The Plans He Has For Me

It's a strange feeling to describe, when God speaks to you, isn't it? It's like a thought, or an idea, something brilliant, that cuts through all the confusion and anxiety and stress of a single moment and hits you right in the heart, but you just absolutely, unequivocally know that it didn't come from you. That's what happened to me on Jan. 6.

These last few months have been a crazy blur for Danielle and I. I lost my full-time graphic design job back in the fall, and picked up work with my uncle's construction business and as a seasonal driver for UPS.

Meanwhile, the wife and I are trying to sell our house in Bethlehem, NH, but, as anyone who has ever had anything to do with the real estate business can tell you, things are moving veeeeeeery sloooooowly. In the meantime we've moved in with my Grandma.

Oh, and Danielle quit her job. She worked a high-burnout shift at a high-burnout job in the field of adult mental health, so it was no surprise that she got burned out. Furthermore, since the move to Grandma's her job had become a 50 minute commute. Danielle practically begged me to let her quit. She's got a part-time baby-sitting gig now, but it's just as uncertain as my work future.

Uncertainty. That seems to be the word dominating our lives at the moment. Our jobs are uncertain. The sale of our house is uncertain. Our future is uncertain. It's kinda nerve-wracking.

Last week while I was driving a route during my seasonal UPS job on a very cold, blustery, slippery winter road I felt a panic rising in my chest as I was thinking about all the uncertainty in our lives. I started getting depressed, even angry. I mean, there wasn't even the slightest indication of what I should do next—where I should look for a job, how to get our house sold, whether we should do this or that. There was nothing on the horizon of our future except stress and uncertainty.

I started praying, and I asked God for a glimpse of His plan, some hope, something to keep me going, something to give me some idea of what we should go next. His answer cut through my brain in a voice that wasn't my own: "I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and future." (Jeremiah 29:11) I was actually startled by this because I knew this answer had come from somewhere beyond myself. The voice in my head wasn't mine. It was a reminder that God has nothing but my best interests at heart. Wherever I'm headed, whatever happens next, it's coming from Him and it will be good.

But God wasn't done speaking to me.

That night when I finished my route, my boss pulled me into his office to go over my performance. He said the company wanted me to come back this summer to cover routes while other drivers were on vacation. It would be a full time position lasting June-through-September. There would be a month off and then the holiday driving job would start again in November. It's not a guarantee, but it would keep me within the company and possibly lead to more steady employment down the road.

It wasn't much, but it was hope.

It was an answer to a very simple, desperate prayer.

What about you? Can you recall a time when God's voice cut through the noise and pierced you with Truth?

Keep pinchin' :-)

Christianity To Atheism - It's A Shorter Step Than You Think

Dani and I have begun leading a Faith Group in our new home and we had our first meeting this week. Most of it was a meet and greet with some discussion about my vision for the group as well as input from other member's about what they hoped to get from the group.

Then we had some Bible study.

I had prepared a brief lesson based on something that had been discussed in Sunday School a couple weeks ago, and again in Youth Group, about the origin of evil. As I was contemplating this, it struck me how essential it is for Christians to have a proper view of the origin of evil.

What do YOU believe about the origin of evil? The most common beliefs include:

1. There is no such thing as evil. Evil is an illusion.
2. Evil has always co-existed alongside good.
3. In the beginning there was God, and God created evil along with everything else.
4. Evil is the absence of good. God created all things good, but allowed his creatures to choose non-good.

I think we can strike the first one off the list pretty easily. I know there are many people who deny the existence of evil, but I can't imagine this belief being too deeply rooted in someone who isn't delusional. A brief glimpse at the atrocities in our world should be evidence enough that there are some truly evil things that happen. Moreover, the Bible is filled with passages warning us against the evils of, not just this world, but of the unseen world (1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:12).

The second one is also false—evil has not always been around. God is Eternal. God is good. Before the creation of the world, before the creation of the heavens and angels, there was only God. Therefore evil has not—could not—always co-existed with him.

Did God create evil? No. Scripture says that when God finished His creation He saw everything and declared it "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Many Scriptures affirm that God is not the author of evil (James 1:13, 1 John 1:5, 1 Corinthians 14:33). The sovereignty of God gives him full control over evil circumstances, but even these He orchestrates for good.

But this is where some skewed thinking can dramatically alter our beliefs.

If we believe that God created evil, or that He negligently allows evil to happen, then we run the risk of believing that He isn't the loving, gracious, good God the Bible says He is. And casting doubt on the character of God casts doubt on our belief that He is even real. When we allow school shootings and terrorist bombings and sickness and death to call into question God's goodness, it's easy to see how a Christian could just throw up his hands and say, "How could a good God let this happen?! I've had it with God!" Suddenly the path to atheism isn't so far away.

But what if we look at it this way: evil is the absence of God.

Think about this: what was there before God created the world? Was there darkness? No. There was nothing. Prior to the creation of the world darkness had no definition. Then God created light, and suddenly darkness had a name, and it is defined as the absence of light.

We were created to have a relationship with God. He loves us more dearly than we could ever imagine, and He wants our love in return, but such a relationship is impossible without choice. As such, at the moment of creation, God gave mankind the ability to choose or reject Him. When we choose Him we are bathed in the light of his mercy, his love, his goodness, but when we reject Him it's like turning off the light in our bedroom, closing the door, and pulling the shades, surrounding ourselves in darkness. Evil.

It is helpful, I think, to understand that evil is not itself a thing created. Evil is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not proper to think of evil as something that was created. Evil is simply a lack of moral perfection in a fallen creature.

It should come as no surprise then to see evil increasing on the earth. We've kicked God out of our schools. We've taken the 10 Commandments out of our court houses. Every day there are stories of people getting in trouble for praying at work, of athletes getting called-out for bending on their knees after a touchdown, of Christian-themed television and radio programs getting banned from the airwaves. If evil is the absence of God, it's no wonder why our world is so wicked.

This should radically change our view of God. When we understand that evil is the absence of God our immediate reaction should be to run to Him. And when evil strikes our lives as a consequence of man's choices, our reaction shouldn't be to blame God for all of our woes, but to seek Him even more fervently.

God is certainly sovereign over evil. There's a sense in which it is proper even to say that evil is part of His eternal decree. He planned for it. It did not take Him by surprise. It is not an interruption of His eternal plan. He declared the end from the beginning, and He is still working all things for His good pleasure (Isaiah 46:9-10).

But God's role with regard to evil is never as its author. He simply permits evil agents to work, then overrules evil for His own wise and holy ends. Ultimately He is able to make all things, including all the fruits of all the evil of all time, work together for a greater good (Romans 8:28).

Tolkien's King Theoden And Every Believer's Dream

King Theoden of Rohan,
an artist's depiction.

Sorry, but this blog is going to be completely self-indulgent.

I just finished watching my way through Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (the extended versions, of course, because how else could one watch them?) and when I got to King Theoden's death scene in The Return of the King, like always, I cried. Call me a nerd. Call me a softy. I don't care. Theoden's death is one of the most compelling and poignant death scenes put on film in a long time, partly because his character has such a dramatic and satisfying arch.

King Theoden is easily my favorite character—in the movies and the books—and he isn't even a central character. He is pivotal in the ultimate victory of good over evil, but there's still more happening with King Theoden than meets the eye.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, let me paint a brief picture for you of King Theoden and why he is everything you should strive to be.

The seventeenth King of Rohan, Theoden was slowly deceived by his chief advisor Grima (or Wormtongue, as most others called him) into serving the evil wizard Saruman. By the time we meet Theoden in book two, The Two Towers, he is a shriveled old man, a puppet of Grima, and an unfortunate servant of Saruman. The story hinges on Theoden successfully shaking off the chains that Grima had placed around his soul and leading his people to war against the evil wizard.

"Dark have been my dreams of late," Theoden says when he finally awakens from Grima's spells.

I think most people shrug off the importance of Theoden's role in the story because he doesn't start off as a very interesting character. When we first meet him, he's not heroic. He's not handsome or chivalrous. He's a man who has been duped into working for the enemy. He's indifferent. A prisoner. Certainly, not the most inspiring hero.

But I think, of all the people in Tolkien's tale, Theoden is the one who most accurately represents humanity. There isn't a person alive who has never been deceived. Theoden is everyone who has ever been caught in the bondage of drugs, sex, pornography, greed, gluttony, or countless other moral crimes. Theoden's struggle is representative of the one we all endure—the struggle for salvation. He is—more literally than any of the other characters—us.

In the final book, The Return of the King, Theoden fully redeems himself by mustering his soldiers to fight for the kingdom of Gondor and the very survival of the human race. Vastly outnumbered and facing certain death he charges headlong into battle on the Pelennor Fields before the human city of Minis Tirith.

Tolkien's description of Theoden in battle is radically different from the hollow shell he started out as:

"Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a king of old."

King Theoden in Peter Jackson's "The Return of the King"

In the fight Theoden is eventually defeated by the Witch-king of Angmar. The Witch-king is slain by Theoden's niece, Eowyn, who rode into battle in secret and against her uncle's wishes.

In the book Theoden is later found on the battlefield, broken and clinging to life, by his nephew, Eomer. Theoden passes his kingship onto his nephew and dies, saying, "I go to my fathers, and even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed."

Isn't that the hope we all should have, to get to the end of our lives and stand redeemed from all of our mistakes? Isn't it the joy of all believers to pass into the presence of our Heavenly Father and, in His mighty company, no longer feel disgraced for our sins?

King Theoden is a shining example of the redemptive journey we all need to take. There will be dark days. Foolishness will mire much of our character. We will face deception, trials of many kinds, hopelessness, blindness, and the dishonor of countless mistakes, but in the end, thanks to the work of Christ, we know that one day we will stand in Heaven unencumbered by our shame.

And, as Gandalf would say, "That is an encouraging thought."

Breaking Free Part 3: Overcoming The Comparison Trap

It's been two years since Danielle and I started down this road toward debt-free living. It's been a challenge, a fun ride, a ministry, and a blessing, all rolled into one adventure. This week we'd like to look back on our journey, share some of the intricacies of how and why we do it, and hopefully encourage you to gain some ground in your financial battle.

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It's so easy to fall prey to comparison.

"Bob and Mary have a nice house. They're the same age as us. We should have the standard of living they do!"

"My wife and I have a bunch of kids to feed, but neither of us can get a job. We must not be as good as John and Jane who are both doing quite well."

"My two best friends have both gotten new cars in the last three years. I must be a loser if I don't get a new car soon."

"Mary is so beautiful. If I looked like her I wouldn't feel so insecure."

The examples above may seem ridiculous at face value, but they're actually not that far off from the kind of thinking we all experience from time to time.

Jacey, over at The Balanced Wife, has a wonderful article on comparison. Regarding her financial situation, she writes: "It wasn’t jealousy or bitterness I was feeling, but something more like shame. I felt behind, like a new bar had been set for what people my age were supposed to have, and I didn’t measure up."

Money management wizard Dave Ramsey talks about this feeling in Financial Peace University. He says, as adults, we try to recreate the standard of living we had as a child, or, for those less fortunate, we try to create what we always thought was the ideal.

My wife admitted once that this was the case for her. After we got married, she wanted a house. A big house. A house to raise a family in. She wanted to cook dinner like her mom always did and expected me to keep up the property like her father. Imagine her disappointment when, over time, she realized that married life wasn't going to be all that she saw growing up. She doesn't have the time to cook meals all week. I'm not the Mr. Fix-It that her father was.

We both had expectations that were dashed pretty early on in our marriage.

Breaking Free from Comparison

Theodore Roosevelt said, "Comparison is the thief of joy."

Comparing ourselves to other people is one of the first major obstacles we have to overcome to find financial peace. And I do mean "peace." Because you can find financial freedom without overcoming comparison, but the road there will be longer, more stressful, and more irritating, because as you continually compare yourself to others you'll be unhappy and you're likely to make those around you miserable. Financial peace is a much more rewarding road.

The comparison trap is a dangerous one, because comparison, by nature, is always negative, unfairly putting the worst of ourselves up against the perceived best of others. Comparison usually ignores facts, and often accepts too many broad assumptions. Comparison is inaccurate. It wastes time. It fails to realize that everyone is unique and that nothing in life is a "one size fits all."

When the Apostle Paul wrote "godliness with contentment is great gain," he wasn't just speaking philosophically. He had learned the secret to contentment in every circumstance in life. While that secret eludes most people, it need not elude any true believer.

Here are six practical steps to overcoming comparison.

• Learn to give thanks

Not just for good things, but for all things. Thankfulness is a matter of simple obedience to God, but it is also evidence of a Spirit-filled believer. Not feeling thankful? That's ok. You don't always have to FEEL thankful. Just give thanks anyway. God won't ignore your obedience. (1 Thess. 5:18; Eph. 5:18-20).

• Learn to rest in God's providence

God is always unfolding His purpose in our lives, a purpose that is for His glory and our gain. So when bad things come our way, who are we to shake our fist at the sky or grumble and complain when, in the long run, God is only doing what is best for us. (Rom. 8:28; 1 Pet. 4:12-13).

• Learn to be satisfied with little

Paul learned to make this choice. And that's exactly what it is: a choice. You can choose to be content just like you can choose to smile at the clerk at the checkout line, or choose to have a good attitude toward those you don't necessarily enjoy being around. (1 Tim. 6:6)

• Learn to live above your circumstances

Life happens. And if I am to be truly honest, life can really suck sometimes. No one knows this better than the apostle Paul—abused, imprisoned, tortured. He didn't take pleasure in the pain itself, but in the power of Christ manifested in him. Clinging to Christ when life gets hard is so crucial to truly being content. (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

• Learn to rely on God's provision

Danielle and I took a major step of faith when we decided to sign up for Christian Healthcare Ministries as an alternative to Obamacare. It means our trust isn't in an insurance company, but in the hands of God, who, through thousands of other believers, will help us cover the cost of our medical expenses. I have faith in this, because Jesus promised that he will never leave us and that he will supply all our needs. (Heb. 13:5, Matt. 6:26)

• Learn to care for others

Really practice this one, because as we focus on meeting the needs of others, an amazing thing happens: comparison takes a back seat. Focusing on others means learning about them, and as we learn about them we can find empathy and understanding. Loving others rubs out the assumption-based aspects of comparison and replaces it with facts. (Phil. 2:3-4)

Associations are powerful, and the company we keep can influence our decisions in many ways, even without us realizing it. When people around us start buying houses and going on vacations, we feel like we deserve the same. But once you choose not to be swayed by this kind of thinking, there is immediate freedom from comparison.

While Danielle and I feel strongly about debt, we don't shove our beliefs on others, nor do we look down on friends and family who spend more money than we do or take out loans. Their choices don't threaten ours, and when you don't feel threatened you're in a much better position to love people where they are without judging them.

(Adapted from What Is The Secret to Contentment?, by John MacArthur.)

Other posts in this series

Part 1: My Personal Wake-Up Call
Part 2: How To See Some Hope
Part 4: The Things We Didn't Give Up

Creation vs... Creation? Christians Need To Get Their Priorities Straight

Oh, age. You're such a pest. With every passing year my declining body can endure less and less, and yet with every passing year life heaps upon me more and more. More responsibility. More things to do. More relationships to maintain. More problems to fix.

Bah, humbug!

Sorry. I DO have a point to make, and I DO plan on being optimistic about it, but optimism isn't natural for me. I'm not a glass-is-half-full kind of guy. I'm a glass-is-half-empty-with-a-crack-in-the-bottom-slowly-getting-emptier kind of guy. But that doesn't mean I don't have faith, or hope, or that I don't believe that with God all things are possible—even turning me into an optimist.

But life does have its frustrations, doesn't it? The older I get the more aware I become of the cultural issues and political differences around me.

Even in churches I'm becoming more aware of the vastly different beliefs people hold within Christianity.

Our church has gone through a few upheavals recently, which has drawn out some dramatically different beliefs among members of our congregation. Namely, the issue of Creation. Our church has held to a "young earth" point of view for some time, but some leaders in our church have recently revealed that they don't believe in a literal six day creation, and some members of the congregation share this point of view as well.

For anyone unfamiliar with this topic, the controversy, when boiled down, is very simple, though there are varying degrees of complexity which I won't get into. The basis of it is this:

Young Earth Creationists are people who believe that God created the earth in six 24-hours days. Based on the genealogies in Scripture from Adam to Jesus Christ, they conclude that the earth is somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 years old. It's the simplest interpretation of the first chapter of the book of Genesis. These people believe that we should take God at His word, that extracting any other kind of interpretation of this text involves over-thinking this very simple aspect of the Bible.

But there are those who don't believe that the word "day" in Genesis Chapter 1 refers to a literal 24-hour day, but rather a week, or in some cases thousands of years. They often point to Hebrews 4:4-11 which seems to indicate that God is still within his seventh day of rest. From this, they conclude that if the seventh day of creation is thousands of years long, then couldn't the other six days be just as long? That could imply, then, that the creation account took thousands and thousands of years!

Scripture is actually quite vague on the matter, and scholars have, are, and will continue to debate the merits of each point of view for ages.

The thing that surprises me is how vehemently some Christians will defend their positions, to the point of attacking each other and even leaving churches, when, in reality, this is largely a secondary issue. Does it really matter whether Creation was a literal six day creation or one that lasted thousands of years? Isn't the idea that the world came into existence through an all-knowing, loving Creator as opposed to being the result of billions of years of mutating goo far more important?

Christians need to get their priorities straight. There are billions of people in this world being deceived into thinking that they are nothing but primordial soup, when the Bible says that they are so much more. Billions of people are leaning on the plethora of crutches offered by the world—anti-depressants, alcohol, sex, money, status—when there is a God who loves them more than they can imagine because He created them. He made them. He formed them into exactly who they needed to be for a glorious purpose. Whether it took Him six days or seventy thousand years is hardly relevant when people's souls are in jeopardy.

It's fun—for me anyway—to debate the intricacies of Scripture, such as the creation account. There is nothing wrong with debating Scripture. In fact, it's good exercise for the mind and a good way of challenging us to really examine what we believe, but it can not—MUST not—overshadow the fact that we, as Christians, need to stand united against the lies of this world, fully ready to come alongside each other and defend the faith when needed.

Keep pinchin' :-)

How Long Are You Considered A Newlywed?

So I've been married for two years now. Yeeesh. In some ways it seems like it's been a lot longer, but in other ways it seems like just yesterday that Danielle and I were kicking back on the beaches of Kelly's Island on our honeymoon.

So are we still considered newlyweds?

I found myself pondering this question as I looked back over our second year of marriage and considered how different it was from the first. Initially, Danielle and I were two fiercely independent people waging war over our independent ways as we struggled to compromise amidst a tumultuous frenzy of stubborn independence. Thankfully, year two was a little more mellow.

But back to the question at hand. Are we still considered newlyweds?

To answer my question I did what any highly-intelligent adult would do and consulted the most wise and insightful person I know: my Mother.

"Forever!" she said.

Oh, mom. You're such an optimist.

I then consulted the second most wise and insightful being I know: Google.

Google had a variety of answers stemming mostly from the personal perspectives of its chasm of users around the world. Many Googlers seemed to think that you were a newlywed for one year, but older generations suggested three.

So which is it—one or three?

Well, that depends on many factors, but, don't worry cause I've got it all figured out. You can call off Google. You can stop asking your mother. I'm here to give you the definitive answer... though, admittedly, I am a bit biased because this is my theory and my blog. (Best to take this with a massive grain of salt.)

ONE-YEAR NEWLYWED STATUS
Essentially this status applies to people who have either been down the marriage street before or are already so familiar with their significant other that a newlywed status of longer than one year seems redundant.

If you've been married once before, divorced or widowed, and you marry again, your newlywed status doesn't stick as long as your first one. Sorry. It's just a fact. You've been around this block before, so there isn't much "new" about it.

If you've been with the same person for more than three years already, especially if you've been living together, married life isn't going to have many surprises for you that you're not already aware of. So you had a ceremony and now you've got a ring on your finger. Big deal. That changes what, exactly? After one year you're just no longer a newlywed. Get over yourself.

TWO-YEAR NEWLYWED STATUS
Maybe you were high school sweethearts. Maybe you met in the military. Whatever the circumstances, your marriage was put off for a period of time for reasons beyond your control. And chances are you haven't been able to see your partner because of scheduling conflicts or distance. As a result there's a lot of pent-up eagerness to finally be married. You can't wait to be together and hold hands and look into each other's eyes and make all the rest of us sick with your very public displays of mushy affection. This fervor for each other will be what carries your newlywed gusto into a second year, but that's all you get.

THREE-YEAR NEWLYWED STATUS
You started dating. You fell in love. You got engaged. All within a year. Your passion contained one part forward momentum, two parts abstinence and tradition, and your wedding day was a celebration for the ages. Chances are this was also the only serious relationship you have ever had—or, at least, one of the few. You've got all the fervor and gusto from the Two-Year Newlywed Status, but it's pumped into one of those cardboard Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll tubes, packed tight and ready to burst at the seams. You'll be considered newlyweds for a long time. Your third year of newlywed status will be significantly dimmer than the first two, but it will still apply.

Now, as for my mother's "Forever Newlywed Status," I think there's some truth to that too. I think there is a way that you can forever remain a student of your spouse—learning about them, pursuing them—that will always keep some sort of youthful spark in your marriage, preserving that newlyweded feeling for a long time.

Danielle and I are reading a book right now called "Sacred Marriage," by Gary Thomas. In it he presents an interesting concept called "falling forward." The term comes from the author's experience hiking Mount Rainier. While attempting to jump across a fast-moving creek a friend told him that when he jumped, "just make sure you fall forward."

"Wise advice, because even if I didn't land on my feet, my forward momentum would at least keep me from being swept downstream. That advice applies in profound ways to Christian marriage. In this key relationship we must also learn to fall forward. When anger flares and problems surface or boredom takes over, we're tempted in our immaturity to pull back, become distant, or even seek out someone more interesting and less frustrating. But we mature as we choose to move forward through the pain and past apathy. We will fall, but we can choose the direction in which we fall, either toward or away from our spouse."

A marriage should be a never-ending work in progress. If work ever stops, you're going to lose your forward momentum. So long as you're always putting work into your marriage, whenever problems arise, that forward momentum should see you through.

As Danielle and I enter our third year of being newlyweds, my aim is to continue to pursue her, almost to the point of imagining that we're not married and that I'm still trying to win her heart. If we keep this forward momentum maybe we'll find that newlywed status can indeed last forever.

Cause seriously, when is my mother ever wrong?

Keep pinchin' :-)

A Shopping Spree With My Hubby

Going clothes shopping on a budget can be hard, but if you do it right you can replace the "hard" with pure "fun!"

Before we were married, both Jake and I had very different approaches to clothes shopping.

Jake would shop for clothes whenever he needed, buying many things he didn't need, whether he really had the money or not, and almost always he would be totally unaware of just how much money he was spending.

And I, ever the saver, would save and save and horde and horde my money until I could go on a huge shopping spree and splurge all I wanted. But at least I always knew to the dollar how much I had spent, she says proudly :-P

There are pros and cons to both methods, but, in the long run, neither are very responsible because neither one is really in control of the money. Back then, the money that we were spending wasn't allocated for clothes, wasn't accounted for on a budget, and wasn't part of a larger plan. Money that isn't part of a plan is money that just goes away.

Well, not anymore!

Last week Jake and I got to experience clothes shopping the way it should be. We had been saving money in our clothing budget for a while now in anticipation of needing to get a few new things. Our shopping trip required some planning because in our area you've got to drive at least an hour to get to any real good shopping places.

We began by going out to eat with some gift certificates that we had been saving, which not only covered the cost of our meal but also the tip. A free meal for two? You betchya!

Now onto the more interesting stuff. Shopping!

My strategy was to look for those clothing items that we really needed first, and then, if there was any money left over, we could purchase things we wanted.

When I enter a store I usually head to the back of the store first, or to wherever I know that they hide their best deals. I know marketing experts think they're being clever by pushing new merchandise "sales" near the entrance, but they don't fool me. I start at the back and work my way forward.

Few ladies have the luxury of being married to a man who likes shopping, or at least tolerates it well, but my hubby rather seems to enjoy it—so long as he gets to buy something. He's even learned some of my shopping strategies and is getting better and better at hunting down good deals—between two different stores he found three pairs of jeans all for about the price of one. He also hunted down a good deal on workout clothes.

I scored some great deals on some sun dresses and workout clothes—and splurged on a new pair of hot pink and black flip-slops.

When we returned home and I tallied everything up I was surprised to find that we had only spent about two-thirds of what we had budgeted. That was a great feeling for two reasons:

1. It's always fun to have a successful shopping trip where you found some great deals and saved a lot of money


2. But more importantly, Jake and I are finally learning to do this whole shopping thing the right way. Our money is working for us instead of slipping through our fingers. Every month there's a little bit more in savings, and the money in our budget for things like clothing grows a little bit more, which means there's more available when we need it.

It's times like these that make me realize how well our financial plan is working. Except it's not our plan. I shouldn't even call it Dave Ramsey's plan. It's simply a biblical way of handling money. It's how God has been telling people to manage their money since mankind had money. And when you think about it you realize that it's the best, most common sense way of handling money. It's less stressful. It's not challenging. It just takes time, discipline, and a little bit of practice.

Ok, a LOT of practice. In fact, Jake and I are still practicing, but more and more we're seeing the plan work! And I'm so thankful that we have a God who has it all laid out for us! We need only follow the plan.

So how do you score great deals on clothing? Do you go often to look at deals or plan a big trip? Tell us all about it in the comments below.

Keep pinchin' ;-)

A Look Inside Christian Healthcare Ministries... Sarcasm Included!

Howdy world! If you're just tuning in, the wife and I have signed up for a Christian healthcare sharing organization as an alternative to Obamacare. (Click here to read why.) It's been a complicated solution to figure out because, essentially, we have had to learn all of this insurance mumbo-jumbo ourselves.

So we signed up with Christian Healthcare Ministries a couple weeks ago (click here to read about that if you're curious) and yesterday we received our welcome package—or as I've come to call it, "The Book of Forms." The 34-page member brochure introduced us to Dr. Michael D. Jacobson, who has served as medical consultant for CHM since 1995. He's apparently the go-to guy if you've got medical questions.

To contact him, fill out the enclosed form.

We were also made aware of one member's health concerns—a man named Mark, from Ohio, who is trying to get his blood pressure under control. Members can send notes of encouragement and pray for Mark.

To send him a card, fill out the enclosed form.

One thing I forgot to sign up for when I enrolled is the Brother's Keeper program, a separate fund to safeguard members from medical bills exceeding $125,000 caused by catastrophic illness or injuries. It's a quarterly gift of $25—in addition to your monthly portion—as well as an annual $40 administration fee. I'm thinking the wife and I will sign up for this, so I guess... oh! How convenient...

...they've included a form for that, too!

There's a page explaining that if we can sucker anyone else into joining, we'll get one month of membership for free. Any takers? All you have to do is...

...fill out the enclosed form.

There's information on what to do if you need medical care—along with an enclosed form—as well as a list of forms to fill out:

• The Checklist of Understanding Form
  I understand that my participation is voluntary... I understand the guidelines... I understand the risk... I understand that this is not insurance.... Check. Check. Check. Check.


• CheckEase Direct Giving Enrollment Form
  To save me the agony of having to write a check every month, I can have my money sent to them automatically.


• Authorization for Disclosure or Use of Protected Health Information Form
  Uh-huh. Got it.

All kidding and sarcasm aside—actually, scratch that, I won't renege my sarcasm. This whole process is an annoyance. Not that I'm not grateful for ministries like CHM, or Samaritan Ministries, or MediShare, but the convoluted politics that have necessitated this lifestyle change make it a circumstance that I resent. So...

Deep calming breath. Relax. Breeeeeath.

Smiley face :-)

Honestly, CHM's Book of Forms isn't so bad. I'm just clinging to the amusement caused by all the forms as a means of easing my suffering.

The good news is that our total monthly membership fee—for both Dani and I—is less than $300. Under Obamacare, even with assistance, it would cost about that much for just ONE of us.

So, despite all my frustrations and my naturally pessimistic personality, I consider myself blessed to now be a part of a healthcare sharing ministry like CHM. I even look forward to praying for other members like Mark and encouraging them through their difficulties.

"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."

—Hebrews 10:25

Keep pinchin' :-)

If you found this information helpful, and choose to use Christian Healthcare Ministries, would you consider signing up under us, as a thank you for all our research? You can use this link to do that Christian Healthcare Ministries.Christian Healthcare Ministries

Remembering Gifts and Blessings From God

This past week I started reading One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voskamp. It's a really great book, and because it is written differently than most books today it makes you have to focus on what you are reading and really pay attention. So far it is has talked about Ann's life, what happened to make her who she is, and what began her journey to name 1,000 gifts from God. I think I am going to go on this journey, to acknowledge all the gifts I receive from God, and while I want to wait until I finish the book to officially start I was reminded of one HUGE gift tonight. After dinner the hubby and I were discussing what we had to do. His list, as usual, was WAY longer than mine, and so I offered to mow the lawn. I've only used our riding lawn mower a couple of times, and had to re-read the instructions just to get it started.

As I was driving like a mad woman all over our lawn—and quite enjoying myself—I was reminded what a chore mowing the lawn was the first summer we were in our home. We have close to an acre of lawn to mow—around the house, garage, and chicken coups, around the garden, the utility pole, a few rocks and trees—and the first year we did it all by hand. Yup, all we had was a little 18-inch Lawnboy, a VERY old one. It took us anywhere from three to five hours to mow the lawn depending on our energy level, how high the grass was, and how well the mower wanted to work. Then the next summer we were given the gift of our riding lawn mower, which you can about read here. Instead of taking me three or five hours, I was able to mow it all in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Not only has our awesome John Deere riding lawn mower been a wonderful gift but it has also given us the gift of saving time and energy. It's nice to be able to enjoy the outdoors without completely exhausting yourself, too! I know I said I wanted to finish Ann's book before I started counting God's gifts, but, oh well... looks like I've started already! Keep pinchin' :-)

Three Signs That Money (Or Lack Thereof) Has Become An Idol

In case you're new to our blog, here's what the wife and I are currently wrapped up in: selling our house. Yup, that's right—what we once thought was going to be our forever home is soon to be on the market.

Recently we were reevaluating our life priorities and realized that our house was holding us back. When we considered how important family is to us, how important our church is and the ways we want to serve God, we realized that it was time to downsize and find something cheaper.

Shortly after we published the blog post discussing some of the reasons why we were selling, a pastor friend emailed me an encouraging note. He said ever since Dani and I began doing the whole Financial Peace University thing his prayer for us has been that we wouldn't make "getting out of debt" an idol. I suppose that was always a danger. I mean, if money can become an idol for people who like to spend it, why couldn't it also become an idol for those who don't have it?

And I'm not talking about the usual concerns and struggles about making ends meet, nor do I think that making a concentrated effort to get out of debt is wrong. The Bible is rife with helpful advice on improving one's financial situation, and it also strongly warns about the dangers of debt. So, by all means, if you're in debt, get out!

When you make something an idol you basically make it more important than anything else in your life. That includes your faith, your relationships, your grades, your future... everything! And idols, if left unchecked, will eventually RUIN your life because they're RUNNING your life!

I think Dani and I have done well at not making our whole penny pinching thing an idol, but I definitely saw signs that we occasionally teetered toward the edge of making it one.

Here are three indicators that you might be making your financial woes too big of a concern in your life.


#1 Money Woes Are ALWAYS On Your Mind

Is your debt the first thing on your mind when you wake up? Does it keep you from falling asleep? Earning more, saving more, spending less, getting out of debt... thoughts along those lines that never go away are a good indicator that you're putting too much mental focus on the issue.

Along with its plethora of useful advice on money matters, the Bible also has some good advice for controlling our thoughts. It tells us to take every thought captive, to submit our thoughts to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) so that by casting our burdens on him we won't be so obsessed with the fears and worries of this life.

#2 Your Loved Ones Are Increasingly Frustrated With Your Money Talk
You may have to ask some loved ones for their opinions on this, but if you're conversations with other people are riddled with the subject of money you may just be a little to focused on it. A certain amount of money talk is healthy and necessary, but the subject shouldn't come up every day.

#3 Are These Types Of Thoughts Familiar To You?
“If I can just get out of debt, I’ll be happy.”

“Once we have a fully-funded emergency savings, I’ll relax.”

“When I finally get that raise, everything will be perfect.”

"If I had a better job we wouldn't be so strapped for cash."

"If she'd just stop spending money we could pay off more debt."

"Why does everything he has to buy cost so much?"

“If I only have [fill in the blank]…”

This is called "destination thinking," because you're always looking toward a place you can't reach because of circumstances. This type of thinking is like poison. As soon as you start saying, "If only..." you'll just find yourself wondering more often, "If only..." ... "If only..." ...

Here's the reality: if your joy is dependent on reaching your financial goals you'll never have anything but disappointment. New goals are born every day... every minute, even. Whether it's financial goals, physical goals, education goals, or career goals, there will always be a new goal in your life the moment another goal is achieved.

Just check out Solomon’s experience with this subject in the book of Ecclesiastes. If this wealthy, powerful king couldn’t find satisfaction through money, no one can. Ask God to help you find true contentment in Him. Nothing else will fully satisfy.

Financial idolatry is real, and it is alive and well in America today. But recognizing it in our lives is half the battle, as well as the first step toward rooting it out.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Grandma's House Is The Place To Be

Pay a visit to Clan Grant in northern New England some day and this is what you'll find: a cluster of cars parked throughout the yard, a large front porch dotted with people in conversations ranging from Star Wars to some distant relative's kidney failure, little kids decorating the driveway with sidewalk chalk, a ball game on the TV in the living room, and food... lots and lots of food.

The Grant family gathered around grandma and grandpa's house, 1996.

This is a typical Sunday at Grandma's house, a large farmhouse, with some Victorian vibes (or a Victorian house with farmhouse vibes... whatever), in the middle of town on a quiet street. Grandma's house has always been the hub of activity for the Grants, a "watering hole" of sorts, where there's always free food, Internet, and a game of cards going on.

I learned to jump my bike off a ramp in Grandma's driveway back before it was paved. My cousins and I tore paths through the lilac bushes and surrounding banks playing GI Joe. I was raised just as much there as I was at home.

And today nothing has changed. Well, I'm no longer jumping my bike off ramps in the driveway, but Grandma's house is still like Mission Control for our family. Except today it's my cousin's children and my little nephews who tear up the landscape with games of tag and hopscotch and water guns and... whatever else kids are into these days.

For the members of Clan Grant, this is the quintessential American dream. We wouldn't do life any other way. We're a tight family. We love being together, especially if there are burgers and dogs on the barbecue and soda in the fridge—and yes, up here in New England, it's soda. Not pop.

This is part of the reason Danielle and I want to be closer to family. We were both raised in very similar New England families where mom and dad taught their kids proper manners and grandma's house was always a place full of generous helpings of love and cookies.

Danielle can recall a time when she was a kid and her mother wasn't home when she got a hair brush knotted up in her hair. Being only about a mile from her Nana's house she hopped on her bike and peddled down the road, tangled brush bouncing around on her head—which today would probably be considered fashionable—where grandma helped her get the hair brush free.

Both of us can recall countless other times where we would walk or ride bikes to grandma and grandpa's house for help, sweet treats, cable TV, and a little extra attention. In fact, when I think about the reasons we go to our grandparents' houses today I think to myself, "Nothing's changed!"

As a big picture thinker, I look at my family and see the ripple effects throughout the generations. Good family breeds good people. Good people make good leaders. And good leaders guide our country. The decline of America today isn't solely the fault of corrupt politicians, it's largely the fault of a broken family system rife with ever-increasing divorce rates and parents who've lost sight of a Godly vision for their families.

I know I'm not going to raise perfect kids, but by God I sure am going to try. There's an old saying that goes: "It takes a village to raise a child." Though there is some truth in that saying, there aren't many villages in today's world that I would want assisting me in raising my kids.

But I do I want as many Grants, Belyeas, and Elliots as I can find!

Keep pinchin' :-)

A Brush With Bambi - Fully Illustrated!

I never saw the deer coming. All I heard was the sound it made as it connected with 75mph of moving steel. I saw an explosion of hair tufts and dirt and its mangled body being tossed up over the hood of the tow truck that hit it, but that was all. It was over in about two seconds.

Me in my Mr. Miyagi car minding my own business.

The "Dwayne The Rock Johnson" of tow trucks coming up behind me.

It was Monday morning, June 2, 2014. I was on my way to work when I saw the tow truck coming up behind me. It was a thick beast of a truck, kind of like what Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson might look like if he were a Transformer. The truck was moving pretty fast, too—but, then again, I'm on this whole "how much gas can I save?!" kick so I was only doing about 58mph in a 65mph zone. Still, The Rock truck must've been doing 70 or 75.

The Rock moved into the left lane to pass me. I had plenty of time to see if a deer was coming before the truck obscured my view of the roadside, so when that animal came bounding up onto the highway it must've been bookin' it, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would've seen it. When the two connected The Rock jolted from bumper to bumper. The truck slowed and I pulled ahead of it, glancing back to see if the driver was ok. The truck wasn't even dented, and a moment later it sped back up and went on its way.

Bambi was dead on impact. At least I hope she was. In my 32 years of living in New England I've had more close encounters with roadside deer than any other animal. They are creatures of darkness, more dangerous to man's highway travels than any other force of nature.

Bambi always looks innocent until she's leaping in front of your car.

"The Rock" truck turns Bambi into an aerial acrobat at 75mph.

So, first, a confession. I'm embarrassed to admit that it took a couple minutes for it to even occur to me that at the speed that deer was moving it would've crossed into my lane and right into my windshield had that tow truck not been there. That tow truck came at just the right time. Chances are my little Suzuki would not have fared as well as The Rock—my CX4 is more akin to Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid; it's a tough little nut, but it's no match for 125 pounds of charging animal.

It got me thinking of how many other times God chooses to protect me and I don't even know it. How many times does a car problem or a delay at work or an ignored alarm clock keep me from harm? How many things does God do behind the scenes to protect me?

I think I almost take it for granted, because—ok, second confession—I didn't even think to thank the Lord for his protection until later that afternoon. When I finally did I felt ashamed and humbled, but extremely grateful for His grace.

I know He doesn't always choose to protect us, but many times He does. Do we take it for granted?

Keep pinchin' :-)

The Horrendous Healthcare Hunt, Part 2: The Why

Stock photo by Kurhan
www.freeimages.com

I know. I know! I said I was done shaking my fist at the government in my last post about healthcare, but the truth is I just don't shake my fist as often. Still, every time the subject of healthcare comes up I turn toward Washington and extend an obscene finger—not really, but I'm thinking it.

And Dani and I are not alone. There isn't a single person we know who doesn't roll their eyes at the mention of our country's laughable "affordable" healthcare system. Almost everyone within our circle of family and friends has had to make radical life adjustments to their finances, their jobs, or living arrangements in order to be able to afford the massive expense of Obamacare.

Dani and I have been on the hunt for affordable healthcare for the last couple of months, looking at several Christian sharing programs. We'll blog about what we've found on a later date—so stay tuned—but for now I wanted to address the "whys" behind our reasoning.

Yes, it has a lot to do with the fact that we literally cannot afford insurance through the Affordable Care Act—informally known as Obamacare, which is what I will call it from this point on because I can't type "AFFORDABLE Care Act" without laughing so hysterically that I lose the ability to type. But, seriously, we CAN NOT afford it. We would have to go hungry or forgo putting gas in the car or not pay our mortgage in order to get the government's insurance.

But there are other reasons that we oppose it—reasons I believe every Christian should hold to.

WHY #1: Caring for the sick isn't the government's job.
Let me paint a picture for you. I love my wife. I'm sure that you want me to love my wife. You can desire for me to love my wife all you want, but it's not your role to love my wife FOR me. You would be taxing yourself too much if you tried to love my wife... and your neighbor's wife... and all the wives in the world. It's just not up to you.

The same goes for the government regarding health care (among other things). The government's role is to do things like protect our borders, execute justice, and fight threats (Romans 13:4, 1 Peter 2:13-14, the Preamble to the Constitution). They are not tasked with caring for the sick.

What begins to happen when the government steps in and starts doing things it's not supposed to be doing is tyranny. In regards to health insurance, when the government starts handling healthcare it cannot help but intrude upon people's lives and impede their freedoms.

WHY #2: Obamacare creates bondage, not freedom.
An addict is enslaved to their own addiction. A non-believer is in bondage to sin. Obamacare claims to allow choice, but does so within such strict confines that true freedom doesn't exist. In actuality, Obamacare creates bondage. When we do not have the freedom to choose if or how we want to spend our earnings, then we are in bondage. And with Obamacare we are in bondage to the government.

Scripture is clear on this: God hates slavery. He sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to free us from slavery to sin. The Apostle Paul warns us not to become slaves to men (1 Corinthians 7:23).

Ultimately, Obamacare is theft, but, unfortunately, our government has come to believe that the ends justify the means. Stealing from one person to give to another—even if it is for a good cause—has become acceptable. Anytime money is taken from us involuntarily to fulfill a purpose not expressly stated in our Constitution, it is theft, even if it's for a good cause.

WHY #3: Obamacare violates Biblical truths that we hold sacred.

One of the worst aspects of Obamacare is that it forces Christians to violate their conscience and subsidize things like abortions, sterilizations, and contraceptives. The government should not put itself above the Christian principles upon which it was founded. In the New Testament, Peter says that Christians must obey God before men (Act 5:29). And when it comes to Obamacare, we will NOT participate if it means murdering innocent babies.

WHY #4: Lowering healthcare costs through the government is a lie.
One of the biggest lies perpetuated by Obamacare is that government regulation can lower healthcare costs. But think about this: the government gets its money from the people it governs. If it decides to enact a massively expensive healthcare program, who is going to pay for it? The people of course! When the government demands that everyone have health insurance, healthcare costs are going to increase for two reasons: 1) demand increases, and 2) competition decreases. Government oversight actually raises healthcare costs exponentially.

The goal in any free economy should be to shop for good medical care like you shop for a good mechanic. With healthy, economical competition among healthcare providers, costs go down. This is what should happen in a free society. This is the kind of society our forefathers wanted to establish, and the kind of society my grandfather fought for.

WHY #5: America needs to become more responsible with its debt.
Obamacare has inflated our national debt beyond anything anyone ever could have imagined. We are currently spending as a nation more money than we possess. This is NOT good financial stewardship! This is NOT being responsible! God's warnings against debt are all throughout Scripture, and they don't apply just to individuals, but families, businesses, and nations too.

For Dani and I, the main reasons for not wanting to be a part of Obamacare is the way it violates our Biblical beliefs, robs us of our freedom of choice, and the massive expense of it. We are hopeful that some day a different solution will be found, but until then the horrendously time-consuming, difficult task of finding affordable healthcare continues.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Click here to read "The Horrendous Healthcare Hunt Begins."

God's Grace In The Midst Of A Lawn Mower Battle

I have this buddy who lives in Virginia, and during the months of February and March, while Dani and I are still shoveling snow from our driveway and trying to stay warm, he likes to call me up and talk about how he's prepping the lawnmower for the first mow of the season. When we're still waiting for the temperature to rise above 30, he's out getting a tan. When his barbecue grill has gone through one propane tank, we're still waiting to even use ours.

I don't get to gloat to him very much, but I will say this: I have a far more awesome lawnmower! And though I don't get to use it as much as he gets to use his, mine's got more horsepower, a wider cutting range, and far more style. I try to use this to make him jealous, but I don't think it ever works.

Anyway, so after months and months of a laboriously long winter, we finally had a nice sunny day where I got to dust off my awesome riding mower and give the lawn a once over. First, it was time to change the oil.

And so began the first of many things that went wrong that day.

You shouldn't change the oil on a completely cold engine. It's best to let the mower run for 10 minutes or so to warm up the engine. It makes the oil flow better. But after sitting around all winter, my lawn mower's battery was dead. This did not surprise me, but it didn't really make me happy either. I did a quick internet search to see if it was ok to jumpstart a mower's battery with a car, and though most people said it was ok, they advised: DO NOT START THE CAR! Apparently the rev of the car's engine will overpower the mower's battery and potentially cause it to catch on fire. I'm no mechanic. All I know is what I read, and what I read on at least six different websites was: do not start the car! Do not start the car! Do not start the car!

Well, that didn't work.

My frustration was growing.

I called up a local retailer who serviced the mower and asked about how to jumpstart it. The serviceman said: "Start the car."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't want to blow up my mower."

"What makes you think you'll blow up your mower?" he asked

"The internet."

He laughed. "Well, we do it all the time here."

So I said a quick prayer, started the car, and mower jumpstarted just fine.

Stupid internet.

Now, time to change the oil.

Again, I'm no mechanic, but I've changed the oil on enough cars to know the process. I know you're not supposed to over-tighten the oil filter. It says right on the oil filter: tighten by hand. Furthermore, the John Deere instructional video on how to change your John Deere oil filter clearly states: Be careful not to over-tighten your oil filter. Well whoever it was at the manufacturing plant who put this oil filter on must have used a power drill because I nearly broke my hand trying to get it off. I ended up having to make a trip to Home Depot to buy a special oil filter wrench. After another quick prayer and a few grunts and groans later the filter finally came off.

It was passed noon by the time I finally got the oil changed and I was thoroughly aggravated by what had become an exceptionally long task. My entire morning had been wasted on what should have been a 15 minute job.

And I still wanted to:

1. Mow the law
2. Clean the barbecue grill
3. Take down the broken pieces of fence
4. Stack some wood
5. And maybe get started on the upstairs renovation

Ambitious, I know.

I did manage to clean the barbecue grill though, and that was another laborious task more time consuming and messy than I had anticipated.

But back to the mower.

Ten minutes into mowing the lawn I noticed smoke coming out of the engine. The oil cap had popped off and the brand new three quarts of oil I had poured into the tank was having a party all over the engine. Awesome. Fifteen minutes later everything was as clean as I could make it, but the battery was still dead. So I pushed the mower over to the car to jumpstart it again.

At this point, it occurred to me that with so much oil spread all over the engine, and live jumper cables being hooked up to the mower, there was a good chance I could blow myself up. I had cleaned up the oil spill pretty well, and figured if I was extra cautious when hooking up the cables I would be ok, and—after another quick prayer—I was.

I mowed for another 10 minutes before I had to get off the mower and move the newly cleaned grill. Upon forgetting to put the mower in park, the mower powered down once I stood up. The battery was still dead, and this time I was too far away from the car for a jumpstart.

My aggravation peaked.

It was now about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. That's it. I was done. Apparently I was not supposed to work outside that day. Life tried to warn me first thing that morning when the mower's battery was dead, and again during my epic battle with the oil filter. I should've listened. I should've just stayed inside and procrastinated the day away.

But, in the plus column, I learned two things from all of this:

1. The internet is stupid. Granted, the internet has a lot of great advice and instructions for many of life's little issues, but I'm sure if it were possible to compile all of the info on the internet and sort it out into "truth" and "non-truth" 90% of it would be absolute rubbish.


2. God is never-endingly gracious. Despite my horrible attitude, God answered my prayers to help me get the oil filter off. Despite my near temper-tantrum, He answered my prayer to get the mower started. And even though I was ready to put my fist through a wall after the oil spill, God graciously prevented me from blowing up.

Despite all that went wrong that day, and despite my poor attitude, God continued to meet my needs and prove His reliability even when I wasn't acting very deserving of it. It just goes to demonstrate what a truly gracious God we have. His goodness and mercy extends to all those who ask for it.

As far as my awesome lawn mower goes, I'll revisit the dead battery some other day. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, to which I say: good. I didn't want to work outside anyway.

Keep pinchin' :-)

How Pruning Can Benefit Us

At the end of winter I decided to cut back my raspberry bushes. I'm not entirely sure if that was the right thing to do, but it seemed logical to me. The raspberry bushes were on our property when we bought our home almost two years ago, and I'm not sure how long they had been there prior to that or how long it had been since someone took care of them. I wasn't sure what was old and what was new, so I decided to just cut it all back in hopes that in the future I would reap a greater harvest.

As I was raking out all the branches I had pruned and the dead leaves, I was reminded of how this is kind of what Jake and I have done with our finances. In some ways I feel like we have hacked back and hacked back as far as we can go in hopes of building a better financial future. We went into this process with some hesitation, facing a lot of unknowns, and we still don't really know what will happen next, but we are trusting the process to produce financial fruit for us. We knew that we couldn't keep spending the way we had in the past if we expected things to be different in our future, but knowing that didn't necessarily make it any easier to cut out restaurants, Netflix, or our vacation budget.

Another thought that occurred to me was how God prunes my spiritual life. Often times in order for God to really work in my life He has cut back or completely remove things that I thought I needed. While this process is painful, if I stick with it and trust in Him, I usually find that He is faithful to do a mighty work in my heart and life. Sometimes He even replaces the things I thought I needed with much more precious things.

It amazes me how often I am willing to hang onto the old, broken, damaged parts of my life for fear that I won't like what will happen if I allow them to be pruned back, but as long as I am unwilling to allow that process to happen I am missing out on the good things my Father in heaven has in store for me.

So, while I wait to see what comes from my raspberry bushes I will allow those newly cut-back plants to remind me of the importance of the pruning I need in order to continue in my financial and spiritual life.

Keep pinchin' :-)

10 Financial Principles Straight From The Bible

It amazes me that Dani and I, who both grew up in Christian homes, who were both saved at young ages, didn't start learning all of this financial stuff until we were married. In the 16 months since taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University we have discovered a whole world of biblically-based financial advisors, blogs, websites, books, and more that talk about managing your money from a God perspective.

Neither of us learned this growing up. I never once heard it preached from a pulpit. I never remember hearing it on Christian radio. Maybe the whole trend of managing money God's way is just now starting to catch on, but I also think it's sad that more pastors don't preach this stuff. The more I learn, the more I think, "It's so obvious! Why didn't I get this sooner, and why aren't more people doing it?"

Here are 10 financial principles straight out of the Bible that I'm, A) stunned I never heard about before, and, B) want to pass on to someone else so they don't waste their life digging themselves into debt. Because, let's face it folks, America isn't getting any better. The government is not going to protect your assets, your 401k, or even your hard-earned retirement. Don't count on it. Put your trust in the only thing that has proven trustworthy: God. The following financial principles are tried and true. They're real, and if put into practice will change your financial future.

1. God is the source of everything. Learn this. Learn it now and it will make the rest of your life a lot easier. All throughout Scripture we're taught that everything we have comes from God and we give it out of His hands. God owns it all, from the earth (Psalm 24:1) to all the silver and gold (Haggai 2:8) to me and you (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).


2. Giving isn't a good thing to do, it is an ESSENTIAL thing to do. Like I blogged about yesterday, Deuteronomy 14:23 tells us that tithing wasn't created for God's benefit, but ours, to teach us that God comes first. The Bible encourages us to give a tithe to the Lord (Proverbs 3:9, 10) from the "first fruits" of our earnings—yes, that's before taxes. The book of Hebrews suggests a tithe should be 10%.


3. You've got to allow some room in your life for the unexpected to happen. By all means, make your plans and live out your plans, but do so with an understanding that God may ask you to do something different. The Apostle Paul was running around murdering Christians when God radically changed the direction of his life. The same goes for the disciples, as well as Jonah, Job, and countless other Biblical figures.


4. Set something aside for a rainy day. The Bible says that only a fool spends everything he has, but in the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil (Proverbs 21:20). We should all be setting aside a little bit of what we have because no one is exempt from hard times. A house fire. A lost job. Sickness. The Bible essentially says that not planning for hard times is idiotic.


5. Avoid unnecessary debt. As I've written about before, the Bible doesn't necessarily condemn or condone debt, but it does strongly caution against it. In fact Proverbs 22:7 essentially calls anyone who is in debt a "slave to the lender." Debt isn't usually worth it. Stay clear of it.


6. Be content with what you have. Despite what cultural philosophy might tell you, happiness is not found in the "American dream" or by having more money, better cars, or bigger homes. Scripture teaches that covetousness and lust are wayward desires of the flesh that just pull us away from Christ. Just read The Ten Commandments.


7. Keep records. People who run their businesses without keeping records are morons. Their businesses fail. No intelligent person would run a business like that, yet it's how we run our lives every day. Proverbs 21:23 says to be diligent in knowing the state of your wealth, and 1 Timothy 5:8 says—and this is the heavy one—"If anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." So know what you've got and what you're doing with it.


8. Don't go into debt with someone else. Cosigning on a loan? I'd hesitate on that one. Proverbs 27:13 suggests that poorest credit risk you could take is to agree to pay someone else's debt. Think about it, the only reason a lender requires a co-signer is if they don't trust the borrower to pay the money back. If you agree to cosign, this means that the lender is smarter than you!


9. Don't be afraid of hard work. The Bible doesn't pull any punches on this one. God values labor, and richly rewards those who aren't afraid to work hard (Proverbs 14:23, Proverbs 28:19). This whole concept of work is all throughout Scripture. God worked to create the world (Genesis 1:1), and when Jesus called the disciples away from their fishing, it wasn't so they could just follow Him around and listen to Him preach, it was to make them "fishers of men." A different kind of work.


10. Seek Godly counsel. The Bible says that people who seek the counsel of the Godly are blessed (Psalm 1:1, Proverbs 15:22). If you need financial advice, don't talk to friends and family members who are just as in debt as you are. Talk to your pastor, your elders, and, above all, seek God's guidance through prayer and His Word. And be prepared to hear hard things because they're most likely going to tell you that some of your financial decisions are downright stupid. But if they won't tell you, who will? And if they don't tell you, where does the roller coaster of spending and debt end?

Keep pinchin' :-)

This blog was inspired by an article by Christian financial advisor George Fooshee. Click here to read his 10 biblical financial tips.

Is It OK To Stop Tithing To Pay Off Debt?

Is it permissible to stop tithing if you have a mountain of debt to pay off? Is this acceptable to God?

The simple answer is... sure. Cutting back, or stopping, tithing if you're in serious debt is OK. The Bible doesn't say anything about it one way or another. It's clear from Scripture that tithing is very important to God, but it's also clear that He doesn't want us to be in debt. He wants to be able to use us to the fullest extent, but while we are beholden to mortgages and student loans and credit card companies, our potential is hindered. Matthew 6:24 says no one can serve two masters, especially God and money.

The more complicated side of the issue is your heart. Are you truly making every effort to get out of debt? Are you just using your debt as an excuse not to tithe? Those are the kinds of heart questions that make this more of a gray area, but let's take a closer look at what Scripture says about money and tithing, then I'll wrap it up with a few questions for you that should help you decide for yourself whether you should stop tithing.

First off, we should never minimize the importance of giving to the Lord. Sacrificial giving is part of God's plan for every believer. It was created, not for God's benefit, but ours. It was designed to teach us how to keep God first in our lives. Proverbs 3:9 tells us to honor the Lord with the first fruits of our labor, and cautions that those who give minimally with a reluctant heart won't receive the riches of the Lord (2 Corinthians 9:7, Proverbs 11:24).

We see in the Old Testament that tithing was how God chose to meet the material needs of the priests who also worked at meeting the needs of the poor. To this day tithing is how our churches support our pastors and missionaries. I think it is shameful for any Christian to splurge on life comforts and material things for themselves, but not give to support their local church. In Malachi 3:8, God condemned the Israelites for not tithing, saying, "You are robbing Me!"

And, just to clarify, what is a "tithe?" The writer of the book of Hebrews reveals that a tithe is generally considered to be a tenth of your earnings, (Hebrews 7:5). A lot of people wonder, "Is that before or after taxes?" That's a question that scholars have argued about for centuries, but to me the answer is simple: God first. Why? Because he's God! Yes, I know Scripture tells us to give to Caesar what is Caesar's (Mark 12:17), meaning, give the government the taxes it demands, no matter how unfair it seems, but Scripture says to give God the "first fruits," not the government.

So it should be clear to us that tithing is a pretty big deal to God. Unfortunately recent studies have shown that giving among evangelicals over the last decade has declined to Depression-era lows—less than 3% of Christians are giving charitably. That's a staggeringly low number, and it should be an embarrassing statistic to any believer.

Now what about debt? Well, God is pretty serious about that too. The Bible says that people who borrow money become slaves to the lenders (Proverbs 22:7). God hates slavery. He sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to free us from slavery to sin. God wants our lives to be lived free in every way—free from addictions, free from selfishness, from spiritual death, free from creditors and debt. We are told to owe no one anything except to love, (Romans 13:8). So, again, the Bible's position is clear: debt is bad.

But tithing is good.

How do we figure this out?

Let's say you're in debt up to your eyeballs—if you don't get the electric bill paid this week it's going to be shut off; creditors are calling your house every day asking for money; you're in deep in a big way. In this case it would not be wrong to decrease giving, or stop giving entirely, temporarily, to pay off debt.

But consider these three questions first:

1. Are there other areas of spending that I could cut out first? If you're still splurging on expensive coffee, dining out, entertainment, luxury clothes, or other unnecessary things, perhaps the expense of tithing isn't your biggest problem. Perhaps you should cut back in other areas first.


2. Do I even really want to give to the Lord? God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), but if you're grumbling and complaining every time you drop a check in the offering plate then that's evidence of a heart issue that goes a lot deeper than tithing or not tithing.


3. Are there other ways I can give to the Lord during my tithing hiatus? I learned this from my sister a few years ago when she had to take a break from tithing for financial reasons. During that time she tried to serve at church more and give more of her time. You might want to consider doing this until you get your financial feet back under you.

No matter what you decide, be sure to pray about it so that you can be certain that giving up tithing will actually benefit you. Dave Ramsey says that many people have observed that after they stopped tithing their finances actually got worse. In the book of Malachi, God promises that if you do not rob Him of your tithing He will rebuke your devourers and protect you. Might the opposite also be true?

Dave Ramsey also says if you can't live off 90% of your income, then you probably can't live off 100% either, so that 10% that you don't give to the Lord isn't going to help you much anyway. Dani and I have decided to tithe no matter what, and God has graciously enabled us to be able to do that, so I think if you really look at your budget you can find a way to make it work and still give to the Lord. Nobody should beat you up about it if you can't, but pray about it, read the Bible, and if/when you tithe be sure you do it out of a love for God, not guilt.

Keep pinchin' :-)