Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.
Without leader, administrator, or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest.
~Proverbs 6:6-8

To anyone with half a brain it is becoming fairly obvious we are moving into some tough economic times. The buying power of our dollars is slipping and inflationary trends are fast outpacing earnings.Excessive printing of money and government handouts are going to shortly catch up with us all. Our Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin and Fed Chair Jerome Powell might like to rename it “supply chain shortages and bottlenecks” or “transitory price pressures” but such terms are just playing dodge-ball with what this really is.

Just go to the gas station. Two days ago I filled up two tractors for a whopping $150. A year ago it cost me $80. Go to Home depot and buy some wood for a new deck. Better plan to lay out an additional 40% at minimum to what you would have paid a year ago. Stay in a hotel, rent a car, go out to eat, buy some food.
Everywhere you go you and I are spending markedly more money for the same product we would have bought just a year ago.
Whether or not you personally liked him, Donald Trump should buy a billboard with a picture of himself standing by a gas pump with the simple question: “Miss me now?”

So what am I getting at? The ant gets ready in summer for the long winter ahead. God warned Joseph to store grain in advance of 7 years of famine.
Are you stocking up? Do you have enough food in the pantry to go more than a week without going to the store? Do you have an emergency fund? Are you financing everything in your life? Are you living within your means?
If you’re on a fixed income it might get a little dicey up ahead. If you’re servicing huge amounts of debt you might not have enough to keep up with housing prices. Are you getting yourself into a situation that is setting you up for success or failure? Prepare now.

On another level. We will continue to live well within our means as a church. We are grateful for the good financial situation the church is in. However, we won’t take it for granted.
We will live frugally and trust the Lord to sustain and meet the needs as we go ahead. He has always done so and I am confident He will continue to do so in the future. Come what may.

Because of grace,
Tim

The post Consider the Ant appeared first on EBCSV.

During these times of accusation, turmoil and uncertainty; I thought it good to remind us all of some civics.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Amendment I, the U.S. Constitution

It has been often noted that the first right expressed in our Bill of rights is the freedom of Religion.
This freedom is foundational to all the rest and on it hangs the strength of our Republic. Without it we would quickly degrade into a swamp of competing interests and radical individualism- a place we are quickly going as this freedom is under relentless attack.

Following on this right is the right of all citizens to freely speak their minds, the press to function without fear and the people to assemble and even seek a redress for wrongs suffered at the hands of government. Interestingly, our founders wisely followed this amendment with the second amendment to give the people the means to enforce it.

During recent years the American people have become increasingly cynical of a press that seems to merely parrot and promote the progressive agenda of elitist leftists who seek to remake our Republic.
After taking over the French republic, Napoleon quipped: “Controlled by the government, a free press becomes a strong ally.” In this oxymoronic statement Napoleon links a “free press” with government control- a statement that almost mirrors exactly where we find ourselves today in America.

So, where does this leave us? It leaves us at a time where the church needs to find its voice again and speak boldly and powerfully.
We stand on the precipice of events that could quickly spiral into the coercive restriction upon almost every one of the rights that were recognized by our founders in the Bill of Rights.

Free speech is being undermined by public shaming of those who do not parrot the partly line. Freedom of assembly is undermined by heavy handed restrictions enacted for our own good in times of crisis.
Those who speak with a different voice are quickly eliminated from social media platforms, and Christian groups that stay committed to Biblical morality are the objects of scorn and derision.

Screw down your hat- this one might buck. It might be more than an 8 second ride.
Because of grace,
Tim

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