Gregory Clark

I’ve just finished watching the movie, “Enemy At The Gates”. It is a true story about a Russian Sharpshooting War Hero Vassili Zaitsev. The scene is towards the end when Vassili is sitting in a hideout with a Political Officer named Danilov. Danilov was the one who’s writings made Vassili’s conquests famous throughout Stalingrad and all of Russia. Enter the girl, Tania. Vassili and the Tania fall in love and the political officer is jealous. After praising Vassili, out of jealousy he then dictates an article to defame Vassili.

The next scene shows the Tania hit by shrapnel and Danilov, the political officer thinks she is dead. He is later seen with Vassili and makes the following speech; “I’ve been such a fool Vassili. Man will always be man. There is no new man. We tried so hard to create a society that was equal. Where there’d be nothing to envy your neighbor. But there’s always something to envy….a smile…a friendship…something you don’t have & want to appropriate. In this world, even a Soviet one, there will always be rich and poor….Rich in gifts, poor in gifts: rich in love, poor in love.” Danilov then gives up his life to save Vassili and help him root out the enemy sharpshooter and achieve the goal he had been trying for most of the movie.

It was a powerful illustration of how many people think about Socialism. They think it would be a better place if all wealth were distributed equally. They think that this class warfare will end if only the money were distributed equally there would be nothing to be jealous of and we all..in the words of Rodney King, “just get along”. It would seem to appeal to everyone’s idea of fairness; at least the perceived fairness as seen through the eyes of the individual Socialist. One problem is that one’s perception of fairness might be different than their neighbors. Does fairness mean all is a median? Is median a statistical average? Is average equal? Where is the statistical base?

If all things were equal who chooses what equal is? What do we compare equal to? Do we compare it within our own State, Country, or do we expand it into the entire world? Do we all need to live in mud huts, get rid of our indoor plumbing, and return to a community well to satisfy the terms of monetary fairness as seen in some of the poorest countries in the world? You may laugh but that could be the next logical step in this growing global economy.

One error is the sliding scale of equal and the other is that we are not dealing with a perfect world.

In a perfect world we wouldn’t need Socialism because everything would be..well…perfect. If it were a semi-perfect world the re-distribution of wealth might be the answer. If we were all re-trained to work for the greater good as our only motivation it could be a happier place. I can respect the Socialist if his aim is nothing more than striving for this ideal. If he is striving to push for his own perceived idea of “fairness”. We don’t live in a perfect world, we live in a fallen world. Even if everyone’s motivation was the greater good and we did distribute all the wealth equally there would still be a problem; Sin. In Socialism, the major sins to be dealt with would be envy and jealousy.

What Danilov realized just before giving his life to save Vassili that even if all were equal monetarily there would always be something to be jealous of. It is my opinion that the fundamental flaw of Socialism is that it is they don’t take the nature of man into account. They ignore these simple sins. Many think people don’t deserve what they have earned or worse think they deserve what others have without working for it. Who gets the power to determine who deserves what? If the money is taken away then they will simply find something else to be jealous of. Personally, I applaud the achiever. Instead of being jealous or envious of them I want to be like them. I want to be the achiever. It motivates me to go beyond my perceived personal limitations and grow as a person. It gives me something to strive for and instead of saying, “At least I’m not as bad as X” it makes me say “What can I do to be better”. Let me also say that achievement and success in my eyes goes beyond money. It encompasses many things including spirituality, family, friends, happiness, and health to name a few. Being a Christian I believe that this Nirvana will only happen when Christ himself returns and establishes his reign on this earth. When this happens the sin of man will be gone so there will be no envy or jealousy to ruin it. Christ himself talked about this sin in the Bible. You can see it in the story of the land owner hiring workers in the gospel of Matthew chapter 20 KJV.

1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

There are many lessons to be learned from this parable but the one to be learned for our purposes here is that man’s perceived ideal of fairness is not realized. That fairness is fueled by envy and jealousy. The men hired in the beginning worked much longer than the men hired later in the day, yet they earned the same wage. Instead of concentrating on the generosity of the landowner towards the ones hired later they looked selfishly upon them, demanding their own idea of fairness. Who was correct? Who makes the rules? Another question is this. Does equality encompass only money or does it extend into happiness as well? If my God makes me perceivably happier than my neighbor am I made to give up my God as to attain a dictated median of happiness?

In America I think we have a very good system. We do have a bit of Socialism already in our society in the current tax code. It reads the more you make the bigger percentage you should pay. That’s why the top 10% of wage earners in this country pay 40% of the taxes. Many people don’t realize this, and the politicians know it. They play on the public’s jealousy and demand they pay more and more.

Getting a little bit off track I think we should have the “Fair Tax” but that is for another time.

The system in this country is set forth so that the winners and losers are dictated by the individual not the government. The system is not perfect but even with its flaws, is the best in the world. Why we want to mess with and change it is beyond me. The winners are determined by an individual’s work ethic, intelligence, tenacity, competitiveness, and determination. This country is full of stories like (the movie) “The Pursuit of Happyness” where Christopher Gardner goes from homelessness to being one of the wealthiest men in America. In what other country do you see LEGAL immigrants strive as they do in this country? It’s our Capitalist system! If Socialism were in place many people might get the “warm and fuzzies” for a little while but would lose greatly in the long run because men would not be motivated to go that extra step to do their very best. Because of the nature of man, they would simply find some other reason to be jealous and discontent.

Why else is America the birthplace of so many wonderful innovations that have helped this world catapult into the 21^st century? Why else were men pushed beyond what they thought was possible if it weren’t for the reward at the end? Do you think for a minute a person like Thomas Edison would have put in that many hours, gone through bankruptcy so many times, and undergone so many hardships if he thought all his work would be evenly distributed to people who did not choose to work but were simply looking for their “fair share”? To me Socialism is a punishment to achievement and hard work instead of a reward for it.

Don’t get me wrong here. I believe in giving. I believe in being fair. I believe in giving back and paying it forward. I believe in the statement “To whom much is given much is required”. One of the men I admire the most is Rick Warren. He has earned millions through his book, “The Purpose Driven Life” but chooses not to change his lifestyle much and live on 10% and tithe 90%. In this current system that is his choice. Under Socialism that choice would no longer be his to make.

In my Christian walk I do believe that we are to take care of the widows, orphans, homeless, and downtrodden. I also do believe that it I will be blessed for doing so. I want to live like Rick Warren as a “Reverse tithe-er”. Under Socialism the Government decides what “equal” and “fairness” means. That decision of whom I can help will no longer be between me and God. It will be solely in the hands of the Government. The Constitution was formed to limit the power of the government and put it in the hands of the people. Socialism would be the exact opposite and that, in my humble opinion would be disaster.

I received this e-mail from my brother. A lot of people feel that this presidents agenda will solve most of societies ills. While giving is a command we are all given by our creator if it is mandatory the joy of it is taken out and replaced with resentment. I have never seen a more perfect example than this.

Basic problem is that in society, there is a large percentage of the population that is satisfied with an F.
A simple analogy
An economics professor at Texas
Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an
entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one
would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then
said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.  After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studie d little were happy.  But, as the second test  rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied
little..  The second test average was a D!  No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.  All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government minimizes the reward, the effort to achieve the reward diminishes…Could not be any simpler than that…

Recently I have been reminded of the laws of sowing and reaping.

We have always heard, or should have heard the saying, “You reap what you sow”. What does that mean? When does it happen?

It means with every seed there is a certain germination period. Some seeds may seem to come up right away, like weeds, and some, like an oak tree take extra time.  Many people plant seeds and expect them to come up right away. Others may plant a seed and hope it never does or forget about it until it’s too late.

Someone may give a little extra money to their church or be nice to someone and expect either a 10 fold check in the mail that night, or a nomination for a Nobel Prize! This makes as much sense as an Arborist planting an acorn in the morning and returning in the evening wondering where the oak tree is. This applies to all seeds, so we need to be careful which type we plant.

It means that if we plant things like negative thinking, negative words, harsh criticism, etc. that’s what we will reap. Kind of like planting “weed seeds”. If we plant positive thoughts, positive words, constructive criticism, love, that’s what we will reap. Call these “good seeds”.

When will we reap? That all depends on the speed of germination. Some seeds germinate faster than others.  It is all fruit, but what kind of fruit is it? Is it the fruit of something beautiful and precious like an orchid or something awful and hard like a bed of thorns? Again, that depends on the type of seed. You can’t plant a “weed seed” and expect to see a rose.

If we sow “weed seeds” in the form of very harsh words or actions toward another person our “fruit” may germinate very soon in the form of a bloody nose or worse. If we sow “good seeds” in the form of, say, a positive thought or word we may see a quick germination such as a blush from a pretty girl or a child start to sit up straight, proud of their work, but those are the exceptions instead of the rule. Many seeds take some patience and nurturing before we begin to see what kind of fruit is produced. It could be  days, months, years, decades, or several generations before fruit is seen.

The key in any reaping exercise (bringing in the harvest the seed has produced), is patience and nurturing. Any decent gardener knows that when you plant a seed you need to make sure it is taken care of. The gardener may plant a seed in March, spend April, May, and June watering it, making sure it gets enough sunlight, and applying the right amount of fertilizer. It might not be until July that they see the fruit. That same gardener will tell you, especially if the seed is a “good seed”, while looking at the beautiful flower, or the fruit bearing plant, that it was worth it.

Be careful though. The same premise applies to “weeds seeds” too. The difference is that while we may look forward to the “good seed” bearing fruit we often forget planting the “weed seed” and never even realize we are nurturing it. We may look forward to a “good seed” producing fruit but be afraid if our “weed seed” ever does.

“I would never nurture a weed seed” you say. You might not realize it but “weed seeds” germinate just as well as or sometimes better than the “good seeds”. “Weed seeds” grow with negative thought and negative action. Every time you see another person who is different than you and you look down on them, you are nurturing the seed of prejudice. Every time you see someone that you think you are better than, you are nurturing the seed of pride. Every time you are harsh to another person or purposely cause another anguish, you are nurturing the seed of hate. It may take time before they fully produce fruit, but before long that person may find themselves or someone else being indoctrinated into some “skin head” organization and think that it is normal. “I would never do that” you say. Well remember the germination period? It might not be your generation. The fruit could very well be your son who saw you act in a hideous way toward or say derogatory statements toward a person of a different color or religion than you. You are always sowing seeds whether you know it or not.

The long and the short of it is this. Be on guard. Be mindful of the seeds you are sowing for they take many forms. You may say something nice to someone today and never see any fruit in your lifetime. It may be your grandchild that is saved by the hand of a surgeon you gave encouragement to as a teacher. You may also find that same grandchild killed by the hand of a criminal you were unkind to or rejected as a child. We are all connected so let’s do our best to follow the golden rule.

Just a bit of background on this. On September 30th I was was informed that my position of 11 years where I served as Sales Manager at Dutch Barns was being eliminated. I was informed that there were just not enough sales due to the weak economy to continue the position. I was told my duties would be carried out mostly by the owner and the people I hired. I was not bitter about this. I believe that the Lord orchestrates all things to his great and perfect will if we just LET HIM! I actually thanked God for HIS timing and that HE will work things out for HIS glory. I went home, prayed with my wife, cried just a bit, and was then excited about the next chapter in my life.

After this event my wife’s sister informed us that they were giving us their spot at the Weekend to Remember event hosted by Family Life. If you have never attended one of these events please do. It was one of the most wonderful weekends of my life, especially “date night”!!! Slight pause for reflection…. ok. Well, anyway during the event my wife spied a book she wanted. The book was “Sacred Marriage” by Gary Thomas. Given the events of the week we chose not to purchase the book. Well, here’s how God works.

During one of the sessions the speaker asked who in the audience had a good example of a mom and dad growing up. Knowing my wife and hearing the stories growing up and knowing my wonderful in laws I prodded her to raise her hand which she did. Well, the speaker recognized her and gave her a book from their collection. Guess which one it was? Correct! The book was “Sacred Marriage”! When we went to thank the speaker for the book and let him know my job had been eliminated he didn’t hesitate and said, “excellent”!! That was just the word I needed to hear and God knew it!

Since that day Christ has been teaching me the power of words and attitude on my life. He has been teaching me that words are powerful. Let me ask you, the reader something. What is the original use of words? If you guessed communication you would be incorrect. Communication is the secondary use of words. The original use of words is for creation! Yup…creation. Words were first used by God Himself to speak into being in His first sentence, “let there be light, and there was light” Genesis 1v3. He then went on to create the expanse between waters, clouds, ground, vegetation, the sun and moon, living creatures, and all things just by His words! He then created Adam by saying in Gen 1v26 “let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”

Quick quick diversion. If there is not a trinity then why does it say things like “us, we, and our?”

Another quick diversion here: If you don’t believe in creation I am truly sorry that the obvious escapes you. Not believing in creation, to me is like thinking a monkey can create a brilliant piece of literature by banging on a keyboard enough times. It just makes perfect sense to me that anything that looks like it is created, has a purpose, is wonderfully and perfectly made, might just have a creator. Ok, back to my story.

Many people think that after He created Adam he made Eve. Well, that’s part of it. He did say in Gen 2 v18, “it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him”. What God did next is truly quite amazing. See, He wanted to teach Adam the importance of language and what it can do BEFORE He gave Adam his help mate.

He next brought before Adam, in Gen 2 v19 “all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them: and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name”. You see, a Giraffe didn’t exist as a Giraffe before Adam gave it a word name. A sparrow wasn’t a sparrow, a bear wasn’t a bear, and a dove wasn’t a dove until its name was spoken by Adam. Adam created who they were by his words! Only then did God, in his infinite wisdom give Eve to Adam and call her woman or of man.

Heres the meat. As men and women created in the image of God we have the same power to create things in our environment similar to what God did. Let me give you a quick example. In Numbers there is an account of 12 spies sent to see what was in the land God had promised. Out of the twelve, ten reported in Numbers 13v27 that the land did flow with milk and honey but in v 39 they said they couldn’t take the land because the inhabitants were too big. Only two of the twelve said that they should take the land that God has given them. Guess what? They were both correct. Since God has given us the power of words all of the spies basically spoke into existence their own reality.

The ten that said they couldn’t take the land didn’t. They died in the desert. The two that said they could take the land, guess what, they were the only two out of the original people freed from Egypt, Joshua and Caleb were permitted to enter the promised land!

The reason God had Adam name all the animals before he was given Eve was God’s way of teaching Adam he needed to watch the way he spoke to her. Personally, my wife is a Queen! She is everything I have ever hoped for. She is the most beautiful woman ever. I chose her out of a whole world of women as my wife. If I fell in love with a princess, married a queen, chose to be with her all of my days why oh why would I want to destroy her? If I want her to remain a Queen I will continue to speak Queen to her, (even if she doesn’t deserve it or I don’t feel like it.) If I want her to remain a Queen why would I speak filth to my Queen? If I speak filth to her guess what she will become? Filth.

People, like it or not we are products of our words. If we speak failure guess what we get. If we speak success, guess what we get. You see since God created us and we have the power of words we can use that power to either create or destroy. We can use that power to make our world better or tear it down. Me..I choose to use words to make my world better and to create my world a better place.

This is a spiritual truth which originated from God Himself and recorded in the greatest book ever written, the Bible. There are many secular places you can find this truth. One like Napoleon Hills, “Think and Grow Rich”, another was a talk I heard by Mark Victor Hansen, (the “Chicken Soup” author..brilliant guy by the way.) They all know, whether they know the origin of the truth or not, that it works. They all know the power, as my sister in law once said, “the power of life and death is in the tongue”.

Media…you pain’ attention?!!!!!

In conclusion, use your words wisely. The old saying “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me” is so very false. Many a life has been made or broken by a parent’s tongue. Many a aspiring author, athlete, business person, or artist’s career has been cut short by some person or persons speaking filth into their lives. In todays society we are unfortunately making heroes of the lowest of lows and making a mockery of the successful. We as a society have ceased to, in the words of the military, “be all we can be” and just “be”.

We are wasting our lives. We are depending on government to tell us what to do. We believe the media when they report all negative. We would rather watch some filthy show on T.V. or some sort of demented act of violence than study how to make ourselves better. There are a few rare individuals who rise above all of the junk and use these truths to their advantage rather than their demise. In this day and time, we need more of these people. I, for one, vow to become one of these people and change my life for the good. I choose to use my God given power of language for building up not tearing down.

Thank you

Greg Clark

www.payonlyonce.com

As everyone knows the United States is in a state of adjustment right now. Some people call it a recession but I think it is just an adjustment. For too long this country has forgotten how to live within our means. The excesses of the 80’s have come to haunt us. Too many people for too long have tried to accumulate in a year or two what it took their parents to do in a lifetime. Why? Well, the media and society have told us that we have a right to have it NOW! We were told that they DESERVE it now without regards to having to EARN any of it. We, as a country have become one of the most selfish and self serving peoples on earth.

The problem with that is there was no plan for paying for it now. Too many people purchased items with their only question as, “how much are the payments?” Their thoughts were not on the long term but only on the short. Why? For one they were suckered into loans such as “low introductory rate”, “buy now and pay later”, “no payments till you die”!! Because in their lifetime they haven’t known what it means to sacrifice, (current and previous military, support personnel and spouses excluded). They were born in a period of boom and have only know prosperity. Only now are experiencing what a lot of people have already felt..a pinch. Only now are their short term choices becoming a problem. Only now are we experiencing a shift in the way America is doing business.

Before, Americas’ economy was based on credit. We are now in the middle of a change that will no doubt lead us into a cash economy. No longer will it be based on “how much can I borrow” but “how much cash do I have.” The people who get out of their current debt the quickest and accumulate the most cash will be the winner in the new economy. I am blessed to work with a company that is in the forefront of making that very thing happen quicker than anyone ever thought possible.

I have also been blessed with a fantastic wife who has the same mindset as I. We made a choice several years ago to pay off all of our debt. Through sacrifice and hard work we were able to become almost debt free. The last debt we have is our house. Through a revolutionary new program called the Money Merge Account System ® we have taken our 25 year mortgage to approx. 9 years and are slated to save over $60,000 in closed end interest charges! Through this system we will be able to be on the beginning and take advantage of the cash based economy sooner than most anyone who doesn’t have the program.

If you are interested in seeing what this can do for you please visit www.payonlyonce.com