The Prodigal Son

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son. It begins:

Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living."

When living in rebellion against the father, he was still living off the riches of the father.
Imagine this rebellious son throwing a party - someone asks him "where did you get such fine wine?" - would he have said "I bought it with my father's wealth."?

When we have lived in rebellion against God, we were still his beneficiaries.
Even now, after my redemption, it is so easy to see the "wealth" I have as mine and not as His provision!

Economic Rules from a century ago

1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
3. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
4. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by increasing class hatred.
5. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
6. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
7. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
9. You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
10. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves

Rev. William J. H. Boetcke, 1916

The Journal, December 2008, by Summit Ministries

Thomas Jefferson - a "supply sider"

Thomas Jefferson argued that "a wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.

The Journal, December 2008, by Summit Ministries

The December issue of The Journal discusses a financial disaster in the 1830 similar to the one we've experienced recently. Easy credit led to land speculation. Prior to 1832, land sales on the frontier were running about $2.5 million per year. By 1836, annual land sales totaled $25 million.

In our recent debacle, it is estimated that 1/4 of all homes sales were speculative sales. Once housing prices stopped rising, and interest rates began to rise, foreclosures increased.