eNews

"The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." - Proverbs 22:7

Do you dread paying the bills? Have you got more than one credit card? Do you struggle each month just to make the minimum payments? Are you overwhelmed with student loans, medical bills, car loans, and mortgage payments? Do you sometimes feel like you're being crushed by the weight of your financial obligations? If so, you're not alone.

The United States has truly become a nation of debtors. In recent years the level of household debt in America has surpassed the level of household income, so for the first time in our collective history we owe more money than we make. Consumer debt in America (credit cards and other consumer lending not including mortgages) has risen to a record high of about 2.5 trillion dollars. Today the average US household has more than $9,000 in credit card debt and spends more than $1,300 a year in interest payments. Meanwhile, the national debt (the amount of money owed by the US government) has surpassed 9 trillion dollars – and is increasing at a rate of about $1.40 billion per day.

"Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can't even envision a car without a payment, a house without a mortgage, a student without a loan, and credit without a card. We've been sold debt with such repetition and with such fervor that most folks can't conceive of what it would be like to have no payments," says Dave Ramsey, a well-known talk radio host and financial counselor. While many Americans have become accustomed to making monthly payments, the truth is that debt is contrary to God's plan for our lives. The scripture clearly says the borrower is slave to the lender - God would have us free of that kind of bondage.

Last year over 1.6 million Americans declared bankruptcy. Furthermore, economists estimate that for every family that officially declares bankruptcy, there are seven more that are in severe financial difficulty. Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School and the author of several books on debt and personal finance, wrote the following about the number of US consumers who are going broke: "Bankruptcy has become deeply entrenched in American life. This year, more people will end up bankrupt than will suffer a heart attack. More adults will file for bankruptcy than will be diagnosed with cancer. More people will file for bankruptcy than will graduate from college. And, in an era when traditionalists decry the demise of the institution of marriage, Americans will file more petitions for bankruptcy than for divorce." When put into perspective, the numbers are daunting.

The statistics are indeed staggering, and they paint a very vivid picture of our current dilemma. So if the United States is indeed facing a financial crisis, what should we do about it? How can we prepare for times of economic uncertainty? What does the Bible say about our financial stewardship? Chuck tackles these tough questions in his new briefing titled The Vortex Strategy.

It is impossible to predict what exactly the coming months will bring, yet we need to be prepared both practically and spiritually: "Anyone that presumes that the coming 12 to 24 months are going to be smooth sailing just hasn't done their homework…It is clear we are facing turbulent times ahead. Those times are going to be challenging for us as stewards, but they are also going to be incredible opportunities. Because many people who are complacent today, who are deaf to things of the Gospel, are suddenly going to be open – asking questions, looking for answers. You and I need to be prepared to respond to that opportunity (excerpt from The Vortex Strategy)."

This is the final installment in a three part series on the state of the economy in America. If you missed the beginning of this series, the articles "Economic Upheaval: The Decline of the Dollar" and "Economic Upheaval: The Mortgage Mess" are available to read on our website (see links below).

After the Virginia Tech slayings, students of a variety of faiths gathered to mourn and pray for the fallen and their friends and families. Buddhists, Muslims, and a Catholic have gathered to pray over the wreckage of the MD-82 plane that crashed at Phuket, Thailand on Sunday. Last week, leaders from a spectrum of world religions gathered in Greenland to pray for the planet over global warming.

In light of the centuries of violence cause by religious disagreements, this ecumenical unity offers a comforting picture. Rather than burning each other at the stake or blowing each other up, people of differing faiths are increasingly willing to gather together and pray for a common goal.

That sounds so harmonious. So peaceful. So tolerant. If all faiths were equal and all spiritual paths ultimately led up the same mountain, such global unity would be a wonderful thing. But, if the people praying are invoking any other god than the true God, then what real good is accomplished? In fact, what spiritual battles rage unseen while the outwardly at-peace religious faithful make their petitions?

Michael Ramos-Lynch of The Brown Daily Herald argues that prayer is a good response to a tragedy like the murders at Virginia Tech. And it is. However, his reasoning is more feel-good than it is a champion for the power of God to affect human lives. Ramos-Lynch suggests:

"… 'What do prayers accomplish?' All possibilities for the existence of a higher being aside, the answer is that prayers unite people through their religious faiths. In times of tragedy, people often seek love and human connection. If prayer is a means by which people can find such love and human connection, then why argue against it?"

The answer, Michael, is that prayer is far more than a means to find a human connection. Prayer is more than even a connection with the spiritual or holy. Prayer is a connection with God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and earth. Through prayer, we kneel in His throne room, souls bared before Him "with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). Through the power of His Holy Spirit working in us, we partner with Him to accomplish His perfect will in our lives and the world around us.

If, however, we are not praying to the one true God, then we are guilty of breaking the First Commandment:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)

Prayer to any other god is not helpful or unifying and it cannot bring true healing or comfort. Prayer to any other god than to the True God is only a play for the Enemy of our souls.

In the end times, religious unity will be coerced, as all people, small and great, will be required to worship the Beast and his image (Rev. 13:8). Those who do not worship the Beast will be killed (Rev. 13:15).

In the meanwhile, we still have great religious liberty. Let's take advantage of the moments we have left, especially during times of tragedy. In the face of disaster, when even non-religious people are drawn to pray together, people are hungry for answers and comfort. There is a world desperate to hear about the hope that is within us - the hope of a true relationship with the God of the universe through His Son Jesus Christ. When things are hardest, let us not use 'religious unity' as a reason to shy away from sharing that hope with others.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. - 1 Peter 3:15