Take These Steps to Conquer Debt
Last week the newspapers and internet news sites all warned about credit card rules changes. New laws passed by Congress last year, intended to protect credit card users, went into effect on February 22.
I believe that when used wisely, credit cards can be a helpful financial tool. I am impressed that far too many people do not understand with each swipe of a credit card, a loan is being taken out. And oh my goodness, what interest rates the borrower is paying for these loans!
Shakespeare, in Hamlet, gives the classic advice of “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” The wise person will use credit cards prudently, paying them off in full each month if at all possible. Otherwise, real financial struggles are bound to ensue.
Another adage I have heard for most of my life, and that I have used frequently in sermons or counseling, is “These three things avoid: dirt, debt and the devil.” I’ll write about dirt and the devil another time. Today is the time to address the problem of debt.
Encouraged by government and advertising, debt is devouring America. I have my honest doubts about the survivability of our country because of its debt. Basic financial and Biblical principles are being violated. While I cannot do anything about the government’s appetite for debt, I can do something about my own. And you can take steps to get your own debt under control. Howard Dayton, cofounder of Crown Financial Ministries states, “Are you drowning in debt? The truth is, if you don’t control this area of your life, it will control you.” He then goes on to offer some action steps. I share them here and have added a step or two in the hope of making the plan clearer.
1. Complete a Debt List and a Financial Statement. On the Debt List, write down everything you owe, including credit card balances. These forms may be downloaded free at www.crown.org
2. Place this information into the Financial Statement as “Liabilities.”
3. Then list your Total Assets, including real estate values, cash, chattel, etc. Put this information into the Financial Statement as “Assets”. Be honest with yourself, and do not inflate estimated figures.
4. Look at the Financial Statement to see if there is anything you don’t need that can be sold to eliminate debt.
5. Track every penny you spend for the next 30 days. Take paper with you wherever you go and write down everything you spend. Each night review what you spent and record it in a notebook.
6. If married, both husband and wife need to track spending. Each night meet together to record and review what was spent. Begin these daily meetings by praying for God’s peace and for each other.
7. Eliminate credit card debt first. Pay off the smallest balance first, and when that is done, apply what you were paying on the smallest balance to the second smallest balance. REMEMBER: you must stop accumulating new credit card debt in order for this to work.
8. After paying off the credit cards, pay off consumer debts, like car loans. Then, begin making extra principal payments on your mortgage.
9. Finally, complete a Monthly Income and Expenses form. This is a spending plan that tells your money where you want it to go instead of you wondering where it went. This form, too, may be downloaded free.
10. Once a spending plan has been drawn up, maintain it weekly.
Take these steps to conquer debt!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Be a Hero
I finished reading AMERICAN IDOL this week. It is the story of Willie Mays, the baseball great. Willie was one of my favorites as I was growing up. I recall practicing the “basket catch” he made famous, thinking that someday I might be playing in the big leagues. Perhaps the basket catch is his trademark, but his hitting and base running is most memorable. He will always be one of the greats.
The book also reminded me of a very important aspect of life – especially for a boy, I think. That is the aspect of having a hero. A hero is someone to admire, respect and emulate. Willie Mays, and many other ball players – Al Kaline and Larry Doby come to mind, fit the role of hero for me. I never recall hearing or reading where my heroes were using drugs, toting handguns or anything other than playing ball and doing a doggone good job of it.
Heroes are made, not born. Today there seem to be too few of them. Modern day heroes are not necessarily sports figures that play well and play by the rules. Now that I have matured some, I understand that heroes are people who live for something or someone other than self. It is the mother who struggles to get up at night to nurse a sick child. It is the father who consistently and faithfully works at a job he may not particularly enjoy in order to provide for the family he loves. It is the teen athlete or scholar who refuses to experiment with drugs or cheat because he wants to excel fairly. It is the older, unmarried girl who refuses to engage in premarital sex because she wants to remain pure for marriage. It is the soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan who serves his country courageously. It is the pastor who works diligently to prepare fresh thoughts for a sermon, even though the congregation is small and rural. The list goes on, but I am sure you understand the point. These persons, and many others like them, are heroes. They put principle and others above self-interest.
Heroes are not perfect people. No one is perfect. The only perfect person to ever live was Jesus - and look what they did to Him! But it is Jesus who calls us to live for Him with these words, “He who finds his life shall lose it; and he who loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). With those words Jesus not only calls us to live for a higher principle, but to live for a higher person – Himself. Only by so doing will a person find the real meaning of life. To live for Christ is to be a hero.
Heroes make an impression. For some, statues are erected. For others, books are written and films made. For the follower of Christ, other lives are affected and positive change occurs. The world becomes a better place and the ranks of heaven are enlarged.
Be a hero!
I finished reading AMERICAN IDOL this week. It is the story of Willie Mays, the baseball great. Willie was one of my favorites as I was growing up. I recall practicing the “basket catch” he made famous, thinking that someday I might be playing in the big leagues. Perhaps the basket catch is his trademark, but his hitting and base running is most memorable. He will always be one of the greats.
The book also reminded me of a very important aspect of life – especially for a boy, I think. That is the aspect of having a hero. A hero is someone to admire, respect and emulate. Willie Mays, and many other ball players – Al Kaline and Larry Doby come to mind, fit the role of hero for me. I never recall hearing or reading where my heroes were using drugs, toting handguns or anything other than playing ball and doing a doggone good job of it.
Heroes are made, not born. Today there seem to be too few of them. Modern day heroes are not necessarily sports figures that play well and play by the rules. Now that I have matured some, I understand that heroes are people who live for something or someone other than self. It is the mother who struggles to get up at night to nurse a sick child. It is the father who consistently and faithfully works at a job he may not particularly enjoy in order to provide for the family he loves. It is the teen athlete or scholar who refuses to experiment with drugs or cheat because he wants to excel fairly. It is the older, unmarried girl who refuses to engage in premarital sex because she wants to remain pure for marriage. It is the soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan who serves his country courageously. It is the pastor who works diligently to prepare fresh thoughts for a sermon, even though the congregation is small and rural. The list goes on, but I am sure you understand the point. These persons, and many others like them, are heroes. They put principle and others above self-interest.
Heroes are not perfect people. No one is perfect. The only perfect person to ever live was Jesus - and look what they did to Him! But it is Jesus who calls us to live for Him with these words, “He who finds his life shall lose it; and he who loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). With those words Jesus not only calls us to live for a higher principle, but to live for a higher person – Himself. Only by so doing will a person find the real meaning of life. To live for Christ is to be a hero.
Heroes make an impression. For some, statues are erected. For others, books are written and films made. For the follower of Christ, other lives are affected and positive change occurs. The world becomes a better place and the ranks of heaven are enlarged.
Be a hero!
Friday, February 5, 2010
His Promise Will Not Fail
He was a year younger than me. We had been friends since childhood, belonging to the same Boy Scout troop.
I conducted his funeral last week.
There is an odd feeling that comes over you as you look into a casket and see a familiar face. I have done it before, of course: family members, neighbors, church members. But when it is an old friend, and memories go racing back to Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and just plain “hanging out” together, it really has an effect.
I was able to share the words of Jesus at the funeral, “In My Father’s house are many mansions…” (John 14:2). Mansions are not built to be landmarks. They are built as homes, dwellings. Luxurious homes at that. And this is just one metaphor that describes the wonderful place the Bible calls Heaven. One thing for sure – Heaven is a real place. Otherwise, there would be no mention of it by Jesus (“I go to prepare a place for you…”) and certainly no metaphors attempting to describe it. Heaven is referred to quite frequently in scripture. When a metaphor is used it is because our minds are too small to fully understand this wonderful place.
The Bible also refers to Heaven as “paradise.” This word is interesting. In ancient times it was used to picture a manicured garden, with trees and flowers as well as herbs and, occasionally, vegetables. A paradise was a place for rest and physical, emotional refreshment. Then later, by the time of Julius Caesar, it became descriptive of the garden of a king or provincial ruler. Apparently the rulers were the only ones who could afford a beautiful, manicured garden. Their gardens were set in contrast to the garden of the common person, which would be very plain and practical, providing food rather than refreshment. The ruler’s garden, the paradise, would be unimaginably splendid to the common man. The commoner would not be able to see it, for the paradise would be behind walls. But the king’s servants would communicate to all how very luxurious the king’s garden was, in contrast to the average family’s vegetable patch. The ruler’s garden would have fragrant flowers, fruit producing trees with blossoms in the spring, a shade tree or two, vines and undoubtedly a fountain. This would provide a refreshing and stimulating environment. In reality, the commoner could only imagine and never actually realize the splendor of the king’s garden.
When Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), it was an overwhelming thought. That repentant, believing thief had no idea what was in store for him. “Eye has not seen, nor has the ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
The dying thief had no idea of the beautiful, refreshing and inspiring garden to which he was going, or of the mansion – home that awaited him. Neither do we.
But we know that such a place awaits the follower of Christ. He has promised it to us.
His promise will not fail.
He was a year younger than me. We had been friends since childhood, belonging to the same Boy Scout troop.
I conducted his funeral last week.
There is an odd feeling that comes over you as you look into a casket and see a familiar face. I have done it before, of course: family members, neighbors, church members. But when it is an old friend, and memories go racing back to Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and just plain “hanging out” together, it really has an effect.
I was able to share the words of Jesus at the funeral, “In My Father’s house are many mansions…” (John 14:2). Mansions are not built to be landmarks. They are built as homes, dwellings. Luxurious homes at that. And this is just one metaphor that describes the wonderful place the Bible calls Heaven. One thing for sure – Heaven is a real place. Otherwise, there would be no mention of it by Jesus (“I go to prepare a place for you…”) and certainly no metaphors attempting to describe it. Heaven is referred to quite frequently in scripture. When a metaphor is used it is because our minds are too small to fully understand this wonderful place.
The Bible also refers to Heaven as “paradise.” This word is interesting. In ancient times it was used to picture a manicured garden, with trees and flowers as well as herbs and, occasionally, vegetables. A paradise was a place for rest and physical, emotional refreshment. Then later, by the time of Julius Caesar, it became descriptive of the garden of a king or provincial ruler. Apparently the rulers were the only ones who could afford a beautiful, manicured garden. Their gardens were set in contrast to the garden of the common person, which would be very plain and practical, providing food rather than refreshment. The ruler’s garden, the paradise, would be unimaginably splendid to the common man. The commoner would not be able to see it, for the paradise would be behind walls. But the king’s servants would communicate to all how very luxurious the king’s garden was, in contrast to the average family’s vegetable patch. The ruler’s garden would have fragrant flowers, fruit producing trees with blossoms in the spring, a shade tree or two, vines and undoubtedly a fountain. This would provide a refreshing and stimulating environment. In reality, the commoner could only imagine and never actually realize the splendor of the king’s garden.
When Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), it was an overwhelming thought. That repentant, believing thief had no idea what was in store for him. “Eye has not seen, nor has the ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
The dying thief had no idea of the beautiful, refreshing and inspiring garden to which he was going, or of the mansion – home that awaited him. Neither do we.
But we know that such a place awaits the follower of Christ. He has promised it to us.
His promise will not fail.
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