I was reminded today that how we speak can often drown out the truth of our message.
"The temper and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of a society than any particular policy."
~ Os Guinness and John Seel, ed., No God But God: Breaking the Idols of Our Age
“He who has the greatest truth has the greatest love which is the greatest proof.”
~ Lem Tucker
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Bar Stool Economics
Below is an interesting email I got from a friend:
"Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20', declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right', exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
"Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20', declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right', exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible."
...Some interesting food for thoughtSunday, October 26, 2008
Football, Family and the Glory of God
The story of Tony Dungy--head coach of the Indianapolis Colts--and his strong Christian faith is well known. Less familiar is the strong faith of University of Georgia coach Mark Richt. The video below highlights the faith of Mark and the Richt family in action, adopting two children from Ukraine.
The video is a beautiful example of the obedience of faith, of a family being compelled by the gospel and word of God to take steps of faith and self-sacrifice.
The unique thing about the video is that it aired on ESPN. It is not often that explicit proclamations of Christian faith make their way onto secular programs. It is also rare that high profile athletic figures possess and express a vibrant faith in Christ.
The video is touching and challenging, but it also served as helpful reminder that we should pray for men like Tony Dungy and Mark Richt. Pray that God would sustain them, strengthen them & provide opportunities for them to use their platform to highlight the beauty of the gospel. And finally, pray that they would use their vocation of coaching to be a means of mentoring and discipling athletes into a relationship with the Savior.
HT: Justin Taylor
The video is a beautiful example of the obedience of faith, of a family being compelled by the gospel and word of God to take steps of faith and self-sacrifice.
The unique thing about the video is that it aired on ESPN. It is not often that explicit proclamations of Christian faith make their way onto secular programs. It is also rare that high profile athletic figures possess and express a vibrant faith in Christ.
The video is touching and challenging, but it also served as helpful reminder that we should pray for men like Tony Dungy and Mark Richt. Pray that God would sustain them, strengthen them & provide opportunities for them to use their platform to highlight the beauty of the gospel. And finally, pray that they would use their vocation of coaching to be a means of mentoring and discipling athletes into a relationship with the Savior.
HT: Justin Taylor
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Worship Songs & Salvation
Abraham Piper has an interesting list of things he's glad he's saved from, but don't usually make it into worship songs:
HT: Abraham Piper
- STDs
- Philosophy
- Freeloading
- Incarceration
- Vagabondage
- Whiskey binges
- Illegitimate children
- Pack-a-day smoking
- Successful rockstardom
- Getting run over by a train
HT: Abraham Piper
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
