The fatal mistake of many pastors and churches is to assume that they and those around them are above financial temptation.
—Richard L. Bergstrom

It was six years to the day after my youth pastor in Colorado had confessed to eight years of embezzling church funds (my wife remembers the date well—it was on her birthday), and I was dealing with a major dilemma. We had just concluded a pastors' conference through our ministry with Church Dynamics, and I was trying to decide what to do with the funds.

We had received $180 in cash and $200 worth of checks made out to church dynamics international. I needed to reimburse myself for $180 in expenses incurred, and I owed $90 to the woman who had prepared the food for the day. I conferred with our staff, and we decided it would be easiest to set up a conference account locally and keep the funds separate for future conferences in the Northwest.

When I got home, it hit me: If I were to do that, I would face the same temptations that befell my youth ...