Mission City Press, Inc. » Walking in Faith

The Economic Problem No One is Mentioning

Sandi Shelton — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:33:49 +0000

Faster than a speeding bullet. We used to say that about Superman, but now it refers to the rate of change going on in our culture. Most people think the U.S. economic downturn is solely the result of collapsing financial institutions on Wall Street and bursting of housing market bubbles. Sure, they played and are still playing a leading role in the demise of economic prosperity as we have known it. But there are other changes significant enough in their own right to have pulled the rug out from under our nation’s entire economic structure–the changes caused by technology.

Technology did not suddenly explode onto the scene like a runaway freight train. It was a slow train coming.

We’ve all seen the amazing innovations in consumer electronics over the past decades. Who can even remember the world before personal computers, cell phones, ipods, ebooks, and so forth.

But behind the scenes technology has been bringing both great expansion and innovation, as well as massive devastation to the businesses that have formed the foundation of our economy for decades. Technology, like the proverbial snowball rolling down the hill, has been silently but steadily rolling along, developing traction, gaining steam and momentum, forming its platforms, expanding its presence, spreading out to the right and to the left, increasing in forcefulness, gobbling up everything in its path. Like an army that destroys a city as it moves through it, leaving rubble in its wake, technology has left untold numbers of traditional businesses in ruin.

Perhaps more significantly, technology has left traditional business models in ruin. Few industries have been left untouched. Overlay that on top of the nation’s banking and housing troubles, and you can understand why we are now seeing such widespread economic calamity.

We will survive, and we will thrive. The benefits that technology brings us are truly awe-inspiring, Once our heads stop spinning and we all adjust to the brave new digital world, things will settle down and we will be grateful to have made this transition.

In the meantime, I think I’ll go curl up with my new Kindle.

Isaiah 43:18-19 – “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

Who is the Pilot of Your Plane?

Sandi Shelton — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:45:07 +0000

How wonderful it was to hear some genuinely good news in the media! Yesterday, after a “double bird strike” knocked out both engines of his Airbus 320 aircraft, US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger made an emergency landing on the Hudson River, saving all 155 people aboard. They are calling it the “Hudson River Miracle” and Captain Sullenberger is being honored as a national hero.

The passengers on that flight are no doubt thankful beyond words to have had an extremely experienced pilot flying their airplane. Despite past training, not every pilot would have reacted as swiftly, calmly, and with such astounding wisdom and precision as Captain “Sully” did in those crucial moments when so many lives were at stake. Thank God for Captain Sully!

Speaking of God, I am wondering…who is the pilot of your airplane, the airplane that is your life?

Think about it. Are you trying to fly your plane yourself? Wouldn’t it make more sense to entrust yourself to someone who can see with far greater clarity and vision exactly where you are headed and what dangers lie ahead? Are you content to rely solely on your own wisdom and experience, when instead you could be trusting in someone whose wisdom and experience is not limited to that which you have gleaned along your life’s path?

When push comes to shove and the going truly gets tough (as it did for those passengers yesterday), do you want someone in addition to yourself to rely on–someone who has your best interests in mind? If so, it just may be time to turn your life over to God. It is as simple as asking Him to be the pilot of your life.

For more information, check out our web site at www.alof.com/god_free_gift_to_you.html or give us a call.

What Lies Beneath

Sandi Shelton — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:51:10 +0000

It just occurred to me how much healthier our nation’s economy is already because all of the underlying bad investments and perilous structures that have been exposed, collapsed, and/or are in the process of being flushed out. Who knew that our whole economy was built with such precarious underpinnings? But when the economy “comes back” to life, it will no longer be sitting on the same faulty supporting structures, but rather on more healthy and realistic ones.

Yet, this massive collapse has given our nation a rare chance for a new beginning—one that would have been too hard to bring about ourselves and too hard to accept had it not been “forced” upon us.

There is definitely a spiritual principle here: If we don’t build our lives on the solid ground of Jesus Christ, then our faulty foundations will eventually be exposed and cave in, for all that can be shaken will be shaken. (Matthew 7:24-27; Hebrews 12:26-28) Sometimes a “building” has to be torn all the way down to make way for a new and better “structure” to be built in place of it.

Likewise, at times it takes a drastic breakdown in our lives to discover “what lies beneath” in us. Once exposed and dealt with, God can bring about within us massive transformation for the better.

Things are Not Always as they Appear

Sandi Shelton — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:29:32 +0000

This past week 2 Corinthians 2:14 (below) keeps coming to mind. Like everyone, I need to hear it. It is a good reminder that, regardless of what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears, God is mightily on the move in the earth and in our lives. Let not the negative economic news discourage you. Whatever your circumstances, God is IN FACT accomplishing His plans for you, for His plans cannot be thwarted. God IS, right now, leading you in triumph!

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NASB)

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

Practicing What We Preach

Sandi Shelton — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:30:57 +0000

If ever there was a time for Christians to practice what we preach it is now. Between the recent elections and the economic collapse, it is no easy task at times to “be not afraid.” Here are some promises from the Word of God that may help:

Isaiah 54:10

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Proverbs 3:25-26

Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.

Isaiah 58:11

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 42:16

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”