DEBT = Financial Bondage!

I never realized before just how bad debt was until we began studying it just recently. I have known plenty of people all my life who lived with debt, and it never seemed to effect anything. But just recently, I have learned just how strongly the Word of God talks about debt.

For example, Romans 13:8 states, "Owe no one anything..."

And Proverbs 22:7 states, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrow is servant to the lender."

Now, if these two were not enough to convince us what God thinks of having debt, the view of debt given in the Old Testament should leave no doubt. In Deut.28:1-2, 12... one of the rewards for obedience that God promised the people of Israel was they would be free of debt. And conversely, in Deut.28:15, 43-44, Debt was one of the curses for disobedience!

And there's that the whole presumption aspect of debt. You see, when we go into debt over something that we think we simply must have at the moment like a new computer, a new big screen TV, etc... we're presuming that things are going to stay well with our financial situation, and we'll simply pay it off in a few months. But in James 4:13, we're warned against the sin of presumption. We really don't know how we're going to be fairing in 6 months. If God permits, we could be doing well... or we could lose our job, get sick, get in accident, anything can happen. So, we must be very careful in this regard to.

Now, the Bible doesn't say it's a sin to go into debt. It simply discourages it because you become somewhat in bondage. The very smart and Godly people at Crown Financial Ministries state that it's their opinion that it is permissible to borrow for: 1) a home mortgage, 2) your vocation, or 3) your business. But there are things to consider even then... like:
-Will the item purchased produce income or at least go up in value?
-Does the value of the item equal or exceed the amount owed?
-And will the repayment of the new debt put too high a strain on your budget?
All very wise questions.

Personally for me, I understand very practically just how debt is financial slavery. My wife and I don't have the freedom to give sometimes or do the things that we would love to do because of debt. I would love to give more to my church, more to missions, be able to just bless the people we love... but I'm often hindered b/c we simply do not have it to give. I grew up with the understanding that when you recieve your income, first and foremost you give your top 10% to God no matter what... whether your eat or not, that first 10% is God's and to not give it is stealing! Then you pay the people that you owe. And finally, you use the rest to live on or give to help others. One of these days (December 2009) we will be out of debt by the grace and favor of God. Because 1) we have a budget, and 2) we have repayment plan to pay off all our creditors. And then we will be completely free! But until that time, we live under the curse of slavery because of bad choices. If you're reading this, learn from our mistakes. Don't give into the temptation of "have now - pay later." Save your money, learn to live without, and you will be free and blessed because of it.

The Newest Member of our Family: Taite Ezekiel

Just the other day I was talking with a gentlemen who suggested that I introduce my new son on my blog. I guess I hadn't thought about it b/c my wife posts gobs of pictures of both our children on her blog so I didn't see the need. But after thinking about it, I thought... that's a good idea.

So here he is... Taite Ezekiel. He was born on Dec 18th, 2006 measuring 19.5 in long and weighing 6.7 lbs. So, in this picture... he's about 5 weeks old. He's a good baby and we're so thankful to God to have in. In case you're wondering about his name "Taite" means cheerful - b/c he has certainly made us cheerful and happy... and "Ezekiel" means God will strengthen, which is our prayer for our little boy.

So, who does he look like?

I OWN NOTHING.

One of the things that I have the privilege of doing is teaching a Senior High Small Group Bible study on Sunday mornings. Right now, we are doing a study entitled, "Discovering God's Way of Handling Our Finances." This turning out to be a great study; one that I hope all the students are taking seriously. I'm leading the study and yet I'm learning and be reminded of things just like the rest of the students.

Well anyway... this is Lesson #1 - I OWN NOTHING! That's right, you and I own nothing, because God in fact owns it all.

1 Chron. 29:11 - "For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours... O Lord."

Ps. 24:1 - "The earth is the Lord's, and all it's fullness, the world and those who dwell therein."

Ps. 50:10 - "For every beast of the forest is Mine and the cattle on a thousand hills."

Haggai 2:8 - "'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the Lord of hosts."

No where in God's world does it speak about Him transfering ownership to us. No, it still all belongs to Him. We are simply stewards and managers of His resources. Why is this so important to realize and accept this?
1) It will make us do a better job of handling the finances that have been entrusted to us. Far too many people struggle financially today, even though we live in one of the most properous nations on earth. And it's not always because we don't have sufficient income. Most of the time, it's because we haven't learned how to handle what we've been given; i.e. doing it His Way.

2) It will also cause us to have the right perspective and attitude regarding all the finances and resources in our care. What happens when something breaks down or is stolen? Do we get angry and bitter? Does it steal our joy? Our peace? It probably wouldn't if we correctly recognized that it was never OURS to begin with.

When we have the right perspective about all the money and possessions that's in our care, all kinds of decisions (like saving, investing, and spending... and not just giving) will become spiritual decisions. We begin to pray not, "Lord, what should I do with my money?"... But rather, "Lord, what would You have me do with YOUR money."

A GREAT SUPER BOWL!

What a great Super Bowl last night. The Colts beat the Bears 29 to 17! Go COLTS!! But not only was it great in that respect, but it was also a great night for the kingdom of God. Last night Touch the Heart Youth Ministries had our annual Super Bowl Party/Youth Outreach in our town. We had a great turn out of both students and adult volunteers. I believe the final count for students was like 135, which I believe was a record for us. The kids had a lot of fun playing basketball, volleyball, X-Box, cards, etc. Then at half time, our guest speaker testified to the love and saving grace of Almighty God. And when the time came for the students to respond to the truth, there were quite a few who felt led to surrender to Christ... some for the very first time, others in a renewed commitment. Of course, only God knows the sincereity of these public decisions... which time will reveal, but we praise God for what occurred.

Immediate Judgment

One of the worst judgments that God could ever do to man is to remove His Spirit from us. In the book of Romans, Ch.1, the Apostle Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) writes that the "wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men..."

But why is His wrath being revealed? Because even though all men know of God, the vast majority do not glorify Him as God nor give thanks to Him. Rather than worshiping and serving Him as Lord, they worship and serve themselves. We hurry about with our lives doing what we want. We don't stop to give Him thanks or credit for the wonderful blessings we enjoy; in fact, we think we deserve them. That's why we get so terribly upset when things go bad. But not only are we not thankful, we also fail to yield ourselves over to Him as Lord. Men don't want another authority in their life; we have too many already. Instead, man is determined to be his own lord, his own king... he will do what he wants, when he wants!

And what is God's immediate action to this at times? Romans 1:24-28 basically tells us that God gives us exactly what we want. Three different times in these verses, the Word of God states, "God gave them over...." But gave them over to what? God gives us over to ourselves! Since we don't want to have anything to do with God, God gives us over to ourselves and allows our depraved hearts to do and go exactly as it desires. And the downward spiral of our wicked hearts set free to do as it wants takes us to unimagined depths of wickedness and depravity. And the results... all kinds of sexual impurities, the degrading of our bodies, unnatural affections, shameful lusts, costly perversions, and absolutely warped thinking.

"Oh dear God, do whatever necessary to keep me in Your will... fill me with guilt, burden me with conviction, lame my physical body, crush my spirit... but never, never take Your Spirit from me. Don't ever, ever leave me to myself. In Jesus' name... Amen."

Back from Winter Conference

Myself along with 3 other adults and 10 students just got back last night from a winter conference in Gatlinburg, TN hosted by Crossroads Worldwide. And boy was it a great conference!

First of all, God blessed every aspect of our trip... from the drive down and back to the hotel rooms to the weather... just everything.

And second, the staff of Crossroads did an absolutely phenominal job as always of hosting a great Christian conference. The worship was awesome and the speakers were powerful!

And lastly, I really believe God did a very special work in the hearts of some of our young people. One young lady was saved... another repented of hard, bitter feelings and recommitted her life to Christ... another repented of being a silent Christian...and others were exposed and challenged to go to a higher level of Christian discipleship.

It was just a wonderful time of fellowship and discipleship with some really great young people!

If any youth pastor out there stumbles onto this blog... let me just say that I STRONGLY recommend the ministry of Crossroads Worldwide founded by Clayton King. I've been going to their events going on 6 years now, and I've never once been disappointed. They're faithful, humble, trustworthy servants of God... and they are a wonderful blessing to the Church in this generation!

First Time at an Air Show!

Today, Andrea and I took Caleb to the Cleveland Air Show. Actually, we all went thanks to an old high school friend of Andrea’s, a guy by the name of Brian Collins. Brian is actually on the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels team. And because he is such a nice guy, he gave Andrea and I free V.I.P tickets to the air show.

Today was probably was one of the coolest things I’ve done in a long time… I loved it!... Every minute of it! We were able to see all kinds of airplanes and jets, not only up close, but also in air doing all kinds of terrific stunts. We saw this one plane (the A-10 Thunderbolt, I believe) simulate dropping bombs. And we saw this big rig truck that was powered by 3 jet engines… it could do a quarter mile in like 3.6 seconds!! Freaky! We were even able to see the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights. Wow! How do they jump out of a plane from 12,000 feet, and land with such precision and accuracy??!! Very cool!

But the absolute coolest were of course the Blue Angels. Oh man, they were just terrific… I was almost speechless. All I could say to Andrea after every stunt was “Awesome.” I just don’t know how in the world those guys could do the things they could do. And believe me, I’m not over exaggerating with my response here either. If I had been single and 18-20 years old, I’d probably went over to the booth and enlisted. I really can’t explain it. It made me proud to be an American… proud to have such fine military personnel… and a little envious that I wasn’t directly involved. It was just awesome!! If you’ve never been to an air show, then you need you to see these guys perform… they were amazing. Thanks, Brian so much!! I’ll remember this Labor Day for a long time!

p.s. Caleb was awesome too! Not one time did he throw a fit or get angry… and without a nap from 9 am – 5 pm!! He was frightened a couple of times, but overall he couldn’t have been better. Thank you, Jesus.

Glad Its All Over

Well, it's almost the end of July and all my woes with Kidney Stones are over... for now. (Though I hope for good!) I don't wish those things on anyone. The first procedure wasn't so bad, b/c I was completely knocked out. But the second procedure, where they had to go in and remove the stint... for that I wasn't knocked out, though I wish I had been. That was no fun at all!! But it's all over now, and fully back in the saddle full swing.

I must say that because of this, I have made at least one really huge change in my life. I use to never drink water... I loved Pepsi and Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper, etc., etc. way too much so I never drank water. Well, that is no longer the case. Besides my coffee in the morning and my glass of milk at night, about all I drink now is water with just a tad of lemon juice. My dad told me that pure lemon juice was good for the kidneys and stuff, so I've learned to like it. So, who knows... maybe haven given up Pop I won't have any more stones. I sure hope so!!

A New Appreciation for Health Care Costs

Just recently I discovered that I have a kidney stone... and let me tell you, these things are no laughing matter! So, of course I had to go see a Dr. and find out how to take care of this thing. The latest and most advanced procedure that he wanted to do was to use some sort of shockwave to break it up so I could pass it. However, the nice little price tag for that procedure was only $12,000!

Now, normally, with conventional medical insurance that would be taken care of, but our family does not have conventional medical insurance b/c we simply can't affor it. We do belong to a group that helps protect us from outragious medical bills, but it's not insurance; technically we're classified as self-pay. So, I didn't want to go that route.

So, I'm going to go with the second option which is much more involved, but is cheaper for some reason (which I really do not understand). They're actually going to go in with a scope and a lazer and bust it up that way, so that I can pass it. It will be done as an outpatient surgery. And here's where I get to the point of this blog. To even schedule the surgery, I have to put down $500 just to bring the lazer to the hospital. Now, fortunately, I think we're going to be able to handle that by the grace of God.

But what about those people who can't come up with $500 on the spot? It really hasn't been that long ago when we couldn't have done that either. What are they suppose to do? Would a guy just have to suffer for months with a kidney stone until he could raise the money to get the lazer?

I don't have any solutions to this health care crisis that we're currently in, but I do have a new appreciation for it. I hope that the leaders of this country that we put so much hope in, will be able to come up with a solution.

Is the Church too Feminine Today?

I was reading a very interesting article yesterday in a certain magazine about missions and church growth, and the article was about the how so many churches are below average when it comes men attending and getting involved. This particular article that I read put forth the idea that our churches have become too feminine and too soft for the typical man. And one does have to question, when so many other religions do not seem to have a problem drawing the masculine side of the population, why are we, as Christians, having such a hard time?

The author of the article mentioned a couple of examples of how we have become too feminine. First, most churches and services seem to be focused toward Grandma and all the ladies, not only in decoration, but also in the style and planning of the typical service.

Second, pastors seem to focus way too much on the soft empathetic side of Christ. Week after week, we present this soft, loving Jesus. What about Jesus' masculine side? Like driving out the money changers from the temple with whips and dying on the cross, taking all the beatings without uttering a word. The author even grieved over the praise songs that are so prevalent... songs he calls "Jesus is my boyfriend" music.

Finally, he mentions how we have subtley changed our terminology to be more feminine. For example the very bold and masculine, "Follow Me!" has become "Come have a personal relationship with Me." Who is that going to draw quicker... the typical man or a lady?

I want to know what you think! Do you think the typical church is too feminine, too soft? How might you make it different? Please Comment... I'm very interested in what you have to say.