, it just helps us keep an accurate view of all the possessions that happen to have our name on them or in our account.

[00:31:48] And so that's why we now call that our assets under management. And it's just been a good reminder that we see on a regular basis of, oh, this is what I am managing for God's glory and for his purposes, not [00:32:00] what is in my hands and what my greedy little fingers can get all over and you just answered the next question I was gonna ask, which is that one about stewardship. So I'll ask if there's anything you wanted to add to that. But one of the reasons that I call my, the podcast inspired stewardship and that's of my brand is because I forget that all the time.

[00:32:20] Scott Maderer: Yeah. It is if I just put it really in my face, then maybe I can Yeah. It's like we have to do that. So what how do you. How do you think that concept of stewardship has affected you over your life or over the last few years?

[00:32:35] Bob Lotich: It's made so one of the things I think at the end of the, yeah, sorry.

[00:32:41] I was going back to subtitle, the book cuz we have a class named after this and it says true financial freedom. And so I don't think financial freedom. But the way the world defines it is enough. You know what I mean? You can have all the stuff you can have the yachts and the Lambos and the $10 million in the bank and all that [00:33:00] stuff, and still be completely miserable.

[00:33:01] Uhhuh, you know what? I completely unfulfilled. And so it's clearly that's not the answer. You know what I mean? And everybody's chasing after that, but that's not the answer. But we believe that you can have true financial freedom, and we're putting that adjective on there. As a differentiator because I believe that when we do this God's way, that there's actually a freedom that comes that isn't contingent on how much we have.

[00:33:24] It isn't contingent on what a salary is. It isn't contingent on how much is in the bank or any of that stuff, but we can have peace regardless of where we are, whether we have a lot of debt or no debt. Like it's not tied to that, and there's a freedom that comes from that. That as we've stepped into higher and higher levels of that, it's really fun because we've watched our income fluctuate entrepreneurs, we watched it go up and down like a roller coaster, and for such a long time it would throw me on such a head spin, and I'm finally getting to the point where it's I'm starting. I'm not there, like I'm on my way still, but I'm [00:34:00] starting to get more comfortable just knowing that Philippians four 19 is true, that God is always gonna provide our needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. And as I get closer and closer to that it's just making everything so much more peaceful and enjoyable.

[00:34:16] And that's what I guess stewardship is meant to me in all this. So well and apparently this is gonna be the John Wesley quote interview because you were my let's of his other. Thing, which is on towards perfection. Which is I love because it's like he doesn't say you've ever arrived.

[00:34:34] Scott Maderer: The whole point is it's a journey and Christians are called to be perfect. Yeah. We don't ever get there, , yeah. But we should be striving that direction. And I think the same thing comes with our again, you've been working on this for decades. You just said, I'm not really a hundred percent there yet.

[00:34:52] And I think that's important for people to hear.

[00:34:55] Bob Lotich: Yeah. No and I almost think it's better, like in some way because again, [00:35:00] I can't take any credit. I can't post about it. I still have to depend on God for help to depend on him. You know what I mean? , it's such a, it's such an interesting thing that he's set up and we're at our strongest his strength is perfected in our weakness.

[00:35:16] It's by design that we're not perfect, so it's yes, let's continue to try to be more like Jesus every day. But but it's his design that we haven't arrived yet and that's equally humbling, frustrating, and inspiring all at once. . Yeah. Yeah. So here's my favorite question.

[00:35:34] Scott Maderer: Let's say I invented this magic machine and I could pluck you from the chair where you are today and transport you into the future. A hundred to 150. , maybe even 200. And through the power of this machine, you were able to look back on your whole life and see all of the relationships, all of the impacts, all of the ripples that you've left behind in the world.

[00:35:55] What impact do you hope you've left behind? Yeah.

[00:35:58] Bob Lotich: One of my [00:36:00] favorite things is seeing people's faces when they get a gift or when. Something is done for them out of love that is so much bigger than they expect, and it's one of my greatest joys. We share a picture of one of those memories for me in the book and and like what I want when I get to heaven will say that, or two a hundred years out, like I just want a wall.

[00:36:26] This massive wall. Of all those pictures, of all those faces, all those that represent all those moments Where I got to take some of what I was entrusted with and use it to impact someone's life and to see that face and to partner with God in a miracle that he did in their life. That's what I want.

[00:36:44] So yeah, 200 years from now, build that machine. That's what I want,

[00:36:47] Scott Maderer: That's what you wanna see is what you've left behind. I think that's an awesome picture. So as we wrap up 2022 and you're looking forward to 2023, what's coming next for you? What's on the.

[00:36:59] Bob Lotich: [00:37:00] Yeah. So at this point, yeah, we're very much just doing as many podcasts and interviews as we can, trying to get the word out about the book.

[00:37:08] And beyond that, like we, we created a course out, or a six week class out of the book that we're doing. And we're starting to share some of that in some different churches. And so yeah, we're just kinda exploring what that looks like and how do we. Take some of these messages and some of these practical tips and get them into more people's hands in different formats.

[00:37:28] And so that's really what we're working on now.

[00:37:36] Scott Maderer: You can find out more about Bob over@seedtime.com or follow him on Instagram or over on YouTube as seed time as well. Bob, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:37:49] Bob Lotich: No yeah, I mean we're just really excited about the book. Anybody who's interested. We actually did something where we pulled out three of the most important kind of principles [00:38:00] in the book, and we created a three day challenge.

[00:38:02] So you can just go to three day money challenge.com and automatically get three of the most important things out of it. And if you like it, then you check out the rest of the book. And if you don't, it'll still help you immensely. So that's a great way to test drive what's in the book.

[00:38:55] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. [00:39:00] As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this, Please. Please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes.

[00:39:22] Rate all one word iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review, and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your. Your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.