The Financial Crisis

I am in no way an economist. I studied History and Religion in college. I avoided business classes. I am, however, learning to become a good steward of the resources God has given. I believe in order to do this best, I need to understand my human nature and learn to make wise decisions, not emotional decisions. This, incidentally, is one of the keys to Warren Buffett's financial decision making process (and I think he's doing just fine).
In thinking about the current financial crisis I have come up with two words that summarize the whole mess: Fear and Greed.
Our nation's current emotional gauge is pegged on "Scared Spitless." We watch the news daily cry out that the sky is falling. The talking heads tell us that soon we'll all be living in caves and foraging for nuts and berries just to survive. The vision in my head resembles Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome. This stokes our fear. The important thing to remember is that the media is a business. Their job is to titillate or stoke fear. If the media tells you that everything is fine, nobody worry, it's going to be okay...you'll stop watching. If they can, however, stoke your fear, then you will watch more. If you watch more, they can sell more advertising. If they can sell more advertising, then THEIR financial crisis is averted. Ironically, that advertising also plays into the other key word of this Financial Crisis, Greed.
Yes, corporate America is greedy. Banks and financial institutions really screwed up. Their greed is putting the financial solvency of our country at risk. Many people will loose fortunes and jobs. But the real problem is much closer to home than Wall Street. Their greed was only possible because of our greed. Main Street is far more responsible for this than Wall Street.
As you're watching the coming of the Apocolypse on TV, you see an ad for that new thing. You know that thing, the one that is new and better than the old thing. It has been completely redesigned and improved. This thing will do what no other thing has ever done...and it's cooler than the other things. The people at your office will be envious of your new thing. The ladies at your Bible study will want one, too. You'll be a happier person with this new thing. Life will be better with this thing. Skies will be bluer. Grass will be greener. Your wife will be prettier. Your hair will be fuller. You can run faster and jump higher. You'll look 10 years younger. You will be a better person. You MUST have this thing.
The truth is, this thing is crap. You don't need it. You don't even really want it, but some genius twenty eight year old ad wizard has learned how to manipulate your basest instincts so that you think this new thing is salvation in a bottle. So you buy the new thing. It could be dinner out, a new flat screen tv, an iPhone, a hybrid SUV, that bigger house or the perfect vacation. You don't have to money to buy it, so you charge it, mortgage it or refinance it. Then Wall Street has offered to fulfill desires with a Faustian pledge. You can have whatever you want, TODAY! We all want to think we're smarter than this, but the truth is, we've all succumbed to it. We're all part of the problem because we all look for someTHING to fill the need in our life that only someONE could fill.
So what do we do? How do we respond sensibly and wisely to this situation? I propose that there are four responses that the average Christian can make.
First, we need to pray for our leaders and for whoever is going to be our leaders in the coming years. They will need to make difficult decisions about this situation. God is not worried, surprised, or afraid of this situation. He is the one who ones a thousand cattle on the hills (Ps 50:10). A thousand cattle may not sound impressive, but contextually it meant God owns everything.
Secondly, get your own house in order. Eliminate debt. Use a budget. Spend responsibly. Get rid of the stuff that is choking your life.
Thirdly, care for your neighbors. How is the family next door dealing with this issue? How can you offer them hope that extends beyond the current crisis? What can you do to help them today? Pray for them and let them know you are doing so. Be involved in their lives.
Fourthly, work for a solution to the current situation. Your vote will speak powerfully. There are lots of people in Congress nervous about November. They don't want to lose their job over this issue. There is a presidential battle that will be decided by a slim margin. Let it be known that you will vote for the candidate seeks to wisely solve this problem. What works for your house will work for the government. Avoid debt. Spend wisely. Get rid of things that choke the life out of our econonmy.
Again, I re-emphasize that I am not an economist, but in looking over alternatives to the $700 Billion bailout plan, I came across one proposed by Dave Ramsey. It makes sense at a basic level (another key to Warren Buffett's investment strategy). You can read it here.

Great Quote From Reggie Kidd's Book

Reggie Kidd teaches my Intro to Pastoral and Theological Studies class. He wrote a book about worship and its connection to our heart and our theology...at least that's what I've gotten out of it so far. If you enjoy music and theology, then go to his website and pick up a copy...and send him an email telling him that I told you to...you never know what will help that grade go from a B to an A...

The quote is from Bono (of U2). In addition to being the authority on all things hip and cool, he's a pretty deep thinker. Bono said, "Music is Worship; whether it's worship of women or their designer, the world or its destroyer,...whether the prayers are on fire with a dumb rage or dove-like desire...the smoke goes upwards...to God or something you replace God with...usually yourself." -Bono, Introduction to Selections, x, xi.

Intro to My Fake Sermon

One of the classes I am taking is Communications I. It is essentially a Preaching class. Part of the class is working through the process of crafting a good Christ-centered sermon. I was assigned to preach on Philippians 2:1-11 (click on the passage to read it). Basically, I'm preparing a fake sermon. The only guys who hear it are the four other guys in my small group...and sometimes my Comm. professor, Larry Kirk (but that's only because my voice tends to carry in small rooms).

So, I thought it might be interesting to share with anyone who might be reading the intro to my fake sermon.

My family and I decided to do something that I vowed never to do. We decided to go to Disneyworld. Now, it wasn’t that I was opposed to going to Disneyworld. I love Disneyworld, it’s the happiest place on earth, or so they say. The issue was that we decided to go to Disneyworld on one of those hot, muggy, humid, I live in a Florida swamp summer days. It was also a Saturday, which meant that every tourist from St. Louis to Shanghai was going to be there. It was blazing hot and incredibly crowded. It was not what I would describe as joyful. Now, the novelty of Disneyworld usually trumps the heat and crowds, but this particular year we had been given annual passes to Disney. We had already been dozens of times that year. The novelty of a six foot talking mouse had worn off on me.
I was pounding the pavement pushing our double stroller with our two kids and working through the bitterness in my heart about swimming upstream through the masses of humanity to get to all rides so that I could spend a majority of my day waiting to ride on a ride that lasts a minute and half. We got to the “Small World” ride. It is an absolute Disney classic, complete with animatronic dolls from every continent singing in their native language, “It’s a small world…” It’s cute the first time the song plays, but then it repeats, again and again. Around the seventh time I’m struggling with really violent thoughts about baseball bats and the German doll in lederhosen. I believe I have painted a completely joyless picture of my time at Disneyworld.
Then I look at my kids. They are wide-eyed and amazed. They are singing along. They are pointing and laughing. At that moment, there is nothing greater than what they experiencing. I was so set on my own experience, my own feelings, my own rights, my own self that I was missing the reward of being at the Happiest Place on Earth with my kids. My lack of humility robbed me of the joy I could have had by joining with my children in their wonder at this ride.
We all struggle with a lack of joy at times because selfishness robs us of the unity with others. Often our humility is pushed aside so that we can exercise our own rights. We miss the reward of the joy of unity with other believers because we find it difficult to consider them above ourselves.
The apostle Paul addresses a similar issue, though under drastically different circumstances. The church at Philippi was struggling with selfishness and dissention internally and externally and this was robbing it of the joy of living in Christ. In the 2nd chapter of Philippians, verses 1 through 11, Paul shows that humility is a key to the joyful life because humility was Christ’s path to the Father.

Chapel 9.17.08

Who is God? There are all sorts of answers to this question. We all live for God (or more specifically a god), even atheists. The question is not whether one lives for God, but who or what that God is. I really appreciated Dr. Swain's three questions to help define who I viewed as God. He developed his chapel message from II Cor. 5:14-15

14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

In verse 15 he explained how the love of Christ allows those who live to no longer live for themselves, but for Christ. What does it mean that they lived for themselves? Dr. Swain's three questions brought this question to light:
1. In whose strength do I rely on?
2. Whose rules do I follow?
3. Whose glory do I seek?
When I ran my life through the grid of those questions, I saw that in so many ways my god is me. In so many ways I live for myself.
This is a humbling thought.
It was really brought home later in the day during my Evangelism class. Dr. Childers had us look at three motives for evangelism. The first motive is that God commands us. It pretty simple, the Bible is very clear that we are to share Christ. The second motive is that we have a compassion for the lost. We need to have a broken heart for the lost and see them as God sees them. These first two motives are legitimate, but insufficient. The third motive is the most important. The third motive is zeal for God and His glory. That's when it clicked for me. I have zeal for a god and his glory.
In whose strength do I rely on - Me
Whose rules do I follow - Me
Whose glory do I seek - Me
My evangelism is weak because my motive is not a zeal for God and His glory, but a zeal for me and my glory. May I be controlled by Christ, that I may live no longer for myself but for him.
What about you? Who is your God? What motivates you to share your faith?

Life in Seminary

I've felt like I should do this for a couple of weeks now. It isn't that I feel like I have anything especially profound to say (luckily, it doesn't seem that profundity is a requirement for blogging), but I felt this would be a good way to record my progress through seminary. This has been and will continue to be a pivotal time in my life. I hope to be able to share how God is at work reforming my heart and applying His grace to my life. I won't, however, keep my it strictly to seminary stuff. Hopefully, I'll occasionally post about current events or life in general.
If you enjoy this or are encouraged in any way, please let me know. That would be very encouraging to me.