Have You Bought Eggs Lately?

Have you been keeping up with all the economic news in our country? As I’m writing this, our core inflation is around 5.59% according to our government. The problem with all numbers is they can be manipulated. The core inflation rate doesn’t include food or fuel prices. I don’t know about you, but I tend to use food and fuel every day. So, what I’m seeing and feeling at the pump and the grocery store is higher than 5.59%. Have you bought eggs lately?

I think one of the big issues with understanding inflation is really understanding what causes inflation. The results of inflation are typically higher prices of commodities and other goods. But the higher cost is not the cause—it’s a symptom. What really causes inflation is the expansion of the money supply. There are other causes of inflation, but increasing money supply is usually the biggest driver.

Governments around the world increased the money supply like never before. They were trying to prevent a global recession during the pandemic. Now we’re going to start paying the price for all the “free” money that was put into our economies. Our central bank is trying to gently raise the cost of borrowing money, and they have quit the “quantitative easing” policy for now. Quantitative easing is political speech for increasing inflation. No politician is going to get reelected if he promises to increase inflation, so they came up with another name for it. Quantitative easing is basically adding more money to our economy, which, again, is the central driver of inflation.

On the positive side of inflation (if there is one), when you borrow money today and pay it back with money later, you are effectively paying it back with cheaper money. A dollar today is worth more than a dollar ten years from now. It has more purchasing power today. This is one of the strategies of some governmental officials. We borrow a lot of money today and pay it back with cheaper money in the future. I don’t believe this is a great idea, but when all you have to do is hit the print button, it’s easier to borrow money.

All of this to say, hold on. Inflation is not going away anytime soon no matter what the political pundits are saying. They get excited to say the rate of increase has slowed down! As always, if you spend less than you make, you will generally be okay and can withstand some inflation. I would definitely tell you to stay away from adjustable-rate mortgages. These only make sense when you think inflation is going to decrease over the next few years.

Stay away from credit card debt. Their rates are going to go even higher, if that’s possible.

Remember, too, that these things go in cycles. We will eventually cycle back to a lower inflationary level, but it will not happen anytime soon.

Until then, hang tight and hang on to your wallet!

Author: Dr. Curtis Brown

The Lonely Man

How is it that we live in probably the most “connected” time in history, and yet there are so many lonely men? There have been several articles and even some studies documenting the loneliness of the American male. Some reports suggest that the average guy over thirty does not have a single close friend other than his partner or spouse. We may have hundreds or even thousands of social media friends, but most men live lonely and isolated lives. It really isn’t much better for Christian men when compared to nonbelievers. Men are busy simply trying to navigate through life and finding balance with work and family.

Barna Group did a recent survey and found that having intergenerational friendships tends to correlate with greater overall relationship satisfaction and better optimism about life in general.

So, what are we to do about this? We are hoping to launch a program this fall in our church that will connect older men with younger men. I know there are several barriers to this, but I believe it is essential for masculine health to have good relationships with other men. Our program will be ten weeks long and will be a plug-and-play type of program. Anyone can do it. But it will take some effort. I believe it’s going to make a big difference for everyone involved.

More information will follow in the coming weeks. If you’re interested in joining us, please reach out to me by replying to this email, or you can simply fill out this poll. We are going to need all hands-on deck for this.

Author: Dr. Curtis Brown

American Passports

And one day

soon in coming,

we will all forget

our American passports

at heaven’s gate

in our mad dash

to gaze upon the beauty of the

Lord's face.

And one day

soon in coming,

we will all take a quiz

on who God is,

and

every

single

one of us will flunk it.

But it won't matter though,

because the test will pass through

the flames and burn to ash,

and we will

still get to gaze upon the

beauty of the Lord's face

in his temple.

And one day

soon in coming,

a thin blue flame will catch the corner of the earth, as a flame catches the corner of a paper, and all things will be burned

and not yet consumed

as the fire spreads and fills the world.

What is good will be retained

while the slag will be removed.

The internet servers storing pornography

will be consumed,

as will the needles in the streets,

where

heroin addicts sleep.

The dollar bills collecting dust in bank vaults,

and the dollar bills shoved into old mason jars

buried underneath the oak tree,

will all be consumed

in the thin blue flame.

All the ashes will be gathered, collected

and then scattered over the face of the earth,

fertilizing the ground,

and life will emerge

from what was once opposed to life.

Beautiful gardens filled with fruit will grow

for man and woman to pass through and stroll

as they go to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord's face

in his temple.

And this day is soon in coming.

When it arrives, everything sad will come untrue.

Everything that was once lost will be found,

and everything will be okay too.

And we will gaze upon the beauty of the Lord's face

in his temple.

And our American passports will have long been turned to ash.

Author: Seth Brown