World News Through the Third Lens: The Love of Money

Trustee: Man owes trust funds $2.2 million read the banner over a one column story on the front page of today's local paper. This blog is not being written to exploit or defame anyone. Decades ago my mother taught me, when looking at someone elses plight, rather than be judgmental, say, "There but for the grace of God go I." I will try to write in that spirit without watering down the truth. I will say that this incident strikes closer to home than most things I read from various news sources because I know many of the parties involved. Needless to say, the whole thing came as a shock.

There is no need to reiterate the number of transgressions that were reported in the article, nor to speculate beyond that which was reported. Rather I would like to use this as a launching pad into a brief look at God's Word. Some people have gone through the Gospels and have concluded that Jesus spoke more about money than He did about any other subject. I can't prove or disprove that, but I can assure you that God does have a lot to say about money.

Through the third lens of Scripture: The very first money Scripture that comes to mind is one that is often misquoted. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil..." (1 Timothy 6:10a). Often times the word "love" is left out, incorrectly stating that money itself is a root of all kinds of evil. Money is neutral - it's man's affection for it that leads either to good or evil. The verse goes on to say: "Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:10b). So a poor man can be eager for money and live to rue the day he departed from ethics, morals, or even common sense in an attempt to get it. A rich man may succumb to a pattern described by the richest man ever, King Solomon, in these words: "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

I live in the southeastern part of Connecticut, where in the last 15 years, two of the largest casinos in the world have arisen out of the ashes of an industrial-military economy now only a shadow of its former self. During this period of time there have been many accounts of fiduciary accounts in the hands of lawyers and accountants being mishandled; trustees of the public treasuries caught embezzling funds, and non-profits being ripped off by their treasurers - often to feed or cover up a heavy involvement in gambling. I don't know whether today's reported incident has a gambling connection or not, but some of the money being held in trust for certain beneficiaries was loaned (without collateral) to a former chairman of the tribe which owns one of the afore mentioned casinos. Here's just one of many biblical warnings to those who seek to get rich quick (the desire which fuels the gambling industry): "A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished." (Proverbs 28:20).

To bring this little blog to a conclusion, a trust account was created because one man worked hard and shrewdly, yet he went the way of all flesh and left his wealth to another. "For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others." (Psalm 49:10). A successful accountant was charged with managing the trust for the benefit of its beneficiaries. It appears that, although he was successful and wealthy in his own right, that the desire for more clouded his judgment and his ethics were tossed to the wind. "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:9).

I've learned some of my lessons the hard way, and I've learned some of them by sticking to God's Word. I've come to prefer the latter; so I pass this on to you, the reader, with hope that by following the Lord's instructions, you will be blessed. "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." (1 Timothy 6:17-19). And to those who have blown it, there is a word of encouragement: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

World News Through the Third Lens: The Economic Consequences of Abortion

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake warned on Wednesday that "the federal budget appears to be on an unsustainable path".....Bernake, testifying before the House Budget Committee also recognizes that an "exceptional increase" in the deficit has been necessary to ease the pain of recession. To Republicans, he offered warnings about the fiscal perils of an aging population and the potential threat of soaring long-term interest rates. (Source: World Watch Daily, Koenig International News, June 11, 2010)

The picture above is of me and a good friend Vinny, standing in front of a place in Bridgeport, CT called the "Women's Summit" which is nothing more than an abortuary - where innocent babies are killed and women (and some men) are scarred for life - sacrifices made to the god's of greed, fear, and convenience. The picture that Vinny (who with other faithful saints come to this killing place twice a week, every week, regardless of the weather) is holding, as gruesome as it is, is real, truthful evidence of what happens when a baby is surgically dissected and ripped from its mother's womb. Few people, when they see these graphic pictures, just shrug them off. Praise God, across this land they arrest the attention of thousands of mothers before they enter the killing fields. What usually happens then is that the sidewalk counselors give them literature, encouragement, and genuine offers of real tangible and spiritual help. In Bridgeport alone, 120 mothers changed their minds and brought their babies to full term. Many of these mothers also entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and made life-long friends.

The other side of that praise report is that last year, about 1500 babies were killed at the Bridgeport abortuary, and since January 22, 1973 over 50,000,000 babies have been killed because of the legalization of abortion on demand. The number of surgical abortions in the country has dropped somewhat in the last decade. Many abortuaries have closed. It's hard to tell whether that represents on any increased appreciation for the sanctity of life, or whether just more and more abortions are being performed by "the morning after pill." A conservative guess would be that at least 20-25,000,000 of those aborted babies would now be in the workforce, all contributing to social security and medicare (two huge unfunded liabilities carried by the federal government). They would also be consumers, helping to drive the economy.

Through the Third Lens of Scripture: God's dealings with the people of Israel, from the time of Moses, until the last king (until King Jesus returns) in the line of David serve as an ongoing object lesson for us (see 1 Corinthians 10: 1-11). We can see from Israel's history that time and time again they were judged when they turned to idolatry, often accompanied by child sacrifice. "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood. They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves. Therefore the Lord was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance. He handed them over to the nations and their foes ruled over them." (Psalms 106:37-41) Without citing the many times that it actually happened, let this prophetic illustration suffice to show what happens to nations who reject God. His judgment often begins with some sort of financial disaster, which in an agrarian society would include famine. "Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. ..... They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined." (Deuteronomy 28:47-48, 51)

Judgment is beginning - its footprint is all over the land, in the halls of government and in the so-called citadels of justice. One "pro-choice" (which really means "pro-death") advocate caught sight of one of those graphic signs, being held by a mother defending life, and yelled out, "How can you allow children to see those horrible pictures?" To which the mother rightly responded, "How can you allow children to become these awful pictures?" In an effort to stem the tide of judgment (or at least be a witness to the fact that God is both just and merciful) I am joining with Personhood USA to help bring the personhood initiative to Connecticut. Abortion must stop. If not now, when? If not through us, through whom? This is the first step towards financial reform - not Senator Dodd's proposed legislation.

World News Through the Third Lens

CORRUPTION AT FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IGNORED BY NEWS MEDIA (Jim Kouri, 5th Vice President, National Association of Chiefs of Police and columnist for The Examiner and New Media Alliance, 2/19/10): America's banking industry is aiding and abetting lawbreakers and there appears to be no one in Washington, D.C. interested in conducting an investigation into this corruption. While the mainstream news media are hard at work covering the Democrats striving to achieve their dream of taking control of American' health care, the Federal Reserve Bank continues working with the Mexican government to make it easier for illegal aliens to export US money to their homeland.

The Fed is currently devising several programs that will extend banking services to illegal aliens.......One such program being utilized by illegal aliens from Mexico is a remittance program with the ultimate goal of bringing illegal Mexican aliens ---who send money home---into the mainstream of the US financial system, regardless of immigration status. In other words, the Federal Reserve System is aiding lawbreakers in moving their cash around in the US and Mexico. This obviously includes the myriad alien gangs and the more than 50,000 gang members who are involved in narcotics trafficking, identity theft, homicides, and other criminal activity. To read the rest of this disturbing report, (Click Here).

A BIBLICAL (THIRD LENS) PERSPECTIVE: So many parts of our government (and the federal reserve system is not even "federal" but a consortium of international bankers whose interests transcend those of any nation or any patriot and certainly any follower of Christ. They have been given unmitigated, and by most counts - unconstitutional, power to regulate money supply, interest rates and thus economies. Scripture says of such: "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.hey are corrupt,their deeds are vile, there is no one who does good." (Psalm 14:1) To all the Christ-followers out there, for the time being we are still participants in the economic system of our respective countries. Realizing how corrupt these systems have become, Scripture asks us a rhetorical question: "Can a corrupt throne be allied with you - one that brings on misery by its decrees?" (Psalm 94:20) Such practices as are described in this blog will one day soon lead to an economic system described thusly: "He [the false prophet of the Antichrist] also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17) Just in case somebody might think it no big deal to conduct his finances via a micro-chip embedded in his right hand, I caution you to think again. "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he too will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of His wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:9-11)