This episode is part 8 and the last episode in a study on what the bible says about money. This study looks at the behavior of the early church and how their faith almost immediately changed how they dealt with their money and their possessions.
click here to download (mp3)
I like the idea of themed series of podcasts, like the recent money theme. Applying the Bible’s lessons to our lives makes them more tangible than simply reading through them. I like your idea of a series on Revelation and the end of times, but Elijah could be interesting too. Another idea would be the family, which could include your parenthood idea, but also marriage, homosexuality, divorce, etc.
I appreciate your “non-political” perspective and commitment you have made to stay that way.
You cited the right and left perspectives on money, and you did it as well as anyone I can recall. From my experience, and as a Christian, I find the “right” more consistent with my faith, and I believe in the best interest of people, based on human nature.
When the “left” takes our money, we have little say in how it is used, and it leads the general populace to think the government tax is actually their tithe. I prepare taxes and find a number of people who believe the government takes care of the needy, so they don’t need to give to charity. It becomes their excuse not to give.
I do want to fully acknowledge the charity of our citizens when disasters occur. No one in the world is more benevolent than the US. But there are many who don’t see it as a responsibility (or better yet, and opportunity for blessing).
Politicians who give very little while they take our taxes and give it they way they want to those with lower income have no moral authority to do so. In the fall of ’08 it was reported that Bidens had given an average of 3/10 ths of 1 percent of their income to charity $995 on income of $319,853. That was triple the average of $369 for the decade. Personally, I don’t think he should be eligible to vote on welfare programs when he has no real understanding of charity.
I also see recipients of government handouts who voluntarily make themselves slaves of the handouts. I have prepared tax returns for people – not old enough for Social Security retirement benefits – who quit working in September because they knew additional earnings would reduce their Earned Income Tax Credit – a free handout. There was work for them to do if they continued, but they chose not to. And it didn’t matter that they would actually be financially better off with the additional wages they could have earned even with lower EITC. They just wanted the maximum free money – and were slaves to the government system.
I worked with health care providers in the 1970s and one experienced doctor told me that it wasn’t fun practicing any more. The government had taken away his ability to be charitable to his needy patients. He had been able to charge more to the wealthy patients and give discounts to those less well off, based on their health needs and what he knew of their family. The advent of Medicaid took that away from him. He was now required to accept all welfare patients – including the ones who would not take care of the free care given them. He had to charge ALL patients exactly the same fee. And now he had the “privilege” of filing welfare forms 3 and 4 times before it was actually approved, and waiting 6 months for payment after it finally was approved. That new system cost us all a lot more than the care of the needy did before Medicaid.
Finally, I believe our citizens and private enterprise are a lot more effective at delivering services than having the government take it. If the government had tried to build as many houses as Habitat for Humanity, it would have cost us 100 times more in taxes.
I believe that if my money is the government’s then I have nothing with which to be charitable. If “my money is my money”, then I can say “my money is but a loan from God to use during my life for His glory.
Christ said “Give to Cesar what is Cesar’s…” but in a free republic it should never be over 25% …or 35%, which it is today.
An article that cited Biden’s giving noted a 2005 study of households making $200,000 to $500,000 that found the average charitable giving of $40,746. That is an average ranging from 8-20% of income. The politicians (both left and right) fail to “get it” the way this study group does. And I suspect that the organizations who were beneficiaries of this charity were far more effective at getting things done than the government is.
My views on all of this have changed somewhat over time. I live in California where out “tax revolt” in the 1970s have helped keep our taxes lower. And over time our schools which is where most of that money went have gotten worse and worse relative to other states. I see us being short-sited. I am not sure what tax rates should be. I agree that handouts are not what people need but very little of our taxes actually go to that. I am not sure that we would not be better off with higher taxes, although I don’t see us agreeing to it.
It would be helpful to me if you would add the list of bible verses referenced in the podcast to the description field in itunes. I see them here on the website but often listen with an ipod that has no internet access.
They are usually in the lyrics field of the mp3 file. Although I don’t think I did that this week
Hi.
I’d like to subscribe to your podcast automatically in my winamp, but I can’t get the link for it.
Can you help?
Thanks
Ricardo
try this URL for the feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheBibleStudyPodcast
Nice series. I’ll have to checkout your travel podcast as well.
Can I suggest editing out the nose blowing in future podcasts? lol.
I am embarrassed that I missed that when I edited this one.
I really appreciate these podcasts as I’m now incorporating into my mornings. I particularly like the theme based studies(money parenting etc). I’m also looking for a bible study that covers the entire bible(beginning to end) or at least new testament .
Thanks for all that you do.
Good bless
Thanks Robert. I am glad it is of some use.