the gate

i’ve always thought that is we took the Law and Grace side by side and voted to see which life is harder, i would vote for grace.  i’m not referring to salvation necessarily, because fulfilling the Law to “earn” salvation is not just hard but impossible.  but in the sense of “lifestyle” for lack of better terms, i think grace is much harder.

see, with the Law, we had clearly drawn out rules and expectations that we could enumerate and follow.  for example:

• do not murder - pretty easy (for me at least)
• observe the sabbath - pull up your bark-o-lounger (sp?) and a coke and watch football all day.  what a sacrifice…
• give a tithe of your money to the Lord - grab your calculator and checkbook, not too hard

however, with grace, we have to listen to the Holy Spirit.  we have to consider our character and our values and what is truly important to us.  consider the opposite of the above passages:

• do not be angry at your brother - not so easy is it?
• live in community and fellowship with your brothers and sisters - that can get messy and difficult, right?
• give generously - i don’t necessarily consider 10% generous, it’s more like a calculated expenditure

in 2 corinthians chapter 8 paul teaches the Church about giving generously.  he uses the example of the macedonian churches that “in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality”.  they gave “according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord”.  and trip on this:  “…begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints”.

i’m pretty sure that the macedonian churches had moved on from the tithe at this point.  they were looking for ways to use their earthly resources to support the work of the Gospel and to support the saints.

paul uses a reference to the days in the wilderness where He fed His people with manna in v15 as if to remind them that the Lord will provide for them.

we shouldn’t be storing up our treasures here on this earth.  that stuff rots by morning.  but we should be living in a way that allows God to give us our daily bread, figuratively and literally.

i’m not speaking against all posessions necessarily, i own a house myself.  but our value to support the Gospel work and the saints is evident in how we choose to spend our money.

in v8 paul says “i am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also”.  how we use our money says alot about what is truly important to us.

giving according to the Law = not so hard.  giving generously according to grace = not so easy.

where are your treasures stored?

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That’s what those of us in California have an opportunity to do next Tuesday.

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“There’s a hole in the boat! Let’s
punch another hole to let the water out!”
- California politicians

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If you are thinking of not voting next Tuesday, you should reconsider. Does the firefighter ad have you concerned? Know that the Sacramento fat cats want to scare a yes vote out of you. In the old TV series, Dragnet, Sgt. Joe Friday is famous for saying, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.” I’m no expert, but there are some experts and analysts trying to make sure we’re in the know. You can decide who’s giving us the facts.

In a nutshell, here’s what you get to vote on next week.

In total, if advocates get their way, every family in California will be paying nearly $4,000 on average in higher taxes. And for what? Simply put, the package of measures on the ballot does not solve the structural problems of our state…. - Jon Fleischman, The Flash Report

Regarding the threat to let California burn (slash the fire fighting budget), Dan Walters, writing for the Sacramento Bee, says,

Proposition 1A, which is Schwarzenegger’s highest priority, has absolutely nothing to do with this year’s budget or the 2009-10 version that will go into effect July 1. If it’s rejected, some new taxes would short-circuit after a couple of years, so its financial impact would come then, not this year.
[ . . . ]
But does that mean [failure to pass these measures] would result in massive cutbacks in firefighting capability, implicitly leaving homes to burn? Not on your sweet bippy. No governor would entertain such neglect and Schwarzenegger knows it. Whatever else might be sacrificed — schools, healthcare, welfare — the state would spend what’s needed to fight wildfires.

Here’s a few thoughts from Americans for Tax Reform:

Make no mistake; California does not have a budget shortfall.  California has a gross overspending problem.  Since 1991, state spending in the Golden State has skyrocketed by almost 300 percent.

Do not be fooled by the marketing. Prop 1A does not even come close to providing an effective spending cap. Even worse, the so called “rainy day fund” that 1A creates is nothing more than a slush fund for the spending interests that have put a great state on the road to bankruptcy.

The politicians created this crisis.  They want voters to vote themselves guilty and to vote to punish themselves with higher taxes.

Ben Zycher, a senior fellow with the Pacific Research Institute, says Prop 1A allows the governor to use the budget stabilization fund any way he wants, without having to answer to anyone.

The language allows the governor to suspend or reduce transfers into the BSF for any fiscal year upon issuance of an executive order, and there is no limit on that power; given the spending pressures that exert themselves upon any California governor, it is likely that such executive orders will become the norm rather than the exception.

Just remember, the Sacramento gang that got us into this deep hole wants to borrow and spend their way out of debt. That’s what caused this mess in the first place. What’s that old saying? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.

From the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Prop. 1A Fact Sheet:

PROPOSITION 1A IS A $16 BILLION TAX INCREASE

PROPOSITION 1A IS PHONY BUDGET REFORM

PROPOSITION 1A = VOTER DECEPTION!

You can vote yes, and give Sacramento more of your hard earned money. Or you can vote no and tell Sacramento to manage their spending just like you have to do.

Americans for Tax Reform opposes Props. 1A - 1F.

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“Yes, I’m going to mail my credit card to Sacramento. They wouldn’t ask for it if they didn’t need it more than I do.”
- a California voter

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there was a great famine in samaria america; and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver dollars, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver dollars. as the king president of israel america was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “help, my lord, O king president!” he said, “if the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? from the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” and the king president said to her, “what is the matter with you?” and she answered, ”this woman said to me, ‘give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ”so we boiled my son and ate him; and i said to her on the next day, ‘give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”  (2 kings 6:25-29)

america’s famine is so harsh, i ate my son yesterday.  now i’m angry at steve because i let him eat G’s leg because he promised that today he’d be cooking ben up for dinner.  but i heard he stashed ben up in seattle somewhere.  what a jerk!

** tongue WAAAY in cheek **

the famine in samaria was so harsh that they had resorted to eating their own children.  how horrible is that?  somehow, our economic situation seems trivial at best.  perhaps our descent will take us very deep, but we’re a long way from this level of desperation.  we need a bit of a perspective realignment.

now, i’m trying to remember a time where i have had a conversation about the economic status of the U.S.A. that has involved a concerted effort on my part to offer hope.  i share my faith regularly, but with this particular topic i get caught up in policy and whatevers.  i have even had times to share about real need from my experiences in india.  but i am becoming convinced that the Church (capital “C”) needs to take this opportunity to present hope.  these are hopeless times.  people need hope, not a stable stock market.

will you join me in reminding people that amidst the trials that israel faced, God remained faithful to His people?

psalm 23, although it is about a different topic, seems very applicable to me right now. 

even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (psalm 23:4)

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i must admit, proverbs 30 turned out to be a bit enigmatic for me.  we read it last night at house church and it’s a rough transition from solomon’s practical advice for living for 29 chapters to the content of chapter 30.

however, in the beginning of chapter 30 is something really cool, a beautiful prayer that i have been mulling on some more today.

proverbs 30: 7-9  two things i asked of You, do not refuse me before I die: keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that i not be full and deny You and say, “who is the Lord?” or that i not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.

how many times have you seen the noses of the rich and famous held high in the air, advocates for everything under the sun except that which relates to God?  john mayer says on his recent live album that he made things happen for himself, and then follows it with am emphatic repetition; “FOR MYSELF“.  how quickly our arrogance and ego can push God out of the picture.

then the other end of the spectrum yields countless men and women whose parents try to tell them about God, yet they end up in lives of crime to get out of the ghetto.  think jay-z, think super bowl winner santonio holmes who was a drug dealer not so long ago.

the author stops short of condoning theft, yet he acknowledges it.  it happens, people buckle under the pressure of financial issues and other things and make decisions that way fall short of moral, ethical and/or godly.  what would you do if you were about to sit your children down to a dinner that does not exist?  the question is clearly rhetorical because i know you don’t want to answer that, nor do i.  we can talk about how we would trust God, but would be able to follow through?  (careful what you say, the rooster may crow on you!).  i can only say that i will try to be obedient, and i pray that we all will stand firm if it comes to that.

i find great comfort in this prayer.  i have often asked God to spare me from poverty, perhaps out of selfishness but also out of a fear of how i would handle it.  and i have also asked him to spare me from riches since i know the tendencies of my heart to want to take credit for God’s blessings!

in the spirit of wanting to grow as people of prayer, this is a prayer that i will pray for myself and my family today.

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i recently read an article about the pastor of a very large and prominent church (which i won’t name so this won’t be perceived as a bashing session) whose church’s financial records had been audited.  he was found to have spent over $120K of church funds on personal items including jewelry, auto parts and family vacations.

he denies any wrongdoing.

um.  are you serious?  i can understand if you mistakenly pulled out the wrong credit card once or twice at the market when stocking up on celery and red vines.  but c’mon now.

he worked out a deal with the church to pay back the money over the next 4 years.  he should have enough to pay that back since he receives a 6 figure salary and has no mortgage (he lives in the $2M parsonage that the church owns).

yep, 6 figures.  2 mil.  I said it.

here is an exerpt from the article that really troubled me.

One longtime member, who asked for anonymity to avoid retribution, said she had hoped that Hunter would have clearly apologized for his inappropriate credit card use rather than for the embarrassment caused the church.
…
Another member, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was distressed by accounts of Hunter’s spending when many of his congregants were poor.

“You are eating, wearing and driving our money,” she said. “I am very hurt.”

OUCH.

there are a few things that i believe qualify a man from removal from a ministry position.  this happens to be one of them.  how does a man stand on the pulpit on a sunday morning preaching that we must help the poor, and then jump on a plane to the bahamas on the church’s dime that afternoon?

how we as a church and as THE Church spend our money will expose our true desires.  i love these guys for what they are doing.  they are using their money to advance the gospel, not themselves.  i love it.

churches worldwide need to be good stewards of the money that is coming out of the pockets of their congregants.  when i give to a church, i assume that they will do their best to use that money to help people.  i’m sure you do too.

if you want to drive an H2 and rock a 4 carat diamond ring as a pastor that isn’t on the church’s payroll, then that’s on you.  but for the pastors on the payroll somewhere, please be reasonable.  your congregants may resent it and the non-christian world will use it as a reason to hate us all.

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I read a review of a money management book and this is how the reviewer summed up the book;

1. Debt sucks. Don’t get into it. Buy with cash.
2. Here’s how to payoff debt: Concentrate on the smallest debt first. Pay what you can on it, over the minimum payment. Once the smallest debt is gone, add that former payment to the next outstanding debt payment…and so on…and so on (the “debt snowball”).
3. After all debts are gone, set aside 3-6 months of expenses (emergency fund).
4. After the emergency fund, start investing.

I thought that was good advice and thought I would post it. Let us never forget that as Christians we are stewards of God’s money and should try to manage it wisely.

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