One of the keys to The Prosperous Life is to live debt free. So on this Independence Day Weekend (where our country freed itself from British rule and bondage), let’s take a look together and see if we can figure out how to stay free of the bondage of school debt.

I have been very interested in education ever since my first daughter was born. I read quite extensively about the state of education in the United States including books like: Who Owns the Children?: Compulsory Education and the Dilemma of Ultimate Authority, Child Abuse in the Classroom, and other books about how we got the education system we have today.

We ended up teaching our children at home. As they got older, my attention turned to college. I read several books about the state of college education to find out why it seemed so full of indoctrination. These were books such as [Imposters in the Temple] (By: Martin Anderson) [published: October, 1996] and The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford (Independent Studies in Political Economy). At that time college debt was becoming a huge problem. Now it is even more so.

I was reminded of the school debt problem in the current issue of Consumer Reports in an article titled: “I Kind of Ruined My Life by Going to College.” The article stated that 42 million young people own $1.3 trillion in student debt. According to the Consumer Reports article, the financial impact is so daunting that 45 percent of borrowers say knowing what they now know, their college experience wasn’t worth the cost.

So what can you do to get a college education and yet avoid the debt?

1. The article recommended taking a year off after high school to figure out what you want to do. It said students that know what they want their degree in and stick with that throughout college come out with 40% less debt.
2. Look at colleges within driving distance of your home. Private schools and out of state colleges may have what you want for atmosphere and prestige, but they also will come with a hefty price tag. I would say that debt free beats atmosphere any time.
3. Decide to work to pay for part of the cost.
4. Apply for all the scholarships you can. Many scholarships go unclaimed each year. My kids even accepted scholarships from the Sonic Drive-in where they worked.
5. Look for a job in the field you are interested in that will pay for your college.
6. Pray and ask God to help you. Let Him know you want a college education, but you are not willing to go into debt to get it.
7. Make up your mind that you will not accept debt as the solution to your education needs.

To add a little to #1 above, many people that start college have no idea what they want to do for a career. So they end up changing majors several times and even schools. Therefore, they end up paying for and taking classes that will not apply to their degree. This is why it may take six years and the debt that goes with that to get a degree. When you change schools, the new school may not accept all the classes from the previous school. This adds up to a couple more years in school and much more debt.

One degree that gives a well rounded education and that is the BA foundation for the medical and law professions is a degree in Liberal Arts or Letters (different schools may use different titles). Some companies simply require you to have a degree, and then they will train you in the field they need.

So look for some scholarships, look at the job market, look at some local schools and talk with your parents or talk to your children and see what you can do.

Pray and talk to God about the situation, and make up your mind to think outside the box and not accept debt as the path to The Prosperous Life.

Live long and prosper.

Is Poverty a Virtue?

As long as we keep God first in our hearts and minds, He is going to continue to prosper us in this life. There are many accounts in the Bible of men that were very prosperous and that kept God first. In many cases it even says that their prosperity came from Him — Abraham, Job, David, Solomon, and Daniel just to name a few.

In the gospels, Jesus ran into a rich young ruler and the ruler’s story is one we should read and know.

Mark 10:17-23 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

This account has been used since the first-century church to show that to be a true follower of Jesus you must give all your wealth away. It has been used to show that if you have any wealth, it really belongs to the poor and that you are stealing from the poor if you do not give it to them.

In our book Poverty vs Wealth, there are many quotes from the early church fathers to this effect. From this type of teaching (that you need to give it all away to follow Jesus) came the thinking that the truly pious are poor, and they have renounced all their worldly possessions.

Jesus Christ never taught that poverty was a virtue.  But this type of thinking comes from lifting the preceding verses out of the context. If we continue to read what Jesus taught, it is very enlightening.

Mark 10:24-30 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?   And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,   But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Notice that the man’s problem was not that he was rich, but that he trusted in those riches. His possessions, and prosperity, not God, came first in his life. He served the world, trusted in riches, and loved his money more than he loved God. That is always a problem.

• Also note that if he had been willing to give it all away and put God first, God would have given it all back one hundredfold. So the issue was not that he was wealthy, but that he trusted in his wealth.
• As long as we keep God first in our hearts, love Him and trust Him, He will add to us all that we need. God has no problem prospering His children. It is His delight. It is up to us to change our thinking to match His thoughts.

Knowing and believing God’s thoughts will keep us on track for the Prosperous Life.

If you missed the live broadcast, you can listen to the recording on The Solution Raido Show. It is in the last half of this recording.

Christ Jesus – Head of the Church

Picture two sets of railroad tracks side by side. The set on the left are the ones you have been riding on for many years. The set on the right is a new set. They look parallel.

In the search of a more prosperous life, we many times need a new set of tracks to ride that will in the long run bring us to a different destination down the road. If we are broke now or close to it, something needs to change. The set of tracks on the right is a new course, a slight change in our direction.

It is easy to think that “when my ship comes in, everything will be better”. Or “when I win the lottery, that will be my retirement”. Yet those things may never happen. It does not take some great event for our lives to change.

In Jeff Olson’s book, The Slight Edge, he talks about the great power of compounding. He explains that compounding is where one thing is added on top of another continuously for months on end.

Say you decided to save $5.00 a day, every day for the next several years – like the price of two cups of coffee or a hamburger at lunch time. It is only a slight amount of money, but it can give you The Slight Edge that you need.

Once you have decided and started to save $5.00 a day, you have moved to the set of railroad tracks on the right.

At first they seem to be running parallel to the old set, but as time goes on they begin to separate. The money is now compounding. $5.00 + $5.00 +$5.00 ….. at the end of the month you now have $150.00. At the end of the year, 365 days times $5.00 = $1,825.00. That is with no interest and no investment.

When the New Year starts, you now have some money in the bank as opposed to last year when you were broke.

After a couple of decades of this type of saving and investing the money, your financial picture will look totally different. And once your mind gets into the saving mode, you can find many other ways to add to the pile.

You can apply this principle of compounding to your walk with God by starting with a verse of scripture memorized each day, or reading a chapter from the Bible each day and thinking about what you learned during the day. After a couple of decades of utilizing this slight edge concept, you will be miles ahead of where you are today in your walk with God.

A couple of decades of “eating an apple a day to keep the doctor away” may have quite an effect on your health. You might add walking for thirty minutes a day as well.

None of these three things are huge changes in your everyday life. But the compounding effects of each over time can be staggering.

So jump to the set of tracks on the right. You will see in time that your life has taken a turn for the better, a turn toward A Prosperous Life.

It is more fun to start a new adventure with someone. Talk to your spouse and see if this is something you could do together.

Write and let us know how this is working for you. What areas of life do you need to see more prosperity in?

Remember our new book, Poverty Vs Wealth, covers many of these things in more detail.

Here’s to you having The Prosperous Life — Roger Braker.