Taking the Risk out of the Market:

My father spent thousands of dollars for my education in financial tactical analysis. Simply put, “a chartist.” Moving averages, complicated formulas and trend following investigating. Though no longer in the position I once held. I am still a daily chartist.

So what does this have to do with being a Christian?

More and more I receive advertisements with the following statement, “Take the risk out of the market.” The fact is risk is where the money is. This sounds very worldly coming from a Christian. Your right.

Jesus gives us a lesson in investing: Parable of the Three Servants (Matt 25:14-30)

The one who played it safe ended up losing everything and was left separated from the master. We see the same thing in today's churches. We play it safe. Dress nice. Go to church on Sunday. Smile, sing and put a little into the offering plate. Our work is done now let's go to lunch. This way we feel comfortable and think we have invested enough of our time and resources into God's Kingdom. As we continue to do this Christianity grows weaker with less and less baptisms. Religions like Islam continue to gain ground by growing each day. Why? They invest and put themselves in harm's way. They continue to risk and so far have succeeded.

We are always looking to take out the risk in investing. When looking for the easy way out in life there is no easy way out.

And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:27 (NLT)

Carry your cross can be interpreted as carrying your own electric chair for us to better understand today. Dead to self. To abandon one's own goals, ambitions, and even one's own needs for following God's will. We may preach it. We may want it. We rarely put actions to our words and do it.

Did Jesus take a risk? Yes sir. He risked everything. His life for ours. We seldom take that to heart.

Here in the South the Civil War or the “The War of Northern Aggression” still runs deep within our society. In July of 1863 General Robert E. Lee had begun his invasion of the North. Few know that Lee's plan was to draw out the Northern Army and destroy it. That was not his primary objective. His goal was to deliver a letter of peace from Jefferson Davis to the desk of Abraham Lincoln. The intent was to offer peace from a position of absolute strength. It was a risk. Lee risked all for peace. The battle came to Gettysburg which was not the intended battle ground. The risk for peace cost tens of thousands of lives during those three days of battle. Some historians estimate as many as 50,000 American lives were lost. The Battle of Gettysburg is still looked upon as the turning point of the war. It does not take a lot of head scratching to realize the Southern States are still being punished.

Some of the greatest innovations have come from the South. The worlds most powerful motor was developed and built here in the South. The Saturn Five rocket which was the key to getting Americans to the moon. Development of the ironclads changed naval warfare throughout the world overnight. Even today the South is still called “The Bible Belt.” the last strong hold of Christianity in America. Now that is a risk worth taking.

Team up, Set-up and get into the fight. <><

So What?

President Obama says we are not a Christian nation. So what? Why should I care? I am in my little home. Mowing my little lawn. Living in my little town. I go to church. Why should I be concerned about the president? He never calls me. I pay my taxes and just want to be left alone. So what?

That is the attitude the majority of us here in the United States have. Let the world be damned. It is not going to affect my little world. Then the World Trade Center was attacked and all America coward down. Like the attack on Pearl Harbor. The day after, America was changed forever. So what, everything is OK as long as it's not in my back yard. By the time it reaches our backyard it is long over.

Going back to how America was is no longer an option. We have given up our freedom in the name of better security. In the name of control that is. Herded like cattle at the airport. So what? It is the price we pay for today's world. We are a nation of tolerance not of freedom. Freedom is now determined by the cost of court battles and media publicity. What next? We go to Washington D.C. with sand blaster and remove every reference to God? We would have to start with the Supreme Court building. It is covered with images of Moses and the Ten Commandments. So what? If it makes Muslims happy why worry about throwing away hundreds of years of Christianity or the fact that our forefathers paid for our freedom with blood. So what? It is not in my backyard.

In the movie “Kingdom of Heaven” at the end it visually shows how quickly after the Christians and Jews were forced out how Christianity was removed and Islamic control was about to be entrenched. It happen then and it can happen now just as easily. I am sure citizens of Rome never thought their country would ever fall too.

So what America? After Pearl Harbor we declared war and did not stop until the evil was defeated. After 9/11 we rushed to our local churches for a while until it calmed down and went back to our regular routines. The war in Iraq is just a blimp on the six o’clock news. So what? It's not my war. I have my flower garden to attend too.

Israel did not wake up until God allowed them to be conquered by the Babylonians. Is that what it is going to take for America to wake up? I pray not.

What do we do? We cannot go back. That opportunity ended long ago in the late 70's and early 80's. I think God's Word clearly gives us the solution.

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.”
Mark 16:15-16 (NLT)

Team Up, Set-up and get into the Fight. <><