No new debt for America!!!

Sounds like a slogan for a picket sign or something. I’m not picketing anything, although I would like to be able to afford a fence for my yard. I am trying to spread a little information about the “wall street bailout” everybody is panicking about. I want you to check out the plan of the smartest guy I know not named Paul Jenkins: Dave Ramsey. Click here for his COMMON SENSE PLAN for solving this problem.

A couple things about the bailout and the current economic crisis:

• How much sense does it make to go nearly a trillion dollars in debt for nothing more than a band-aid? If you don’t fix the problem it will only come back. (i.e. plugging the whole in a dam with bubble gum)
• We are no where near a depression. Anybody telling you so on TV or in a paper is trying to scare you for political purposes and/or has no concept of economics.
• We aren’t even in a recession. A recession is defined as happening when the Gross Domestic Product is in the negatives for 2 or more consecutive quarters. That hasn’t happened.
• Love him or hate him, you cannot blame the situation on President Bush.* He can’t do much of anything without Congress (which is currently majority democrat). (Current Congress has like a 17 % approval rating, lowest in history by the way)
• If you feel the need to point blame at someone, point at the people who didn’t do anything about the crisis before it was a crisis.
• If you want a president to blame, President Clinton is the one who forced lenders to give loans to people they knew would not be able to handle them/pay them back. just sayin…

Blaming people never really helps anything though. Solutions are called solutions for a reason however. There is a much better solution that debt in our everyday lives, not unlike the current economic situation.

*By the way, the gas problem isn’t the president’s fault either. There are plenty of people to legitimately blame, but we’ll just leave it at supply and demand. Supply and demand is the most basic economical principle, but somehow nobody in politics or the media seem to understand it.

Coolest thing ever! pt. 2

(first things first-if you didn’t read the first part, you MUST click HERE and read it!!!)

Hopefully nobody will read the prior post and think I’m trying to puff us up for giving money. That is not the case at all. I don’t seek after people’s approval via good works, and I don’t think giving to a family in Africa makes me better than you (that’s something religious people think). Believe me, I wish it DID make me a better person like liberals buying carbon offsets to make themselves feel better for flying around in private jets instead of going with Delta (again, another topic altogether…).

I wanted to share this with you to show what a profound impact a little money can have on other people. I know this is getting long, but stick with me. Most people think they can’t do anything to solve poverty in the world (some people think it can be solved with Socialism, but that’s another story…).

What if the millions and millions of people in this world who claim to follow Christ would sponsor a child and/or send a little cash to a needy family abroad or in our own communities? We give $35 dollars a month to Helena. That’s it! $35 covers her basic needs and gives us a chance to communicate with her how much we love her, how much God loves her, and how special she really is!

How many people could scrape together 35 dollars? Here are a few things that cost about 35 bucks:

• 1 family dinner at a restaurant (and that’s eating pretty light…)
• 5 or 6 combo meals (super-sized)
• a pair of jeans
• a shirt and tie (you know you already have enough of these)
• about 7 lattes
• a haircut for some ladies
• the phone bill
• a couple of hard-back books
• 2 cd’s (3 and a half if you use iTunes)

Let’s face it, if we all stood back and looked at our spending, we would see just how much money we waste. We would see just how easy it is to serve someone living in poverty on the other side of the globe by sacrificing a few luxuries.

Here’s my challenge: look at your money situation and consider sponsoring a child. That’s it. Your call. Here’s where to go to do it: Worldvision. I completely trust and believe in these guys. They do a lot of great things (they are also the 40 hour famine people that a lot of churches are familiar with). You can even pick your child’s gender and geographical location if you’d like. You’ll get reports and letters from the child. You;ll get the opportunity to send him/her birthday, Easter, Christmas cards, etc.

I think Jesus said something about whatever we do to those in need we do for Him…something like that…right? If you decide to sponsor a child, I’d love to hear about it. Drop me a comment!

Ramsey

No not Gordon, Dave.  I have added Dave Ramsey’s blog to my blogroll.  If you aren’t familiar with Dave, he is a financial guru and author of “Total Money Makeover,” one of the most important books Jennifer and I have ever read!  Check out my review section about the book.

Regardless of your age or financial situation you need to read this book and learn from Dave.  He has revolutionized the way we look at money, spending, and debt.  It is no coincidince that I finally read the book my buddy Ryan Owens gave me just before going on staff with That Youth Thing.  God was preparing us for financial belt tightening!

Do yourself and favor and go buy his book!  You may thank me by sending gifts to the house, which you pay for with cash after getting out of stinky debt.