On the front page of this morning's Watertown Daily Times was a syndicated article from the New York Times about Christian financial counseling. The article featured Crown Financial Ministries and Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.
You can also read the article by clicking here.
Be blessed!
RB
P.S. Today's New York Times also published the article but sometimes it is available online for free only on the day of publication.
You can stop most direct marketing mailings for 5 years by going to this site:
https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing
It costs all of one dollar for this service.
I just signed up. A lot more than a dollar will be saved by society just from reducing the paper in the waste stream. I also expect to personally save a lot more than a dollar from reduced expenditures. Junk mail is intended to entice me into wanting something I did not want. I really don't need more stuff. The problem is I want more stuff even though I don't need it. I also do not want my life to be focused on buying the newest, the best, the most improved stuff. Another problem is that if I'm not careful, it can be.
Direct marketers spend tens of thousands of dollars on each mailing with the expectation that enough consumers will buy stuff they would not have bought without the mailing. These expectations are almost always met. Direct marketers are not stupid nor are the companies that hire them. Junk mail works for them.
Be blessed!
RB
Did you know any credit card or insurance company can pre-screen (i.e., view) your credit report without your permission? That is why you get those "pre-approved" offers in the mail. You can go to OptOutPrescreen.com to stop this unauthorized checking of your credit report. You can opt out for 5 years or permanently. You can also add your name back if you have already opted out.
Be blessed!
RB
I changed the look of this site. I guess that happens when you want to do something but have nothing to write.
I knew that I liked blue. Our house has blue trim and our vehicles are blue. My websites have themes that feature blue. Even most of the Steelcase furniture in my office is blue. However, a few moments ago I realized that both this blog and my long-time personal website have blue/gray themes.
Those are Georgetown colors! How did that happen?
I must be missing my little Hoya.
Be blessed.
RB
P.S. Hoya Saxa
Canoes tip.
Our LT downloads podcasts of Dave Ramsey's radio show and listens to them in IQ. One day he said there was an entire show on how Christians are lousy tippers in restaurants. I did a google search (tipping Christians) and found many sites that each came to similar conclusions. Christians have a reputation as lousy tippers. Waiters and waitresses hate working Sunday afternoons because that is when Christians come to eat.
This is embarrassing. This is shameful! I was absolutely shocked.
Tips are not gifts but payments for service. Tips are how some some in the service industry earn a living. Why do Christians often take advantage of wait staff? Yes, Jesus paid for our sins. No, he did not shed his blood to so we could stiff people and get out of paying for services.
Yes, you can cheat people and still go to heaven. Yes, you can be a reproach to God.
If you do not want to tip, then stay out of restaurants and taxi cabs. Sorry, but tipping is part of the deal. If you decide to breach the implicit contract, do not let people know you are a Christian.
Actually, they know you are a Christian. You probably can't hide it. You pray, you discuss church, sermons, Biblical principles, etc. Sometimes you may leave a tract. The wait staff can spot a Christian. They know the amount that should be tipped. They can put two and two together. That is, they can spot a hypocrite.
We are to be God's ambassadors. We are to be good stewards of the finances he entrusts to us. I don't get it. I really cannot fathom the lack of tipping by Christians. I can understand a few individuals doing this out of ignorance or just plain stinginess. But why is this more prevalent among believers than nonbelievers?
If you have any answers, any insights, I would appreciate helping me better understand. I am really stumped.
Be blessed and be a blessing!
RB
Agent 99 is back working undercover inside the Beltway as a fashion model - student - paid assassin. Here we see her as the cover girl for The Hoya (Georgetown University's student newspaper) media guide.
Marines are noted for being blunt, no nonsense types. This seems to apply even to marine generals, as reported on Wednesday by The Washington Post:
The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation.
At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position....
"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," said retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who was among those rejecting the job.... "So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No, thanks,' " he said.
If you want to know how and why the administration made the present debacle in Iraq inevitable, here are two excellent books:
The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer. The author, a journalist and a pro-war liberal, writes a gossipy, anti-Bush history without citations. It is more fun to read if you can overcome his biased, liberal dislike of the administration.
Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq by Michael R. Gordon and Gen. Bernard E. Trainor (USMC Ret.). This is by the very respected authors of the definitive history of the Gulf War (The Generals' War: The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf). This is more of a military history where the authors had access to classified materials and access to insiders who would never be so open with journalists. Although not as fun to read, it is still very readable and gives a much better, very unbiased, understanding of events.
In a nutshell, the administration had no planning, or even interest in planning, phase four of military operations: occupation and stabilization after defeating enemy forces. For military success, three out of four doesn't cut it. As the late Larry Burkett used to say, "If you don't plan where you want to be, you'll end up somewhere else." That is, you'll end up where you don't want to be. I guess it applies to more than finances.
Semper Fidelis.
Miss Lois was taking just a few steps before arriving at our Northern New York training site. After a few days of workouts, she has her 6m times under 19 seconds.
Maundy Thursday saw the arrival of Agent 99 from her post deep inside the Beltway. Early a.m. Friday, Agents TJ* Ignatius, Princess Stephanie, and Sweet Pea from the PRM** showed up. Finally, as the picture above shows, the cavalry arrived with publicity assistant Kelly. Undercover Agent Henry provided security on the flight from Atlanta. Below, Agents Henry and Sweet Pea discuss future mission plans.
It was a very Good Friday.
Be blessed!
RB
NOTES:
* Triple Jumper
**People's Republic of Massachusetts.
In church this morning a great name for a rock band came to me. I'm thinking of forming a band and naming it:
Bobby 4F and the Section 8's.
Auditions TBD.
Be blessed!
RB
P.S. The significance of the name may be lost on those under 40. BTW, I was 1A with a high lottery number.
