For the last 36 months at VALLEY Christian Church we have made decisions to downsize, consolidate and cut our expenses. I'd love to say that it was all because of some prophetic insight that we had into the global economy, but as a Christian, I'm not supposed to lie. Instead, each financial decision we faced we took case by case basis and seriously prayed about it. It was only when we looked back over those decisions that we realized we had actually cut our expenses by over 40%!!! It's always been curious to me, how often we believe God is directing us to expand and build bigger and bigger and rarely, if ever, do we discern that God is directing us to downsize.

With all of these changes, one would think that the ministries of the church have suffered, but nothing could be further from the truth. VALLEY is stronger, healthier and reaching more people (and nations) than ever. So, what did you cut Greg? Here are a few things:

1. Rental of office space. Funny how we don't even miss it. That alone was a 11% cut in expenses).

2. Payroll. We realized that VALLEY is called to recognize, resource and rightly release leaders instead of always looking to hire someone else to do the job for us. Leadership development has become a major thrust in my life and I have to say, as far as pastoring goes, I love it second only to preaching.

3. Debt. Bottom line: Debt chokes out destiny (for individuals and churches)! This one was long overdue, and I can't tell you what a difference it has made!

4. Increased Giving. (That is the CHURCH becoming more generous) With all of the cuts in expenses we have also increased our giving to missions and other ministries.

5. Do It Smarter, Do It Better, Do It Cheaper. It's amazing how we've been able to lower expenses simply by constantly asking the question, Is there a better way to do this that is actually cheaper?"

In my next post I'll unpack, in more detail, "Do It Smarter, Do It Better, Do It Cheaper".