Iron Pockets

“Iron Pockets” was a name given to me during my college years by roommates and friends because of my stinginess. These young men had never seen frugality, knew nothing about budgeting, preplanning for everything. I am glad that most young people, then and now, can live life totally at ease. I came from parents, ancestry who had survived hard times, they knew what it was like to be careful of every nickel they spent, preplanning everything. My friends had never seen anyone write down every penny spent, and for what. To this day, I still keep a day-sheet, a daily log (a loose-leaf notebook) right by my bed, where I enter everything spent that day.

I expect my accountant, my stock broker, to keep up with everything that comes in, to keep accurate records of all receipts in my businesses and the expenses of those businesses. I had in my possession, until I sold it, a similar notebook from the Civil War, showing the expenses on one combat unit, food, armaments, clothing etc. You see I believe that much is expected of those who have received much (Luke 12:48). I have been given much, a good mind, good health, outstanding ancestry, election by God, and He expects me to do much with what He has given me, all pre-planned.

King Solomon, the world's wisest and richest man, spoke about thriftiness: He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich (Proverbs 10:4). It is hard to relate King Solomon to the common man, a man with 1000 wives and 700 concubines, 40,000 horse stables which were trimmed in gold, but everything we find in God's Word encourages thriftiness. Even when Jesus fed the thousands, baskets of scraps were taken up and saved.

Going shopping is as foreign to my thinking as going to mars. I hear of people just walking through stores, buying something which they think they want, but do not need. I have been with people in restaurants who just order the most expensive food on the menu and then do not eat it. Perhaps because of my peculiarities, I do not have the occasion to take many out for meals. One time, one of my cousins came by with her nephew. I always order the least expensive items for myself, but since their rich cousin was taking them out, they each ordered the most expensive thing on the menu (I ordered a sandwich for myself). When the nephew's food came, he decided that he did not want what he had ordered. She said, “that's alright, just order something else.” This happens over and over with relatives, they get some sort of thrill in antagonizing a man of wealth and frugality, never realizing that he has his wealth because of his frugality.

My only child's wife, ordered steaks for my grandsons, they did not want steak. I will never forget the ordeal, I said nothing, but she had the pleasure of antagonizing me. The money you spend can never be invested, it is gone forever. You only make money with money; blessed money, money left over after you have given to God. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. (Psalm 37:25)

Physically and spiritually, there is no nation as blessed as America. Many of you think you know something about poverty, but you have never seen poverty. India, a nation of 1,600,000,000 people, the poorest nation on earth, even poorer than Bangladesh. There, I saw families living in cardboard boxes, children eating trash off of the dirty streets. There, as in the Philippines and many other places, mothers search trash cans everyday in order to feed their children.

I heard of one Hollywood movie star who always wears a new pair of socks, every day. I have never had a new pair of socks, except perhaps some that were given to me. Every article of my clothing comes from a thrift store, every piece of furniture in my house comes from a second-hand store, every item on my grocery list is on sale. I have a nice home, I wear nice clothes, and I certainly eat well, thanks and glory be to God, I have learned to care for myself and give most of my income for His service.

Now, this probably seems strange, from poverty as a child to an adult multi-millionaire. You and you alone, will establish your parameters, your values, your ideals of life, your vision for your future. Where there is no vision, the people perish... (Proverbs 29:18) The cell phone which most children own contains more technology than the moon module. We live the information age...excessive information about everything. Just think what this writer, a scientist of 100 years ago, legislators, businessmen would have accomplished with a computer. But they took life seriously, made great accomplishments with what they had.

I have investigated for years, why in every field of endeavor we are not proactive instead of reactive. With our knowledge nations should not be at war with one another, hunger should have been conquered, every child should have clean water to drink. Christian churches should be running over with people anxious to worship a God of grace and glory Who has not only given us every good thing to enjoy, but on top of it all, eternal life in splendor.

A 1964 movie, Dr. Strangelove, starring among others, George C. Scott, tells the story of trying to put the bullet back in the gun...trying to recall a nuclear strike on Russia. Not having thought out the consequences of the action. The 1959 movie, On the Beach, gives us an unforgettable glimpse of what a nuclear strike, anywhere, would do the world, there is a definite need for thinking, planning. Most of our problems comes from stinking thinking.

In 1948, the year I graduated from high school, the founder of Douglas aircraft established the RAND corporation. The RAND corporation, existing to this day, employing thousands, is a think-tank. Their mission is to explore every attitude, every model of human existence, such as the effects copay has on medical expenses. So simple, when one has a copay expense, one is not as likely to go the doctor. The RAND corporation, and its famous thinkers: Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, ideas and directions after John Kennedy and McNamara had taken over the Pentagon.

The RAND corporation is truly a strange phenomena, mostly from it's systems analysis, research and investigations must reach a certain level of rationale. President Harry Truman objected to many ideas in the RAND philosophy because it was smeared with Christianity. The corporation is financed by the US government plus private finances. RAND aims to solve problems of economics with a heterogeneous look at every area of national and international life. Of course, since 1950, survival from a nuclear catastrophe has been uppermost, strategic contributions towards all space systems, and now involved with energy and intelligence which may keep the world from destroying itself.

The present war on terror has the symptoms of escalating into WWIII...over 1 billion Muslims, over 1 billion Catholics. A treacherous economy in every area of the world, the America dollar will be devalued this year. China expects to determine the global currency rate and we already know there are international efforts towards one world government and one world money. It is time for every man, every government, to do some preplanning for survival. In Christianity, there is a new doctrine of “universal restoration”...that no one will go to hell, all will go to heaven. Do you have an iron-clad risk policy, have you preplanned?