Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7 New Living Translation
Most Americans are in debt, over $30,000 per household. America is in debt. Over 12 Trillion dollars in debt, plus future obligations totaling another 102,000,000,000,000 more! These debts will continue to double every 7 – 10 years at the current pace, which should actually accelerate.
As a result, we are indeed, slaves. Slaves to banks, foreign countries and their governments, and as a nation we are being forced do other nations’ bidding, across town and around the world. Imagine not being able to protact ourselves from China because China threatens us with economic retaliations that would be worse than a real, direct war against China. It is getting harder and harder for us to sell our government bonds to others, for everyone fears the dollar will be worthless in a few years. China and Japan both have recently stated they will no longer buy any of our bonds.
Because our now godless government continues to tax, print and spend like drunken sailors, we must learn to work more and live with less, if we are to survive this economic mess they have created for us.
First: Surrender to God. Consider all you have and all you own is truly “on loan from God”. You won’t be needing any of it when God invites you to live in His house anyway, so intellectually speaking, let go of it now.
Second: Tithe. It’s God’s money, he has just loaned it to you, right? Give the glory to God.
Third: reduce and eliminate all debt. Save 10% of your income to buy a home (a fourplex is preferred, so you can live in one unit, rent the other three units out) with at least 10% (20% is preferred) down.
Fourth: Save and invest at least 10% of your income. This is money that should work for you, so you will not have to always work for money. I have already mentioned in previous blogs where to invest; refer to “It’s God’s Money – 2” for these ideas.
It’s that simple…or is it??? To do these things, you must either work more hours or get a better paying job (10% plus unemployment out there and here I am saying these things, but this is where your faith is tested) or you must reduce your spending.
Negotiate with your landlord if you pay rent. Many property managers are accepting lower offers on rent if that means a good tenant does not move out. Find a less expensive place to live, or take in a roommate. Reduce your living expenses.
Buy food in bulk, and share perishable foods with others.
Reduce driving a car, by taking a bicycle or bus to work. Eliminate the car entirely if you can, or reduce the number of cars you own and drive.
Shop at thrift stores, buying used merchandise instead of new. Be careful, it’s easy to buy poor quality goods here, where you may need to replace almost immediately after you buy them.
Monitor and manage your utilities. Do you really need all those cable channels; the fancy, $500 cell phone; and the super broadband internet connection? (OK, you might need the internet connection). Can you reduce your heating and light bill? Maybe you should turn off the computer at night!
Can you eat at home more and at the fast food joint less? One meal eaten out per week usually costs $600 extra per year. And many of us eat out 3-5 times a week! Three coffee drinks per week cost the same…and some of us buy that many in a day! Do the math.
Surrender. Tithe. Save. Invest. Prosper. And do all of this to the glory of God. We did this after the Civil War, so it can be done. We can do this. We can do all things in Christ who strengthens us.
© 2009 David Etenburn. Non - commercial reproduction permitted.
February 7, 2010
Have You Prayed for your Country Today? 11
God is at work…again!
A terrorist sneaks onto a plane with 289 people on board. Not armed with any visible weapons, just a few ounces of a high explosive stuck in his underwear. Not enough to raise suspicion at the airport, but enough to do the job: to crash a passenger airplane over a major US city.
It almost worked. The airport security in Nigeria, having no idea what to look for, let terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallabon the plane. After all, just because somebody in our government had been warned he was a terrorist does not mean everybody else on the international counter terrorist front got the same memo. We all understand communication between government agencies, especially international agencies, is difficult if not impossible. Bomb sniffing dogs could have picked something up on this thug, as could have other explosive detection devices, yet nothing was done to stop him from boarding the plane.
While on decent, over suburban Detroit, after putting his explosive together in a restroom, he returned to his seat and tried to detonate it. It should have worked; but instead, a small fire was started and quickly put out, passengers subdued the terrorist, and another attempt on America was thwarted.
But wait. By all accounts, that plane should have never made it to Detroit Metro Airport. It should have gone down in flames - in an open field, or in a shopping district, industrial park or residential area – where specifically we won’t know. What we do know it that it took an act of God to turn this disaster into another wake up call for us. What we do know is that the Lord our God spared the lives of at least 289 people; not just God fearing Christians and Jews, but people of all faiths, including Moslems and Atheists. The detonator, you see, should have worked. There was no apparent reason for it to fail.
Calling this anything short of a terrorist attack is foolish. Calling this a failed terrorist attack is even more foolish. Al-Qaida succeeded here, and our government’s solution is to claim that it failed, and put in place more defense. God is ignored though all of this by our government; fortunately, America’s citizenry doesn’t ignore God.
In reality, all of us should be giving praise and glory to God for rescuing so many people from certain death. As we continue to pray for our nation, let us also give praises to the Lord for our deliverance from this and all other future attacks on America.
A terrorist sneaks onto a plane with 289 people on board. Not armed with any visible weapons, just a few ounces of a high explosive stuck in his underwear. Not enough to raise suspicion at the airport, but enough to do the job: to crash a passenger airplane over a major US city.
It almost worked. The airport security in Nigeria, having no idea what to look for, let terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallabon the plane. After all, just because somebody in our government had been warned he was a terrorist does not mean everybody else on the international counter terrorist front got the same memo. We all understand communication between government agencies, especially international agencies, is difficult if not impossible. Bomb sniffing dogs could have picked something up on this thug, as could have other explosive detection devices, yet nothing was done to stop him from boarding the plane.
While on decent, over suburban Detroit, after putting his explosive together in a restroom, he returned to his seat and tried to detonate it. It should have worked; but instead, a small fire was started and quickly put out, passengers subdued the terrorist, and another attempt on America was thwarted.
But wait. By all accounts, that plane should have never made it to Detroit Metro Airport. It should have gone down in flames - in an open field, or in a shopping district, industrial park or residential area – where specifically we won’t know. What we do know it that it took an act of God to turn this disaster into another wake up call for us. What we do know is that the Lord our God spared the lives of at least 289 people; not just God fearing Christians and Jews, but people of all faiths, including Moslems and Atheists. The detonator, you see, should have worked. There was no apparent reason for it to fail.
Calling this anything short of a terrorist attack is foolish. Calling this a failed terrorist attack is even more foolish. Al-Qaida succeeded here, and our government’s solution is to claim that it failed, and put in place more defense. God is ignored though all of this by our government; fortunately, America’s citizenry doesn’t ignore God.
In reality, all of us should be giving praise and glory to God for rescuing so many people from certain death. As we continue to pray for our nation, let us also give praises to the Lord for our deliverance from this and all other future attacks on America.
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