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“The Danger of Debt”

4 Mar

Here are the notes from the message preached March 4, 2012.  There was too much information to get through it all.  I trust that it will be a help and a blessing.

I Timothy 6:6-10

-Today’s consumer has a total of 13 obligations on record at a credit bureau.  Credit cards, store cards, installment loans.  9 are likely to be credit cards.

-The median US household income is $43,000 and the typical credit card balance is nearly 5% of their annual income.

-Median balance on credit cards is $2200.

-8.3% of households owe $9,000 or more on their cards.

-The typical 1st grader can evoke 200 brands and will accumulate an average of 70 new toys a year.

-40% of financial planners working with divorcing couples say that money is a “key factor” in the decision to divorce.

Neither this message or this series is intended to be an indictment on any single person.  It is simply intended to encourage each of us to live lives that will allow us to be all that God wants us to be.  To be free from the self-imposed bondage that keeps us from ever realizing the life that God intends for us.

Indicators that you may be in bondage to debt:

1. You are living month to month

2. You are paying the minimum payments

3. You are moving balances instead of repaying balances

4. You are unable to give or tithe or respond to the call of God on your life.

Using money well and staying out of the bondage that debt can create requires:

I. A content heart (6-8)

We live in a society that teaches us to feel entitled.  We deserve things and the world owes us things.  Much of what takes place politically is not truly political but a reflection of our spiritual condition.  We believe that the government should take care of us when we stop believing that God can and will take care of us.  There is a lack of contentment in our lives because we have come to believe that if others have things that we do not that there is something inherently unfair about that.

To get out of debt you may just have food and clothing for awhile!

Proverbs 15:16 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Colossians 3:5 ¶ Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Greed is idolatry! It is lifting something up above your relationship with God.

Living simply is to live freely.

There is a whole world dedicated to taking away your contentment.  Some say that the economy exists by such.  It is creating idolatry.

Money and things are a competitor to your heart’s desire to love God.

You must choose to either serve God or serve money.  Choosing to get into debt is putting yourself in the precarious position of serving money.

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

II. A cautious spirit (9)

I believe that we are provided by God, if we are willing to do the things that God tells us to do, all that we need to be and accomplish what he wants us to accomplish.

There are financial traps that we can fall into however, that can put us in a place where the resources provided to us by God are not enough to maintain that life that we have decided to live.

1. Presuming on the future

Proverbs 27:1 ¶ Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

2. Spending wants before needs

Proverbs 21:17 ¶ He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

3. Poor planning

Proverbs 21:5 ¶ The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.

4. Living beyond your means

Ecclesiastes 5:11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

5. Never having enough

Proverbs 11:28  He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

III. A correct view of money (10)

Not something to love, but a part of life. Not love but a test of your loyalty and wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

Proverbs 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

So what do you do?

1. Put God first.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

-This is understanding the ownership of God.

Ask these questions to know if you have put God first:

a. Am I presuming on God by buying this today?

b. Would God be honored and I learn patience if I saved up for this?

2. Analyze your situation

Proverbs 27:23  Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

3. Stop Borrowing!

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

Decide, “If I cannot pay for it yet, than I do not need it.”

4. Make a payback plan

a. Little by little

b. Double payments

c. Sell off if you need to

d. Pay higher interest first.

Psalm 37:21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

5. Get back under the Lordship of Christ

Matthew 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Conclusion

Ultimately Debt is a spiritual issue.  The question always comes back to the same thing for a Christian:  “Who am I serving and living for?  For Christ or for myself.”

How we spend our money and the things that we allow to have us in bondage answers that question.

Wherever you may be today on this issue, decide that you will surrender every area of your life to the Lord and trust Him to provide for you.

Reject the modern convenience of debt and begin moving down the path to financial freedom.

“Lessons Learned in Iraq”

15 Dec

As I have listened over the last few days to the reports of the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, I have spent more time than usual thinking of my time there in 2003. I was privileged to have been a part of the First Battalion Fifth Marines, the first Marine infantry unit into the country.  We were also the battalion that secured objectives in Baghdad on April 10 which was the largest battle of the war up to that time.  I learned quite a bit during that brief period of life and can say with certainty that those few months changed the way that I look at the world.

While I am sure that I missed some of the lessons that I should have learned, here are a few that come to mind as I reflect on those days:

1. God is sovereign.

It occurred to me one day that the best that I could do was not enough to keep me out of trouble.  Those on the other side do not care where I went to school, who my parents are or what town I grew up in.  I need to be prepared and do the very best that I can, but at the end of the day I must rely upon the sovereignty of God. When I stopped believing that it was all up to me I was finally able to experience peace regardless of my situation.

2. There is no substitute for good leadership.

Much could be said here on the topic of good leadership, but I have always been thankful for the leadership of First Battalion Fifth Marines.  From our Battalion Commander to the small unit leaders there was a focus and professionalism that was nothing short of amazing.  I believe that it was largely due to this factor that we were so successful.  I saw firsthand the tremendous impact that upfront leadership has on a team.

3. The team will win if they practice to win.

While I am thankful for the opportunity to have served with each of the men of First Battalion Fifth Marines, I was honored to have served as the Platoon Commander for the Counter-Mechanized Platoon.  While these were without a doubt some of the craziest people that I have ever known, they knew how to win.  I learned an awful lot during my time with this platoon (some of which I have worked hard to forget) but the greatest lesson that they taught me was this; If you work hard and train hard and maybe even break some stuff in the process, when the moment comes that you must win, you will. For two years we trained for a fight that we were not sure would come and when it did the Marines, as always, performed flawlessly.

4. The most difficult times in life may become your fondest ones.

While I have never had the desire to return to the time that I spent in Iraq, those days will always be some of the proudest of my life. I am thankful for those that I was able to serve with and for the many lessons that I learned.  It is often the really difficult things that we are later grateful to have been a part of.

5. Your initial impression is often wrong.

I do not remember one situation during those early days of the war where something turned out to be exactly what we thought it was going to be.  Situations were always changing and we learned to be ready for anything because you never knew what was just around the corner.  This is one of those really important life lessons that this time illustrated so clearly. Gather all of the information that you can, whether it is about people, a circumstance, or a geographic location, and then hold off judgment until you are actually there.  We often come to conclusions that just are not true and end up hurting us. If you can wait to draw a conclusion you will probably be better off.

6. The people “back home” are dealing with the war too.

At the time that I was in Iraq my two oldest children were three and four.  My wife was taking care of them by herself while also dealing with the many administrative issues of life.  I knew what I was involved in and how that was affecting me, but often forgot the impact that being away from my family was having on them.  We tend to forget that when any member of the family is going through a difficult time that every member of the family is affected.  We do not live in isolation and must consider the impact that what we are doing is having on the ones that we love.

I am sure that there are many other lessons that I should have learned and am even hopeful that other things will come to mind as I continue to reflect. These are just some of the things that I have been considering over the last few days.

While our involvement in Iraq may be coming to an end, I will always be proud to have been a part of 1/5.

Our Example

13 Dec

As we continue our study of the Deity of Jesus Christ, we asked the question:

“What did the physical birth, the incarnation of Christ Do?”

By this we are asking why it is important that Christ not only died for our sins, but that He lived a life from infancy to adulthood before being crucified to pay the price for sin.

What did the incarnation do?

I. Fulfilled Prophecy

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

He kept his promises.  We can trust Him and His word because He did what He said He would do.

II. Identified Him (God) with created man

Although by the very nature of Him being the creator He identifies with His creation, in a deeper way, living as a human on earth allows us to understand that we can follow His example not only because He is God, but also because He knows what it is to deal with the struggles and challenges of being human.

1Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

As we follow Christ we can have confidence that we are not only following one that understands our challenges and frustrations and disappointments, but also God who knows where he is going.

III. Exhibited His great love

The true measure of a persons love is the degree to which they are willing to be inconvenienced for someone else. God left heaven and came to earth living as a man to ultimately be crucified by His creation demonstrating in an undeniable way His great love for us.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

1John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

How do you know that God loves you?  Because He was willing to leave heaven, live as a man and die for you.