The winds around here have been insane this last week. I have Two sections of fence that need to be repaired or replaced This is why we have the emergency fund but its not what I want to be spending our money on. I guess that since we had planned on gaining intensity on paying off the debt that something had to come up and give us trials.

That’s OK! Trials are for our growth, James 1:13 points out that God doesn’t tempt us, but makes the point earlier in the passage that the trials are for our development. Development in Christ, being grown from glory to glory (II Cor. 3:18) is a good thing - I’ll take the wind and the fences because they’re good for me… even if they make the budget a wee bit tighter.

Genesis chapter four always scared me as a kid.  The brothers Cain & Able were at odds because of their sacrifices offered to God.  Here they were supposed to be focusing on their relationship with God, but instead of identifying opportunities for growth, Cain goes and offs his brother.  The sacrifices identify the recognition of man’s need for something to take away the penalty of sin (which could only be done through the Messiah), and yet this sacrifice brings about jealousy and then murder.

Jealousy is something that I have had on occasion.  Particularly when it comes to technological contraptions and devices.  I don’t get jealous about houses or cars, but if you whip out a Mac Book Air, I’m going to have some serious envy.  Not enough to kill you for, but it will make me question my commitment to being debt free.  I could almost justify getting into further debt because of my pure lust for the next cool thing.  Of course the problem with greed and jealousy is that they’re not satiated.  You can’t satisfy them because they are only temporarily stayed.  Instead, we just find the next thing to fixate on.

As a Christian I need to be beholding Christ.  II Corinthians 3:18 says

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

This passage is worthy of an entire book as we look at the amazing content it reveals, but instead of fixating on earthly things, we’re called to behold the glory of the Lord (See Also Colossians 3:1-3).  If we’re beholding the Lord we’ll not find our lusts overpowering, we’ll not find jealousy to have any substance, instead we’ll find our fulfillment in being transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory.  That’s much better than greed, jealousy and murder any day.

This morning I taught a Sunday School class on Justification, which is about the most perfect topic for a Resurrection Sunday that one could ask for (it was assigned to me earlier in the year - and it wasn’t scheduled due to the date).  You can listen to the recording here, and get the handout here.  I don’t pass this on to toot my own horn, its just great theology.

We owe no debt to God for His justifying us… and that’s the best news ever, financial or otherwise.

I had someone hit this site looking for, “Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?”  I can’t believe that people would consider this, but then again, its people we’re talking about: the anonymous mass of Internet users who don’t have to be identified and so asking such a question doesn’t come with the stigma that asking it of your friends and classmates might.  The question that begs is this: What is a million dollars worth?

In our modern relativistic culture there is little value placed on sexuality within marriage, and the sanctity of marriage (sanctity being the setting aside as special) .  Sex is not worth a million dollars, that cheapens it, it is invaluable.  A million dollars is a lot of money, but it isn’t enough money to offset emotional scars, the fact that you’d be engaging in prostitution (see: Eliot Spitzer).

Various people have posed nude in magazines for money, taken jobs that they didn’t agree with because of a high paying salary, and of course there’s the age old televangelist schtick as well.  Money is not important if it is gained in an ill gotten fashion.  Having standards, focusing on the long term impact (how many women did something pornographic and then had children and were mortified that their children would find out?  What about parents finding out?).

A million dollars won’t buy you happiness, love, or a long term financial state (it is just as easily lost on frivolous activities and spending).  What’s a million dollars worth to you?  Is it worth your dignity?

My wife and I were both approached by people in need in the same week. People who appeared to be genuinely in need instead of folks simply pan-handling to be lazy (which is a bit of a generalization, and I apologize). One of the things that we wrestle with this is that we want to be generous, we want to look for opportunities to help others, and we really like the idea of serving people as Christians. However, we’re paying off debt because as a moron (instead of a Christian) I allowed the family finances to get way out of whack. That being said, we’re considering pulling $40.00 aside from somewhere to setup someone else’s emergency fund. That is $20.00 for each of us to help others in an emergency.

We don’t anticipate tapping into it regularly, but the opportunity to serve is great, and sometimes we may have the ability to use our finances when others are in a teachable moment. Of course, in those same moments we need to remain teachable, but we’re glad to have learned to live on less than we make. What do you think? Would you create an OPEF category in your budget?

I’m reminded of Bob at ChristianPF and his story of compassion.  God uses us, others needs are met, and we can learn something.  That’s worth more than $20.00 to me.

Genesis three is the most intense of the chapters of Genesis except for the other 49 chapters in the book.  It is intense, it has an impact on all of humanity, and its also the earliest prophecy of a Messiah [Genesis 3:15].  This chapter brings out the problem of greed.  Greed is the downfall of slow, methodical personal finance.  It destroys a paced approach by eroding away at the planned approach of acquisition and instead offers you the easy out: I want it now.When the serpent, being used by Satan, approaches Eve he pulls the deceptive maneuver that is not directly lying, but instead a slippery slope of questioning authority.

“Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Are you really sure you want to wait for that large screen TV, new car, new house or Apple Mac Book Air [I had to put in the Apple reference - fruit jokes fit into this chapter well]?  Its not that the question is a straight out lie, its mostly that it appeals to the emotions and disengages the brain.  Eve falls for the fruit because of the plying of the serpent.  She pulls the fruit from the tree because it looks good for food and because she is uncertain of God’s actual response.  Adam, standing with Eve, buys in, too and bites the big one.Debt based purchasing is less than ideal.  Greed based purchasing through debt is even more catastrophic.  Instead, as a steward of God’s money the believer should evaluate the cost, evaluate the consequence, and evaluate the usefulness of the purchase.   The consequences of the bad choice of Adam & Eve eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil have impacted all of humanity [That's called federal headship, and it took Christ's starting a new federal headship to break the relationship of mankind to sin].  Eve was the first woman to eat her family out of house and home, but there have been others.  Others who have gambled, spent, destroyed or otherwise damaged their financial life due to bad choices and others watched by glibly, but without the confidence to correct the problem and intervene.The consequences for Adam & Eve were multiple, but you and I work for financial stability as a direct result of his failure to lead his wife into purity!  The dominion that Adam had over creation was removed from him, the ground became difficult to work with in producing fruit (Adam did work before the fall, he tended the garden, but the labor was easy), and the cost of reproduction was significant and comes with pain now.  Of course death (which means separation from God, and not annihilation) is also a consequence of this poor choice and greedy maneuver.As we make choices with our finances the long term impact should be in our scope of evaluation.  We know that money doesn’t transfer to our heavenly life, but we need to make sure that our heavenly life (Colossians 3:1-3) is impacting our transfers and transactions here on earth.

Genesis Chapter 2 talks about God’s order.  God’s system is in place and there is very little left to Adam other maintaining the garden (Gen. 2:15) and than naming the animals (Gen. 2:19).  God knows that no suitable helper is available for Adam in the animals, but shows Adam this through the animal naming process.  Adam can identify the male and female of the various animals, but there is a distinct hole where his helper is lacking.  Genesis 2 ends with the fulfillment of that need as well as a look into man’s need for a completing partner (some of the best material I’ve heard on the subject can be listened to in MP3 format here check out lessons 6, 7, and 8).I’ve written before and even had guest posts about the relationship of a man and wife and how that impacts personal finance (see: 10 Ways to Use Personal Finance to Strengthen A Marriage, A Deeper Look At Marriage and Finance Issues: Unity, A Deeper Look At Marriage and Finance Issues: Priorities, and Ten Tips To Prepare for Getting Married).  God had set Adam in charge of cultivating, or growing, the things in the garden.  Adam’s dominion was the garden, his job (for lack of a better word) was working for God and his goal was cultivation.  There were no weeds and the vegetation was fruitful.  Adam did not value the things of the garden in chapter three, but we’re not there yet, so we’ll save that for next week.What we do see in Adam’s tasks in chapter two are clearly some details of valuation: God gives Adam the task of naming the animals and evaluating them.  Adam orders the animals with God’s help.  Vocabulary is created on the fly, the animals are given order.  Imagine, if you will, that when Eve is created she’s a blank slate (though it is clear she has intellect) , and she gets introduced to Adam and she learns Adam has named all of the animals.  That would be quite a thing to explain and go over!  Adam’s job as a gardener is given some time to be interrupted and he is a namer of beasts.  To take dominion over something, you have to have names, you have to have valuations of things.Consider your own life: you have names for places, names for things, names for certain jobs, names for actions.  Your world comes with a sense of order, and yet as humans we desire to be creative and create new things to name to show our dominion over them.  We really do wish to be like Adam.  Our finances are really a valuable lesson in learning about dominion because with our finances we can bring things into our household, we can send things away from our household, and we can gain wealth and increase the potential of our dominion by virtue of buying more property, more stuff, or newer things to replace the things we have that are of better quality.God sets up order in the universe, puts Adam in charge of the Earth, and then Adam gets to participate in further defining a small part of that order.  What a dramatic role that was!  As you contemplate your ordering of things, consider your finances, consider your possessions, and consider how you can respect God’s ordering of things as you go about your life.  It is pretty cool stuff to be given the privilege of ordering things - don’t take it for granted.

Note: This, and all of the Sunday Sermon posts is written by and for Christians and reflects thoughts in that vein.

In Genesis 1 we start to learn about value in the Bible.  God creates various things and calls them, “Good.”  Bill Cosby, the noted comedian, points this out in one of his routines.  God’s estimation of value is significantly more reflective than ours.  God’s calling things good is reflective of His valuation of creation.  There is an element of sufficiency that lacks in our modern vocabulary.  We make things that are exceptional, amazing, super, wonderful, and mostly: obsolete.  We make things in a celebratory fashion and esteem them as our creation and more amazing than the last.  God makes things that last and calls them good.  God was content with His creation and stopped, we always strive for more and don’t stop.

As we build our wealth we need to have a sense of value that reflects God’s value.  When God creates Adam in His image, its very good.  Our value, as esteemed by God, is greater than that of all of his other creations.  Part of that is in His giving us characteristics that He has.  No other element in Creation has His characteristics and it means something.  When we buy things with God’s money, using a will that reflects that fact that God has a will, we need to make sure our will is aligned with His will.  We then have the authority to assign value, just like God did.   Buy things that are good, but things that have lasting value, don’t buy things that are the latest thing just for their shine-factor.

What things carry value for you?  What things do you call good?  What things do you call sufficient?  This is a great foundation for all of life.  Money has an estimated or esteemed value in the world, it reflects an ability to trade good for good without having to have that good.  Adam didn’t need to trade even Apples for Apples, he didn’t have to trade, but as we’ll look at next week, it didn’t take long for mankind to figure out the need to trade and that estimation of value cost a man his life.  A life God valued as more than just good.

James 5:12 says:

…above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

This passage is simple, has some very clear implications, but has been on my mind for the last several days.  It was part of the text that we went over on Thursday night at Bible study.  You see my wife and I have an awesome marriage, she is tremendous, but we do argue at times.  Usually the argument is based on my failure to help with some household task or tasks when she’s feeling a time crunch.  The argument always ends with my apology and the commitment to do better next time.  My yes is not my yes in this case.  Its pretty much lameness on my part.

Financially speaking I need to have the same consistency, relationally the same consistency is critical.  The only way I can accomplish this sort of consistency is not through myself, but instead through the work of Jesus Christ in my life.  The Holy Spirit must be the one to work through me because in my own strength I fall so short of perfection.  I promise to not be able to do it on my own strength, but rest in Christ and do it in His strength.

OK, that’s not so shocking. What is cool though is that there are sites like opensecrets.org that share things like campaign finance information - even if it is from past years. For example you can keep up on folks like Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton, Obama, and of course Mitt Romney, who is apparently quite wealthy on his own. You can check out the whole running crew, too.

As a voter, assuming you are one, this is a great way to look at the financial state of a campaign and make some conclusions about different organizations that donate funds. For example the list of top donors that includes AT&T (thanks for making communication so expensive, but turning that expense into political contributions, guys), the NRA, and various unions. You can also see what political party they favored here.