Lyle's Blog

My wife and I have retirement accounts as do millions of others. I believe it’s a good idea to save for your rusty years but I also believe in diversifying the way money is invested.

We have most of our money in the IRA system. Stocks, if played well, can be lucrative but it takes daily effort to maintain stock purchases properly. Unless you have a lot of money, this doesn’t happen. When the market crashes, which it inevitably does, your broker seems to be taken by as much surprise as you are.

We’re supposed to be excited about the growth of our portfolio. But should we? When the crash occurs, everything that’s increased is wiped away. And to add to the frustration is the simple fact that if you lost 50%, you have to make 100% to make it back to even. It seems like a fool’s game.

Last night I threw old statements away from ten years ago. Skimming over them I couldn’t help take note that the stocks listed were going for about the same money then as they are now. It would seem that the best you can get from stocks are the dividends and that pays off over a long period of time.

The broker is the one who benefits the most from this retirement scam. I should note that it is the government who benefits the most but from the “little guy” perspective, it’s the broker. Whether you win or lose, he gets paid. There are brokers who don’t make anything if you don’t, but I’ve noticed they won’t consider managing anything less than $500,000. So for most of us, it’s not available.

Brokers have always encouraged mutual funds as a way of “protecting” you from volatile movements in the market. The broker pushes these for other nefarious reasons too, among which was to not have to pay attention to your portfolio much. Their company wants them to because there is monetary incentives I’m sure. Up to now, it has been a way to keep things from taking too wild a dip in value.

But now something has changed. This last fiasco has produced an odd result. The portfolio went down 20 plus percent. Most of that loss has been in mutual funds. Why would that be? Could it be that most companies are over-leveraged, in debt to their ears, and in a real sense are bankrupt? Without extremely low-interest rates and the government printing press, most businesses wouldn’t be able to borrow, let alone pay back their loans. Maybe the few stocks I have fared better because they were hand-picked by me for value reasons.

The current response to the coronavirus “crisis” is atypical of government reactions of the past, infusing the country with freshly printed money. Being most “money” is digitized, the ease of such shenanigans is just a little too easy. Next week, I’ll offer a few thoughts on how to invest and maintain your wealth in a society that’s gone financially mad.

I have two Bibles, the King James Version, and the Message Bible. I use the Message Bible because the writer’s phrasing is attractive and conveys the original thoughts in a “relaxed” way of saying it. The following is an excerpt from that Bible,

Colossians 3: 1-11. So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ-that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life, even though invisible to spectators, is with Christ in God He’s your life. When Christ shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up too, the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

There you have it. I need a reminder, in simple modern terms, to be diligent of my service to God and how the fleshly desires hinder that. And that is why we remain daily in the Word.

There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear; words to an old rock and roll song by Buffalo Springfield. Bob Dylan wrote the times they are a changin’.

Yes, much has changed since those words were penned. But what has changed? Knowledge, both secular and scriptural, has increased. Everything of the past is either being replaced or discarded, some of it because of that increase of knowledge and some of it because of increased pride.

What truly has changed is the earth and the people on it are being prepared for the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible says to choose this day whom you will serve. Again Dylan wrote, ” You’re gonna serve somebody”. And so we will. We’re coming into an age of definite choice, meaning a time when there is no middle ground. Will you serve man or will you still be faithful to the Word of God? That’s why we are to choose this day and not tomorrow.

So, what is it we’re to do knowing that we live in these changing times?

When Jonah was spewed out on dry land, he knew whom he must serve. Ninevah was before him and God wanted to spare it. So he preached and the whole city repented from the king on down.

Lot and his family didn’t want to leave Sodom. They could have left a long time ago. They didn’t. Just like Lot, we’ve become accustomed to the perversion of Netflix, Disney, education, our churches; we’re comfortable with sin all around us.

It’s past time to notice the times we live in. The day is almost gone; night is settling in when no man can work.

The Bible says to pray that we are worthy to escape the things to come. I hear a lot of preaching about us being worthy already because we’re Christians. We’re warned to test ourselves to see if we are of the faith.

I think that worthy people are working people, those who are busy with following the commands of Christ. Are we storing up treasures in heaven or are we making ourselves more comfortable on earth?

Grace, something bestowed on a person or people to give them rest from the rigors of judgment. Most say it this way, unearned, undeserved favor. Nothing was done to bring it about. It comes from the giver.

The term “carnal Christian” is thrown out as something with meaning. Many think God does a lot of blinking and has a huge heart that is continually forgiving the sins we refuse to give up. That is hogwash. The woman at the well was told to sin no more. I can’t believe Jesus would tell someone to do something that was impossible. We’re to refrain from sin..

King David said he hid the Word of God in his heart for the purpose of understanding what sin was and then not doing it. He wanted to please God. It took him a lifetime to mature in his faith. It was a time before sins were laid to rest at the cross. He believed God and sought to know Him.

God says to seek Him and you will find Him. As we draw closer to the perfect God, our imperfections become apparent and we shed the desire for those sins so the Holy Spirit is comfortable with us.

It is said that you can see the heart of a person if you know how they spend their money. That is true. Nicer cars, homes, occupations; we are driven by self-fulfillment. I think time is at least as big an indicator of your love for Jesus. How much time do we spend on entertaining ourselves, improving our lot in life, not to mention the money spent on those endeavors?

Jesus didn’t have a pillow to lay his head. No bank account. He was totally dependant on God. He spent much time praying. Starting at the incarnation Jesus denied himself, humbled himself to be a man, and then gave His life for people who crucified Him. Only He understood what was happening on the cross.

We have the privilege of “understanding”. We know what scripture says. If we know and don’t follow, we’re hypocritical fools. If Christ lives within us then we should be without sin because no sin was found in Him. We’re to take every thought captive and ponder whether it reflects Christ or reflects ourselves.