It's Veteran's Day

I am grateful to our military veterans and those serving now - for their great sacrifices for our freedom and those in other lands – and for justice. Here is a prayer – from Mark Roberts – for Veterans. Please pray, with me.

God of the ages,
We thank You for all who have served in the armed forces of this country.
We thank You for the freedom their sacrifice has earned and guarded for us. Help us to prize this freedom and use it well.
We ask You to bless all living veterans in a special way today, as well as the families of all veterans.
Comfort those who grieve for those who gave the last full measure of devotion.
Strengthen those who bear physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds.
Stand with those who provide care to them.
Move us to reach out to sisters and brothers who are veterans, or relatives of veterans, or who currently serve in the military.
We pray for the day when no one needs to serve in the military. Help us to live now in anticipation of that day, as people who long for peace, who pray for peace, and who seek to be peacemakers in this world.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

http://www.markdroberts.com/

 

Now We're Talking

I received some great feedback from my message last Sunday. The message was about idolatry and I identified greed as one of our national idols. As evidence, I pointed to the fact that income for the top 0.01% of earners has grown more than 900% over the past 30 years. Each wage earner pulled in an average $35 million, higher than during the Dot-com bubble ($28 million). I added, for emphasis, "the average annual earnings of one of these would finance 841,000 preschool teachers, full-time, year-round."

I cited this stat as evidence that we are witnessing an erosion in values, quoting David Brooks (The Next Culture War): "Evidence of this shift in values is all around. Some of the signs are seemingly innocuous. States around the country began sponsoring lotteries: government-approved gambling that extracts its largest toll from the poor. Executives and hedge fund managers began bragging about compensation packages that would have been considered shameful a few decades before. Chain restaurants went into supersize mode, offering gigantic portions that would have been considered socially unacceptable to an earlier generation."

Two people saw my statements as bashing the rich, following the media's facile dumping on executive salaries. It was pointed out that there are some, maybe many, who make loads of money and give generously. One said, "If we are to believe that God looks at the heart, than it is not the money itself, nor the amount that makes one greedy.  It is the sentiment of his heart." I agree. It is the "love of money," not money, that is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10).

Today I read a Blog post on Beliefnet on Economics from a theological viewpoint. The writer, Michael Kruse, said, "Most theologians and church leaders I've encountered have considerable ambivalence, at best, and outright animus, at worst, toward the marketplace." His ten-part series looks at several economic issues: scarcity vs. abundance, supply and demand, positive vs. normative economics, opportunity costs and tradeoffs, markets and trade, division of labor, self-interest, wealth, utility, profit, face-to face community vs. commercial society, and capitalism. I recommend it. The articles go well beyond the typical (and my) Sunday morning treatment of topics related to money.

So…do you think I treated the wealthy fairly?

Is greed a problem in our nation? - in you?

I am thrilled that you're listening/reading. I appreciate your feedback. (Leave a comment below)

David Brooks (The Next Culture War)
Michael Kruse on Biblical (?) Economics
My Sermons

Are we chasing idols?

David Brooks, Op-Ed Columnist, in The Next Culture War

David Brooks is suggesting that our nation has fallen prostrate to the idol of consumption, materialism, Mammon. He writes:

 “Human nature, in no form of it, could ever bear prosperity,” John Adams wrote in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, warning against the coming corruption of his country.

Centuries ago, historians came up with a classic theory to explain the rise and decline of nations. The theory was that great nations start out tough-minded and energetic. Toughness and energy lead to wealth and power. Wealth and power lead to affluence and luxury. Affluence and luxury lead to decadence, corruption and decline.

Yet despite its amazing wealth, the United States has generally remained immune to this cycle. American living standards surpassed European living standards as early as 1740. But in the U.S., affluence did not lead to indulgence and decline.

That’s because despite the country’s notorious materialism, there has always been a countervailing stream of sound economic values. The early settlers believed in Calvinist restraint. The pioneers volunteered for brutal hardship during their treks out west. Waves of immigrant parents worked hard and practiced self-denial so their children could succeed. Government was limited and did not protect people from the consequences of their actions, thus enforcing discipline and restraint…

Over the past few years, however, there clearly has been an erosion in the country’s financial values.

Evidence of this shift in values is all around…in the three decades between 1950 and 1980, personal consumption was remarkably stable, amounting to about 62 percent of G.D.P. In the next three decades, it shot upward, reaching 70 percent of G.D.P. in 2008.

During this period, debt exploded. In 1960, Americans’ personal debt amounted to about 55 percent of national income. By 2007, Americans’ personal debt had surged to 133 percent of national income.

Now we’ve shifted from private debt to public debt. By 2019, federal debt will amount to an amazing 83 percent of G.D.P. By that year, interest payments alone on the federal debt will cost $803 billion.

If there is to be a correction, it will require a moral and cultural movement.

Read the article here: The Next Culture War

 

Are You Broke? Perpetually?

If you answer yes, you probably avidly try to keep up with the Joneses, buy stuff you don't need, never plan ahead, pay more than you need to all the time, and blame your problems on outside forces.

So says this post on 10 Attributes of the Perpetually Broke. by Peter Anderson

Highly recommended.

Healthcare for all - Why?

"For more than sixty years American presidents have tried to reform our health-care system, to no avail. In the same time period, all other developed nations have set up systems that insure all their citizens, that spend less per capita than we do, and that have better outcomes in almost all categories. Why are American still lagging behind? Ethicist Daniel Callahan diagnoses our problem in the most recent issue of Commonweal magazine and comes to this conclusion: we suffer from "the absence in this country of a solid common-good tradition." from LaVonne Neff

 

Great article: America’s Blind Spot - Health Care & the Common Good

By Daniel Callahan

The concept of the common good, ancient in origin, would seem on the face of it an ideal foundation for health-care reform.

 

A few excerpts:

One important difference is the absence in this country of a solid common-good tradition…

In their opposition to liberal reform efforts, conservatives invoke freedom, choice, and competition as their leading values. Liberals—and the Obama administration in particular—have no agreed-upon set of countervailing values…

 

The striking feature of conservative health-care thinking is its radical individualism. The idea of a common good is entirely absent…

 

Adam Smith is famous for his idea that, in a free market, an invisible hand shapes individual interests into common benefits. But he also believed that markets could not flourish without a strong underlying moral culture…

 

I have not painted a hopeful picture about the common good in American health care. That simply does not seem possible. An abiding suspicion of government, a belief in the free market as an engine of prosperity (and thus, by an illogical leap, as an engine of good health care), and the majority’s fear that they may lose the benefits they already have—all this leaves little room for an embrace of the common good.

 

This article is lengthy, but worth reading: http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2659

What phrase annoys you most?

October 7, 2009 by Marist Poll  
The question is, which word or phrase bothered you the most?

Chances are it was “whatever.”  In a recent Marist poll, nearly half of Americans –

-         47% – said they find “whatever” most annoying.  The other sayings weren’t quite so loathed. 

-         25% say they find “you know” most grating;

-         11% can’t stand “it is what it is”;

-         7% would like to ban “anyway” from all verbal exchanges; and

-         2% reported that they could do without hearing “at the end of the day.”

So…If you’re like, “whatever,” and someone gives you a mean look, just remember it is what it is – certain sayings rub people the wrong way, you know?  Anyway, at the end of the day, who cares?

I’ve always hated, “it is what it is.” So, I just reply - "it ain't what it ain't."

I know that for some, the most annoying words are those spoken by the preacher after the 30 minute mark. J

What is your most annoying phrase? Leave a comment below.

I Need Help!

Those may be the toughest words in the English language to speak out loud.

But, true Christian fellowship begins with those three words, "I need help."

I've seen church members gather around members in need, helping tirelessly and giving generously - it's deeply moving to see. Whether we are serving or being served, when we experience these moments of deep fellowship, we glory in the feeling of belonging to so loving a body.

But, those moments of fellowship can only happen when someone is willing to admit their need.

Addicts can recover from enslaving addictions, but only when they come to the place of desperation. Step one of the twelve steps is, "we admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable." There's help and hope if you can give up and agree with step one.

I am a stubborn individualist, self-sufficient to a fault. But, I've had my moments when I had no choice but to admit, "I need help!" I am typing today with the handicap of two fingers taped together. The doctor doesn't want me to pull out her stitches. A few nights ago, I fell going up the stairs. It was dark and I came to the next to last step and thought I was at the top. I tripped over the final step and fell onto an exercise bike, striking my hand against the only sharp part of it.

There was little blood or pain, but I became concerned when I looked deep into a hole in the fold of flesh between my index and middle fingers. My crashing fall awakened Carol, who came to my rescue. I knew I should go to the E.R. and debated whether I could drive myself the two miles to the hospital. I thought of a volunteer at church who cut a bloody gash in his head while working on our remodeling project. With blood trickling out the back of his head, he tidied up his work area and then drove himself to the hospital.

I thought I should easily be able to drive myself to the hospital, but I felt faint at the sight of my blood. I know, I know - I could never have a baby. I knew myself well enough to know I could drop to the floor at any moment from wimpiness.

Somehow, I uttered the words that come so hard, "I need help. I need you to drive me to the hospital."

They patched me up and I'm fine, but the experience taught me something. Carol was happy to come to my aid. She didn’t feel inconvenienced, even though I awoke her - even though I was completely self-absorbed. She seemed to come alive at the sight of my pathetic need. I felt closer to Carol and she felt closer to me. It was a bonding experience. Carol gets credit for her generous service to me. But, it could only happen when I was humbled enough to admit, "I need help."

Do you want to experience true fellowship in the church? Do you long to see the church gather around those in need, to serve selflessly, in unity, according to various gifts? It can happen, but only when you humble yourself to admit your own need. Try it. Just say it, "I need help."

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
For if they fall, one will lift up the other;
but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NRSV