You Cannot Multiply Wealth by Dividing It

Here's a quote given the comments of my previous post on Socialism. After reading and pondering it just a bit, I think it's worth more than just comment status and so I'm putting "up front" in its own post. Thanks to DRG for posting it.

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom.  What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.  When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.  You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 - 2005

On Socialism...Because We ARE There!

The bumper sticker a few blocks away in the neighborhood summed up Socialism quite well: "Socialism is a great idea...until you run out of other people's money!"

Fr. Hollywood has also summed it up quite well in his recent post, "'Socialist' isn't just an insult." Well said, Fr. Hollywood! The graphic also says it all.

Just remember, no matter how politicians and/or pundits try to spin us away from the dreaded "S" word, we are there. We have been growing toward Socialism for about a century, bit by bit, nudge by nudge. No, Socialism isn't just an insult; it's a downright scary reality!

And that's why American citizens need to learn their history and their Constitution, get more active in the course of their country than in who wins "American Idol," and effect a wholesale firing of the crowd now in Washington and put in place people who will take us back to our roots of less taxes, less government, and more freedom.

Homilies for Trinity 9, 10, & 11

My apologies for not posting links to the audio files of my homilies for the past three Sundays! When I heard the first portion of the homily for Trinity 9, I was a bit taken aback by the very pronounced lisp that I had ... on the audio file, not in real life.

So I decided to wait before posting it until I could figure out why the lisp was not only present but also so pronounced. After a couple of weeks of experimenting, I believe I've figured out the culprit: the lower quality of recording. For the past year or so I've been using the "Good" setting in iTalk Lite to record as I preach. Why choose the lowest setting? In order to keep the audio files from being too large.

However, this past Sunday, for Trinity 11, I decided to bump up the quality (and hence the size of the file) with the "Better" setting, and that seems to avoid the lisp sound. So we'll see how it goes.

At any rate, here are links to the past three weeks of homilies--Trinity 9 & 10 still with the "Good" setting, but Trinity 11 with the "Better" setting. As usual just click on the link, download the audio file, and listen away.

Trinity 9 - "Faithful with Riches" - Text: Luke 16:1-13
Trinity 10 - "Cleansing for God's Nation" - Text: Luke 19:41-48
Trinity 11 - "A Tale of Two Pharisees" - Text: Luke 18:9-14

From a Former Drunken Sailor

Give that former drunken sailor a drink!

Another Dave Fan ... and More Money Wisdom

It's no secret - the RAsburry household has thoroughly enjoyed being completely debt-free for the past 8-9 months (that is, out of debt, no credit card payments, owe no one any money, not making credit card companies rich and making the family poor - How sweet it is!). And it's no secret - I highly recommend the get out of debt plan taught by Dave Ramsey and his "Financial Peace University." What a blessing these have been!

It looks like someone else has been rather taken by Dave and his approach to managing money and having financial peace. Check out "MoneyPlanSOS," both a website for services and a blog.

Perhaps you'll really appreciate this financial coach's wisdom on things we say that keep us broke.

Or perhaps you need to learn how to teach your children some "four-letter words" that can actually help them.

I happen to like this guy's little pearl of wisdom on still tithing while getting out of debt.

But I especially like the notion of eschewing the labels of lower, middle, and upper classes - along with the constrictions and/or expectations that normally go with such nebulous labeling. From now on, no matter how much money I have or don't have, I'll proudly throw my lot in with "The Other Class."

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce" (Prov. 3:9)

"One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth." (Prov. 13:7)

And speaking of mature...

...here is a quote from a recent hand-written note sent by one of my former parishioners. A few years ago she moved out to California and now attends a LCMS congregation out there. Evidently, and quite sadly, the liturgy is in short supply. Here's what my member said in her short note:

"Everytime [sic] I go to church I'm thankful that I grew up in a traditional church. Liturgy is sometimes not part of the service, sometimes only parts are used. Newcomers don't know what they're missing. When I die, make certain my funeral has liturgy -- THIS IS THE FEAST OF VICTORY [sic]."

Now that's some mature faith coming out there! And, yes, dear former member, you shall have the liturgy for your funeral, as I've already promised you when you return ... and I'm sure we can find a way to fit in "This is the Feast."

Mature over Hip ... any day!

Amazing what an impression a mature, straight-talking, forgiveness-seeking, and grace-of-God-giving church leader can make. I'll take him any day over the "hip" kind of "preacher"(?) shown here by contrast!



HT: Extreme Theology