The Wired Word for 3/14/2010

Dear Class Member, 

Last month, the new "Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009" took effect, placing some needed limits on the rates and penalties credit card companies can impose on borrowers. The law, and the unprincipled practices of card issuers that made the law necessary, give us an opportunity to consider what the Bible has to say about "usury," which is the charging of a fee for the use of money. So that will be the topic of our next class.

 

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, below is some introductory material. 

 

New Law Aims to Protect Credit Card Users

The Wired Word for March 14, 2010

 

In the News

 

On February 22, nine months after it was enacted by Congress with high bipartisan support, the "Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009" (CARD) took effect. This comprehensive credit card reform legislation is intended, in the words of the act, "to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes." In short, it aims to curb unscrupulous practices by the credit card industry and to offer new protections to consumers.  

 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner described the CARD act, which was signed into law last spring by President Obama, as "a critical step forward" in protecting the financial well-being of American families.

 

The new law includes several rules to limit how credit card companies can charge customers but does not have price controls, rate caps or fee-setting limitations. It does ban rate hikes on existing balances, calls for hard spending caps instead of over-limit fees and mandates that payments go toward high-rate balances first, thus minimizing interest charges for card users. For a quick summary of the CARD provisions, see New credit card laws 2010. 

 

The CARD law became necessary because of some unethical banking practices. For example, in some cases, when a person's overall credit rating went down, banks sometimes raised the interest rates they charged that customer even though the person was current and on time with payments to that card issuer. Some companies also wrote their user rules in such a way that a single late payment threw the card holder into a much higher rate bracket. Other predatory practices were sometimes embedded in legalese in the contracts the card holders were required to sign to receive the card. 

 

Although the new rules are expected to benefit card users, some of that benefit has been offset by banks that raised their interest rates and fees in the weeks before the law went into effect. While the bill was under consideration, credit card companies argued that the regulatory changes would lead to higher rates. Consumer advocacy groups point out that those same credit card companies have fulfilled their own prophecy, using their claims as cover to raise rates and find new ways to exploit their customers.

 

More on this story may be found at these links:

 

New credit card rules ease bills for consumers, but fee hikes still possible. Fox News 

Summary of "Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009." Library of Congress

Full text of "Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009." Government Printing Office

 

The Big Questions

Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:

 

1. Almost everyone agrees that the ability to borrow money is important under certain circumstances, such as when loans allow borrowers to take advantage of significant opportunities they wouldn't be able to pursue otherwise. What guidelines help you decide when a purchase on credit is the wise thing to do?

 

2. What is a fair interest rate? At what percentage point do interest charges become unscrupulous and usurious? Explain your answer.

 

3. What cultural factors and thought processes make us as consumers prone to spend money on items we don't need and that don't move us toward our goals?  

 

4. If it is true, as most observers say, that careless spending by consumers is the chief cause of their debt, why does that not excuse those who issue credit from making as much as the market will bear?  

 

5. On what points, if any, do the principles of capitalism and the principles of Christianity disagree? On what points, if any, do they agree?

 

Confronting the News with Scripture

We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background:

 

Exodus 22:21-27

Nehemiah 5:1-13

Ezekiel 22:6-12

Luke 6:27-36 

Acts 4:32-37

 

In class, we will talk about these passages and look for some insight on the big questions, as well as talk about other questions you may have about this topic. Please join us.

The Wired Word for 3/7/2010

Dear Class Member,

The news we are addressing today concerns the deaths of actor Andrew Koenig and of Marie Osmond's son, both of whom took their own lives. Suicides outnumber homicides in America, and that makes it a topic the church shouldn't overlook.

 

So suicide and the meaning of life will be the topic of our next class.

 

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, below is some introductory material. 

 

 

 

 

Recent Suicides Remind Us of Life's Meaning

The Wired Word for March 7, 2010

 

In the News

 

Each year, more Americans die by suicide than by homicide.

 

We were startled to learn that, but the recent deaths of actor Andrew Koenig, 41, and Michael Blosil, 18, the son of entertainer Marie Osmond, both by their own hands, have brought that fact to the foreground.

 

Andrew Koenig, who played Richard (Boner) Stabone in the 1980s TV series Growing Pains and later appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and other series, ended his life sometime on or after February 14. His body was later found in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His father, actor Walter Koenig, said, "Our son took his own life."

 

Michael Blosil jumped to his death on February 26 from the eighth floor of his Los Angeles apartment building.

 

Both men suffered from depression, and each left a despondent note. Blosil wrote of feeling sad and friendless.

 

Michael Gerson, in his March 3 Washington Post column, writes "Suicides outnumber homicides in America, making self-hatred more lethal than violence by others." He goes on to say that in 2009, "the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that 1.1 million Americans had attempted suicide during the previous year."

 

Suicide, said Gerson, is "associated with depression, feelings of hopelessness, substance abuse and low levels of serotonin in the brain."

 

After giving other statistics and perspectives on suicide, Gerson wrote that it is "often preventable," but "precisely because despair can rob individuals of judgment, it may require family and friends to intervene." This, however, is sometimes complicated by the fact that today, more Americans are likely to be isolated and live alone.

 

We recommend Gerson's column and encourage you to read it here: Pulling loved ones out of the lure of suicide. The Washington Post

More on this story can be found at these links:

 

Drug tests pending in Osmond's son's death. MSNBC

Marie Osmond Son: Suicide Note Shows Sadness. TMZ

Former Growing Pains actor Andrew Koenig's memorial planned. The Vancouver Sun

Andrew Koenig's Father: "My Son Took His Own Life." E! Online

Celebrity Suicides Highlight Antidepressant Questions.ABC News

The Big Questions

Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:

 

1. Given that a person who seeks to end his or her own life is often operating under a sense of despair that can distort perspective and long-range thinking, should suicide be addressed in moral terms? Why or why not?

 

2. Suicide is sometimes described as "a permanent solution to a temporary problem." What does that suggest in terms of trying to help people who are suicidal?

 

3. Under what circumstances, if any, could you conceive of suicide as a morally acceptable choice?

 

4. What does the Bible say about the meaning of life?

 

Confronting the News with Scripture

We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background:

 

Psalm 38:1-22

Psalm 102:1-28

Amos 9:1-4

Matthew 27:3-10 

Matthew 6:25-34

 

In class, we will talk about these passages and look for some insight on the big questions, as well as talk about other questions you may have about this topic. Please join us.

The Wired Word for 2/28/2010

Dear Class Member,

Two recent events -- a shooting on a university campus and the flying of a plane into a public building -- appear to be anger-driven acts. Innocent people's lives were taken in both cases.

 

Those events, along with the observation by some commentators that our culture as a whole is becoming more angry, make looking at what the Bible has to say about anger a meaningful exercise. So that will be the topic of our next class.

 

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, below is some introductory material. 

 

 

Anger-Driven Acts Take Innocent Lives

The Wired Word for February 28, 2010 

 

In the News

 

On February 12, Dr. Amy Bishop, a neurobiology professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, pulled a gun at a biology department meeting and opened fire, killing three of her fellow faculty members and wounding three others.

 

On February 18, Joseph Stack III flew his private plane into a building in Austin, Texas, that housed an office of the Internal Revenue Service. The crash caused an explosion and fire that killed one IRS employee, injured several others and ended Stack's own life.

 

The two incidents were unrelated, and the perpetrators had no known connection, yet reports of the two crimes include a common theme: anger.

 

After delving into Bishop's background, The New York Times topped an article about her with this headline: "For professor, fury just beneath the surface." Among the things the article reported about her was that "Her life seemed to veer wildly between moments of cold fury and scientific brilliance, between rage at perceived slights and empathy for her students." In the past, Bishop had shot and killed her brother (which was claimed to be an accident at the time), physically attacked a woman in a restaurant for taking the last child booster seat, and had been questioned in a mail-bomb plot against a doctor at Harvard. On another occasion, she became enraged when, on a paper she coauthored with another professor, her name appeared second.

 

The shooting at the university may have been a response to Bishop being denied tenure at the school.

 

Several reports about Bishop suggest she may have a mental disorder, but that makes her rage no less real.

 

The Times article about Stack's suicide flight into the IRS building reported that in recent weeks, his wife had complained to her parents about her husband's "increasingly frightening anger." It also said that on the night before his airplane attack, she had taken her daughter and gone to a hotel to get away from her husband. Before leaving for his flight, Stack posted online what the article called "a rant" against the government and set the family home on fire.

 

Although Stack apparently didn't have a history of rage-driven behavior, he did have a longstanding grudge against tax authorities due to personal dealings with the agency. The details of his tax circumstances haven't been reported, and it isn't known what caused him to act against the agency at this particular time.

 

Anger, a common and basic human emotion, has been a factor in many crimes throughout history. But there seems to be a growing number of anger-driven crimes to cite as examples today, especially of the kind where the perpetrator forfeits -- or at least is prepared to forfeit -- his or her own life.

 

Quite apart from criminal acts, anger also appears to be on the rise in aspects of life from how we deal with other drivers to how we view politics. One recent newspaper editorial that referred to "our increasingly angry culture" wasn't talking about crime at all but about complaints over snow plowing!  

 

No statistics are available to confirm that anger is more of a factor in life today than in the past, but plenty of examples in the news show the damage that anger-driven behavior can cause.

More on this story can be found at these links:

 

For professor, fury just beneath the surface. NY Times

Man crashes plane into Texas I.R.S. office. NY Times 

 

The Big Questions

Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:

 

1. As long as you don't break the law, is expressing your anger, even in a way that might be considered abusive, your right?  

 

2. What is the Christian view of anger? 

 

3. Anger can be harmful, but it can also be helpful, such as when indignation motivates us to fight injustice. So how do we tell when our anger is righteous and when it isn't? Should all plans that arise from righteous anger be acted on? Why or why not? 

 

4. Because anger often has a negative effect on the ability to think clearly, what things can you do to ensure that decisions growing out of anger are appropriate and in keeping with your commitment to follow Jesus?

 

5. In "angry times," do Christians have a greater responsibility to control their anger? Why or why not?

 

Confronting the News with Scripture

We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background:

 

Psalm 7:9-16

Mark 11:11-19

2 Kings 5:1- 14

Ephesians 4:25-32

Colossians 3:1-17

 

In class, we will talk about these passages and look for some insight on the big questions, as well as talk about other questions you may have about this topic. Please join us.

The Wired Word for 2/21/2010

Dear Class Member,

The news story that is the basis for our next lesson concerns "outsiders" who were invited to move to a small town but then not made to feel welcome. The dynamics in the story are similar to what sometimes happens in a church when new people come.

 

Most congregations say they want to grow, but this story invites us to consider whether we actually want new people in church when it means that we have to adapt to changes they might bring. So that will be the topic of our next class.

 

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, below is some introductory material. 

 

 

Feeling Unwelcome, Family Plans Departure from Town that Invited Them

The Wired Word for February 21, 2010 

 

In the News

 

Four years ago, Michael and Jeanette Tristani and their twin children accepted the invitation from Hazelton, North Dakota, to move there from their native Florida and receive two free lots and up to $20,000 in startup money. They received the free land and some cash, but not much of a welcome, they say.

 

Now they're planning to return to Florida.

 

In 2005, the Hazelton Development Corp., formed by a group of citizens concerned about the town's dwindling population (currently about 240), ran ads across the country to lure new families, offering land and cash. They also invited businesses, offering them free lots and $50,000, but no businesses accepted the offer.

 

The community had hundreds of inquiries from families around the world, and several families actually visited the town. But the Tristanis were the only family to actually move there. They heard the offer as "an answer to our prayers," Michael Tristani said. The couple was tired of Florida's crime, traffic, hurricanes and high cost of living. After the move, they found that Hazelton indeed has a low crime rate, low tax rate and a low cost of living. And the Tristani kids like the school.

 

Despite those benefits, the Tristanis didn't find the welcome they expected. "It's been quite an experience, 50-50 at best," Michael said. "No one really wants new people here."

 

The couple came prepared for the bitter North Dakota winters, where wind chills are sometimes 50 degrees below zero and snow is measured in feet rather than inches. They weren't prepared, however, for the small-town drama.

 

When Michael Tristani came to town, he was wearing gold necklaces and a Rolex and driving a Lexus -- in a place where pickup trucks, farm caps and bib overalls are more common. "People thought I was a drug dealer," Michael said.  

 

"People prejudge you without getting to know you," Jeanette Tristani added. 

 

Tom Weiser, one Hazelton city leader behind the project to bring in new residents, said, "Not everybody fits in a small town." 

 

Initially, the Tristanis opened a bistro and coffee shop, but they soon had to petition for a restraining order against the owners of another coffee shop, who, they allege, drove by their house yelling obscenities and threatening to damage their home. Now both shops are closed. 

 

Hazelton isn't the only small town on the Great Plains that has used the land-and-cash lure, but those that have been successful with it are near larger communities -- no more than a 30-minute drive away. Hazelton is a 45-minute drive to Bismarck -- in good weather.

 

The Tristani home is now for sale. Jeanette says the main reason she wants to move back to the Miami area is to care for her elderly parents. Michael said his in-laws have no interest in coming to Hazelton because of the cold weather.

 

But it may also be because of the feared cold shoulder they might receive.

More on this story can be found at these links:

 

Florida family gives up on small-town North Dakota, Yahoo! News

Hazelton, North Dakota, Community Web Site

Hazelton, North Dakota, Wikipedia

 

The Big Questions

Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:

 

1. What are the reasons your congregation would like to attract new people? What do those reasons indicate about your congregation's goals? 

 

2. What do you think a visit to your worship service feels like to new people who don't know anyone in your congregation? How might that experience be different for people who are unlike your usual congregants in economic, educational or social status? How might it be different for people of another culture or race?

 

3. What obligations about hospitality does Christianity include?

 

4. What things help new people to become integrated into a congregation? 

 

5. Do you personally really want new people in your church? Why or why not? To what degree are you willing to institute changes in your church's practices to attract new people? To what degree is it the responsibility of the new person to fit into your church the way it currently is?

 

Confronting the News with Scripture

We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background:

 

John 12:12-26

Hebrews 13:1-6

Matthew 25:41-46

1 Corinthians 16:13-21

1 Peter 4:7-11

 

In class, we will talk about these passages and look for some insight on the big questions, as well as talk about other questions you may have about this topic. Please join us.

The Wired Word for 2/14/2010

Dear Class Member,

Recently, a mission team from two Idaho churches was detained while trying to take "orphans" out of Haiti. Their arrest and the subsequent developments have caused many people to consider what operational philosophy should guide mission work in our time. So that will be the topic of our next class. 

 

There's a lot of room, starting with that story, to talk about how we serve others.

 

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, below is some introductory material. 

 

 

Idaho Missionaries Held on Child-Napping Charges in Haiti

The Wired Word for February 14, 2010

 

In the News

 

On January 30, 10 Americans, most of them members of two Idaho Baptist churches, were detained at the Dominican Republic border with a busload of Haitian children. The Americans didn't have documents giving them permission to remove the children from earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and a subsequent investigation revealed that at least 20 of the 33 children weren't even orphans. Eventually, a Haitian magistrate charged the group's members with child kidnapping and criminal association.

 

The Americans characterized their work as a humanitarian mission to rescue children following Haiti's catastrophic January 12 earthquake. Some parents of children on the bus later told reporters that they gave their kids to the group because the missionaries promised to educate them at a Dominican Republic orphanage where parents could visit.

 

As of this writing (on Thursday), the 10 remain jailed in Haiti, though efforts are ongoing to sort out the matter. It appears to many observers that the intentions of at least nine of the team members were good, though not carried out in the proper way. Several of the Americans have since told NBC News that the group's leader, Laura Silsby, deceived the others by telling them she had the proper documents to remove the children from Haiti. They have since indicated that Silsby "wants control" and is "lying."

 

The Sunday Times of London reports that former President Clinton is brokering a deal for the release of all the group members but Silsby.

 

The children from the bus are now back in Port-au-Prince where they're being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village.

 

A full report and timeline of this story's developments can be found in The Idaho Statesman at

Idahoans in Haiti: 'We fear for our lives'. Idaho Statesman.

 

Although the incident itself may soon be resolved, it has opened a discussion of what format mission work ought to take today and what values should guide it. For example: 

 

In the New Haven Register, syndicated columnist Eugene Robinson wrote, "Even in the midst of a terrible natural disaster, spiriting away a busload of kids -- with vague plans to worry about the 'paperwork' later -- is no act of charity. The missionaries' misadventure can only make more difficult the work of those truly interested in the welfare of neglected or abandoned children."

 

Paul Proctor, a regular columnist with NewWithViews.com, wrote, "Now I don't for a minute believe those missionaries wanted to do anything but help the 33 children they were found trying to cross the border with into the Dominican Republic; but according to reports, they did not have the proper documentation nor the permission of Haitian authorities to do so. It does, however, serve as a painful reminder that, in spite of what many churches teach, preach and practice these days, the end does not justify the means."

In direct correspondence with The Wired Word, Dr. James Berger, a former mission pastor in Alaska and then in the Bahamas, said, "This reflects a colonialist attitude toward missions -- i.e., they are simple savages, we are the omniscient paternal caregivers, so they need us to rescue them from themselves. ... [as in] 'Everyone knows those children will be better off in America.'"

 

"Yes, this is a tragic situation," Berger added. "But human rights, international law, national sovereignty and due process are givens, even in the midst of the chaos. The U.S. Air Force may not commandeer the airport tower because it is inefficient; [it] must negotiate with the Haitian authorities to offer assistance. American citizens have no right or authority to transgress national or international law, whether in the name of Jesus or the U.S. government. This is the height of hubris and self-aggrandizement." 

 

More broadly, the incident has focused international attention on Haiti's child-welfare system, which was inadequate before the earthquake and has been in shambles since. Although the 10 Americans probably were well-intentioned, the ease with which they moved through Haiti's capital and gathered a busload of children without documents exposed how vulnerable the children of Haiti are.

 

Frantz Thermilus, chief of Haiti's National Judicial Police, said that although there are responsible, well-run orphanages in Haiti, some others are "fronts for criminal organizations that take advantage of people who are homeless and hungry And with the earthquake, they see an opportunity to strike in a big way." Authorities fear that some less-scrupulous orphanages are taking advantage of the chaos to scoop up children and offer them for sale as servants and sex slaves.

 

Patricia Vargas, regional coordinator for SOS Children's Villages, which provides services to abandoned children around the world, said of the incident involving the Idaho 10, "This has called the world's attention because it is the first clear piece of evidence that our fears have come true. Our concern as an organization is how many other cases are out there that we are not aware of."

More on this story can be found at these links:

 

Southern Baptist leaders ask Obama to intervene on behalf of missionaries. Associated Baptist Press

Gwinnett pastor who aided Baptist missionaries says they're no kidnappers. Atlanta Journal-Consititution

Haiti parents testify they gave kids to Americans. Yahoo! News
Even if intentions good, missionaries are at fault. New Haven Register

American charged in Haiti had some troubles in Idaho. New York Times

Bleak portrait of Haiti orphanages raises fears. New York Times 

 

The Big Questions

Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:

 

1. What operational philosophy ought to guide Christian mission efforts to meet the material needs of people today? What view of others should guide us in these endeavors?

 

2. What operational philosophy ought to guide Christian mission efforts to spread the gospel today? What view of others should guide us in these endeavors?

 

3. In situations of immediate and desperate human need, do good ends ever justify questionable means? At what point does our help do as much harm as good?

 

4. Under what circumstances, if any, do Christian groups have the right to override other people's freedom to make decisions about their well-being? 

 

5. How can we move toward partnering with people in need, rather than looking at them as the recipients of our largess? How does this even begin to happen in a situation as desperate as Haiti's? How can we do that with the people in our own area who come to our churches seeking assistance?

 

Confronting the News with Scripture

We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background:

 

Isaiah 58:1-14

Matthew 28:16-20

Matthew 10:1-15

Mark 9:33-37

Acts 11:1-18

 

In class, we will talk about these passages and look for some insight on the big questions, as well as talk about other questions you may have about this topic. Please join us.

The Wired Word for 2/7/2010

Dear Class Member,

The story we are using as the basis for our next class concerns Grant Desme, a minor-league outfielder who was on the brink of moving up to the majors but who instead decided to answer a different call and enter the priesthood.

 

The story gives us an opportunity to consider what it means to be called by God, whether that call is to move into professional ministry or to make some other significant change in our lives. It also invites us to consider what it means to be called by God in the career or job we currently have. So those will be our topics of discussion. 

 

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, below is some introductory material. 

 

 

Baseball Prospect Called Up ... to Priesthood

The Wired Word for February 7, 2010 

 

In the News

 

At 23, and ranked by Baseball America as the eighth-best prospect on the Oakland A's farm team, Grant Desme was likely on a fast track to the major leagues. But last month, he informed the A's management of his intention to retire from the game and enter a Catholic seminary this August.  

 

Desme said he has been feeling the call to the priesthood for the past year and a half but decided to play the last season as a way of testing the call. Ironically, his success on the ball field during that season convinced him that the call he needed to answer wasn't the one to the majors but the one to the church. 

"I'm doing well in baseball," Desme said. "But I had to get down to the bottom of things, to what was good in my life, what I wanted to do with my life. Baseball is a good thing, but that felt selfish of me when I felt that God was calling me more. It took awhile to trust that and open up to it and aim full steam toward him. ... I love the game, but I'm going to aspire to higher things."

 

Of Desme's decision, Rob Fai, assistant general manager of the Oakland affiliate in Vancouver, B.C., said, "All I hope is that, at the end of the day, he never regrets [making the decision now]. So few players get to the point where he's at. In my perspective, the guy could be a priest when he's 35 or 60. … Here's a guy who's so unbelievably close to making it. The timing is the one factor I can't figure out." Fai wondered aloud if current events, such as the earthquake in Haiti, had nudged Desme to make the move to the priesthood now.   

 

After informing the ballclub of his decision in late January, Desme said he felt at peace.

 

The process of becoming a priest takes about 10 years. "It's like re-entering the minor leagues" Desme said.

 

"I desire and hope to become a priest," he added. "But it's all up to God."

More on this story can be found at these links:

 

A's prospect leaving baseball for priesthood. Fox Sports 

Grant Desme discusses decision to become priest. San Francisco Chronicle

A's prospect leaving baseball for call of the priesthood. Yahoo! Sports

 

The Big Questions

Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:

 

1. How can we tell the difference between a call from God and a "career opportunity"? Can they ever be one and the same? How do we know?

 

2. How do we distinguish between a call from God and a prompting of our own for change?

 

3. Many of the things God calls us to do involve sacrifice on our part. Does every call from God require sacrifice from us? Why or why not?

 

4. Does God have a call for every Christian? Is ministry the only calling, or are some of us called to other kinds of service, including things such as folding worship bulletins and shoveling snow off the church sidewalks? Are all callings equal, or are some "higher" than others? Explain your answers.

 

5. What helps you discover God's will for you?

 

Confronting the News with Scripture

We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background:

 

Amos 7:10-17

Judges 6:11-24 
Luke 5:1-11
Acts 16:6-10
Exodus 3:1-12
Jeremiah 1:4-19

Jeremiah 25:1-14

 

In class, we will talk about these passages and look for some insight on the big questions, as well as talk about other questions you may have about this topic. Please join us.

The Wired Word for 1/31/2010

Dear Class Member,

The news we're using as the basis for our next class discussion didn't make it into the headlines, but it illustrates two key biblical principles: the danger of being possessed by our possessions and the importance of loving our neighbors in ways that really help them. So those will be the topics of our class lesson.

  

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, below is some introductory material. 

 

 

Family Downsizes Home, Gives $800,000 to Charity

The Wired Word for January 31, 2010 

 

In the News

 

One day in 2006, Kevin Salwen, a writer and entrepreneur in Atlanta, and his wife, Joan, were driving their 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, home from a sleepover. Stopping for a red light, Hannah noticed a Mercedes coupe on one side of the street and a homeless man begging for food on the other side. A thought suddenly struck her, and she said, "If that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal."

 

After the light changed, Hannah pursued the topic, pushing her parents about inequity and insisting that she wanted to do something personally. Finally, her mother, thinking to bring Hannah back to reality, asked, "What do you want to do? Sell our house?"

 

Wrong question for an idealistic teen.

 

Hannah leaped on that idea, urging her parents to sell their luxurious home and give half the proceeds to charity. They could buy a more modest home with the other half, she said.

 

Kevin acknowledges that they were fairly well off, "a result of hard work, good education and career luck," he says. And at the time, the family of four, including Hannah's younger brother, Joseph, were living in an attractive, spacious, three-story home.

 

Hannah wasn't deterred, and in the days ahead, she continued to promote the idea and finally got the rest of her family on board. The Salwens sold their home and moved into one that was half the size and, significantly, half the price of the one they sold. They ended up giving $800,000 to the Hunger Project, a New York City-based international development organization, where it's being used to sponsor health, microfinancing, food and other programs for some 40 villages in Ghana.

 

The whole process brought the family closer together. They researched charities to find the right one to receive their gift. Along the way, they participated in World Vision's 30-Hour Famine to learn what it was like to be hungry. They worked together at a local food bank and soup kitchen, and they labored on a team helping Habitat for Humanity build homes. They even traveled to Ghana with Hunger Project executive John Coonrod. The Salwens discovered that Coonrod and his wife donate so much back to the project from their modest aid-worker salaries that they're among the top Hunger Project givers from New York.

 

But the family came together in another way as well. Kevin says that in the larger house, the family scattered in different directions, but after the downsizing, with less space to scatter to, the family members spend more time in proximity to one another. Unexpectedly, the smaller house turned out to be more family-friendly. "We essentially traded stuff for togetherness and connectedness," Kevin says.

 

The family who purchased the home the Salwens sold were so impressed with what the family was doing that they gave $100,000 to the same project.

 

The Salwens haven't been without critics. Some have called them sanctimonious showoffs, and others have said they should be helping Americans instead of people in Ghana.  

 

Kevin and Hannah have written a book about the whole experience. Titled The Power of Half, it's due to be released in February. Their aim, the father and daughter say, isn't to encourage others to sell their homes but rather to urge them to step off the treadmill of accumulation and define themselves more by what they give than by what they possess.

 

Hannah, now 17 and planning to become a nurse, says, "Everyone has too much of something, whether it's time, talent or treasure. Everyone does have their own half; you just have to find it."

 

More on this story can be found at these links:

 

What could you live without? New York Times

Why we gave away our home. Parade

The Power of Half. Salwen Family Blog 

 

The Big Questions

Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:

 

1. How much of what you possess could you give away without harming your well-being?

 

2. What possessions or commodities do you have in quantities that are more than you need to be comfortable?

 

3. Under what circumstances might giving away most of your possessions to help others be the right thing to do? 

 

4. What is the main biblical view of possessions?

 

5. To what degree and with whom does motive count when we do acts of charity?

 

Confronting the News with Scripture

We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background:

 

Genesis 13:2-12

Luke 14:25-33

Luke 19:1-9

Acts 10:1-8

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 

 

In class, we will talk about these passages and look for some insight on the big questions, as well as talk about other questions you may have about this topic. Please join us.