Personal Finance

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalm 1:3

First of all, let me assure you that the idea behind today’s article has little or nothing to do with anyone I have talked with in the past weeks or months. It was prompted long before any of you were late with a payment or found yourself in financial difficulty. I have been mulling this for a year now. CFC families are great but are still typical of any large representation in that they struggle periodically with the things that most people struggle with. Finance is just one of them.

We all have experienced lean times at some point in our lives. A whole world of reasons can put someone in that squeeze. Some are unavoidable. The bad news/good news, however, is that many situations are avoidable with proper planning and discipline. I may have lost some of you already at the mere mention of those words, “planning” and “discipline.” For those of you still with me, I will get that other nasty word out on the table right away as well: “budget.” Okay, that is about as painful as we are going to get. The rest is not near as shocking or dreadful.

We discovered the joy and freedom of budgeting quite a few years ago. Yes, there is a bright side to this discussion. The average person lives with a bogeyman in their closet. He is red with horns, has an awful grimace, and will steal everything not nailed down in a heartbeat if he gets out of the closet. His name is “Shortfall.” Every time the car breaks down unexpectedly, a doctor bill comes crashing in by surprise, or the heat pump dies, old “Shortfall” awakens with a vengeance, breaks into the room and raises pure havoc. When times are good, folks still live in the fear of old “Shortfall” and even small pleasures such as dinner and a movie can be laden with guilt and fear of our old nemesis. “What happens if tomorrow should bring a startling and sudden need for this $35 we are spending on our night out?” Anyone who has lived from paycheck to paycheck knows the fear of sudden reversals. It stalks even the purchasing of clothes or new shoes for the kids. The ever present question is, “Can we afford this?” to which there are no answers.

Budgeters, on the other hand, have a pretty good idea how to answer that question and keep “Shortfall” safely contained. They realistically and thoroughly know their income and expenses and have made a commitment to live within their means. It is always amazing how many folks with six figure incomes do not know either of these nor have they made that commitment. And old “Shortfall” continues to make their life miserable. Most of us, however, are instead tempted by the old excuse, “we don’t make enough money to be able to budget.” Whoever the folks are that feel that way are exactly the folks who have the most to gain by learning to budget. It was a wonderful feeling for us to know at Christmas time that we had $300 to spend because we had saved it and that all our other obligations were covered. Guilt free shopping. How much better does it get?

My prayer for all of us is that we will be that tree of blessing that prospers even in the midst of drought. I pray each family will have three months living expenses in the bank. I pray we will be able to give generously to the Kingdom out of our carefully husbanded resources and to our brother’s need. I pray we will be known as people who pay their bills on time and in full as a witness to God’s work in our lives. To learn how to do this, I urge you to consider attending a course in Financial Freedom. Taking even some simple steps towards financial freedom can change your life.

Total Depravity

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. - Psalms 51:5 NIV

Starting points are so important. And so we stand at yet another one. As much as we wish at times that time would stand still, that our children remain children, that their cuteness and innocence be preserved forever, they will continue to grow and press on to maturity. Each school year is a recognition of life and growth pushing us on into new territory where we have not been before. As you prepare to lay down another large stone in your children’s lives, I pray you may be at peace with that and that we all may be equal to the task. We are moving on. God help us. Amen.

Another starting point that matters in a huge way is our concept of human nature. We start from a viewpoint that says that all of us have sinned and have gone astray. There is none perfect, no not one. Romans tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We believe in the absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit for Salvation because of the exceeding sinfulness of human nature. This comes straight from our statement of faith. It is known as the doctrine of total depravity; that man in his natural state is totally depraved. This language may be frightening but simply means that our natural bent, our original condition upon birth, is sinful. We are inclined from birth to selfishness, slothfulness, deceit, and defensiveness, among other things.

Our founding fathers, acting from a Christian consensus, believed this and so created a Constitution that did not entrust power to any one person or branch of government. This is the foundation of our system of checks and balances. The French Revolution fell sway to another way of thinking; that man in his natural condition was good, but that man’s weakness and corruption was due to society and all the damage it inflicted upon the young from birth. Rousseau and others popularized this viewpoint and attempted to build systems of government upon it. They failed. Ours is still here, though this optimistic viewpoint of the nature of man keeps returning in the wishful minds of people who are extremely uncomfortable with the whole concept of sin.

I spoke last week about the travails of our public school system. I believe what we are witnessing is an attempt to bring about a system that will produce upon command students that will learn, absorb, and graduate. Failure is not an option. It must be the system that is wrong: not the student or the home from which they came.

It has been said that never was there more evidence for any Christian doctrine than the natural depravity of man, but never was there a Christian doctrine that was more unpopular and despised. We love your children and think they are sweet, but we also believe that they will require training and discipline to develop the potential within them. Their natural bent is not to be studious or organized or even respectful of those who wish to teach them. This may be a dour perspective, but it is a huge advantage in beginning any educational adventure because it happens to coincide with reality. We enter this arena of struggle full knowing that it is an uphill fight from the start. In order to win it, we must be armed not only with God’s love which sees the potential in each life but also the rod of truth, the word of God, which is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit…a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12). Add in the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit and you have a potent mix for success. Marshalling these, we have a great starting point for a great year.

Brave New World

I am also including a piece I have submitted to our local newspaper in response to a fellow who wants to legalize assisted suicide for the elderly. It might not make a whole lot of sense if you have not read his, but I include it at no extra charge. Feel free to respond anytime. Thankfully, your rotten tomatoes cannot travel through cyberspace.....

Al Westerfield is not alone, unfortunately, among those who in a fit of Brave New World mentality propose suicide as a surefire cure for the ills of old age. No, there are no laws against suicide. Prosecution poses serious problems. And suicide certainly meets all the criterion of purely utilitarian reasoning. I have a great book for those who are enthralled with such thinking entitled The Nazi Conscience by Claudia Koonz. It details all sorts of utilitarian solutions for social ills, all imposed with great ulterior aims and braced by philosophic arguments of the highest order.

Anyone making a case for legalizing suicide must first dismiss the antiquated values of the Christian faith. Westerfield does this, as many before him, by hiding behind the flimsy veil of the doctrine of “separation of church and state.” No one, we are told, should be allowed to impose their religious beliefs on all. In one fell swoop, he dismisses all Christians from participating in the Democratic process because they are tainted with religious belief. Effectively disenfranchised, we evidently should be content with allowing only atheists and agnostics to form the laws of our nation. However, slavery could very well still exist if it were not for the abolitionists who led the fight to impose their Christian morality upon the South.

The idea of legalizing assisted suicide seems so innocuous when confined to discussions of the terminally ill. This animal does not observe nice fences, however, and quickly invades the body politic creating all sorts of malicious mischief. Eager heirs are always standing ready to jump the gun. The medical profession can easily be corrupted to make decisions of life and death based upon the bottom line. Our culture can soon be seduced to evaluate life in terms of “meaningfulness” versus “cost to society.” It is a slippery slope leading back to the Spartan culture of old where babies were inspected upon birth and the weak thrown off cliffs.

Most insinuating of all, this talk of the “nobility of suicide” becomes a black hole that sucks those suffering from depression, no matter what age or medical condition, into its irreversible grasp. I have lost three friends to suicide already. Only one was suffering a terminal illness. Depression is a disease of worthlessness, a feeling that one is a burden to family, friends, and society. I am glad my 93 year old mother did not read Mr. Westerfield’s article. She is making a valiant effort to cling to her dignity and sense of worth through her declining days. The last thing she needs is a voice telling her to end it and save us all a lot of trouble. How cruel.

Assisted suicide and the mentality supporting it puts man in the role of playing God. That is a burden no man was meant to bear. We aren’t doing all that well at running a County Commission let alone take on the task of deciding who is meant to die and when.