Idol of Consumerism: The More I Have The Happier I AM

As I was traveling through our city recently I observed the large number of storage businesses. When did the market for so much storage come about? I don’t remember seeing them in my youth. I live in a transient, military community and I know there may be a greater demand for storage here than in other places. In 1960, there was no notable storage facility businesses in the U.S. Today there are well over 30,000 storage facilities and the industry takes in over $12 billion every year! These vast numbers serve as a reminder that Americans are very much into accumulating stuff, lots of stuff, more stuff than we know what to do with.


Not only are we building more and more facilities to store stuff, we are also building bigger homes to store stuff. In 1960, the average size of a home in the U.S. was 1100 square feet. Today the average size of a home is 2300 square feet. In 1800 the average American family had seven children. Today the average family has two children. We’ve double the size of our homes but reduced the size of our families. So, what are we doing with the extra space? We are storing our stuff.

The greatest teacher who ever lived (Jesus) spoke more about money than he did about heaven and hell combined. Sixteen of his thirty-five parables are about money. There is more teaching in the New Testament about money than prayer. Five hundred verses in the New Testament refer to prayer and faith while 2,000 verses refer to money and possessions.

So, why was this topic so important to Jesus and what did he have to say about it? It was important to him because he realized how subtle is the temptation to be enamored by the external stuff rather than the indwelling Spirit. He told his followers, “Where you money is, there your heart is also.”

Jesus taught that men tend to overestimate the importance of wealth. There is no question that American culture is diametrically opposed to this teaching of Christ. We measure our success as individuals, as a people, by how much wealth we accumulate. We have embraced with gusto the lie that money will make us happy. America now has over 600 billionaires. But, when you observe the lifestyles of the rich and famous there is one blatant truth that cannot be ignored: there is no correlation between peace in the heart and wealth.

One man wrote this proverb thousands of years ago: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.” (Proverbs 23:4) A very wise, ancient billionaire named Solomon once said, “A good name is more desirable than riches.” A foolish, modern billionaire recently said: “Whoever said money doesn’t buy happiness just doesn’t know where to shop.”

Christ never condemned wealth or possessions. He condemned the worship of wealth. He was deeply disturbed to see people in his culture who were possessed by their stuff. He expressed this concern and pushed for a choice from his listeners when he said, “"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (Luke 16:13)

Roko Belic is a Los Angeles filmmaker who has made a documentary about happiness appropriately named “Happy” commented on what makes us happy, “The things we are trained to think make us happy, like having a new car every couple of years and buying the latest fashions, don’t make us happy. The one single trait that’s common among every single person who is happy is strong relationships.”

Jesus taught that very concept two thousand years ago when he said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)

We would be wiser to invest in events and experiences that create memories and build relationships rather than invest in stuff. Our attempt to establish our status in society or keep up with the Joneses leads to stress and frustration rather than true happiness. True happiness is born in relationships, not in stuff.



Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

What Would You Do For Ten Million Dollars?

“What Would You Do For Ten Million Dollars?”

People fantasize a lot about money. Have you ever fantasized about winning a million dollars in the lottery? Have you ever dreamed of finding a suitcase full of hundred dollar bills lying alongside the highway? How about a wealthy relative you never knew who just randomly stuck your name on his will and left you millions? A survey was taken in which this question was asked? (1) “What would you do for ten million dollars?” The results were disturbing:

3% said they would put their kids up for adoption. ( I know, if you’ve had a bad day with junior your thinking you would do that for far less than $10 million.)

4% said they would have a sex change.

6% said they would change their race

7% said they would murder a stranger

10% said they would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free

16% said they would leave their spouse.

16% said they would give up their citizenship

23% said they would become a prostitute for a week or more

25% said they would abandon their families

25% said they would abandon their church

A multitude of lottery winners will sadly attest to the fact that money is a perishable commodity, ‘here today and gone tomorrow’. Money has a way of blinding our hearts. It muddies our sense of right and wrong. The craving that men feel for money can cause them to commit horrendous crimes. Some women are so starved for another dollar they willingly sacrifice their self-worth on a sex altar by selling their bodies. There is nothing a man won’t do when he is infected with overwhelming lust for money!

The love of money is certainly the root of all evil. In the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien creates a character named Gollum. He is a pitifully ugly creature, a slimy, malnourished deceitful critter. But Gollum used to be just like the other hobbits, like Frodo, Sam and Pippin. But one day Gollum found a magical, powerful ring. The ring becomes Gollum’s possession but in the end Gollum is possessed by the ring. He calls it his “precious”. The ring owns Gollum and every aspect of Gollum’s life was centered around his “precious”.

Money can become our “precious” in life. It can become our idol, the god we worship in place of the true God. It might be wise to ask ourselves: ‘What in my life controls me? What is more “precious” to me than a relationship with God and a hope of spending eternal life with Him?’

We are often deceived into believing that we would stop worrying about money if we just had more of it. More money doesn’t mean less worry. Getting more usually increases our anxiety rather than lessens it. Those who don’t have money worry about how they are going to get it. Those who have money worry about how they are going to keep it. Jesus said, “You shouldn’t worry about such things. When you are a child of the King, you have no reason to worry about those things.” If you are a child of the King, you are aware that “My Father is rich in houses and lands, He holdeth the wealth of the world in his hands.” (2)

In 1989, Bobby McFerrin’s song, Don’t worry, be happy, won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. “In your life, expect some trouble. When you worry you make it double.” The song was written in an attitude of lightheartedness.

Jesus was dead serious when he said these words in his Sermon on the Mount: “…do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (3)

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own,” Jesus said. (4)

To find true and lasting peace in our lives we must redirect our love from money to God.



1.) The Day America Told the Truth, James Patterson and Peter Kim.

2.) A Child of the King, Harriet Buell, 1877

3.) Matthew 6:25-27

4.) Matthew 6:34


Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

"The Power of Half"

This is the title of a book written by the Salwen family of Atlanta. Theirs is a powerful story of how to conquer greed and demonstrate the power of giving. How many of us feel the need to be more generous but we talk ourselves out of it by saying, “I’m just not in a position to do that right now”?
Jesus’ words were recorded by Dr. Luke in his 6th chapter, “Give, and it will be given to you, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.” There is a mysterious spiritual principle at work, the more generous you are the more blessed you are.
Kevin and Joan Salwen have two teen-age children, Hannah and Joseph. They were traveling the streets of Atlanta one day when Hannah observed a homeless, hungry man on one side of the street and a black Mercedes on the other. She made a comment that if the man in the black Mercedes would sell his car he could feed the hungry man. The family mulled over her comment at the supper table that night and concluded that they would put her suggestion into action.
Kevin Salwen is an entrepreneur and writer and he has done very well to provide for his family. They lived in a 6,500 square foot luxurious home. They decided, as a family, that they would sell their home and downsize their next home and send half of the profit to a host of villages in Ghana. Their “power of half” was approximately $800,000. They discovered they were just as happy in a home half as valuable as their first home.
You might think this story is absurd because it is so contrary to all that we witness in a culture of greed but what the Salwen family decided to do was what Jesus encouraged his disciples to do. “If you want to be perfect, sell you possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.” (Matthew 19:21). John Bunyan wrote:
“There was a man
Some called him mad.
The more he gave,
The more he had.”
It is not so common for the wealthy to be so generous. Jesus also said, “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 heaven.” (Mark 10:25) The wealthy tend to be tight fisted when it comes to money. I learned this early in life with my best friend, Jerry Smith. We lived in a poor neighborhood and Halloween night meant a pillow case of free candy if we were willing to work hard to get it. Even though October evenings are cold in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Jerry and I were soaked with perspiration as we ran from house to house to get free treats.
After completing the rounds in our neighborhood we were excited by the idea of going down Neason Hill a way to where the wealthier people lived, the people in the ‘brick houses’. By 9:00 or 9:30 that evening Jerry and I were totally exhausted but we learned an interesting lesson. The poorer people gave out candy by the handful, the wealthier people gave out candy in single pieces.
Generosity is not always dependent on how much you have or don’t have. Generosity is something that springs from the heart.
My wife will tell you that generosity is not one of my virtues. I will often tell her to withhold the tip at the restaurant if the meal wasn’t served in a timely manner or if the service was poor. “They don’t deserve a tip.”
But isn’t that the point? Didn’t Jesus come to give his life for those of us who didn’t deserve his gift? Isn’t our generosity even more meaningful when it is directed at those who are undeserving.
Paul wrote of the Corinthians (2 Cor. 8:2) “Out of…their extreme poverty welled up …rich generosity.” Generosity isn’t measured by how much we give. It is measured by the willingness within the heart to give

Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

The Deception of Money

Idol of money

Deception of Money

Money will tell you lies. It will woo you and lure you into deception. It will promise you a wonderful relationship, like a female black widow serial killer, luring you into a pit of despair before it finally destroys you.
She will whisper in your ear:
“Look at those who have more than you do.”
Proverbs 14:20 “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”
Harold Coffin – “Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.”

Ben Franklin said, “Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.”
An MIT professor did an interesting study on Olympic medalists. Who is the happiest? The Gold medalist? The Silver medalist? Or the Bronze medalist? The happiest was the Gold medalist. Of course, he won. But then it gets interesting. The second happiest was the Bronze winner and the least happy was the Silver winner. The Silver winner was comparing himself to the Gold winner and envying the gold. The Bronze medalist was comparing himself to number four who won nothing. The Bronze medalist was just glad he received a medal.

We are unhappiest when we are constantly looking at those who have more.

My two older sons went to Nairobi on a mission trip this last summer. They came back with a new contentment, a greater appreciation for what they have because they were comparing themselves to those who have nearly nothing.

Money will tell you:

“You can’t possibly have a ‘greed’ problem.”  Greedy people have lots of money and they’re never satisfied. They are always wanting more.
Jesus said, “Watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed…a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.”
Did you get lots of Christmas gifts under the tree? Did those gifts lie to you? Did you think you would get more satisfaction than you did? Kameron, my five year old son opened a boat load of gifts and then asked, “Is that all?” He will play with some of his Christmas toys for a day or two and then lose them in the toy box.
Aren’t we the same way? When you get a new car you wash it every other day. And we have to ask, “Do I possess this car or does this car possess me?”

My older son had a friend who struggled with idolizing his possessions. He bought a new car and the first thing he did was reach for his keys and run a deep scratch into the paint. My son was appalled. “What are you doing?” “I’ll spend all my time worrying about getting a scratch on my new car. So, I just go ahead and put that scratch on there so I won’t have to worry about it anymore.” He was resisting the feeling of allowing a possession to possess him.

Why did Jesus say, “Watch out for greed?” Why didn’t he say, “Watch out for murder?” or “Watch out for adultery?” Greed can sneak up on you. It can grip your heart before you know it. No one gets half way into a killing and says, “Hmm, I better stop this.” No man gets halfway into adultery and says, “Hey, this isn’t my wife.” But money will lure us into thinking, “As long as there is a Bernie Madoff or a Donald Trump in the world, I’m not really greedy.”

What do we worry most about? We worry about money.

But Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”
Mother Theresa refused to believe the lies money tells: “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given.”


Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

Idol of Money

Idol of Money




Money Tells lies:



Let me first clarify that I do not believe that money in and of itself is evil. To accumulate wealth is not an evil thing. There is no great virtue in pursuing poverty for poverty’s sake. There were many wealthy men in the Bible…Abraham was very rich. Solomon by modern day standards was probably a billionaire. It is our attitude toward money that gets us into trouble. Money is not the root of all evil, it is the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil.

Having just been through the Christmas season it might interest you to know that the average family usually spends about $750.00 on Christmas gifts.

The average American family makes payments on 13 credit cards and has $5800 in month to month debt. Approximately 40% of American families spend more than they earn.

The average American individual owes over $15,000 in credit card debt.

The debt of the American government is about $14 trillion. In order to pay off this debt every individual in America would have to shell out $44,000. It looks like we have money problems at every level.

Ayn Rand, “Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue.” Can our money problems not be traced to the heart? We are a society that is governed by greed. Jesus warned us about that: “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed…” - Luke 12:15

James, author of the epistle of the same name, summed up quite well what is wrong with modern society. “You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God” – James 4:2. The mess we find ourselves in can pretty much be traced to greed and covetousness.

My wife and I were discussing recently what would be our most prized possession if our house was caught fire and we could save only one thing. We mentioned family pictures, pets, big screen T.V.’s and computers. Its hard to realize how attached one becomes to the stuff in life until we are put in a position where we must do without.

We hosted a part at our house recently and when I walked into our living room I counted six people using their cell phones. When I asked what they would save from a burning house I was not surprised when they all held up their phones.

This was illustrated humorously in Steve Martin’s performance in The Jerk. This clip helps us understand how we cling to our stuff! Navin Johnson goes from rags to riches back to rags again. He wants to believe he can walk away from it all, but he just can’t:

We are deceived when we think we need the insignificant things in life.

Col. 3:2 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

There is an old saying: Money Talks.

“Money talks, I’ll not deny, I heard it once, it said, ‘good-bye’.”

Suppose we consider some money as redeemed and some as unredeemed. To be redeemed means to be free from the consequences of sin.

Money makes the false claim: “I can make you happy.”

We all claim that money can’t bring us happiness but if we look at our check stubs, do we really live like that? The wisest man who ever lived (Solomon) once said “Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people will come to help you spend it. So what is the advantage of wealth—except perhaps to watch it run through your fingers!” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)

There is no correlation between money and happiness. In fact, more money may bring unhappiness. The more money you have the more time you’ve invested. Money comes and goes. Time is something lost forever. You may think, if only I made $100,000/year. But then you would want to make $150,000. If you made $1 million you would want to make $2 million. Dissatisfaction is a plague that comes with money. We believe the lie of unredeemed money when it tells us that we will be happy if only we keep up with the Joneses.

The Puritan Preacher, Jeremiah Burroughs once said, “What a foolish thing is this, that because I have not got what I want, I will not enjoy the comfort of what I have!”

Happiness based on external things is no happiness at all. Happiness comes from within. For those who are Christians, God’s presence living within causes them to be content in whatever circumstance they find ourselves:

Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Contentment does not come to us naturally. It is something we must learn.

I taught school for nearly 15 years on the other side of the tracks. I saw my students dragging their book bags out of Baker Village, one of the poorest housing projects here in Columbus, Georgia. I thought, “Those kids must be the saddest kids on earth, they have so little.” But, I’ve never been around kids who enjoyed life and loved to laugh as much as they. I’ve also taught at Duluth High School in Atlanta where some of the city’s wealthiest kids attended and I’ve concluded that the amount of money you have has nothing to do with your ability to be happy.

Money simply can’t make you happy!

In 1923 a group of the world’s most successful financiers met at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Eighty years later let’s look back and see what happened to nine of them:

1. Charles Schwab, president of largest steel company, died bankrupt.

2. Samuel Insull, president of the largest utility company, died penniless in a foreign land, a fugitive from justice.

3. Howard Hopson, president of the largest gas company, went insane.

4. Arthur Cotton, greatest wheat speculator, died overseas unable to pay his debts.

5. Richard Whitney, president of the NYSE, went to Sing Sing Prison

6. Albert Fall, member of the President’s Harding’s cabinet, was pardoned in prison so he could die at home.

7. Jesse Livermore, the greatest ‘bear’ on Wall Street, died a suicide.

8. Ivan Krueger, head of the greatest monopoly, died a suicide.

9. Leon Fraser, president of the Bank of International Settlements, died a suicide.

These men knew very well how to make money but they had no idea how to find the contentment in life that the Apostle Paul talks about.

People who look for the abundant life in their money and possessions never find true satisfaction. When we worship money with our time and energy it becomes an idol in our lives. True happiness and the truly abundant life are found only in a right relationship with our great Creator God and Savior.

Why do we set our affections on the creation rather than the Creator? God alone owns the world. The cattle on a thousand hills are His (Psalm 50:10). He alone can supply our every need (Philippians 4:19). There is no security in any plan which denies God as Lord of our lives and of all that we possess.

Money will make you happy? Don’t believe it. It provides a temporary pleasure like all the other ‘stuff’ in life. True happiness can only be found in a higher, transcendent One.




http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Todd E. Linaman, Ph.D. , Family Life Radio.

Insights from Bill Bright: Nine Wealthy Financiers


Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

Look in the Manger

Look in the Manger


By Kevin Probst

Moses had a personal and beautiful relationship with God. Read about it in Exodus 33. Moses conversed with God and said, “If you are pleased with me and if I have found favor in your eyes, teach me your ways that I may know you better. Show me your glory.”

Moses didn’t realize the greatness or the danger of God’s glory. God agreed to his request. It is amazing to consider that the great, sovereign God of creation would be willing to show himself to someone as lowly as Moses. So, God hid Moses away in the cleft of a rock, covered him with his hand and swept by him. Moses saw the back of God and was overwhelmed by his beauty. Had he seen his face the glory of God would have destroyed him.

Isaiah had a similar experience with God revealed in Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah saw God, high and exalted, sitting on his throne. Seraphs covered their faces with their wings to protect themselves from the brightness of his glory. They called to each other, ““Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

After Isaiah had seen the King of Glory, he cried out in despair, “Woe to me. I am ruined. I am but a sinful man living among a sinful people and I have looked on the holiness of God.”

The glory of God that fazed Moses and Isaiah thousands of years ago has not diminished with the passing of time. God revealed himself to them because he wanted to. He has provided men with the means to know him personally. Through scripture and through his Spirit we may have a personal, intimate relationship with God. He wants us to know him because he loves us.

So, how might we see God without being struck down by his glory? Herein is the dilemma. God cannot lessen his glory so that we might look upon him. The great holy city of the future will “not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev. 21:23) Unlike the suns and the stars of the universe, God’s light never diminishes, it never fades. It is from everlasting to everlasting.

How might we see the glory of God? We may safely look upon his glory by peering into the manger of Bethlehem. Two thousand years ago God came in the form of a human so that all of mankind might look upon the Son of God. The adult Jesus would declare that those who had seen him had also seen his Father. (John 14:7)

When we look down into the manger what are we seeing? Something to miraculous for words to describe. We are looking at God clothed in the humility of human flesh. He did not come as they expected, a king dressed in royal purple riding on a white stallion. No, he came in a very ordinary way, as a baby in a poor family, rejected and unwanted and unnoticed. Imagine the Son of God was born in Bethlehem that night and hardly anyone in the city seemed to notice.

There are many miraculous things to consider regarding the circumstances surrounding the events in Bethlehem that day. But the actual birth of Christ was very normal. The miracle was in the conception not the birth. He was born in the way all men are born.

Many today will miss the truth of his incarnation just as they did in Bethlehem years ago. Others perceive it but are indifferent. The God-child in the manger was the culmination of the wondrous plan by which God could provide salvation to mankind without compromising his justice. He had to sacrifice his Son. Justice is preserved and wondrous love is demonstrated.

Look into the manger and see not only humility but also helplessness. “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12) Many babies in that era died before their first birthday. Jesus was wrapped in strips of cloth to protect him. They wrapped the arms and legs separately and then wrapped the torso, much like a mummy. The helplessness of the babe in a manger foreshadowed the helplessness of the Savior at the cross. As he stood before his accusers he could have called ten thousand angels but instead he suffered injustice quietly, bound and helpless and at the mercy of the Roman soldiers and Roman officials.

The manger scenes we see set up around our neighborhoods during the Christmas season are so lovely and pristine. Joseph took Mary to a stable. Imagine the disappointment Mary must have felt. It was drafty. There was no opportunity for privacy. The floor was made of dirt. Flea infested sheep, goats and cows lumbered about. The strong odor of manure wafted through the air. This is where God chose to reveal himself to mankind through his Son, Jesus Christ.

The humility and the helplessness of Christ failed to stir much interest in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. The indifference and the hostility toward the Christ-child doesn’t change the fact that “…in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)




Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

No one said fatherhood was going to be easy!!

"Confessions of Fatherhood."
Crossroads Tabernacle - The Bronx

Incarceration Rates. "Young men who grow up in homes without fathers are twice as likely to end up in jail as those who come from traditional two-parent families
Suicide. 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes
Behavioral Disorders. 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes
High School Dropouts. 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes





Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.