Someone has fallen out of favour with me to the extent that I have realised this morning that, having always boasted that I hate no one, this is no longer true! Yes indeedy, I hate someone and for good reason. Let me explain:
Consider what happens in our house around half past eight each morning. I walk into the lounge and find at least one child without socks, shoes, lunch box, homework, coat, hat (include or exclude whatever you need to so this fits your reality).
Trying not to get frustrated I ask the questions, "Where are you socks?"
The response (usually) comes back as, "Someone has moved it/them!"
Someone, if you're reading this I hate you for moving things from the (proper) place they were left and always making our kids late for school. Stop taking shoes from the designated place and hiding them in bedrooms, stop hiding socks, uniform, lunch boxes, homework, instruments and all the other stuff and we will get on well. Keep it up and there's going to be a price on your head (and I'm probably going to be on Child Line's 'Most Wanted' list.
You have been warned.
Now, who's moved my keys? Someone has ;)
Pax
Monday, 12 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Weird & Wacky Christmas Stuff - 11
Advent 3 is with us and what better gift to consider on this Sunday than one which not only protects your Bible and allows you to take it everywhere but makes a statement?
Personally I just get my Bible recovered and take it around as it is. Mine is now on its third cover and each time I get a new one I've gained four extra pages too, so the notes not only stay with you, but grow - what a bargain (and my finger know where things are ;) ).
So here's today's offering. Why not consider one for someone you love (or perhaps don't) and it's a great gift for those people you suspect don't read their Bibles - with this you'll easily spot whether they have it with them or not.
Pax
Personally I just get my Bible recovered and take it around as it is. Mine is now on its third cover and each time I get a new one I've gained four extra pages too, so the notes not only stay with you, but grow - what a bargain (and my finger know where things are ;) ).
So here's today's offering. Why not consider one for someone you love (or perhaps don't) and it's a great gift for those people you suspect don't read their Bibles - with this you'll easily spot whether they have it with them or not.
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Making money from the poor - Pt3
Standing in the queue at our local convenience store I became engaged in conversation with the woman in front of me as she purchased a packet of twenty cigarettes (£6.97). I expressed my surprise at the cost to which she told me that she 'needed' two pack of them each and every day, "Just to get through it!" Quick as a flash I thought to myself, "That's £13.94 a day which is just over £5,000 a year."
Having paid for her cigarettes (she buys the morning packet and hopes she can scrape the money for the second when it's needed) she raked through her coins and put £10 on the electricity card. Apparently that was going to be all she could afford until the next cheque came (I assume this is a benefits cheque). I asked her what she did when the electricity ran out and was told she'd go and stay at one of her children's places or perhaps a friend.
As we got deeper into the conversation she told me that she'd had, "One of them instant loans which meant she was struggling." Delving into the subject it appeared that she'd taken up an 'instant cash' loan of £1,000 from someone who'd knocked at her door last Christmas and the interest rate had turned out to be so high that, with default charges, she now owed a sum whose principal figure was something in excess of £4k. She'd managed to take out a loan from a 'proper' company and was paying it off at £25 a week. Now I don't know the term or the interest rate but I get the feeling that she, like my would-be car buyer, is paying something punitive.
When I got back I rang someone from the debt counselling business and was told that she'd probably be looking at one of the local companies whose rate would be around 20% and that this would make the time needed to pay off the debt would be five years and the charges would be around the £2.350 mark. This means that for a £1,000 'instant' loan on the doorstep, our poverty-stricken heroine was going to end up paying around £5,500 when all was said and done.
Now I know some will say she's the victim of her own folly and that she should pay off the whole thing in a year if she would but stop smoking but I get the feeling this is the easy answer. What I am more interested in is the tough questions, like:
How do we handle the fact that people can knock on a door, offer money and charge high interest and punitive default amounts?
How do we get those who would jump at such offers to get involved with their local Credit Union (and if there isn't one, how do our churches set one up?).
How do we provide debt awareness and debt coaching for those who have fallen into the debt trap?
How do we make our fellow church members aware and get us mobilised and motivated to act to resolve the situation so that we can truly set the debtors free?
Pax
Having paid for her cigarettes (she buys the morning packet and hopes she can scrape the money for the second when it's needed) she raked through her coins and put £10 on the electricity card. Apparently that was going to be all she could afford until the next cheque came (I assume this is a benefits cheque). I asked her what she did when the electricity ran out and was told she'd go and stay at one of her children's places or perhaps a friend.
As we got deeper into the conversation she told me that she'd had, "One of them instant loans which meant she was struggling." Delving into the subject it appeared that she'd taken up an 'instant cash' loan of £1,000 from someone who'd knocked at her door last Christmas and the interest rate had turned out to be so high that, with default charges, she now owed a sum whose principal figure was something in excess of £4k. She'd managed to take out a loan from a 'proper' company and was paying it off at £25 a week. Now I don't know the term or the interest rate but I get the feeling that she, like my would-be car buyer, is paying something punitive.
When I got back I rang someone from the debt counselling business and was told that she'd probably be looking at one of the local companies whose rate would be around 20% and that this would make the time needed to pay off the debt would be five years and the charges would be around the £2.350 mark. This means that for a £1,000 'instant' loan on the doorstep, our poverty-stricken heroine was going to end up paying around £5,500 when all was said and done.
Now I know some will say she's the victim of her own folly and that she should pay off the whole thing in a year if she would but stop smoking but I get the feeling this is the easy answer. What I am more interested in is the tough questions, like:
How do we handle the fact that people can knock on a door, offer money and charge high interest and punitive default amounts?
How do we get those who would jump at such offers to get involved with their local Credit Union (and if there isn't one, how do our churches set one up?).
How do we provide debt awareness and debt coaching for those who have fallen into the debt trap?
How do we make our fellow church members aware and get us mobilised and motivated to act to resolve the situation so that we can truly set the debtors free?
Pax
Weird & Wacky Christmas Stuff - 10
Thanks go to Bob who emailed me with this extremely wonderful gift idea a partnership with Benny Hinn. All you need do is go to the site and pays your money and wait for your blessing. Bob points out that for a 'one-off' gift of $500 and a regular commitment to pay a minimum of $30 a month you'll get, totally free, the 'I need thee every hour' CD. Pay that little bit more ($1,000 one-off and $30 a month) and you get a free 3CD set of hymns.
Just in case you fancy this for yourself (or a loved one) the partnerships available are:
| Covenant Partner: I will give my monthly seed-gift of at least $30 by Web, mail, or phone. | |
| Global Impact Partner: I will give my one-time gift of $500 and my monthly seed-gift of at least $30 by Web, mail, or phone. | |
| Global Impact Team Partner: I will give my one-time gift of $1,000 and my monthly seed-gift of at least $30 by Web, mail, or phone. |
What are you waiting for? The telephones are manned and waiting for your call or perhaps you'd rather use the web-based system?
Don't miss out on that blessing - act now and get yourself (or someone you love) on the path to blessing!
Friday, 9 December 2011
Weird & Wacky Christmas Stuff - 9
Never again wonder what to do when people drop in and you haven't got any food in and the drinks cabinet looks just a little empty with your Jesus Action figure (complete with miracles!). Yep, loaves and fishes and water into wine beginners kit - start your children off the right way!
Makes me yearn for the days when I got an empty Action Man box (Dad told me it was a limited edition 'Action Man deserter' kit ;)
Happy Daze
Makes me yearn for the days when I got an empty Action Man box (Dad told me it was a limited edition 'Action Man deserter' kit ;)
Happy Daze
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Making money from the poor - Pt 2
Following on from the visit to the car sales outlet the company has now made two telephone calls. The first of them tried to sell the car they'd originally gone to look at by trying to convince them that they were getting a good deal.
Our hero asked what the 'book price' of the car was and were given a figure that was quite a bit lower than the price it was being offered at. They then asked how much they would receive for their current vehicle and were told that this would be something lower than the book price. Adding the differences meant that they were effectively paying about £2,000 more than was warranted using the figures given in the trade valuation guides (which are of course only guides and not set in concrete).
When this was pointed out the salesman accentuated the fact that they would have a newer car and that it would cost them less as they'd reduced the interest rate for the purchase as well.
"How much is it now," asks our heroic would-be (or perhaps not) purchaser?
"It's 48.5%, gone down from 49.9%," comes the reply.
So let's stop for a moment to consider what we have before us
Let's say the car is going to cost the customer £6,500 and they're going to pay over five years at 48.5%
This means that paying around £300 a month will result in them handing over almost £17, 400.
This in turn means that they will be paying almost £11,000 for the privilege in interest rates.
Now, were our hero to go to a bank or some other reputable (that's if we still consider banks to be reputable) finance provider we would find that the rates ate somewhere between 6.1 - 7.9% and staying with our car priced at £6,500 (but from a more reputable dealer I would hope) the same car over the same period at 8% would run out at a total outlay of just under £8,000, a measly £131 a month and interest of under £1,500.
Those of us who have been 'collared' or work with people in our community need to get a bit savvy to companies who specialise in CCJ and poor credit history operations such at the one discovered here.
I never realised how much the poorer (and sometimes just merely unfortunate in terns of redundancy and other impediments to paying) side of our community is preyed upon by others and just how much they pay for the privilege of being abused.
The car salesman was working hard to get the would be customer so desirous of having a 'new' car that they'd sign up just to fill the craving that had been created.
What a disgrace and what an opportunity for us to come alongside and work to protect these people.
Pax
Our hero asked what the 'book price' of the car was and were given a figure that was quite a bit lower than the price it was being offered at. They then asked how much they would receive for their current vehicle and were told that this would be something lower than the book price. Adding the differences meant that they were effectively paying about £2,000 more than was warranted using the figures given in the trade valuation guides (which are of course only guides and not set in concrete).
When this was pointed out the salesman accentuated the fact that they would have a newer car and that it would cost them less as they'd reduced the interest rate for the purchase as well.
"How much is it now," asks our heroic would-be (or perhaps not) purchaser?
"It's 48.5%, gone down from 49.9%," comes the reply.
So let's stop for a moment to consider what we have before us
Let's say the car is going to cost the customer £6,500 and they're going to pay over five years at 48.5%
This means that paying around £300 a month will result in them handing over almost £17, 400.
This in turn means that they will be paying almost £11,000 for the privilege in interest rates.
Now, were our hero to go to a bank or some other reputable (that's if we still consider banks to be reputable) finance provider we would find that the rates ate somewhere between 6.1 - 7.9% and staying with our car priced at £6,500 (but from a more reputable dealer I would hope) the same car over the same period at 8% would run out at a total outlay of just under £8,000, a measly £131 a month and interest of under £1,500.
Those of us who have been 'collared' or work with people in our community need to get a bit savvy to companies who specialise in CCJ and poor credit history operations such at the one discovered here.
I never realised how much the poorer (and sometimes just merely unfortunate in terns of redundancy and other impediments to paying) side of our community is preyed upon by others and just how much they pay for the privilege of being abused.
The car salesman was working hard to get the would be customer so desirous of having a 'new' car that they'd sign up just to fill the craving that had been created.
What a disgrace and what an opportunity for us to come alongside and work to protect these people.
Pax
Belt and braces
Having just compiled the listing of Christmas services for the churches in our area (all forty-one of them) I was amazed at the number of people who felt that they had engage the belt and braces approach of writing 'Christmas Eve (24th December)'. Unlike Easter (Good Friday is the 6th April 2012 by the way so time to get planning) the Christmas dates are fairly well fixed!
I mentioned this to one of my colleagues only to be told that they did it because it was 'belt and braces' and made sure that in case people didn't realise it was Christmas day they could go by the date and that they always used both on their communications.
Special prizes will also be given to those churches who submitted their service details in Comic Sans.
I'm also giving an award to the person who submitted:
Christmas Day (Sunday 25th December) 10:30 a.m. Christmas Day Communion Service (Come and celebrate the birth of jesus, bring your toys, mince pies and mulled wine after the service - suitable for all ages - all are welcome (with choir)).
Has to be the most comprehensive service announcement I've ever come across.
I'd go but I wouldn't be welcome as I don't have a choir!!!
Pax
I mentioned this to one of my colleagues only to be told that they did it because it was 'belt and braces' and made sure that in case people didn't realise it was Christmas day they could go by the date and that they always used both on their communications.
Special prizes will also be given to those churches who submitted their service details in Comic Sans.
I'm also giving an award to the person who submitted:
Christmas Day (Sunday 25th December) 10:30 a.m. Christmas Day Communion Service (Come and celebrate the birth of jesus, bring your toys, mince pies and mulled wine after the service - suitable for all ages - all are welcome (with choir)).
Has to be the most comprehensive service announcement I've ever come across.
I'd go but I wouldn't be welcome as I don't have a choir!!!
Pax
Weird & Wacky Christmas Stuff - 8
Never again wonder where to hang your cassock!
Not only that but you can make a faith statement too with these wonderfully crafted 'nailed hand' hangers!
Who says Christians don't do stylish?
Not only that but you can make a faith statement too with these wonderfully crafted 'nailed hand' hangers!
Who says Christians don't do stylish?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)