A Stimulus Plan that Works

There's a tremendous amount of talk lately about a stimulus. President Obama and the members of the Congress and Senate are at this very minute working desperately to pass a $805,000,000,000.00 (805 billion dollars!) economic stimulus package. Of course if this is passed the payback will certainly be well over a trillion dollars. Add that to the previous 819 billion dollar package passed by the Bush administration, Congress and Senate, and our government has or will spend over two trillion dollars of our tax dollars. And you can bet that we will be paying back this bill for a long time to come!

Call me crazy but I think I could come up with a stimulus plan that would guarantee an economic boom in America and probably the world. And my stimulus plan wouldn't cost us two trillion dollars, not even two billion, even less than a 1/2 billion. How would it work?

Simple, give every taxpaying American a one million dollar stimulus check. Since America's total population is less than 304 million people, taxpayers conservatively speaking may be around 250 million. So, for only one quarter of a billion dollars we could make every taxpaying American an instant millionaire. Can you imagine what would happen?

The housing market would have an immediate rebound. Practically every mortgage in America could be paid off overnight! Most consumer debts could be paid back such as car loans, credit cards, educational loans, and medical expenses. Once again, the banks and car makers would be back in the black without owing the government a dime. People might even be more generous and churches along with other benevolent organizations could see budgets exceeded for the first time in many years.

I know it's crazy. The government would rather throw away 78 billion dollars in overpayment of the TARP plan to the banks than give back a quarter of a billion to the American taxpayer. Whose money is it in the first place?

The government thinks it is theirs. And they want more of it. They don't want you to have it. They would rather we all be dependent on Uncle Sam than be financially independent.

Personally I'm not looking to Washington to be my savior. I think the Washington politicians have lost their minds. So I'm looking to the One who is far greater, wiser and more powerful than any who are seeking to lead us, or mislead us today.

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. Psalm 39:7

The Legend of Valentine's Day

So, what’s the big deal about Valentine’s Day? Other than the fact that some of the greatest people who have ever lived were born on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, what’s so special about this day? To help find an answer to such a question I consulted that infinite source of knowledge that grows daily on the information highway, “Wikipedia.” This is what Wikipedia had to say about the history of Valentine’s Day, or at least the ones I found most interesting.

“Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery (that means candy laced with sugar, emphasis mine). The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

An alternative theory from Belarus states that the holiday originates from the story of Saint Valentine, who upon rejection by his mistress was so heartbroken that he took a knife to his chest and sent her his still-beating heart as a token of his undying love for her. Hence, heart-shaped cards are now sent as a tribute to his overwhelming passion and suffering” (gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, I give you my heart doesn’t it? Again the emphasis is mine).

I’ve always wished my mom would have given me the middle name “Valentine.” I would have been Bobby Valentine Earls. Kind of has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?

All joking aside, Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day of the year. Its tradition affords us the opportunity to express to those we truly love our appreciation and great love for them. We are given the opportunity to focus on what is really important in life, long, loving, and committed lifetime relationships.

Obviously the most important of all loving relationships we have as Christians is the love we share with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that He loved us with an everlasting love, Jeremiah 31:3. So take time to express your love to those who are close to you, but also, remember to tell the Lord how much you love Him as well.

So You Want to Be a Pastor?

I’ve been a Senior Pastor since October 1981. That’ll be 28 years this year. I can still remember struggling with God’s call to this high office. My greatest concern was the knowledge that I would have to get up in front of all those people and attempt to “preach.” I could not imagine myself raising my voice with various inflections and dynamics. And I just knew I would never be able to correctly pronounce all those “Bible” words. (I soon learned that as long as you pronounce them with confidence people just figure you’re saying them correctly!) But God would not leave me alone until I surrendered to His will.

Today, preaching in front of “all those people” is the least of my concerns as a pastor. If you’re aspiring to be a pastor or a minister let me encourage you to walk in my shoes today. We’ll begin the day by keeping a promise I made to one of our members at our Wednesday evening services to join him for a cup of coffee at the local MacDonald’s. Even though I really don’t drink coffee, I showed up and joined in the fun. The fun includes cracking jokes on one another and playing standup comedian for the gang that meets there every morning of the week. They always like it when the pastor stops by.

That’s the good part. The rest of the day promises to be much more challenging. First, we’ll try to get a word from the Lord. Reading through the Scriptures involves several chapters in Proverbs and Colossians today. Did you know that sometimes it’s better to shut up than to speak up? According to Proverbs 17:27-28, He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. (NKJV)

Sunday morning’s sermon lies unfinished on top of our desk. But we’ll get to it, probably by Saturday night. Watching TV with the family, with the laptop, again. Where is that closing illustration?

But right now we have to make that dreaded phone call to set up that difficult visit. A church family lost a son and a brother. He took his life yesterday. We got the call last night. What do you say at that moment? Thankfully the Holy Spirit reminds you of your training and the words of an older, wiser pastor, to comfort the family. We’ll pray. And we will go by the home to hear the story, share our sympathy, and plan the funeral. (Don’t forget we will need one more sermon this weekend, a funeral message to comfort the loved ones of someone taken by suicide.)

Other than that, we’ll go by the hospitals. One member hospitalized with terminal cancer; another with declining health. Today is an easier day. Instead of five hospitals to visit we only have two. So we might as well drop in to a couple of nursing homes to see how our members are doing there, especially those who have had to leave their lifetime homes to be confined to a nursing home.

Now don’t be depressed. Though difficult, this is important ministry. These hurting people are all a valuable and important part of God’s kingdom. They need to be loved and encouraged with a word from God from God’s man.

So you want to be a pastor? It’s the greatest privilege in the world!

Obama Begins, A New Era

"Obama Begins, 'A New Era'” as printed in the full front page article of the Birmingham News, January 21, 2009. There is no questioning this reality. Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America. While I join with countless numbers of others who congratulate him for his history making victory, I do question just what this “New Era” will hold. President Obama has promised “change,” “hope” and “we will get there,” to the millions who helped to elect him to the highest office in the free world. Just what kind of change, hope and just where we are heading remains to be seen?
As Christians the Bible is clear as to our response to elected or governmental leadership. First Timothy 2 begins, therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 1 Tim 2:1-2 (NKJV)
We are exhorted to lift up our President in our prayers. Each one of us must bring our new President before our Eternal and Sovereign God each day when we pray. May I suggest the following guide when praying for President Obama?
· Pray that our President will seek the wisdom of God’s word and godly men, Proverbs 2:1-9.
· Pray that our President will “lean not on his own understanding but in all his ways acknowledge God.” Proverbs 3:4-5.
· Pray that our President will be lead to value the sanctity of human life and the rights of the unborn, Psalm 139:13-16.
· Pray that our President, his wife, Michelle; and his two daughters, Malia and Sasha will be protected from evil and harm, Psalm 17:8. Finally,
· Pray that our President will be the President of all Americans, to the black, yellow, red, brown and white Americans; to the liberal and the conservative Americans; to the Christians, Islamic, Hindus, Buddhists, and all men of faith; even the Atheists.
Why this kind of prayer? Because the President of the United States has to represent all Americans regardless of race, color, creed or religious perspective, and not just those who agree with the President’s political platform.
So we will pray for our new President Barack Obama. But we will also heed the other commands of Holy Scriptures such as 1 John 4:1, that teaches us to “test the spirits whether they are of God. God has certainly allowed Barack Obama to ascend to the office of President of the United States, for that we owe him our respect and prayers. But only time and his action will truly tell us the extent of “change,” and “hope” for which we may be destined.

Time to Get My Feet Wet; Confessions of a First Time Blogger

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Finally! I've finally decided to venture into the unknown and strangely unfamiliar world of "blogging."

It's been a long time coming for me. As a pastor of over 28 years now, I've been writing sermons, bible lessons, training material, articles, letters, and such for a long time. And even though I like to take some pride in the fact that I've been fairly computer/Internet savvy since they were first introduced to ministers and churches in the early 80's, (at least computers), I have for some reason shied away from blogging.

I've also enjoyed the benefits of reading other blogs from time to time. Almost daily I pull up someone's blog and amusingly enjoy the verbal pecking away some friend, family member, or ministry associate has created. Other than simple enjoyment from reading the blogging community, I also greatly benefit from the challenging thinking and relevant writing from my colleagues in the ministry. So I know the value of blogs.

So why not? Why not try my hand at it. Maybe someone will tune in and gain a small bit of amusement from my words and thoughts.

My biggest fear and thus one of the inhibitors of my own blogging is that I will not be consistent with my blogging. I find myself often starting something new only to stop before I really should. I'm sure I am the only one who ever does such a thing. Oh well....

Here I go anyway. Getting my feet wet for the first time with this blog thing.

I will make one promise. My blogs will be considerable shorter than my sermons!