Dave Ramsey - Basics of Biblical Finance

Here's a great sermon by Dave Ramsey. Enjoy.

Dave Ramsey - Basics of Biblical Finance (Life. Hope. Money.) from sermon on Vimeo.

If they were wrong before, could they be wrong now?

According to the BBC News, "The Federal Reserve has suggested that the worst of the US recession is over." I know that prices across the board for homes have risen on average a little bit, but that only means the foreclosed homes are finally being removed from the inventory list. I still have much concern about inflation since the Fed has printed so much money this year.

Peter Schiff, owner of Euro Pacific Capital, is running against Chris Dodd in Connecticut. I'd vote for him if I lived there. He writes in an article entitled "Experts" Never Learn,

"There is an inexplicable, but somehow widely held, belief that stock market movements are predictive of economic conditions. As such, the current rally in U.S. stock prices has caused many people to conclude that the recession is nearing an end. The widespread optimism is not confined to Wall Street, as even Barack Obama has pointed to the bubbly markets to vindicate his economic policies. However, reality is clearly at odds with these optimistic assumptions.

In the first place, stock markets have been taken by surprise throughout history. In the current cycle, neither the market nor its cheerleaders saw this recession coming, so why should anyone believe that these fonts of wisdom have suddenly become clairvoyant?"

In an earlier article he responds to the "positive" news that recession is showing signs of ending with "Since we have learned nothing from past mistakes, we are condemned to repeat them. As if we have not already suffered enough as a consequence of the Bush/Greenspan stimulus, Obama/Bernanke are giving ever larger doses, which will prove lethal to any recovery. The recession is over; long live the depression!"

Keep in mind that this is the gentleman that was laughed at and mocked as a doomsayer in 2007 when he predicted our current economic crash. Should we laugh at him again? I don't like reporting bad news, but in order to fix problems, we must not only acknowledge there is one, but understand why it is so. The economic problems are caused by government policies that artificial stimulate the economy and never face the reality of bad monetary policies.

Alcoholics must not only admit they have a problem, but have to face the fact that they are responsible for it. And when they go through withdraws for the booz, do we give them a drink to ease their pain? Absolutely not! Funny how the government disagrees with your common sense.

Another side thought, although I enjoy drinking, did you know that alcohol is a poison and that is why you get inebreated? Well, if you drink alcohol enough you develop a tolerance to it's negative effects. In all actuality, the poison is still there, but you don't feel it anymore. Perhaps, our country has been drinking the cool-aid long enough to not feel the pain anymore. The poisonous monetary policies are still there, but we don't feel it anymore. And when the pain emerges of our bad habits, we just drink more to dull it away for a later date.

It's time to toss the cool-aid and return to a healthy economy.

From blessing to burdens...

I recently listened to a series by the Sun Valley Community Church in Gilbert, Arizona. The teaching series was on biblical financial money management. For those of you that know me, you understand this is a passion of mine and I feel that the church could not have batched this any more badly than we have today. This can be represented in the misquoting of 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." Most people, utter this phrase without "the love of" changing the meaning of the scripture.

Although, it may on the surface seem subtle, but it changes everything. By making the money, and not the pursuit of it, the seed of all kinds of evil we have made money fundamentally evil. Furthermore, it is not even the pursuit of money that is evil, rather the fruits that came from the seeding. Daresay, not only do I think that it is possible to pursue money in a holy way, but I believe that it is scriptural to pursue money. And yes, God wants you to have plenty of it. So much that my hope is that all Christians possess the capacity of character to have millions touch their fingers.

I realize that this seems like I'm preaching a prosperity gospel, but if you reread my statements carefully and understand the scriptural principles it is founded in, you will see that I'm not telling you that God wants you to healthy, wealthy, and happy. Rather, I am making the statement, "How did we allow our pastors stop teaching us about money when 1/3 of the bible refers to material management?" This is the most written about bible topic, yet is the least spoken of in the church. If we are to be like God, and He is the ultimate example of a giver, why aren't we giving like He wants us to? I believe it is because church goers become so offended when they hear a preacher talk about money, that they have neglected to ever do so from a pulpit. In doing so, we have unwittingly tossed the most abundantly talked about subject in scripture creating a gap for all the unbiblical perspectives of money to creep into God's people. It's never about the amount of money, it's always the attitude towards money.

There was a phrase uttered in one of the sermons referring to money as God's blessings being turned to burdens. Food, money, relationships are some examples. These are all gifts from our creator and we turn them into burdens, or worse, idols. Why is this so?

I believe that we've walked away from the fundamental concept of personal restraint and wisdom. There are so many things in life that when overdone, or not at all, become a problem. We all need to eat but if you took your cues based upon what you see in the world you wind up with a eating disorder. Advertisements teach us to be anorexic or obese depending on whether you care more about what others think or what you desire and deserve.

Money is no different. The church generally preaches that we are supposed to have peace, freedom, and growth in our lives but how many in the church today would describe their finances like that? The more likely scenario is a description of turmoil, slavery, and stagnation. Most feel like they are spinning their wheels and no traction is being made.

Where does the path to this financial freedom lie? Well, any positive growth begins at a negative starting line. This is natural and should be expected. If you want something different, you need to act differently. Things need to change because as Dave Ramsey would say, "Broke is normal, so let's get weird."

Time to get weird people. If you want material that will change your life, you need to read and change it yourself. You dug yourself into the hole, time to do the work to climb out. Let me say though, it is absolutely possible. There is always hope, sometimes it's hard to see, but it is always there.

Some books to start strong:
The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
by Dave Ramsey


The Millionaire Next Doorby Thomas Stanley

At the end of the day, there is no get rich quick plan. Getting wealthy so that you can give it all away is a path of baby steps. There are no teleporters on God's path to financial money management.

900 Billion and growing...

Have you ever read an article, heard someone speak, and the double take wasn't enough? You almost had to slap yourself into the past to review it again? I was reading an article on CNN's website that went like this:

"'We don't want a package that is too small because that will end up just wasting money. On the other hand, we're very leery of having an enormous package that would not be necessary and would just boost the federal deficit,' Collins told CNN as Nelson nodded in agreement."

Did you react the same way as I did? If Congress was concerned about wasting money, they wouldn't be Congress anymore. Wasting money is what they do and they are about to do it to the tune of almost a trillion dollars. Let me put it to you this way, if I gave you a trillion dollars to spend, you would have to spend $54,794.52 a day for the next 50 years to use it up. But Congress wants to do this in less than 2 years.

The arrogant part is, they say it is with your best interest in mind.

I predict that we will see more and more people take money out of the market and save it. The Federal Reserve will print more money to compensate and once the American people "feel" better, they will start to spend again. Unfortunately, with the infusion of more printed money from the Fed, inflation will begin to rise as more and more Americans spend. We will see a second recession caused by this bill and only a bigger, increasingly inefficient government to "fix" it.

Keynesian economics doesn't work, supply side (free market) does. Why can't we just do what works.