Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
A Little Under the Weather?
Spring is coming:
I got these quotes out of a newsletter from Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work You Love
”If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~Anne Bradstreet
”I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth?” ~Edward Giobbi
..and this from a conversation with a coworker this morning...
Lamentations 3:22-23 (New International Version)
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I got these quotes out of a newsletter from Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work You Love
”If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~Anne Bradstreet
”I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth?” ~Edward Giobbi
..and this from a conversation with a coworker this morning...
Lamentations 3:22-23 (New International Version)
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
"Dave Says..." on Job Lost
Of Course! Dave always has SOMETHING to say! I can't add anything more, but I thought it was worth passing along...
What To Do If You've Lost Your Job
We ourselves are trying to hedge a bit, though our debt is gone but the house. We do have an baby HSA (Health Savings Account - Thank you President Bush!!) started, but that was a net change, really, due to our huge premium being reduced. Our hope is that we will be able to build both the HSA and the emergency fund, but making the dollars stretch to both is a challenge.
So, one option might be to hold the money (except for immediate medical expenses) until we get through the tough going at least and build the emergency fund. We could make only one or two deposits per year on the HSA - unlike the old $9,960 annual premium that we had before. I don't however want to underfund the HSA...
For those of us who are learning the whole HSA thing, the idea is to build that thing up to something obscene saved in the HSA account (Maybe $20-$30K over the next two-three years), and have a high-deductible, low premium catastrophic plan. The money that you put in the HSA is not taxed and you get to use it on everything from Dr.'s visits to Prescriptions to Aspirin.
(You just about have to put the whole family on it to keep things straight, so I had to file some stuff to exempt me out of my work policy.)
So, we have some options I think... Before we had very few options and that became very apparent when the Health Insurance premium alone exceeded the mortgage payment! I kept thinking, "We could go buy another house with this money!"
Those of you who get health insurance as a work benefit had better enjoy it while it lasts. I have heard some things coming to an employer near you via the Stimulus Plan that are really drastic to maybe all businesses. I haven't been able to confirm this, so I am refraining to detail about it yet; but isn't it deplorable to anyone else that we "just don't know" what our legislators even voted on?!!
Those of you who want to mess with our HSA and impose some Federal Health Care Plan are risking my wrath! :) The Gov't cannot produce it - they can only take it away from my neighbors (not me yet - I don't make enough $) and hand it to someone else - after some legal mumbo-jumbo and a red tape marathon. As my wife says, "...they did such a good job with Medicare and Medicaid, why would we think we should give them the whole system?"
I love my wife... Now she's even beating me to the good lines...
I didn't mean to get into this here, but it was something that I intended to mention sometime anyway... My trust is not in legal extortion (insurance), nor is it in miracles of science (Health Care), nor is it in scared politicians; it is instead fully and completely invested in the Creator who loves and provides for me.
I don't have to think for a second that He will forget us. I don't have to be upset if the Gov't forgets the Constitution and "In God we Trust" because God is my hope and my salvation for this life and the one yet to come. NO MATTER WHAT!
What To Do If You've Lost Your Job
We ourselves are trying to hedge a bit, though our debt is gone but the house. We do have an baby HSA (Health Savings Account - Thank you President Bush!!) started, but that was a net change, really, due to our huge premium being reduced. Our hope is that we will be able to build both the HSA and the emergency fund, but making the dollars stretch to both is a challenge.
So, one option might be to hold the money (except for immediate medical expenses) until we get through the tough going at least and build the emergency fund. We could make only one or two deposits per year on the HSA - unlike the old $9,960 annual premium that we had before. I don't however want to underfund the HSA...
For those of us who are learning the whole HSA thing, the idea is to build that thing up to something obscene saved in the HSA account (Maybe $20-$30K over the next two-three years), and have a high-deductible, low premium catastrophic plan. The money that you put in the HSA is not taxed and you get to use it on everything from Dr.'s visits to Prescriptions to Aspirin.
(You just about have to put the whole family on it to keep things straight, so I had to file some stuff to exempt me out of my work policy.)
So, we have some options I think... Before we had very few options and that became very apparent when the Health Insurance premium alone exceeded the mortgage payment! I kept thinking, "We could go buy another house with this money!"
Those of you who get health insurance as a work benefit had better enjoy it while it lasts. I have heard some things coming to an employer near you via the Stimulus Plan that are really drastic to maybe all businesses. I haven't been able to confirm this, so I am refraining to detail about it yet; but isn't it deplorable to anyone else that we "just don't know" what our legislators even voted on?!!
Those of you who want to mess with our HSA and impose some Federal Health Care Plan are risking my wrath! :) The Gov't cannot produce it - they can only take it away from my neighbors (not me yet - I don't make enough $) and hand it to someone else - after some legal mumbo-jumbo and a red tape marathon. As my wife says, "...they did such a good job with Medicare and Medicaid, why would we think we should give them the whole system?"
I love my wife... Now she's even beating me to the good lines...
I didn't mean to get into this here, but it was something that I intended to mention sometime anyway... My trust is not in legal extortion (insurance), nor is it in miracles of science (Health Care), nor is it in scared politicians; it is instead fully and completely invested in the Creator who loves and provides for me.
I don't have to think for a second that He will forget us. I don't have to be upset if the Gov't forgets the Constitution and "In God we Trust" because God is my hope and my salvation for this life and the one yet to come. NO MATTER WHAT!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thy Word...
Psalm 119:9-16 (New International Version)
b Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
We did the first lesson (tour) of The Truth Project the other night. Professor, Dr. Del Tackett has a captivating and thrilling way with words. I encourage you to take the opportunity if you get the chance to participate in a group that is taking this tour.
3 weeks ago Pastor McLoed was finalizing a study of Jesus Christ. In the series of sermons, he presented that Jesus Christ is the single most important person to have set foot on this planet. Lest you subconsciously roll your eyes, consider that our calendar is presently centered (more or less) on His life here on earth. Consider that no other man claimed to be God incarnate not once but many times. Consider the many miracles - ultimately even raising some from the dead as a sign that He had power over death itself. He calmed the storms, He had power over the weather. He had power over demons, casting them out. Most of all, He had the power to have thwarted men's efforts to crucify Him; not only thwarted, but also to crush them.
The reason that I mention these powerful sermons, is that I wanted to point out two concepts in this post that are so important. One, is that the Word of God (the Bible) is not some text book that has some nice ideas, but a truth book that helps us to see the God who made us, loves us and wants us to know Him. Concept Two is that Christ's coming brought a revelation of truth. If you think that either of these concepts is nice, but a little too much for you, then consider the way my pastor put it: If your version of God does not perform the miraculous then He does not have the power to save, and you are destined to suffer for sins that have no payment.
If Christ is who He claimed to be (read the Gospel of John), then He is the only hope we have to be saved from eternal damnation. If Christ is not who He claimed to be, then we believers are following a lunatic, not a teacher or a prophet.
My final point is that Scripture reveals to us the heart of God to restore a relationship with men to what He intended it to be. We read in Genesis that Adam and Eve walked and talked with God personally - the way that you and I might visit on Sunday afternoons over dinner. Adam and Eve sinned, and the relationship was damaged, Creation was damaged. In the Bible we read of God's continuing plan to restore that relationship. Front to back, beginning to end, it is the unfolding of that plan of how to begin that restoration.
I pray that the Spirit of Truth will help you to see the layers of lies that many people try to impose about Christ, about the Scriptures. I hope that in reading the Bible you will start in John and see what and why Jesus had to come and do what He did. I hope that if you already believe, you will consider what it means to you.
Thy Word, Lord, is a light to my path. I would not understand Truth without it. I pray that You will continue to reveal Yourself to us as we read...
b Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
We did the first lesson (tour) of The Truth Project the other night. Professor, Dr. Del Tackett has a captivating and thrilling way with words. I encourage you to take the opportunity if you get the chance to participate in a group that is taking this tour.
3 weeks ago Pastor McLoed was finalizing a study of Jesus Christ. In the series of sermons, he presented that Jesus Christ is the single most important person to have set foot on this planet. Lest you subconsciously roll your eyes, consider that our calendar is presently centered (more or less) on His life here on earth. Consider that no other man claimed to be God incarnate not once but many times. Consider the many miracles - ultimately even raising some from the dead as a sign that He had power over death itself. He calmed the storms, He had power over the weather. He had power over demons, casting them out. Most of all, He had the power to have thwarted men's efforts to crucify Him; not only thwarted, but also to crush them.
The reason that I mention these powerful sermons, is that I wanted to point out two concepts in this post that are so important. One, is that the Word of God (the Bible) is not some text book that has some nice ideas, but a truth book that helps us to see the God who made us, loves us and wants us to know Him. Concept Two is that Christ's coming brought a revelation of truth. If you think that either of these concepts is nice, but a little too much for you, then consider the way my pastor put it: If your version of God does not perform the miraculous then He does not have the power to save, and you are destined to suffer for sins that have no payment.
If Christ is who He claimed to be (read the Gospel of John), then He is the only hope we have to be saved from eternal damnation. If Christ is not who He claimed to be, then we believers are following a lunatic, not a teacher or a prophet.
My final point is that Scripture reveals to us the heart of God to restore a relationship with men to what He intended it to be. We read in Genesis that Adam and Eve walked and talked with God personally - the way that you and I might visit on Sunday afternoons over dinner. Adam and Eve sinned, and the relationship was damaged, Creation was damaged. In the Bible we read of God's continuing plan to restore that relationship. Front to back, beginning to end, it is the unfolding of that plan of how to begin that restoration.
I pray that the Spirit of Truth will help you to see the layers of lies that many people try to impose about Christ, about the Scriptures. I hope that in reading the Bible you will start in John and see what and why Jesus had to come and do what He did. I hope that if you already believe, you will consider what it means to you.
Thy Word, Lord, is a light to my path. I would not understand Truth without it. I pray that You will continue to reveal Yourself to us as we read...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thou Shalt Nots of Scripture...
Check out this link - I nearly skipped it, having experienced the hardships of situations and not looking for any more difficult water to wade through... However, this is a great truth: God does not prohibit us from any good thing.
We do need to understand what a good thing is. We need to understand that in the manner that we tell our children not to eat too much sugar and to eat more fruit and vegies, God also tells us to mind a few things - for our own benefit.
I am torn in a few different things right now, but I am certain that God has His reasons and that I must honor Him regardless of how I feel. I was so grateful to have the article in the link in my email this morning, reminding me of His faithfulness and care for us!
http://www.icr.org/article/4264/
We do need to understand what a good thing is. We need to understand that in the manner that we tell our children not to eat too much sugar and to eat more fruit and vegies, God also tells us to mind a few things - for our own benefit.
I am torn in a few different things right now, but I am certain that God has His reasons and that I must honor Him regardless of how I feel. I was so grateful to have the article in the link in my email this morning, reminding me of His faithfulness and care for us!
http://www.icr.org/article/4264/
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Finances for the Kiddos
For those of us who have kids, and who have had a hard time with our own finances, there is likely a need for better teaching to our kiddos as well. If we lack financial sense ourselves, then we are not going to be able to teach good financial sense to our kiddos. That said, if you are like my wife and me, then you have figured out that you messed it all up at some point and now you are digging your way out, so the kiddos actually have a pretty good example to follow.
But you know by now that finances don't get learned through osmosis and you have a suspicion that there might need to be some purposeful teaching? And you would be right.
In our house, we do a mini-version of the envelope system. When our oldest turned 6, we had her color three envelopes. I outlined the words, "Giving, Saving, Spending" on each one and she colored them in with her vast array of markers and crayons. The basics of the idea worked really, really well, except that she kept losing them and was playing with them all the time.
So, Crystal sacrificed some of her jelly jars, and stamped the labels neatly. This was great too. Whenever the money came in for her, she would parse it out into the jars and use it where it goes. (She sees Mommy doing this all the time, so she really took to it.)
There were some problems, however. The little guys are pretty generous it turns out, and will gladly give all of their money to their friends or to Sunday School; and don't get me wrong, we love that, but it wasn't really helping us to get the idea across for a while. So, we moved the money to the kitchen so that she didn't just dig it out to show her friends, or leave it out where the babies could swallow the coins.
Now, she is getting older and the jars don't really go to the store very well, so having retired one of our Dave Ramsey Envelope Systems, we gave her one of those to carry around. So far, so good.
Besides the giving and spending that she seems to be learning well, we hit the saving/earning thing hard at the beginning. She wanted a bigger bicycle, having grown out of the one she had been given when she was four. Mommy and Daddy were still mired in Baby Step 2 (Pay off all your debt, except the house) and though we were willing to do the garage sale thing to get her a bigger bike, we sort of leveraged this back to her to earn money to buy her own bike. She could do a few chores to earn some money from us, but quite honestly, we couldn't afford more than a dollar here and there at the time, and she wasn't quite big enough to chop firewood.
She thought and thought. Somehow Grandpa got into the picture and hired her to pick pine cones out of his lawn. One Saturday I dropped her off and went back home to do my own chores, and then went back after getting a disappointing call from Grandma. I guess she worked pretty hard for about twenty minutes, then got pretty bored. I think Grandpa tactfully let her know that he wasn't really happy about this and restrained from paying her fully, for which I was grateful. I gently scolded her on the way home, knowing the story, but reasoning it out verbally with her so that she understood why 2 1/2 hours of that poor of work didn't make her much money.
Clearly, she was disappointed, and the next week she offered to try again; and of course Grandpa helped out again. She did much, much better. When I went to pick her up, I could see the difference in her face and though Grandpa probably over paid her, I was very glad to see that she got the lesson.
Picking pine cones is not exactly a fun job, she decided, and this prompted her and Mommy to come up with other ways to earn money. So, they baked cookies. I don't know, but I suspect that they probably called around and asked at church if anyone would like to buy any. Once people knew what she was doing, they jumped in from all over! In about two Sundays she had more than enough money to go right in to Walmart and get that bike she had picked out! (I think we even charged her for the materials, so she got a good dose of profit/loss! I might be mixing that up with the lemonade stand that came another time though...)
I was so proud of her! She was so excited! I advise you parents to push your kids a little bit here. If you can afford to pay them for extra chores, then fine, but maybe let them think of creative ways to do their own earning. It is a valuable time, and this is one important thing that you can teach them early.
Don't give in at the store when they are two dollars short at the store, either. You don't do them any favors by covering the sales tax. Teach them what it means to truly buy something. Maybe even let them waste their money on something too. Then, when they find something that they REALLY want, but can't afford, use the moment to teach them that they decided to spend that money already. (OK, don't surprise them. I don't have the heart to lead them blindly into that one either. But give them a warning and if they still buy the piddly thing, then watch for that moment...)
Teach them by example, and teach them by instruction what it means to afford something and how to get a deal. Teach them to give - don't just hand them a couple quarters on the way in to church, let them give their own coins. Teach them to save for something "big" like a bike.
There are a lot of cool little books and teaching things on the Dave Ramsey site for this, ranging from pre-schoolers to teens. I haven't seen much of them, being a little too cheap to buy them, but the principles are the there.
God Bless!
But you know by now that finances don't get learned through osmosis and you have a suspicion that there might need to be some purposeful teaching? And you would be right.
In our house, we do a mini-version of the envelope system. When our oldest turned 6, we had her color three envelopes. I outlined the words, "Giving, Saving, Spending" on each one and she colored them in with her vast array of markers and crayons. The basics of the idea worked really, really well, except that she kept losing them and was playing with them all the time.
So, Crystal sacrificed some of her jelly jars, and stamped the labels neatly. This was great too. Whenever the money came in for her, she would parse it out into the jars and use it where it goes. (She sees Mommy doing this all the time, so she really took to it.)
There were some problems, however. The little guys are pretty generous it turns out, and will gladly give all of their money to their friends or to Sunday School; and don't get me wrong, we love that, but it wasn't really helping us to get the idea across for a while. So, we moved the money to the kitchen so that she didn't just dig it out to show her friends, or leave it out where the babies could swallow the coins.
Now, she is getting older and the jars don't really go to the store very well, so having retired one of our Dave Ramsey Envelope Systems, we gave her one of those to carry around. So far, so good.
Besides the giving and spending that she seems to be learning well, we hit the saving/earning thing hard at the beginning. She wanted a bigger bicycle, having grown out of the one she had been given when she was four. Mommy and Daddy were still mired in Baby Step 2 (Pay off all your debt, except the house) and though we were willing to do the garage sale thing to get her a bigger bike, we sort of leveraged this back to her to earn money to buy her own bike. She could do a few chores to earn some money from us, but quite honestly, we couldn't afford more than a dollar here and there at the time, and she wasn't quite big enough to chop firewood.
She thought and thought. Somehow Grandpa got into the picture and hired her to pick pine cones out of his lawn. One Saturday I dropped her off and went back home to do my own chores, and then went back after getting a disappointing call from Grandma. I guess she worked pretty hard for about twenty minutes, then got pretty bored. I think Grandpa tactfully let her know that he wasn't really happy about this and restrained from paying her fully, for which I was grateful. I gently scolded her on the way home, knowing the story, but reasoning it out verbally with her so that she understood why 2 1/2 hours of that poor of work didn't make her much money.
Clearly, she was disappointed, and the next week she offered to try again; and of course Grandpa helped out again. She did much, much better. When I went to pick her up, I could see the difference in her face and though Grandpa probably over paid her, I was very glad to see that she got the lesson.
Picking pine cones is not exactly a fun job, she decided, and this prompted her and Mommy to come up with other ways to earn money. So, they baked cookies. I don't know, but I suspect that they probably called around and asked at church if anyone would like to buy any. Once people knew what she was doing, they jumped in from all over! In about two Sundays she had more than enough money to go right in to Walmart and get that bike she had picked out! (I think we even charged her for the materials, so she got a good dose of profit/loss! I might be mixing that up with the lemonade stand that came another time though...)
I was so proud of her! She was so excited! I advise you parents to push your kids a little bit here. If you can afford to pay them for extra chores, then fine, but maybe let them think of creative ways to do their own earning. It is a valuable time, and this is one important thing that you can teach them early.
Don't give in at the store when they are two dollars short at the store, either. You don't do them any favors by covering the sales tax. Teach them what it means to truly buy something. Maybe even let them waste their money on something too. Then, when they find something that they REALLY want, but can't afford, use the moment to teach them that they decided to spend that money already. (OK, don't surprise them. I don't have the heart to lead them blindly into that one either. But give them a warning and if they still buy the piddly thing, then watch for that moment...)
Teach them by example, and teach them by instruction what it means to afford something and how to get a deal. Teach them to give - don't just hand them a couple quarters on the way in to church, let them give their own coins. Teach them to save for something "big" like a bike.
There are a lot of cool little books and teaching things on the Dave Ramsey site for this, ranging from pre-schoolers to teens. I haven't seen much of them, being a little too cheap to buy them, but the principles are the there.
God Bless!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Needing some motivation?
This is what I listen to more often than not on Fridays...
Listen to the voices... Listen to the exuberance. Can you hear the emotion?!! I get teared up every time I listen to this stuff... ...because debt suffocates the joy from living, from loving, from giving and freedom to be generous - like our Father - is something that no one but the free understand.
Sin does the same thing, only the debt is eternal until it's paid in full. God has a get-out-of-debt-plan that is unbeatable. His Son paid for our sins. It was so costly that there is only one way to pay that debt - only One person in the entire universe had the "funds" for that bailout! If you think that financial debt is looming large in your life, then consider the weight of your sin debt... Pray to God, repent from "your way"? His kind of change is even deeper than the kinds of changes you hear in this clip...
If you do have financial debt, or you are in trouble, then first take that to God. The numbers may not add up right now, but He has a way of providing when we honor Him with our lives. His favorite pastime is redeeming the hopeless... I hope that you will seek the help of your pastor, or attend a Financial Peace University class, tune in to the daily Dave Ramsey shows and commit to align your life spiritually and financially with the Word of God...
Listen to the voices... Listen to the exuberance. Can you hear the emotion?!! I get teared up every time I listen to this stuff... ...because debt suffocates the joy from living, from loving, from giving and freedom to be generous - like our Father - is something that no one but the free understand.
Sin does the same thing, only the debt is eternal until it's paid in full. God has a get-out-of-debt-plan that is unbeatable. His Son paid for our sins. It was so costly that there is only one way to pay that debt - only One person in the entire universe had the "funds" for that bailout! If you think that financial debt is looming large in your life, then consider the weight of your sin debt... Pray to God, repent from "your way"? His kind of change is even deeper than the kinds of changes you hear in this clip...
If you do have financial debt, or you are in trouble, then first take that to God. The numbers may not add up right now, but He has a way of providing when we honor Him with our lives. His favorite pastime is redeeming the hopeless... I hope that you will seek the help of your pastor, or attend a Financial Peace University class, tune in to the daily Dave Ramsey shows and commit to align your life spiritually and financially with the Word of God...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Stewardship
I debated posting this as "Talent" due to the text in which I base this one.
We use the word "talent" today as abilities which have been granted to us, likely because of the interpretations taken from this passage in fact. This is a subject for study in itself (another post?). For the purposes of this post, a talent was a measure of money. Christ was using this story to illustrate a concept of the Kingdom of Heaven, that as the master returns at some point and judges his servants, so will He return to judge men. The primary focus here is salvation - what have we done with what we were shown?
That is, you have been told about the work of Christ, the Gospel, so what have you done with that? Have you taken it to heart and invested in the Kingdom by spreading it to your neighbors? Or have you at least taken it to heart and led your own family in the ways of Christ?
Or, possibly, have you ignored it and hidden it to yourself - which amounts to not having salvation in the first place... There has been no change. There is no activity. The wicked servant hid his portion because he said that he feared the master. The master shrewdly points out that had he known the master and truly feared him, then the wicked servant would have at least put the money in the bank to draw interest! The wicked servant clearly had no interest in the master.
While the spiritual side of this parable is paramount, the reason that Jesus uses it here is that He is trying to convey Kingdom thinking through common financial sense. Everyone in earshot or who reads it today can grasp the concept.
We are given a certain amount of blessings, according to our ability, to make a profit for the Master. This extends to every part of your life.
Let's consider the basic, common sense, financial side...
1) We are the servants.
2) God is the Master.
3) The money is not ours, but the master's.
4) The more they were given the more they made.
These are directly applicable to our personal finances. We do not "own" anything, but we receive things to take care of until we meet the Master.
We will not all receive equal amounts. Some of us will have more than others. Jesus said that the poor would always be with us, and by that and some other passages, we can presume that the rich will too. Since this passages implies that the servants were each given according to his ability, and since we see that the master in the parable represents God, then we also know that God made the abilities too. So, since God made us with our abilities and He gave us the blessings that we enjoy, then we accept that He has the plans and that we are simply left to maximize the investments.
So, whatever your place in life, whatever your status, you are responsible to do your best with it. "...but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." If you have nothing to show for even the small amount you have been given, then you are at risk of losing even that.
This is a hard one to swallow, but think of it this way... First, it isn't your money. Second, if you lose it, the Master has plenty more where that came from. There is no excuse for doing nothing with it, however.
So, in faith, I am able to invest in the Kingdom (offerings), invest in the future (prudently and reasonably, with an IRA, etc.), prepare an inheritance for my kids (nobility), and take care of the present needs as well, all Lord willing.
It's His money, so don't get extreme in either burying it too safely, or investing it too riskily, but acknowledge Him and take some steps in the direction of investing. Learn about how to invest, how to handle money and how to build a legacy for your children.
God Bless!
Matthew 25:14-29 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Talents
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. (More)We use the word "talent" today as abilities which have been granted to us, likely because of the interpretations taken from this passage in fact. This is a subject for study in itself (another post?). For the purposes of this post, a talent was a measure of money. Christ was using this story to illustrate a concept of the Kingdom of Heaven, that as the master returns at some point and judges his servants, so will He return to judge men. The primary focus here is salvation - what have we done with what we were shown?
That is, you have been told about the work of Christ, the Gospel, so what have you done with that? Have you taken it to heart and invested in the Kingdom by spreading it to your neighbors? Or have you at least taken it to heart and led your own family in the ways of Christ?
Or, possibly, have you ignored it and hidden it to yourself - which amounts to not having salvation in the first place... There has been no change. There is no activity. The wicked servant hid his portion because he said that he feared the master. The master shrewdly points out that had he known the master and truly feared him, then the wicked servant would have at least put the money in the bank to draw interest! The wicked servant clearly had no interest in the master.
While the spiritual side of this parable is paramount, the reason that Jesus uses it here is that He is trying to convey Kingdom thinking through common financial sense. Everyone in earshot or who reads it today can grasp the concept.
We are given a certain amount of blessings, according to our ability, to make a profit for the Master. This extends to every part of your life.
Let's consider the basic, common sense, financial side...
1) We are the servants.
2) God is the Master.
3) The money is not ours, but the master's.
4) The more they were given the more they made.
These are directly applicable to our personal finances. We do not "own" anything, but we receive things to take care of until we meet the Master.
We will not all receive equal amounts. Some of us will have more than others. Jesus said that the poor would always be with us, and by that and some other passages, we can presume that the rich will too. Since this passages implies that the servants were each given according to his ability, and since we see that the master in the parable represents God, then we also know that God made the abilities too. So, since God made us with our abilities and He gave us the blessings that we enjoy, then we accept that He has the plans and that we are simply left to maximize the investments.
So, whatever your place in life, whatever your status, you are responsible to do your best with it. "...but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." If you have nothing to show for even the small amount you have been given, then you are at risk of losing even that.
This is a hard one to swallow, but think of it this way... First, it isn't your money. Second, if you lose it, the Master has plenty more where that came from. There is no excuse for doing nothing with it, however.
So, in faith, I am able to invest in the Kingdom (offerings), invest in the future (prudently and reasonably, with an IRA, etc.), prepare an inheritance for my kids (nobility), and take care of the present needs as well, all Lord willing.
It's His money, so don't get extreme in either burying it too safely, or investing it too riskily, but acknowledge Him and take some steps in the direction of investing. Learn about how to invest, how to handle money and how to build a legacy for your children.
God Bless!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Plastectomy... (plagerism?)
I think Dave Ramsey invented the term... He uses it as a one-word description of cutting up one's credit cards forever. Dave uses scissors. His audiences get a little more creative... ...chainsaws, guns, shredders... ...you get the idea that people are a little fed up with the little plastic cards that we have been indoctrinated into believing are a way of life in our culture. It is a passionate, emotional, even merciless occasion.
So, why the extreme behavior? In short, many thousands of people have had an eye opening experience by going through Dave's classes or listening to his show. They have begun to understand that the bank (creditor) is selling a product, and are making a profit on the customer (the lender).
We watched as Dave on stage animated the average customer walking into the bank on his knees begging, "Please, please, please, Mr. banker let me have some...." (If only we had a product like that, huh?)
And all that time we thought we were being smart. We thought that it was intelligent to use "Other Peoples' Money (OPM)" but later we find that we had become addicted and enslaved to it. What we once thought was OK had become the the Master of our money, instead of us mastering our own money.
And I had good reason. In fact, Larry Burkett said that if you had or used a credit card, fine, but the first month that you fail to pay it in full, then you should cut it up. Given that somewhere between %80 and %90 of us who use a credit card do not actually pay it in full, I have changed my mind.
The banks know that most of us will not do it - and they make a LOT of money on credit. I am told that Sears, Penny's, GM, Ford and Chrysler have all become creditors more than retailers - they make more oney on credit than in sales of all of their other products.
It doesn't matter to me any more that you can pay it off every month. There are two reasons. The first is that the Bible says that debt is a bad idea - even for a day.
So, why the extreme behavior? In short, many thousands of people have had an eye opening experience by going through Dave's classes or listening to his show. They have begun to understand that the bank (creditor) is selling a product, and are making a profit on the customer (the lender).
We watched as Dave on stage animated the average customer walking into the bank on his knees begging, "Please, please, please, Mr. banker let me have some...." (If only we had a product like that, huh?)
And all that time we thought we were being smart. We thought that it was intelligent to use "Other Peoples' Money (OPM)" but later we find that we had become addicted and enslaved to it. What we once thought was OK had become the the Master of our money, instead of us mastering our own money.
Proverbs 22:7 (New International Version)
7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
And I had good reason. In fact, Larry Burkett said that if you had or used a credit card, fine, but the first month that you fail to pay it in full, then you should cut it up. Given that somewhere between %80 and %90 of us who use a credit card do not actually pay it in full, I have changed my mind.
The banks know that most of us will not do it - and they make a LOT of money on credit. I am told that Sears, Penny's, GM, Ford and Chrysler have all become creditors more than retailers - they make more oney on credit than in sales of all of their other products.
It doesn't matter to me any more that you can pay it off every month. There are two reasons. The first is that the Bible says that debt is a bad idea - even for a day.
Proverbs 6:4-5 (New International Version)
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
The second reason is that there is a risk that you take when you use the credit card. The biggest part of that risk is that you are gambling that your next paycheck will be full and on time. The rest is that you are dealing with a company that employs a lot of lawyers to write a lot of fine print that I doubt you or anybody else can readily explain.
They can and do "lose" payments in the system, which means that it arrives late and then they proceed to raise your rates to %24 or more and dock you for a $29 late fee! They guess rightly that most people won't go to the mat over a $29 fee.
(Guess who's had this happen to him before - I was mad. It was the first time that lost my temper with a stranger on the phone. I did get the charge removed and got the interest down again after I threatened to "surf" the balance to another card... This was before I knew anything about Dave Ramsey, though and I didn't learn my lesson then.)
There is congressional testimony regarding this fraud, yet we hear little about it, and we continue to "do business" with companies that are dishonest. This is not intelligent. It is not even convenient when you consider the possible problems. Fire them. Cut the cards. End the risk and be a steward of your money.
Debit cards are somewhat different. They draw directly from your checking account, but that brings risks of its own. At least you aren't in debt to anyone though.
We take the additional precaution of keeping seperate checking accounts. We only use the debit card for one of the accounts, so that in the event of a problem (in which the bank will often "freeze" the money) we still have money to draw for gas and groceries. We also use it for Internet purchases, transferring the budgeted money for such transactions.
Many debit cards (such as those that have the little "Visa" symbol in the corner) have the same protection as credit cards and they are useful for car and room reservations too.
BUT, whatever the version of plastic you take to the register, there are recognized studies showing that we spend %12-%18 more with plastic than with cash. That means that when we go to Home Cheapo for a $50 widget, we also add a $6.00-$9.00 widget accessory.
On the other hand, if you walk in to the appliance store with $450.00 cash, you have a tool with which to get a bargain! You might get a $500.00 Wash-O-Matic for the cash you have to wave at the sales person and get a deal. This is the complete opposite of what you get when you have a plastic budget. GO GREEN!
(Be willing to walk away - you might have to go to 3 different appliance stores or get to a manager to get a deal, but then isn't that worth $50?!!)
I will start working on describing the cash envelope system that Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett and Larry's grandmother recommend on the next post or two. I hope that you are starting to see the "personal" part of personal finance in the meantime. It is emmotional, spritual and even physical. It is important.
God Bless!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Envelope System
So, you know by now that I am not a credit card fan, but how do you actually use cash?
OK - so, written out from my side of the issue, this is a funny question, but I wouldn't have been laughing a few years ago and I hear some people who really do wonder...
We have been propagandized to death with the penguin march of the plastics and it has become a huge method of transaction today. So much so that many of you might be balking at the idea of walking around "with all that cash!" I mean, what about muggers!
Believe me, we've been through this discussion a few times. In fact, I didn't bounce right back to cash myself without a little cajoling from Dave. Some of the arguments can be found in another post about Plastectomies (which should post 2/8/09).
Basically, you will spend more with plastic, whether credit or debit - to the tune of 12%-18%. Averages being what they are, I suspect that you might do well one time and much more poorly the next; or, like me, go ahead and buy that ginormous wall tent at Econo-Mart because its good to go camping with the family. (Even Gary Smalley says so.)
Just the same, Doritto breath, plastic is a budget buster. And a mugger can get a lot more than cash from the average credit card information these days.
So let's assume that you see the value of cash over cards, but what about the details?
These days, as long as you have the little Visa (or other) sign down in the corner of your debit card, it should carry a lot of the same benefits as your credit card, but without the debt. You should ask your bank if you aren't sure - just don't let them talk you into a credit card anyway. Most car rentals and hotels will take a debit card. And most of them also take cash.
So, assuming that you have now set up your budget, the envelope system is simply the real part of your paper plan. So, as if you had drawn up the plans for the house on paper, then built it, so now you have drawn up the plans of the budget on paper and built it in your envelopes.
And we do mean envelopes. You can go buy them on the Dave Ramsey site too - and I do recommend the Deluxe Envelope system in particular. But you can just use any envelopes to label and insert cash. If you are going to the grocery store, then take the FOOD envelope. If you forget the FOOD envelope, then you should go back home and get the FOOD envelope.
I recommend that you get the system because of this, because then you have it all with you and it is well organized too. Crystal actually started carrying around Dave Ramsey cards to give to people because so many people asked about it and thought it was so neat.
If the money runs out in that envelope, for that category, then you stop buying. If it is something that you NEED, then go home to your Honey and re-arrange the budget and then the cash in the envelopes. You both have to be in agreement. There at least needs to be a phone call to get the approval on a revision.
We do not include utilities, phone, mortgage or other mailed bill items in the envelopes. For those we still write checks, which cost money, GGRRRR. Online is a good way to get around this, and Dave recommends the Auto Billpay stuff. But I am not quite there yet. I like to be able to watch all that and send them when we know we are ready.
We have a seperate account for gas and Internet purchases. Crystal, with three kids in the van does have a certain point there...
Also, as you work the budgeting out, expect it to take about 90 days before you actually get it to work. We had ours pretty well going in 60 days, but we already had over a year's expenses recorded, so we knew the trends already.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to call or email any questions...
OK - so, written out from my side of the issue, this is a funny question, but I wouldn't have been laughing a few years ago and I hear some people who really do wonder...
We have been propagandized to death with the penguin march of the plastics and it has become a huge method of transaction today. So much so that many of you might be balking at the idea of walking around "with all that cash!" I mean, what about muggers!
Believe me, we've been through this discussion a few times. In fact, I didn't bounce right back to cash myself without a little cajoling from Dave. Some of the arguments can be found in another post about Plastectomies (which should post 2/8/09).
Basically, you will spend more with plastic, whether credit or debit - to the tune of 12%-18%. Averages being what they are, I suspect that you might do well one time and much more poorly the next; or, like me, go ahead and buy that ginormous wall tent at Econo-Mart because its good to go camping with the family. (Even Gary Smalley says so.)
Just the same, Doritto breath, plastic is a budget buster. And a mugger can get a lot more than cash from the average credit card information these days.
So let's assume that you see the value of cash over cards, but what about the details?
These days, as long as you have the little Visa (or other) sign down in the corner of your debit card, it should carry a lot of the same benefits as your credit card, but without the debt. You should ask your bank if you aren't sure - just don't let them talk you into a credit card anyway. Most car rentals and hotels will take a debit card. And most of them also take cash.
So, assuming that you have now set up your budget, the envelope system is simply the real part of your paper plan. So, as if you had drawn up the plans for the house on paper, then built it, so now you have drawn up the plans of the budget on paper and built it in your envelopes.
And we do mean envelopes. You can go buy them on the Dave Ramsey site too - and I do recommend the Deluxe Envelope system in particular. But you can just use any envelopes to label and insert cash. If you are going to the grocery store, then take the FOOD envelope. If you forget the FOOD envelope, then you should go back home and get the FOOD envelope.
I recommend that you get the system because of this, because then you have it all with you and it is well organized too. Crystal actually started carrying around Dave Ramsey cards to give to people because so many people asked about it and thought it was so neat.
If the money runs out in that envelope, for that category, then you stop buying. If it is something that you NEED, then go home to your Honey and re-arrange the budget and then the cash in the envelopes. You both have to be in agreement. There at least needs to be a phone call to get the approval on a revision.
We do not include utilities, phone, mortgage or other mailed bill items in the envelopes. For those we still write checks, which cost money, GGRRRR. Online is a good way to get around this, and Dave recommends the Auto Billpay stuff. But I am not quite there yet. I like to be able to watch all that and send them when we know we are ready.
We have a seperate account for gas and Internet purchases. Crystal, with three kids in the van does have a certain point there...
Also, as you work the budgeting out, expect it to take about 90 days before you actually get it to work. We had ours pretty well going in 60 days, but we already had over a year's expenses recorded, so we knew the trends already.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to call or email any questions...
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