Christian Living

Read the series so far.

In various phases of life I have spent money without giving much thought or planning to it. The first was when I was in seminary and I had to have the latest book. A professor would mention a book and I would have to have it. Another was when I bought my first CD player. The first CD I bought was an Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass album. I soon thought I had to have a library of CDs. The third time was when I bought our first DVD player. First, it was “Lawrence of Arabia,” then many more followed. Another phase—and this probably sounds like “true confessions”—is when I had to have the latest modem (2400 baud) or software (Word Perfect) or hard drive.

A single CD, or book, or DVD, or device is not much of a problem, but unchecked anything becomes a spending issue. My wife, who handled our finances during these phases, put up with a lot! Many counselors can testify that finances are a major cause of marital strife. A secular study from 2009 attempted to quantify the effect finances had upon marriages:

Of all these common things couples fight about, money disputes were the best harbingers of divorce. For wives, disagreements over finances and sex were good predictors of divorce, but finance disputes were much stronger predictors. For husbands, financial disagreements were the only type of common disagreement that predicted whether they would get a divorce. (New York Times)

By Gary M. Kochheiser, DMin

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth (NASB, 2 Tim. 2:15).

Another of the men that are being presented as part of the Revived Classics Series is Dr. James L. Boyer, a Greek scholar with a pastor’s heart.

Read the series so far.

Some Christians are completely opposed to borrowing.¹ Verses such as Romans 13:8, “Owe no one anything except to love one another” and Proverbs 22:7, “the borrower is servant to the lender” are used to support this position.

Running a household frugally and efficiently on one income takes creativity and commitment, but the family benefits when a parent is dedicated to overseeing the emotional, educational, and physical needs of the children.

However, the parent who stays home may have some doubts about what being a stay-at-home parent will cost them personally.

It’s common for a mom to be the one who stays home or does the majority of the teaching. That’s been my situation for many years, so I’m going to address the issues I’ve dealt with because of that choice.

We’ve all been there. Someone says something tactless, crass, slanderous—or all of the above, and the justification offered is, “Hey, I’m just being honest. Am I supposed to lie?!” No doubt, some of these “honest” folks are only posturing. But some seem to genuinely confuse the act of speaking one’s mind with the act of speaking honestly.

Yes, honesty, transparency and frankness are related. They share similarities—but so do cream of tartar, flour, and borax. Confusing similar things can have dramatic consequences.

Scripture helps us distinguish between frankness, openness, and honesty and, as a result, better distinguish right from wrong.