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.
January 3, 2010
Have You Prayed for your Country Today? 10
…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:10
I was reminded of this phrase earlier this week. Imagine: God’s will, being done on earth, as it already has been done in heaven.
No pain or suffering, no scarcity, no difficulties, no ugliness. Not just the good things in life, but only the better than the best things in life. In great abundance, as well.
That’s heaven. That’s God’s kingdom, God’s will. That eternal place where most of us reading this will enter. The eternal place where God wants all to enter, but He understands that’s our individual choice, not His to make.
There will come a day when America will become irrelevant, and a new world order will replace it. That may be this year, 100 years from now, or some other time. It's not for any of us to know, except it will happen in God’s perfect time. We can pray all we want for God to heal our land – and pray we should – but we all must understand God’s answer may be “No, not this time, I have something bigger and better for you”.
When we pray for America, let’s also pray for our Lord’s return, and His will be done, under His terms, not ours. The latter is greater than the former.
© 2009 David Etenburn. Non - commercial reproduction permitted
January 1, 2010
Have You Prayed for your Country Today? 9
Prayer Update: Our prayers are being answered. Give glory and thanks to God!
Over the past year, with the apparent public and substantial congressional majority, our government has attempted to impose an anti Christian, pro communist agenda on America. With few faith based supporters remaining in Congress, the only thing left for Christians to do was pray, and peacefully protest. And pray and protest we have done. Praying not just for America, but for our leaders as well.
Right from the start, laws and executive orders were passed that go against our US Constitution, against God, and against what our founding fathers wanted for our country. These politicians have repeatedly exchanged the truth for lies, called evil what has always been right, and declaring right that which always has been evil. (Isaiah 5:20) They turn challenges and mild problems into crisis’s that “we the people cannot handle” and only the government can solve. And they proceed to attempt to finish the destruction of the land of opportunity, and turn the land of the free into the land of the oppressed. But they cannot touch the home of the brave.
The 1000 + page stimulus bill is being exposed for the government control sham that it is. Same goes for the cap and trade legislation. The global warming crisis has just been identified as an international hoax designed to shake down the wealthy for more money and power. And support for the 2000+ page health care bill is grinding to a halt, as more and more Americans take to the streets protesting this government attempt to control the masses via “health care legislation” which has more to do with government control than anything else. Better still, the supporters of this program are now fighting amongst themselves, turning the congressional process into a poor "Three Stooges" movie.
But American citizens have been stepping up, praying, and letting their Lord and God take over. The result? All of this aggressive legislation gets gummed up, the supporters of the health care legislation start arguing amongst themselves so much it may possibly fail, our currency remains strong when it shouldn’t, and our president, as popular as he is, is losing support even among his cabinet, his congress, and the political base that put him in power. Psalm 7:14-16.
Even the terrorists can't blow up a plane right! The attempt to down a plane over Detroit on Christmas day should have been a huge success for Al-Qaida. But the detonator failed. Everything else worked for the terrorists except for this one detail. Call it what you want, but I say this has the hand of God Almighty written all over it!
This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. Both political parties are guilty of this mess. But our God is slow to anger, and abundant in love. He can and will forgive those who repent and turn to Him. He can repair the damage man has created; be it economically, environmentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually. Continue to pray, praising God, give thanks to God; encourage your neighbors who are lost and broken, and it may be possible that God will hear our prayers and heal our land. It's never too late, as long as we don't quit.
And what if we fail, and lose? Don’t worry. The same God we pray to, the same God that saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Nebuchadnezzar and his fiery furnace has promised to protect us from eternal calamity. We may lose our life on earth, but we’ll gain treasure in heaven. Remain faithful. God is with us, and if God is with us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31; Psalms 118:6)
© 2009 David Etenburn. Non - commercial reproduction permitted
Over the past year, with the apparent public and substantial congressional majority, our government has attempted to impose an anti Christian, pro communist agenda on America. With few faith based supporters remaining in Congress, the only thing left for Christians to do was pray, and peacefully protest. And pray and protest we have done. Praying not just for America, but for our leaders as well.
Right from the start, laws and executive orders were passed that go against our US Constitution, against God, and against what our founding fathers wanted for our country. These politicians have repeatedly exchanged the truth for lies, called evil what has always been right, and declaring right that which always has been evil. (Isaiah 5:20) They turn challenges and mild problems into crisis’s that “we the people cannot handle” and only the government can solve. And they proceed to attempt to finish the destruction of the land of opportunity, and turn the land of the free into the land of the oppressed. But they cannot touch the home of the brave.
The 1000 + page stimulus bill is being exposed for the government control sham that it is. Same goes for the cap and trade legislation. The global warming crisis has just been identified as an international hoax designed to shake down the wealthy for more money and power. And support for the 2000+ page health care bill is grinding to a halt, as more and more Americans take to the streets protesting this government attempt to control the masses via “health care legislation” which has more to do with government control than anything else. Better still, the supporters of this program are now fighting amongst themselves, turning the congressional process into a poor "Three Stooges" movie.
But American citizens have been stepping up, praying, and letting their Lord and God take over. The result? All of this aggressive legislation gets gummed up, the supporters of the health care legislation start arguing amongst themselves so much it may possibly fail, our currency remains strong when it shouldn’t, and our president, as popular as he is, is losing support even among his cabinet, his congress, and the political base that put him in power. Psalm 7:14-16.
Even the terrorists can't blow up a plane right! The attempt to down a plane over Detroit on Christmas day should have been a huge success for Al-Qaida. But the detonator failed. Everything else worked for the terrorists except for this one detail. Call it what you want, but I say this has the hand of God Almighty written all over it!
This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. Both political parties are guilty of this mess. But our God is slow to anger, and abundant in love. He can and will forgive those who repent and turn to Him. He can repair the damage man has created; be it economically, environmentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually. Continue to pray, praising God, give thanks to God; encourage your neighbors who are lost and broken, and it may be possible that God will hear our prayers and heal our land. It's never too late, as long as we don't quit.
And what if we fail, and lose? Don’t worry. The same God we pray to, the same God that saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Nebuchadnezzar and his fiery furnace has promised to protect us from eternal calamity. We may lose our life on earth, but we’ll gain treasure in heaven. Remain faithful. God is with us, and if God is with us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31; Psalms 118:6)
© 2009 David Etenburn. Non - commercial reproduction permitted
It's God's Money - 4
Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never forsake you. "Hebrews 13:5; New Living Translation
One of the things I have learned about many “self made millionaires” is that their motivation has been more about serving others, and less about earning money. Not only are they passionate in their pursuits in life, making their ability to earn money seem like child’s play; they are gracious; appreciative for others that serve them, and are positive and encouraging to one another; be they peers, mentors, servants or the indigent. They give willingly and freely to their church and/ or charities, open their homes to friends, colleagues and business associates, and often get involved in community service projects. Money and wealth is not the issue with them, and yet this money seems to attach itself to them.
How many of us have jobs that make us a good sum of money, yet we hate the job? How many of us have poor paying jobs that we like? Guess what? The worker with poor earnings is usually happier than the rich fat cat! Furthermore, if you are happy and passionate with your work; if you are content with your earnings and your lifestyle, and you appreciate what you do have, God will lift you up to a higher position, you will have more of everything you want or need (whether you like it or not!); and you too will be more appreciative of those around you, you will give more to God and your community, and share your home more often with others. And then, you will be truly blessed – not necessarily financially – but you will be blessed, and in ways greater than expected or even originally thought of.
It’s not about the money…it’s about serving God and mankind with a joyful heart, the best you can.
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