1.
Average credit card debt
per U.S. household is $8400.Source:
Cardweb.com
2. Americans spent more on legalized
gambling ($2500 for every American) than on groceries. Source:
Focus on the Family article on the US abstract reports
3.
Requests for emergency shelter
assistance grew an average of 19% in 18 major cities - the
steepest rise in a decade. Of these requests, 41% were families, 41% single
men, 13% single women, 5% minors.
USA Today 2003
4.
70% of employees are retiring BEFORE
they are 65. And 33% of retirees indicated that 90% of their income
came from their Social Security retirement check of $895/month.Washington
Post 2003
5.
20% of Americans have items stored in the
U.S.'s 40,000 storage facilities.
USA Today
6.
Many U.S. families (and churches) are 1 to
2 months away from $$$ crisis.
7.
Record 1.68 million bankruptcies in
2003 (more than the ENTIRE decade of the 1960's).US
Courts
8.
Financial problems
are the largest contributing cause of marital stress and divorce.
9.
Average college student carries 4
credit cards (with UNPAID balances of $2327).Washington
Post
10.
50% of new college graduates owe
$10,000-$40,000 in student loans (and 1/3rd were unable to make their
first monthly payment 6 months after graduation).
Source: Wall Street
Journal
11.
$10-13 trillion dollars in inheritances
will be transferred to the baby boomer generation within the next 10-20
years. Yet, 70+% of the elderly today have NO will or trust ($0 for
church/non-profits)
Source: Chronicle of
Philanthropy
12.
95% of Christian Educational Institutions
(colleges, universities, seminaries and Bible colleges) offer NO personal or
ministry financial curriculum.
Lilly Foundation Studies
13.
90%
of Denominations offer no available (or limited) financial teaching
resources to their pastors or churches.
CSA research
14.
85%
of Pastors feel unequipped and uncomfortable teaching on finances and
giving. Lilly
Foundation Studies
15.
90% of Churches have no active plan
for teaching Biblical financial principles.
CSA seminar research
16.
In 2000, 12% of all born again adults
tithed to their local church. The percentage rose to 14% in 2001, but
dropped to only 6% in 2002. This represents a 62% drop!
Barna.org May 2003
17.
There has been a 30+ year decline in the %
Christians give (depending on the denomination, the average giving is 1% –
3˝ %)
Source: Empty Tomb Research
18.
20-35% of church attendee giving records
are blank ($0 of recorded offerings given).
Source: CSA
19.
In 1999, ~$3 billion was given to 600
Christian mission agencies. Compare this to $58 billion for soda
products, $24 billion in jewelry store sales, $8 billion for movies
theaters, $13 billion for chocolate products, $38 billion in vending machine
sales, $11 billion for comp/video games, $7 billion greeting cards, $23
billion for toys, $91 billion in lawn/garden industry, $23 billion for pets.
Source: Empty
Tomb Research
20.
In the Bible, there are 40 verses on "baptism", 275 verses on
"prayer", 350 verses on "faith", 650 verses on "love" -- and 2,350
verses that relate specifically to finances and material possessions.
Click here to send this material to others
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Brian Kluth is a national and international speaker and writer
on Biblical generosity and financial matters.
He is also a church pastor and the founder of MAXIMUM Generosity, a public ministry dedicated to advancing Biblical generosity through inspirational preaching, leadership training seminars, writing, resources and the media. Brian’s written materials have been distributed to more than 350,000 Christian leaders in more than 100 countries .For additional materials or to contact Brian, email:
bk@kluth.org or visit:
www.kluth.org
© www.kluth.org.
Copyright reprint permission for non-commercial purposes can be purchased for
$20 to photocopy, fax, email or print this materials for 1-25 people, $50 for
distribution to 26-500 people, $75 for 501-999 people, and $100 for distribution to 1000 or more. To
purchase the required reprint permission, go to the
products page on this website (www.kluth.org), call 1-888-443-7407, or email:
bk@kluth.org
To
watch an 8-min video of Brian speaking about some of these
financial and giving facts, stats and trends,