FINALLY FPU

(I haven't blogged about this even though it's been in the works for several months now and even though I've thought about dozens of possible blog entries about it, but for some reason I haven't sat down and just written about it until now. Which is weird because I am so excited about it. Maybe the busyness of the holidays can shoulder some of the blame, but I think it's primarily because there is so much that I want to say that I am afraid this will become a very lengthy, involved post.

...or a lot of shorter posts. Yeah, I think I'll go that way. Not quite as intimidating for finally getting it down on screen.)

If you attend Journey North Church you've already heard this, but for the rest, here's the big announcement: We're hosting Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University beginning this month (January) at our house! The group will meet Tuesday nights from 7-9 pm and the cost is $90 (couples can go through it together for the same price). Our preview/orientation session is this Tuesday, January 8, with the 13-week course starting the following Tuesday. There’s plenty of information and details about FPU over at Dave’s web site.

Wow, am I ever excited about this! We (Rosalie and I) have wanted to host FPU for years and now we finally have the chance. We’ve not been through the official FPU course before but have listened to hundreds and hundreds of hours of Dave’s radio show podcast over the last few years. We’ve also had the privilege of meeting Dave personally this past summer thanks to my brother-in-law, Brian, who works for him. I also took our students through “No Matter What”, the youth group version of FPU (now replaced by an all-new curriculum called Generation ¢hange).

The biblical financial principles and practices that Dave teaches are changing our lives. I've read or heard every major Christian author on the area of finance (Ron Blue, Larry Burkett, etc.) am familiar with Willow Creek's Good $ense ministry and even had training to lead Crown Ministries small groups. They're all great - seriously - but despite knowing it intellectually it wasn't until I came across Dave that I was actually motivated to make a change because I finally believed I could do it! Dave lays out the simple, biblical process using Baby Steps (borrowed from one of the best comedies of all times, What About Bob?)

Back to FPU. In the class, Dave does the teaching via DVD while Howie Bloomquist (one of our Journey North elders and a great friend of mine) and I will be facilitating discussion following the video. The FPU course was just updated with all new video and updated books and materials - and man does it look awesome! The real genius of the course is that it combines the life-changing teaching with small group accountability (and fellowship!)

This FPU class is no doubt only the first of many we’d like to host in the coming years, so if you live nearby but can't make this one, don't panic. But wherever you live, I’d highly recommend joining a local FPU class! (Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Pine City has a class starting this Sunday night, January 6, if Tuesdays don't work for you. I'm not sure if it's sponsored by the church or just held there as it's not on their web site but you can find details here on Dave's site.)

...so much for a short blog post. I knew that would happen once I started talking about this!