US dollars
are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the United
States government, not by the approximately 147 million
ounces of gold in Fort Knox, like they used to be. (At $1,000 dollars
per ounce that's $147 billion worth. The last reliable
estimates put the total dollars in circulation or on deposit
at $8.3
trillion, so even if the dollar was backed by gold
there's less than 2 cents worth of gold behind each one.)
So the
value of a dollar is determined by how confident the rest of
the world is in the stability of the US economy. China holds the
largest amount of dollars in reserve, about 2 trillion, and
has about $800 billion more in bonds they hold. China has let it be
known that their confidence in the dollar has been shaken by
the recent economic turmoil in the US. Russia, Iran, Saudi
Arabia, and
others feel the same way. And recently the UN
has joined China and others in calling for a new, more
stable currency to replace the dollar in world markets. Rest assured, if
these countries can find a way to replace the dollar they'll
do so, and the value of the dollar will decline even more
rapidly.
They'll do
this because they know the US has recently been flooding the
market with money that isn't worth the paper it's printed on
and sooner or later it will trigger an inflationary spiral
that will further erode the dollar's value. In the current round
of Economic Summit meetings other nations are insisting that
the US agree to stop spending (printing money) and start
saving. But
they don't believe our government is willing to exercise the
necessary restraint to make this action effective. Therefore their
choice is to do something and lose a little now or do
nothing and lose a lot later.
Meanwhile, Back At
Home ...
At the same
time experts in this country believe that unemployment will
remain high for another year or so. They believe that
many more homes, perhaps more than a million, will soon
enter foreclosure.
They know that the commercial real estate and credit
card markets are still in trouble and could trigger another
recession, even before we're out of this one. Lately, I've
been seeing more references to “recession part 2” in
financial commentaries as a possibility for 2010.
It's also
been reported that a new phenomenon, called Strategic
Default or “walkaway”, has come on the financial scene. It involves home
owners with good credit scores who are often current on
their payments deciding to just walk away from their
mortgage obligations.
They do this because they don't believe they'll ever
get back to an equity position in their home. According to the LA
Times there were over 580,000 cases nationwide last year,
more than double 2007's total, and current indications are
that this number is continuing to grow. (In California where
the once booming market has gone bust, walkaways were 68
times higher in 2008 than in 2005.)
Because of
all this uncertainty, some people look at converting their
cash into other currencies, like Euros or Yen, to protect
themselves against the possibility of the dollar's sudden
demise, but
quickly realize those currencies are just as volatile.
Still
others enter the gold and silver markets, not understanding
that this is just a place to temporarily park assets until
the economy improves.
You can't spend the coins you buy. No matter how much
the gold in your five dollar gold piece is worth, your
neighborhood grocer is only going to give you five buck's
worth of food for it. You have to find a buyer who'll give
you paper money for your gold before you can spend it. If the economy never
rebounds, you might be out of luck.
According
to Bible prophecy the world will get to a point one day
where people will labor all day just to make enough money to
buy their food for the day. (Rev. 6:6) There won't be any
left over for rent, utilities, car payments, or anything
else. This won't happen because food is so scarce, but
because money will be worth so little. Therefore, trying to
save up enough to get you through those times is an exercise
in futility. In periods of run away inflation, savers are
penalized by the consistent decline in the value of their
savings.
For
example, it takes 12 of today's dollars to equal the
purchasing power one dollar had at the end of WW2, and over
that time annual inflation averaged less than 4% per
year. The
dollar's purchasing power could erode that significantly in
a matter of months during a period of runaway
inflation.
But my
purpose here is not to present a seminar on economics. It's to introduce
the only investment strategy that can protect you against
catastrophic loss if the bottom falls out from under
us. It involves
exchanging earthly dollars that, have steadily declined in
value in both good times and bad, for Kingdom dollars that
cannot decline in value, or be lost or stolen.
There are
two goals in this strategy. The first is to
comfortably survive the coming hard times in what's left of
this life (Surviving), and the second is to create wealth
for the next one (Thriving). You can do both
starting today.
Goal 1.
Surviving
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry
about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your
body, what you will wear. But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:25,33)
A couple of
years ago, I started warning people to either voluntarily
change the way they live or wait till they're forced to
change involuntarily. Since then many have been forced to
significantly adjust their lifestyles, and many more are
teetering on the brink. Yet I don't hear
stories of churches filling up with people seeking after the
Lord's righteousness.
If you
survived the first round of financial turmoil unscathed,
don't think you'll automatically be immune to the next one.
I truly believe that the Lord is allowing every source of
security to be systematically stripped from us until only He
is left. Make
it easy on yourself.
Take the first step now. Seek His kingdom and
His righteousness and begin to feel the burden of worry
lifting from your back, and the smile returning to your
face, as you let Him take responsibility for your well
being. The Lord is the only one capable of carrying us
through the difficulties yet to come.
Goal 2.
Thriving
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly
will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will
also reap generously. And God is able to make all grace
abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having
all that you need, you will abound in every good
work. (1 Cor. 9:6,8)
Waiting for
the Lord to bless you before you start investing in His work
is like waiting for a stove to give you heat before throwing
in some wood.
Sowing always precedes reaping, so start where you
are.
Recall how grateful you are that the Lord has saved
you, and where you'd be heading had He not done so. Then express your
gratitude by investing in His work. You don't have to
look around for an area of need. Just find a place
where it's obvious the Lord is already working and pitch in.
Give gratefully and generously according to your
ability. And
remember, every time you do you're exchanging earthly
dollars for Kingdom dollars.
Now he
who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also
supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the
harvest of your righteousness. (1 Cor. 9:10)
Soon you'll
see other areas where you could help and you'll find you
have an increased ability as well. Where at first you
only had a dollar to invest, you'll see you now have two.
Fight the tendency to hold some back and increase your
giving instead, always with an attitude of gratitude. The main thing to
remember here is that giving with the expectation of
receiving isn't being generous, it's being greedy. (That's the first
fatal flaw in the so-called prosperity gospel.)
You will
be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on
every occasion, and through us your generosity will result
in thanksgiving to God. (1 Cor. 9:11)
Most people
worry that they'll never be able to afford giving even 10%
to the Lord.
But people who follow this strategy in good faith
eventually find themselves giving 30-40% and still have more
than enough for themselves. If you work for a
salary, it's hard to imagine how this could work. But remember all
money comes from the Lord, regardless of who signs your
paycheck, and He has an unlimited
amount. Show
him you can be a good steward with what He's giving you now
and you'll get an increase, because He promised that those
who are faithful with a little will be given more. But for those who
are not, even the little they have will be taken away from
them. The evidence is all around us.
The first
half of 1 cor. 9:11 is so exciting to us that we
forget the second half. Yes, we can be made
rich in every way, but it's so we can be generous on every
occasion. And that's prosperity gospel's second fatal
flaw. Wealth is
not a gift to be wasted on indulgences for our personal
benefit, it's a trust to be administered for the benefit of
others.
Spending money we don't have on things we don't need
is neither an expression of gratitude nor a demonstration of
generosity. On
the contrary, it's evidence that if the Lord gave us more
money, we'd just become greedier.
Because of the LORD's great love
we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great
is your faithfulness. (Lamentations
3:22-23)
No matter
how far upside down you are financially, you're not beyond
the Lord's help.
The very day you determine in your heart to abandon
your self indulgent ways and begin to express your gratitude
and demonstrate your generosity, He'll go to work with you
to help make the future different.
And
remember, generosity is not a number, it's a state of
mind. It's not
how much you invest in His work that matters so much as the
motive in your heart while you're doing it. Remember the widow's
mite? (Luke 21:1-3)
“Give, and it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running
over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you
use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)
The bottom
line is that this investment strategy pays better than any
other you can find.
And it's also unbeatable for overall security. The Lord's bank
can't fail, inflation will never erode your earnings, and
nothing can ever cause the value of your investment to
decline. Also,
we can see from the examples I've cited that your returns
are payable both in this world and in the next. What other
investment do you know of that can promise that?
And talk
about safe. The
value of Kingdom dollars is backed by the full faith and
credit of the Almighty Himself. The value of earthly dollars
is only backed by the full faith and credit of the US
government. Are
you OK with that?
"Watch
out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's
life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions." (Luke 12:15)
The only
condition the Lord imposes on this strategy is that we stop
conforming to the patterns of this world and allow our minds
to be transformed where it comes to our relationship with
Him. (Romans 12:1-2) That means we start
giving Him the final say in determining the direction of our
lives, and
expressing our gratitude for what He's done for us by
becoming a channel through which He can bless the world
around us. When
we do, we'll discover that we feel more gratitude,
demonstrate more generosity, and in turn experience greater
returns. We
can't lose.
Selah 09-26-09
