Living Light News Lifestyles

A Matter of Life and Debt

by Phil Callaway

Some time ago my wife Ramona and I sat down at the dining room table to figure out how we were doing financially.

Our net was looking pretty gross, so I said, “You know, the bank will lend us enough money to get us completely out of debt.” Then I realized what I said. It’s amazing how smart some of us are. Until we start talking about finances.

If you are about to back your bank-financed car out of your bank-owned garage to drive with credit card gas to open a charge account in order to fill your mortgaged home with furniture because a sign promises “No payments until February,” please study these commandments for debt-free living.

1. If thy credit cards outspend thee, cut them off.
Today, 70 per cent of Canadian card holders carry $8,000-$9,000 in unpaid balances. The interest rates are often more than 20 per cent. So never buy with credit what you wouldn’t buy with cash. Pay your credit cards off each month. If you can’t, cut them up and clip them to the forks of your child’s bicycle and see how much noise they’ll make.

2. Buy a lottery ticket every 250,000 years.
Years ago, our government initiated a special tax for people who are bad at math. It is called the lottery.
Experts claim that if you purchase one lottery ticket a week, you have a decent chance of winning the jackpot once every 250,000 years.
Remember Proverbs 28:20 of the Bible: “… the person who wants to get rich quick will only get into trouble.”

3. Earn more than you spend.
When our children were old enough to appreciate what money could do, we showed them how to put their small allowance in envelopes labeled, “for God,” “for the future,” and “for me.” If there was more month than money, they learned a valuable lesson: ask your dad for more.

4. Give stuff away.
The reason we find giving tough is because we fear the future. Will God really provide for us? If we truly believe He is our great provider, we will hold the stuff of earth loosely, helping those in need, and liberating ourselves from a clutch and grab culture. I wish I could convince Martha Stewart and Jerry Seinfeld of this. Martha owns 16 televisions. Jerry has 60 cars.

5. Remember “new” is not always “improved.”
During the average span of your working career, you can save more than $150,000 by buying 3-year-old vehicles as opposed to new ones. While some love the peace of mind of driving a new car, I have found even greater peace knowing that no one in town is going to steal my 1976 Dodge Dart.

6. Put not your trust in retirement accounts.
While Ramona and I have taken steps to plan and save for the future, we must remember that there are no guaranteed investments here. Just look at the markets these days. God gave the Israelites manna, but instructed them not to hoard it, perhaps because He knew their need to trust Him daily. Too often our investments become a safety net in case God was kidding when He promised to supply all our needs.

Debt-free living liberates us from the baggage and expectations of a materialistic age, freeing our assets to be invested in the lives of others, and freeing our time to invest in those who are gonna cry at our funeral.

Phil Callaway is a popular speaker and the best-selling author of two dozen books. Visit him at www.philcallaway.com.

Remote Location

by Rhonda Rhea

We were searching for the TV remote again this week. We looked in the sofa, under the chair, behind the end table ... inside the DVD player. We looked everywhere but hadn’t even a remote idea where it was (“remote” idea — sorry, but surely you knew I’d have to put it in here somewhere).

Every time we finally find something decent to watch on TV at my house, we have to build in an extra half hour to the TV-watching plan for the remote search.

Show starts at 8:00 Central? If we don’t want to miss the first half, we have to start the hunt in Mountain Time. If the kids had the remote last, it’s probably more like Pacific.

The TV remote doesn’t have one of those pager buttons like the cordless phone. Why ever not? Or why can’t the remote simply sense that it’s 10 feet or more from the TV, sprout some little mechanical legs and maneuver its way back toward the sofa? With little legs it might even be able to crawl out from the depths of the chair cushion.

Or maybe we could at least push some sort of pager that would make it send out little puffs of smoke. Yeah, smoke signals. That could work.
Of course, I guess we could use all the energy we spend searching for the remote to simply walk over to the TV and push the buttons on the set. No, that would be weird. It’s just not our way. And you can’t flick through 30 channels per second. Isn’t it strange, though, that sometimes we’ll take apart the DVD player instead of just getting up and pushing the buttons? Misdirected energies?

Spiritual misdirection happens when we stop looking to the Lord for true direction. It’s something to think about. In fact, the psalmist in the Bible thought about it in Psalm 119:59: “I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your laws.”

We learn here that when we see our lives headed in the wrong direction, it’s not enough just to think about it. We need to turn. Turn and follow the Lord through his word. Verse 64 says, “O Lord, your unfailing love fills the earth; teach me your decrees” (NLT).

The only right direction is His direction — and to top it all off, we can know that His direction is forever and always the direction of amazing, unfailing love.

And, hey, I’m not just blowing smoke.

Rhonda Rhea, a conference speaker for events across North America, has a recurring role on Focus on the Family’s ‘Weekend Magazine’ radio program. She is a wife, mother, and author of several fun and fruitful books. Look for her newest release, ‘Purse-uit of Holiness’ in stores now. Find out more at www.RhondaRhea.org.

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