Myth #1: A car payment is a way of life.

I have owned three cars in my lifetime. How many have I made regular payments on? None. That’s because I was either given the car, or I bought it with cash. Buy a good, reliable, low-mileage used car for cash, and put those payments you would be making into a savings account. That way, you’re making the interest, and you’ll save up enough money to buy your next car. If you’re going to make car payments, make them to yourself.

Myth #2: A new car is better than a used car.

Cars depreciate 60-70% in the first 5 years. Let someone else take that loss. Let’s say you want that new Ford Mustang that retails around $20,000. If you were to buy it new, you’d be making payments around $390 for 60 months. at the end of that 5 years, your car would be worth $8,000 and you would have paid your $20,000 plus interest on it.

Now if you would put that payment in a savings account or money market account, at, let’s say 3% compounded quarterly, you would save over $30,000 at the end of that 5 years, and would have more than enough cash to buy three of those cars. Save, buy used, and make the interest work for you.

Myth #3: I have to buy a new car to drive like a milionaire.

80% of all millionaires drive used cars. If you want to drive like a millionaire, drive a used car.

I do uderstand that life does happen sometimes and you may need to buy a car earlier than planned. If at all possible, buy your car outright, for cash. Get a car that will get you by for the time. It doesn’t have to look good, it just has to get you from point a to point b. In time, with careful spending and saving, you’ll be able to buy that car you really want.

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David commited adultery with another man’s wife and had the man killed, yet he will rule in Christ’s millennial reign. Annanais and Sapphira lied and were struck down dead. Murder, perversity and drunkenness can be forgiven, but blasphemy against God’s Spirit can’t. A murderer and persecuter of the church is chosen by God to write our bible. What are the sin/salvation ratio’s of adultery and homosexuality- which is worse? Where exactly is the line between Heaven and Hell; between church acceptance and rejection? If I struggle with strongholds of sin, am I still saved?

One recent Saturday after cleaning church, a group was standing around talking about a television show in which internet pedophiles are lured to a house by a TV network. Carrying beer and condoms, the criminal knocks on the door of the house where he believes his liason is to occur, only to be greeted by television cameras and police. There was discussion as to the humor in the situations, and an obvious displeasure for the sinner even after the person has served his time, a belief that the man never deserves to be introduced back into the presence of other human beings; a sin beyond restitution. I listened for a moment and then during a pause asked, “Anyone from our church on the show”. They laughed and went back to their discussion.

The point I was trying to make was lost in my indirectness. What I really meant to say was, “We have several pedophiles attending church who have molested their own children and served prison time. You unknowingly shake their hands, eat your meals, and consider them brothers. These men and their families have been led to Christ, forgiven, attend church and sleep under the same roof. Are you saying that that Christ’s workmanship should be ostracized?”

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WW II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a full year’s GDP — adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion dollars. WW II cost America more than 400,000 soldiers killed in action, and nearly 100,000 still missing in action.

The Iraq war has, so far, cost the United States about $160,000,000,000, which is roughly what the 9/11 terrorist attack cost New York. It has also cost about 3,000 American lives, which is roughly equivilant to lives that the Jihad killed (within the United States) in the 9/11 terrorist attack .

The cost of not fighting and winning WW II would have been unimaginably greater — a world dominated b y Japanese Imperialism and German Nazism.

This is not a 60-Minutes TV show, or a 2-hour movie in which everything comes out okay . The real world is not like that. It is messy, uncertain, and sometimes bloody and ugly. It always has been, and probably always will be .

Read complete article by : Raymond S . Kraft below

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From my next book, Show Me the Money due out June 1st

——

A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; but money answers everything.

(Ecclesiastes 10:19)

Money is a highly sensitive topic in all circles, not just within the church. It is a funny thing, because we spend our whole lives thinking about money, working for it, planning what we will do once we have it and dreaming about what we would do if we had more. I don’t believe that we should be uncomfortable talking about something that plays such an enormous role in our lives.

Money is a representation of our life. We give our time, our talent, our passion every day at work, and in return we receive a paycheck. Money is foldable time. Every occasion that we fold put our paycheck in our pocket, we are putting away a representation of what we spent our energy on for the week or month.

How you spend your money shows what you value. If you show me where you have spent your money, I can tell you what you love.

What the bible says

Whenever I quote this Ecclesiastes scripture, people’s first reaction is: “That’s NOT true, the bible doesn’t say that.” Or, “You’re just making that up, you’re one of them there prosperity preachers.”

But it is there. The Bible said it.

So then … does money answer everything?

Think about it…

If you’re hungry, what do you need? Food – right? But what buys food? Money.

If you are praying to buy a house, what is the answer to your prayer? Money.

If you are praying for God to help you pay your bills, what are you praying for? Money.

Some go so far as to suggest that 89% of all marriage breakdowns happen over stress relating to money issues.

So why do we have such a hang up over something that is so basic and fundamental to our lives? I believe that the issue lies in the fact that for centuries, the Western church has suffered from false teachings in the area of personal and corporate financial prosperity.

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I was looking back on different people in the Bible one day and it amazed me how many of them were called by God, and not the other way around. So many people were not looking for God, yet God found them and called them, and many did great things for God. Every one given a task by God. Every one fulfilled, one way or another. People like Abraham, Gideon, Samuel, The Disciples, and Paul. People who accomplished a great work for God.

What amazed me even more is how many people in the Bible came to God first, and then turned away disappointed. Remember the rich young ruler? He was one who called Jesus, only to turn away when the cost was too great for him. Remember 9 of the 10 leppers who thanklessly turned away from Jesus after they called him to heal them.

People were face to face with the Savior of the world, only to not recognize Him, and turn from Him, and people that did not know God, nor even looking for Him were called, and they turned from the life they knew and followed Him with passion.

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Two little boys are in a hospital, lying on beds next to each other,
outside the operating room.
The first kid leans over and asks, “What are you in here for?”
The second kid says, “I’m in here to get my tonsils out and I’m a little
nervous.” The first kid says, “You’ve got nothing to worry about. I had
that done when I was four. They put you to sleep, and when you wake up
they give you lots of Jell-O and ice cream. It’s a breeze.”
The second kid then asks, “What are you here for?”
The first kid says, “A circumcision.”
And the second kid says, “Whoa, Good luck, buddy, I had that done when I
was born… Couldn’t walk for a year

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