Making Life Work

By: C. Roderick Martin



    “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, so we may consider them, and know the latter end of them” (Isaiah 41:22 NKJV).

    There is little doubt if we are to know what will happen to this country, we must look to the past, specifically, to ancient Israel.

    One may question if we are indeed the direct descendants of the “Lost Ten Tribes,” but there is little debate that we are spiritual Israel. Biblical history gives us detailed accounts, confirmed many times by secular history, of Israel’s fate when the people disobeyed God.

    God is predictable, he does not change; he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In Deuteronomy...

From Ronald L. Dart’s Born to Win Notes

    If God were to send a prophet to us today, what would he have to say? What would his message be? In the first place, the mere presence of a prophet is reason for apprehension. God does not usually send a prophet to tell us how well we are doing. God figures when we do things right, we aren’t really earning any points. We are just doing the best thing for ourselves. That gives no reason to pat us on the head.

    God might tell the prophet to come and tell us: “Thus saith the Lord, the Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth who gave you this good land. You have become incredibly rich. There has never been a nation as rich as you have been, and you never ask where it comes from? You never ask, ‘Why...

By: C. Roderick Martin

    Given the looming March 20 deadline, at which time Greece must pay 160 billion dollars to debt holders, political leaders throughout Europe are desperately searching for a solution. Each week, news reports claim they have found a solution, only to find hopes dashed the following week. Why should we care if Greece defaults?

    Greece is one of 17 countries formed from the European Union (27 countries) that comprise the Eurozone. Established January 1, 1999, the Eurozone uses one currency— the euro. Most of the remaining European Union countries are obliged to join once they meet certain criteria. Currently, the following countries make up the Eurozone: France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg,...

By: C. Roderick Martin

    European and American politicians continue to put off making the difficult choices required to avoid a financial meltdown, the likes of which the world has not seen. To date, the actions taken amount to little more than, “kicking the proverbial can down the road.” I liken these politicians to a man jumping off a 100-story building, falling 98 floors, and yelling, “Nothing has happened to me yet!” In the years to come, many will look back on this period with great regret and say, “We should have known.”

    When the dogwood first buds, we know spring is near. A red sky in morning means bad weather is coming. When the morning dew turns to frost, is winter not imminent? Did not Christ say, “When the fig tree’s branch...

From Ronald L. Dart's Born to Win notes.

    Once upon a time there was a people who had returned to their homeland after a generation in exile. These people had been tasked by God with repairing the Temple and restoring worship.

    It wasn’t that God dwelt in houses made with hands. The Temple was symbolic, a center of worship, a reminder of who God is—really—and of what is really important about life. But life wasn’t working very well for them. They were in the middle of an economic failure—a position not unlike where we find ourselves today.

    They had been told by the prophets from Isaiah to Jeremiah to Ezekiel why they were going into exile before it actually happened, so they just might listen to a prophet this time. God sent...

By: Ronald L. Dart

    From the beginning, Christian Educational Ministries established helping others as a cornerstone of our foundational philosophy. Chances are, helping others is important to you as well. You probably already share your blessings with others by volunteering your time, talents, and by making financial gifts. Protecting your families while assisting those organizations that mean the most to you is important. We at CEM want to help you make the most of your giving.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    Any religious organization, be it a television ministry or a local church, depends on donations to survive. And so they all engage in some kind of fund raising effort to make ends meet. They use all kinds of things to raise money from direct mail to bake sales. It may seem a shame, (I don’t think this requirement of God “is a shame.”) in a way, but money is merely a tool that enables a church or ministry to do their necessary work.

    A few years ago, I had reason to research the fund raising methods of a wide range of ministries and what I found was appalling. Only a few ministries took a straightforward, honest approach by telling their readers and listeners what they wanted to do and that they needed their support to do it. The rest engaged in various gimmicks and tricks to meet their budgets. The television ministries were the worst because they have to raise the most money. A few were downright dishonest or unethical.

By: Ronald L. Dart

The Second Key

    The best ideas are usually simple and this one is no exception. The idea was conceived long ago and is so simply stated that most of us would read right over it and never grasp its implications. It reads as follows: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22).

    I can hear you saying, “That sounds like a good idea, but a little tough to execute. I have enough trouble making ends meet as it is without worrying about the next generation.”

    I suppose you know where the term "shotgun wedding" originated. It has been the root of many metaphors, but it arose in a time when we assumed that a man had to take responsibility for his actions. A man seduces a maid (or vice versa), and she turns up expecting a baby. I never heard of a true shotgun wedding, because the man married the girl without the father’s prompting.

    Things happen that shouldn’t, but if we take responsibility, sometimes they can be made to work. This was realized (long before there were any shotguns) in the Law of Moses. "If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife" (Exodus 22:16 NIV). In Moses’ law, this was to be done whether there was a child coming or not.

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Back in the great Bear Market of 2000 – 2002, the most important part of my employment was investing Other People’s Money (OPM).  My clients all had nest eggs that I had responsibility for.

    As is true with most investment companies, we had (in my view) the correct approach of not only diversifying broadly, but also allocating the assets to different classes of investments in order to reduce risk.

    Still, we were in the midst of a horrifying market sell-off that began in March 2000 and ratcheted downward with little reprieve until March 2003.  I felt like a complete fool watching all of this take place and knowing that I had to stay with the discipline of our strategy with OPM.

    But not all the money...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Today a new issue of my trade magazine came in, and I came across a curious item regarding this year’s tax rebate "stimulus" package: 

    "In fact the legacy of the fiscal stimulus was how consumers responded – by lifting their savings rates to a six-year high of 2.6% from 0.3% rather than embarking on a new buying spree … That was the third-sharpest increase in the savings rate in the past 55 years and a vivid sign that frugality is now replacing frivolity."

    Some reports indicate that only 10% - 20% of those government stimulus checks were actually spent.  The bulk of the money went into savings or debt reduction.

    To you and me that might sound like a great thing, but not according to Michael...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    I have been a financial planner for a long time, working with affluent and high net worth people.  When I first got into the business, I was surprised to learn that "high income" does not necessarily translate into "high net worth".  One of the first clients I worked with was making more than ten times what I was making, the equivalent of over half million dollars per year in 2008 dollars.  Yet in doing his financial plan I discovered that I had more money in the bank, and not to mention less debt, than he did!

    I pondered how this could be.  Many reasons can account for a sick financial statement, but certainly one reason is inability to know the difference between needs and wants. 

    A few months ago I stood...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Don’t believe every scripture you hear, or perhaps better said, don’t believe every scripture you hear as quoted.

    I’m leafing through a book about money written by someone well-known in the evangelical community.  He quotes lots of good scriptures and makes some telling comments (such as the old line about Scriptures talking more about money than about going to heaven when you die), but the book leaves me with the weird sense about his subtext.

    The book is right in saying the things of this world will all perish, and that a U-Haul won’t follow your hearse to the cemetery.  And it says that your true treasure should be in heaven.   That is all good, biblical stuff. 

    But here is his logic:  Since...

By: Lenny Cacchio

President Harry Truman wished for a one-armed economist because his economic advisors were always saying, "On the other hand …".     Someone once asked economist Milton Friedman, the Nobel Laureate, what the stock market was going to do, and he replied, "It will go up, it will go down, and it will go sideways, but not necessarily in that order."

    Professor Friedman was wise in his retort, for no one really knows what the market is going to do.  On the other hand (beg pardon), it sure would be nice if someone had convictions about something these days.   Too many people are hesitant to take a moral stand on anything for fear of being called intolerant, arrogant, or  a bigot.  Even nominees for the Federal bench are...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    I used to believe that following the Bible would lead to investment success. In spite of the fact that I failed miserably, I still believe the Bible holds the key to financial success. The problem is not the Bible, but in the particular prophetic scenario that I used to inform my investment decisions.

    I was absolutely sure that Western Europe would be the economic powerhouse of the future. The United States would degenerate into insignificance, beset with economic cirrhosis and social unrest. In line with conventional ecological theories of the day, China and India would suffer atrocious food shortages leading to mass starvation of millions. This would be caused partially by a new ice age that we would bring on ourselves...

By: Lenny Cacchio

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” (Proverbs 27:12 NIV) “Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” (Ecclesiastes 11:2 NIV)

    These two admonitions have played out before us during this hurricane season. Many saw the danger and took refuge, sometimes a thousand miles away. Through the horror of the storms, countless feel-good stories have wound their way through news outlets and the internet. Stranger helping stranger. Hospitality and kindnesses. Decent people doing good things for others in need. And many people saved their lives.     “Give portions to seven, yes to eight,” the scripture says. Many...