Empty Tube

In this political climate, I have never seen more active politics on every level. When one statement can be misconstrued, when political whores are milking the system for every dime they can get out of it: political advertisers, political advisers, money-walking vendors paying the uninformed for their vote. I think of the true meaning of conservatism. Don't tell me you are Christian unless you are conservative, and don't tell me you are a conservative unless you are a Christian.

We are all tired of pretenders, posers, people saying one things and doing another. There is no way a Christian can support the Democrat party, the party of abortion, same-sex marriage, promotion of stem cell research, promotion of communist healthcare.

Recently, the streets were flooding in this city from the most rain since record-keeping began, 22 inches in two days. Streets closed because of high-water, but the sprinkling system was still running at a local funeral home. You see, business never gets bad there, and like the Democrats, you are spending others money. Most political problems flow from big government. Conservatism is more than a political designation or determination, if conservative, you are frugal, thrifty in every thing you do. A conservative does not eat in expensive restaurants, Democrats look at government as a big, paper-money tree. Nearly a half-trillion dollars is spent by Americans just in eating out, the stove is one of the least used appliances in the home. Many homes do not have a stove, most working couples eat out for every meal when they could eat at home for a small percentage of the money they spend eating out. 28 billion pounds of food is thrown away during the holiday season, Thanksgiving through New Years. A conservative does not throw away food (God wanted me to see the poverty of the world, hungry children, protruding empty bellies, this is the reason my passport has been stamped in 157 countries), a conservative turns a bottle upside down to make sure they retrieve everything they paid for. I have often said, “I want my life to be like one of my empty toothpaste tubes, totally empty, having given back to the world everything I am capable of giving.”

Liberals, Democrats, have never seen a dollar they did not want to spend, on the ridiculous trip to Copenhagen trying to inact carbon taxation on the American people. Democrat Pelosi and her entourage spent $1.1 million. In the comic strip Peanuts, Linus always held onto his security blanket. The security blanket for Democrats is their ability to spend money, buy votes, they know that their voting constituents are the 50% of the population who does not pay tax, who ride in the wagon that the other 50% who do pay the taxes are pulling. You will find that most bureaucrats are Democrats, particularly in a state like North Carolina where the Democrats have been in absolute control for over 100 years. Democrats have the jobs, even if a Republican is elected, local, state, federal, every conservative action is nullified by liberal bureaucrats who are the ones who really run things. It is only when you empty the tube, get rid of useless duplication, people who are just on the payroll to shuffle papers. Only when you start with zero budgeting, only when you clean house, only when you get rid of useless debris, that conservatism can begin to work.

We have a spoiled, fat, lazy electorate who enjoys sitting around, watching senseless TV, eating senseless food, while the producers work. One of the greatest contributors to bad health is the lazy boy chair. From the time we start walking, the tightening process begins in our body, muscles and our limbs, contraction in our joints. The orthopedist gets rich from joint replacement simply because lazy people do not give their joints the conservative practices of kneeling and sitting correctly, most Americans do not stretch their muscles any more than they stretch their dollars.
We are all very much alike, some may have been changed with surgery, but generally speaking, our bodies, our systems (digestive, neurological, circulatory) are very much the same, can actually be transplanted, one to another. Yet, no other person that has ever lived looks like you, sounds like you, has your fingerprints or the iris flex of your eyes. Our differences come in gender and differences acquired over many years in our genome dating back to our common ancestors, our individuality the thing that makes us who we are, the only thing we take with us, our soul, our principles, our morals, our personality is a lifelong accumulation of behavior characteristics.

I know, just as well as I know anything, that God chooses each person he creates for a specific reason. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139: 13-14) I am just as convinced, as I am convinced about everything in my genome, that eventually a scientist will point out that my cells were marked by God as being chosen by Him to live eternally with him, I am convinced that we are elected, chosen by him. I cannot imagine God choosing anyone except a conservative, one careful about everything, careful in action, careful in words and spirit, careful in caring for the world. How else could there be such a drastic difference in the actions, words and spirit of individuals, who otherwise are very much the same. When the Holy Spirit of God possesses a heart, 20 inches away, the mind will change, and you will not care about the deception of riches, the deceit of vain glory, the rummaging of others for the benefit of yourself, taking of advantage of others for the advantage of yourself.

A child, made in the image of God, regardless of skin color, regardless of location in the world, will become precious to you in the body of the mother and certainly in the security of a schoolyard or the safety of a home. Just imagine the fright of innocence, one who did not ask to be born, when invaded by an abortionist's forceps or the bombs from a drone.

A Spending Diary

Since childhood, this writer has been ridiculed because of his frugal habits of saving money. Don’t we wish that we had sent some politicians and bureaucrats to Washington and other places where power brokers gather who know more about saving than spending. Dr. Franklin said “If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.” (Benjamin Franklin born in 1706 and died in 1790). Saving money is a state of mind. When one discovers, and it is something you learn early, if you are wise, you cannot invest what you have spent, and it takes money to make money. We have “supposed leaders” in our nation today who can be well described as “big spenders.” They love to spend other people's money, tax money, even though, they with all their political knowledge do not themselves pay taxes (Daschle, Rangel).  I have found, in meeting politicians locally, state wide, and nationally, that most have never worked a day in their lives and that they know nothing about the saving of money. Most come from homes of privilege. The new politicians are products of education grants and the largess of hard-working taxpayers.

Because of their connections, family political contributions, good looks, glib tongues, often lack of character, and many other things that put low men in high places. Our county, state, and federal governments are on the road to disaster.

Early in life, and I have explained on the platform and in writing, I started keeping a spending diary.  If you go to my bedroom right now, you will find a notebook where each day by the date of that day, I list every penny I have spent that day and for what, and if I went to a restaurant the tip is included also. When, at the end of the week or month, you add how much you have spent you will have the discipline to keep from spending.  The credit card should only be used in an emergency or used to verify a purchase in case of a return or misrepresentation. The credit card has been a financial disaster to most citizens much to the joy of the corrupt banking system, who make more money on fees and penalties then anywhere else.

You cannot out give God. It is essential that you recognize early in life that the greatest way you can show your worship is by giving God not just 10% but in my case 50%. As was the case with Elijah and the widow.  “And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.” (1 Kings 17:16)  To this moment, every promise and every prophecy of God's word has been fulfilled.  If you want to live along live, (honor your parents, exodus 20).  If God desires you to have wealth, it is His business, GOD IS BOSS. But, it is up to you to not be slothful, to work hard, invest well, prepare for future needs, and learn early in life, as I heard my thrifty mother say so many times, “money does not grow on trees.”

Because of politicians and bureaucrats spending your money which you paid in taxation, it takes every dollar paid in tax just to finance social security, medicare and medicaid. All other expenses of federal government: wars, research, grants...all this money is borrowed...mostly from the country of China. Since President Obama has been in office, the national debt has increased 4.4 trillion dollars, this is more debt than was borrowed from George Washington, first President, until George W. Bush, 43rd President. The national debit is now $14 trillion dollars, this is 14 with twelve zeros. Every American, man woman and child is in debt to the government $45,000. There is no way this debt can be paid, it is predicted that this FICA tax, now 15% of your paycheck will double to the 30% of your paycheck. It is predicted that all retirement funds, entitlements, will be eaten away by the debt. Mark Twain said, “the scripture I cannot understand does not bother me, it is the scripture that I do understand that bothers me.” Gods word tell us to stay out of debt, individually and as a nation.

Think and Grow Rich

One of the best-selling books of all time, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, an American author who was one of the earliest authors of the modern genre of “personal-success” literature. Hill's works examined the power of personal beliefs, and the role they play in personal success. "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve" is one of Hill's hallmark expressions. The turning point in the writing career of Napoleon Hill is considered to have occurred in 1908 with his assignment, as part of a series of articles about famous men, to interview billionaire industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who at the time was one of the most powerful men in the world. Hill discovered that Carnegie believed that the process of success could be elaborated in a simple formula that could be duplicated by the average person. Impressed with Hill, Carnegie commissioned him (without pay and only offering to provide him with letters of reference) to interview over 500 successful men and women, many of them millionaires, in order to discover and publish this formula for success. As a result of Napoleon's studies via Carnegie's introductions, the Philosophy of Achievement was offered as a formula for rags-to-riches success by Hill and Carnegie, published initially in 1928 as a study course called, The Law of Success. The Achievement formula was detailed further and published in home-study courses, including the seventeen-volume "Mental Dynamite" series in 1941.

For the disabled, of interest is the fact that Hill had a disabled son; Hill's second son, Blair, was born without any visible sign of ears. Hill was determined that his son would not view himself as handicapped. Early on, Hill and his wife worked with Blair to encourage him to "adapt" himself to the "benefit" that he acquired at birth. Mr. and Mrs. Hill never spoke of Blair's condition as a handicapping one. To the Hills' credit, Blair went on to graduate from college and became a successful merchant and civic leader. He began using a hearing aid only during his last year in college and this device was said to enable him to have near normal hearing. As a blind person, one of the most thrilling aspects of his book was the fact that early in his son's life, Hill determined he could communicate with his son by vibrations. I determined, that if a deaf person could learn through vibrations, a blind person could learn by hearing. This book had such an influence on my life, that I offered to pay many young men $10 to read it. Other than buying the books, I never paid one $10 because not one of these lazy people ever came back and told me they had read the book. Such is the lackadaisical don't care attitude of most young people in modern America.


Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson Green (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916) worked as a cleaning woman on Wall Street. She heard stock brokers talk about various stocks and she became a specialist in listening and buying stocks with her meager income. By living frugally, and investing wisely, at a time in history when it was very difficult to amass a fortune, she became one of the country's wealthiest women. There are many tales about her stinginess, but it all comes to this, as can be testified to by your writer, you can not invest what you have spent. At the time of her death, her estimated net worth was around $100 – $200 million (or $1.9 – $3.8 billion in 2006 dollars).

Financial security is a mindset. I do not know anyone of wealth with whom it is not a matter of thinking. There are wealthy people who do not have the mindset, they got it the easy way, they inherited it. Those who inherit great wealth usually do not hold on to it. Most people who become wealthy, do it the hard way, they work for it and it is hard work! But, most of all, it is a mindset.

I want to disclose to you a matter which I have written and lectured about many times. The way a person can become wealthy; first of all, you are an American, at least until recently, a land of opportunity, where you can do anything you wish to do and there is no limit to how much you can make, if you are willing to work for it. If you do not have the mindset for work and saving, you are wasting your time. You can make a good living with your hands, and many people do, but if you are going to make money it is a constant mindset of self-control, conservativeness, and hard work; peppered with much aggravation from a large part of the population that 'don't care' and pick pocket service people predominately, who just want to rip you off at least one time. Most of all, it takes a Christian faith in an all-mighty God, who is in partnership with you, because God knows you are proving (Malachi 3) that you are working for Him as well as yourself.

1.Mindset- you must accept the fact that no matter how poor your background, you are not stuck where you start. Perhaps, because my parents, grandparents were conservative, frugal in their lifestyle, hard-working, patriots giving a large percentage of their income to God's work, I was frugal as a child. In college, I had the nickname of “Iron Pockets” because I went through 8 years of university education, which I paid, myself, living on $1 a day. I still, to this day, a multi-millionaire, do not spend much more than that on myself. I am a firm believer that one should deny self. (Mark 8:34-35 ) There is nothing that makes me sicker than a fat preacher, nothing more disgusting than a supposed “servant of God” (TV preachers, etc) with their expensive haircuts, expensive suits, flashing jewelry, and lifestyles of the 'rich and famous'. My only child, my son, a foreign missionary, told me about having lunch with an employee of the Bennie Hinn ministries, at which time he was told of the extravagance of that group. If a church or ministry, expects to get one dime from me, I don't expect them to live any better than I do. I give away a large part of my income, but I will assure you, that if I learn of waste and exorbitance or extravagance or lack of discipline, which I exercise in my own life and living, they need not expect anything else from me. I do not have this ability for restriction with the government, but it should sicken any tax-paying citizen to hear of corruption and extravagance in government. The problem is, only about 50% kf citizens pay taxes. So, the 50% who do not pay taxes elect to office those politicians who have no discipline in their lives and they enjoy spending YOUR money. In fact, I have learned, that most conservative politicians know nothing of TRUE conservation. George W. Bush, who claimed to be a compassionate conservative, born into one of the wealthiest families in the country, in my opinion, was neither conservative or Christian.
2.Day-Sheet- If you go to my bedroom right now, as in every day of my life, you will find a loose leaf notebook where, on every day of the year, I list my expenditures for that day. At the end of the year, I can use these expenditures for tax purposes by keeping them in this manner. But, the important thing, is to list your expenses each day. There is no other way, on Earth, whereby you can discipline yourself about spending. The only money you have to invest, is what you have not spent. Some people have nothing to invest because they have spent it all! It takes money to make money, and only what you have invested makes money; whether real estate, securities, antiques, collectibles, etc. You only make money on things you can sell for a profit. Be careful with expendables. Name brands sell for more because of their advertising. Credit cards are a poison, stay away from them.
3.Tithing- The last book in the Old Testament is the Book of Malachi. Malachi means 'messenger' and the message is that we should give; that we 'rob God if we do not give' (Malachi 3:8-12) Many believe in giving the tenth, as did the children of Israel, but the Jewish people also gave other worship offerings such as 'first fruits'. The tithe is not specific in the New Covenant. It can be used as a starting point for giving because, if the Jewish people, gave a tithe under law, how much more we should give under grace! It is important to give as we have been prospered (1 Corinthians 16:2) and remember, God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) YOU CAN NOT OUT GIVE GOD! Give and it shall be given to you (Luke 6:38)
4.Lifestyle- I become deathly ill when I hear of the extravagance involved in the living of some people. Opulence and extravagance are like mediocrity; mental abuse against yourself. I have traveled the world, passport stamped in 157 countries, because I believe God wanted me to see how people live all over the world. Most of the poverty of the world is below the 30th parallel, countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia etc. Once you have seen the poverty of these places, the decadence of spending and spreeing people, particularly Americans, the most blessed country on earth, makes me very ill. I never go to a restaurant where a meal costs over $10. I do not own a shirt that cost over 25 cents. I do not have one article of clothing not bought second hand in a thrift store. There is not one piece of furniture in my house not bought second hand. I do not blame anyone for not living as frugally as I do. But one can not have the Holy Spirit of God in his heart, have seen the needs and poverty of most of the citizens of this earth and spoil himself with extravagance. Honesty in dealing with God, and with your neighbors, is expected. More importantly, is honesty in dealing with yourself. Your conscience will not allow you to see needs in the world and still be extravagant with yourself. Only YOU can make that decision. I firmly believe in making every dollar possible, honestly, morally, lawfully. I firmly believe in paying your taxes, because in spite of the deception and corruption of government, we must have government; with the streets, law enforcement, and other things government is responsible for. I firmly believe in paying people to do things for me that I can not do for myself. I believe God holds us responsible for our citizenship as well as for our Christian discipleship.
5.Investing- Your best investment is in yourself. Have the mental ability to do the best you can with what you have. There is nothing as wasted as a wasted mind. Every child is due an education at the expense of the public. When I graduated from high school, there were no grants, no programs, no counselors, very few scholarships; only those elitist families with political pull got a chance at a military academy, only those elitist families with political pull, or alumni connections, got a chance at a scholarship. Children from the poor classes, if fortunate enough to enter college, had a working experience. In my case, for 8 years, and more so through the summer months, I worked at night and went to school during the day. When I graduated at 2 universities, I had paid my way and owed nothing. Today, most students, even those with grants and scholarships, have large student loans; particularly professionals such as doctors and dentists. Denial and self-discipline are good learning tools for future success. Character determines destination. The best character builder is hunger. It still sickens me to see college students spending and spreeing; I can well remember the convertibles, the cashmere sweaters, the fraternity pins, the partying that went on night and day at UNC-Chapel Hill. It was these popular, elitist, students who were in student government (because they could pay for the advertising and did not have to work) who were members of the elitist clubs and fraternities, who were the “pets” of the faculty and the administration. One of my friends was the son of a judge, both parents were alumni of the university, and he got special attention. Another friend, was the son of a state legislator, the university had a special administration official to make sure he had no problems. I could recite other such inequities, but just think of the inequity, at that time, of a bright young student not being able to attend his state university simply because his skin color was black. Investing with friendship, particularly in high school and college years, is very important. Mark Twain said, “Friendships should be kept in repair.” Continue to stay in contact with your friends. The bond of friendship made with people in youth, like the bond between parents and children, is a great investment and many of us discover that too late. Another investment, which will pay marvelous dividends, is the investment in good health. Many spend their health obtaining wealth and then it becomes necessary to spend their wealth trying to regain their health. From college until this very day, I have saved 50 cents out of every dollar I have made for investment. I could save more for investing, if I did not pay so much in tax and if I did not give away as much as I do for God's work. Of this 50 cents, I invest 25 cents in real estate and 25 cents in securities. At present, I have about the same amount in securities as in real estate, but with the present economic climate, everything is worth less.

The Christian, I'm not talking about a pretender, the born again believer in Jesus Christ, baptized, serving, knows that Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10) We will have troubles and tribulations, like everyone else. Satan will work us over. We will have automobile problems, A/C problems, health problems, even family problems, like everyone else. Don't cheat yourself. God has given us one instruction, to trust him. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) For 40 years I have thought, as a totally disabled person, that God would 'cut me some slack' but I seem to have more problems than anyone else and for a blind person, everything is a problem.

“Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.”

-Chorus of Through it All, Andre Crouch