Fiscal Responsibility Starts at Home

For the most telling chart on our current financial mess click HERE.

I find this most interesting primarily because I haven't seen it before.

Irresponsible buyers, greedy lenders, and a whole lot of money that never existed had caused people to think their homes were "worth" more than twice what they were actually worth. It's like my baseball card collection--just because a Barry Bonds rookie card is supposed to be worth $75, doesn't mean someone would actually shell out $75 for it.

So, the long and short of it is that since home buying and selling is such a big industry (real estate agents, lawyers, repair companies, lenders, etc.) and since most people couldn't get for their house what they paid for it, there's a lot of trouble... for anyone who bought a house in the last 5 years and wants to sell it in the next 5 years. 

If you bought yours before then or never want to move, and you can actually afford your mortgage (another problem all together)... then stop checking zillow so often.

Also, everyone should not own their own home... nor should everyone stay in the home they never should have bought in the first place. Save for a down-payment and rent please.

WD-40

I have a list of 5 tips on "Expanding a Household Brand" by a guy named Garry Ridge (he is President and CEO of WD-40) hanging above my desk.

Tip #5 goes like this: Invest in products that consumers will always need.

This makes good sense. And in order to understand what people will always need, we have got to understand what kinds of problems people will always have... and then, here's the key, we've got to invest in these products so that we can be a part of the solution

Problems people will always have (products they will always need to help with those problems):

-Squeaky hinges (WD-40)

-Sweet toothes (Twizzlers)

-Sore backs (hot pads, Icy Hot)

-Relational difficulty (books, seminars, teachings, classes to help)

-Desire to be a part of something greater than themselves (groups, churches, families)

You get the idea.

It is one thing to think of things like this in the context of good business. It's a whole other thing to think of what this might mean for our spiritual lives. What things will we always need? And what things are just extra/a fad/meaningless?

More later.

Bottom-up

So, a question was recently posed to me: How would you define top-down vs. bottom-up evangelization?

Bottom-up evangelization would probably look a whole lot like a relationship-building, disciple-making, friendship-type of Gospel sharing. A "watch how I live and see if it rings true with what I say" kind of life-sharing. The sharer has so intertwined lives with the hearer that the hearer can't deny some type of plausibility.

Top-down evangelization would probably look a whole lot like a large group of people at all levels of faith who hear the truth of the Gospel preached in their direction, and because of the sheer power of the redeeming message of Jesus Christ, people change. The sharer has no (or very little) personal interaction with the hearer, but because the right message, the right time, and the right heart all collided--truth is heard.

I don't think either is the only way. Nor do I think either could be wholly successful without the other... Christ taught to large crowds, Paul preached to the masses, the Apostles boldly shared the Word of God wherever they went. But the exponential evangelization came when disciples made disciples who made disciples.  

Jesus made fishers of men by having them follow Him.

Just some thoughts.