Gather Little by Little

Last Monday, I announced a new series of articles dealing with the subject of money in the Gospel of Luke. Keep in mind that the book of Luke was a letter written to a rich man by a rich man. Some commentators have said that a major theme of the book of Luke is to expose wealth as an enemy of faith. I know that Luke often mentions money and this is a blog about money, but it is important to note that the book of Luke is not about finance. The book of Luke was written to present Jesus Christ, as God-in-the-Flesh, the Savior of those who believe in Him. My posts in this series are not meant to detract from that truth, but to simply note the times that the subject of finance is mentioned in the book of Luke and how it might relate to our (the GLBL community) development of a biblical view of money.

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Last month, I wrote a couple of posts on the subject of shopping on Craigslist. I wrote on on the subject of selling on the site and one on the subject buying on Craigslist. I listed several suggestions and helpful tips. Also, several readers chimed in with still more advice on finding a good deal through the site. On a related note, I also ran across this story about a teenager who started with a used mobile phone and over the course of two years, traded his way up to a 2000 Porsche Boxster S.

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I recently ran across a question on Personal Finance Q&A’s over at Moolanomy. The question itself was not all that remarkable, but the scene portrayed  in the lead up to the question portrays a marriage that might be headed for trouble in my humble opinion.

Here is a portion of the questions posted by a writer who identified herself as KJC. If you would like the entire context, click through here:

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Yesterday, our speaker in church chose a text from the book of Luke. Luke is one of the first four books of the New Testament known as the Synoptic Gospels or simply, the Gospels. They are historical narratives that focus on the deeds and sayings of Jesus Christ while on earth.

The thing that struck me during the message was the number of times that the subject of money came up during Christ’s earthly ministry and especially how often Luke includes monetary descriptions in his writing. I spent a large part of my evening reading through portions of the book and noting the occurrence of words like “rich”, “wealth” and “poor”. Luke often recounts exact amounts of money such as in the story of the widow’s mite or the value of the perfume used to anoint the feet of Christ.

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On Wednesday, I suggested several full-time occupations that came with benefits that can save you money. However, not all of us are in a position to be picky about our full-time jobs. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get. If you want “perks” like reduced rate merchandise or free access to entertainment from a job, maybe you could look at part-time work. I have often thought about working a few hours a week at an electronics or computer store – just for the discounts on computer equipment.

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This is a tough time period in which to find employment. If you are like me, you are thankful for every day that you can get out of bed and go to work. If you are unemployed, every day can be agonizing. However, there is a chance that you could find a job with better pay or a job for which you are better suited. One aspect of job hunting that we might overlook is the value of “perks” that come with various jobs. Sometimes perks increase the attractiveness of an otherwise low or average paying employment opportunity.

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It is good to be back. I took a little bit of time off before and after the Fourth of July. We were doing a lot of traveling and sometimes our internet access was not the greatest and besides it is a little rude to visit family and then be off typing on the computer for an hour or so. I must also admit that I spent a lot of time watching the World Cup and now that the tournament is over, I can get back to life as usual.  I hope that all of you, the Gather Little by Little readers, are having a great summer.

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GLBL is a partner in GRABBBR, that is Giveaway Reaching All Bible Based Blog Readers. This is my featured GRABBBR blog post. By leaving a comment on this post, you will gain 5 ENTRY POINTS and may win cash or prizes. Discussion is encouraged! However, only 1 comment per person will be counted towards GRABBBR, so please, no spam. For more information about GRABBBR, including how to gain additional entry points, visit the official GRABBBR page.

Mrs. Stew, the brood and I are on the road this week. In fact, by this time next week, I personally will have driven 3,500 miles in the previous ten days. I have doing a lot of thinking about frugal travel.

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On Wednesday, I posted a rant about how our culture sometimes makes the mistake of defining marriage in financial terms. We commit our lives emotionally, physically and spiritually, but we keep the finances separate – just in case things do not work out. I think that this undercuts the purpose and plan of marriage.

Let me discuss the topic further by using the example of Katrina who was so kind as to leave a comment on the article. She suggested that a prenuptial agreement:

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I read a lot these days about signing a pre-nuptial agreement with one’s future spouse or checking the credit report of a possible marriage partner. The character of your future spouse is a perfectly good thing to research, but a money can be a distraction from the purpose and heart of marriage.

I still have the possibly old-fashioned, but still biblical view that marriage is for life. The basic premise behind a pre-nuptial agreement is faulty, regardless of your net worth. I might even go so far as to advise a single person  reconsider the decision to marry a future spouse who even mentions the idea of a pre-nuptial agreement.

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