OH !!!!! -- That Little Eye Of The NeedleWritten by Peter F. Baigent CFP, CLU, CHFC, RFP.
An article about Christian principles and financial success.First Published Fall 1992 This article is reprinted from my previous client newsletter and is republished by request and because it ties in with this issue of our newsletter. For years I was troubled by a passage in bible that hampered my career. The passage is in New Testament, in gospel of Mark, Chapter 10, Verses 23 26. It is as follows: " How hard it is for those who have riches to enter kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter kingdom of God." It was impossible for a camel to go through an eye in a needle. How could a rich person have any hope of entering Heaven? Why was I working so hard to give my family nicer things in life, if it was to be my downfall? I could not get around this chapter and as a result it caused me a lot of concern and a loss of direction. With a Catholic upbringing and years at boarding school, we learned to respect power of God. My mother was French Canadian and practice in those days was that first-born belonged to church and I was first-born. Being groomed for priesthood did not seem like a bad direction with this upbringing. Everything was fine until I learned about girls, which is another story, so that was end of that career path. I was always a pretty hard worker and as a result usually got ahead very quickly, which usually brought with it financial rewards. I started my own insurance and financial business in 1965 and because we were brought up to be honest and work hard, business became very successful in a few short years. The more prosperous firm was, more guilt I felt about ever getting to Heaven. I eventually sold business in Toronto and moved family out West in 1973 to make a fresh start and not to concentrate so much on wealth accumulation. The problem of rich man entering through eye of needle continued to taunt me in B.C. as I started back in business again. Finally, in 1980 as I was discussing this passage of Bible with a Captain of Salvation Army at a party, answer was finally explained to me. He said that needle referred to entrance of walled cities in that part of world in ancient times. Not to a “sewing needle” as I had thought! The walls were designed to protect against attacks by their enemies riding on camels. The entranceways were designed like an inverted needle, which required camel driver to dismount, have his camel crouch down, and almost crawl through needle eye. It was impossible to enter without getting off of camel. It was difficult to pass through, but not impossible. Being forever a skeptic, I had to check out this walled city theory for myself. It did not take long to refer to encyclopedias, etc. to confirm this. In fact, there are still remnants of these walls still standing today in Middle East and in Europe. What a revelation this was to me. Finally, I understood! It is harder for a rich man to enter kingdom of heaven because wealth could be used for things that could lead you astray. Difficult, but not impossible! But why was it difficult for a rich man as apposed to a poor man? There is a saying that money cannot buy happiness, but it will buy next best thing. With money, comes ability to afford things, which are not in our own long-term best interest or that might steer us off straight and narrow. It also allows us to be isolated in our living conditions from tragedy and misery in world around us. However, prosperity can give you means with which to help others. Mother Theresa of Calcutta, a living Saint widely known in our lifetime, says it best ‑"You must give until it hurts". There is no shortage of causes. You need only look at news most evenings to see where need is. The difficult part is finding a worthy organization that puts money where it was intended and not in building a bureaucracy, or extending their promotional programme. However, there are many good Charities.
| | Credit and The InternetWritten by T.B. Collins
The internet stands as largest open marketplace in world today, almost every possible product or service is being sold on internet. With such an availability of potential monetary transactions, preferred method of payment is credit card. This method allows instant transfer of funds from consumer to merchant in a secure environment, and payment can be verified immediately. But this process poses a dilemma for potential consumer looking to shop on internet without access to a valid major credit card due to their inability to gain credit based on their past financial history.Having a good credit history is vital for consumers on and off internet, because it allows them to purchase goods or services with promise of future payment. This can also benefit consumer by reducing amount of interest rate charged by lending institutions, and having good credit allows them to make major purchases such as a home or car. The need for good credit is essential to shopping on net, where consumer can purchase just about anything they need, from a butterfly statue to a boat or airplane, and anything in between. So consumer that has a negative past credit history, and can’t get approved for a major credit card will have a hard time trying to make purchases on internet. But, there is hope for those consumers that would like to improve their credit situation, so that they will be able to acquire a major credit card. If they search internet they are likely to find that there are a lot of companies that promise they can improve a consumer’s credit, but what usually occurs is that consumer is sold a do-it-yourself credit repair kit. The problem is that, if consumer is looking to improve their credit, and is requiring services of a professional, they are generally past credit repair kit stage. Having a company that specializes in credit restoration, and not just selling of repair kits, can greatly increase a consumers chances of repairing their credit situation, and receiving a positive response to attaining major credit cards. A full service credit repair organization like Millennium Credit Service whose website is located at http://www.millennium-credit.com, provides more than just a credit repair kit they represent their clients through entire credit restoration process. The problem with credit repair kits is that majority of consumers who purchase them don’t understand that repairing their own credit can be a daunting task that requires time and patience. And, they tend to get emotionally involved in process; therefore having professionals behind them that have a understanding of law and how credit reporting agencies operate, and can represent them through their restoration efforts can stop consumer from making countless mistakes.
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