Wisdoms Edge

www.wisdomsedge.com

Vol.1 No. 6 | May 9 , 2006

This week How the government taxes every minute you talk on the phone. And what you can do about it.… Is Splenda really that splendid?... Why a husband should talk to his wife … the answer might surprise you.... How to instill habits for success in your children.... The man who challenged Darwin face to face.... What is a Christian’s ambition?.... “The Bible teaches that Christians are totally different from anyone else.” - Peter Jeffery, Evangelicals Then and Now (Buy Now)

Finance Are You Still Funding the Spanish-American War? If you talk on the phone, you are. A few weeks ago , I discussed ways you could easily cut your monthly bills by reducing any recurring bills you pay. Some of the worst recurring bills we all have to pay are unnecessary taxes. And your phone bill has one of the most unnecessary taxes attached to it. Included with every phone bill is a charge called a "Federal Excise Tax." This tax was established in 1898 by President McKinley to help fund the U.S. military in the Spanish-American War. The tax has proven to be far more resilient than the Spanish, though. The war lasted only four months, but the tax still lives today - more than 100 years later. Since this tax is assessed on phone usage, you'd think the tax would be used for something related to telecommunications. But it's not. Most of the money is used to pay for infrastructure, including sewer lines and teachers' salaries. So what's the best way to stop paying the Federal Excise Tax? Well, you have two options: (1) You can pressure your elected officials to have the ancient tax repealed. Or you can cooperate with an organization that's fighting to reduce government regulation and taxes on the heavily taxed telecom industry. One such organization is MyWireless.org. (2) Another way to avoid the tax on your home phone is by switching from your regular phone company to the rapidly growing Internet phone services. So far, these new phone companies are escaping the excessive taxes the traditional phone companies are charged. And, even better, you'll probably save money on your monthly phone bill, as most of these services are much cheaper than their conventional competitors. The only two negatives with this option are that you'll need a broadband Internet connection to make the switch, which will add to your expenses if you don’t already have one. And making the switch to internet phone service won't affect the taxes on your wireless phone bill. - Steve Kroening

Health This Sweetener Isn’t So Splenda The artificial sweetener Splenda is all over the place. It’s in soft drinks, foods, and in small paper packets for you to add to whatever doesn’t already have it. It’s become so popular that its annual sales are now more than Equal and Sweet N’Low combined. But is Splenda really that splendid? While Splenda (also known as sucralose) is made from sugar cane, it’s not even close to a natural product. It’s a synthetic chemical that takes a five-step laboratory process to develop. During the process, three chlorine molecules are added to it. And the final product, chemically called a fructo-galactose molecule, is so foreign to your body that you can’t properly metabolize it. That’s why it’s manufacturer can advertise the product as “zero calorie” – if you can’t metabolize or digest it, then it can’t have any caloric value. However, research is now showing that most people actually digest about 15% of the sucralose, which means there is some caloric value to the product. For most people, that’s probably not a big deal. God made your liver and kidneys to handle many of these kinds of by-products and expel them from your body. But we’re all made differently – and some people may not be able to handle this chemical. In fact, many people are very sensitive to Splenda and have had reactions to it that range from mild to life threatening. Some people simply break out in a rash. Others have had stroke-like symptoms. And still others have had severe asthma-type attacks that almost shut down their airways. If you use Splenda and want to continue using it, you may never have trouble with it. Just know that the jury is still out on this product. Researchers haven’t done any long-term safety studies, so it’s possible you could develop a reaction over time. If you start to have any health problems, immediately stop using it for a few weeks and see if the trouble disappears. If it does, definitely avoid Splenda. Instead consider using honey or Stevia, a natural herbal sweetener that doesn’t affect your blood sugar (available in most health food stores). While you won’t find many affordable bottled drinks with these products in them, they’re great to add to fresh-squeezed lemonade, iced or hot tea, and coffee. - Steve Kroening

Family & Relationships Why a Man Should Talk to His Wife I recently heard about a study that asked wives what they want most from their husband. The overwhelming majority of them agreed on their answer. But that answer had nothing to do with sex, money, or children. No, what they said they wanted, more than anything else, was for their husbands to talk with them. Next week, I’ll have some suggestions that will help wives get their husbands to talk to them. But we need to start with the men first. So guys, you know you need to talk to your wife. But why should you talk to your wife? Most of time, Christian leaders will tell a man that he should talk to his wife for three reasons: (1) Because God demands it (as spiritual leaders in our home); (2) because God demonstrates it (by communicating with us); and (3) because our wives need it. All of these reasons are right on target, and they’re the motives a man should have. But, unfortunately, not all men have these priorities. Many men, whether they admit it or not, have the attitude of “what’s in it for me?” While this is a selfish way to think, I’m not about to deny that it exists. And without trying to justify it, I can happily say that there’s an answer to even such a self-centered question that moves us in the right direction. So what does a man have to gain from talking to his wife (other than companionship, friendship, wisdom, love, understanding, and a whole host of other obvious benefits)? Perhaps it will be easier to see if we first look at what he loses by not talking to her. The Scriptures tell us that when a man and woman marry, they become one (Matt. 19:5). So by not talking to his wife, the husband essentially cuts off half of who he is and leaves that half behind. A man who cuts off the woman in his life loses the half he needs to moderate him and make him complete. Without her, he is left to follow his own path, which often leads to extremes. If a man’s sinful stronghold is lust, cutting off his wife allows him to pursue his lusts in the extreme. It often leads to adultery or perversion. If he struggles with laziness, cutting off his wife could bring on sloth. If his stronghold is violence, cutting off the influence of his wife will only make him more violent. You can see a perfect example of this in some Muslim cultures. In these cultures, men place women at significantly inferior roles. This essentially eliminates the woman’s moderating tendencies. Such cultures give rise to Muslim extremists. But a bent toward uncontrolled violence will occur in any culture where men’s hearts are not turned toward their wives. On the flip side, when a man talks to his wife, especially about his sinfulness, it allows the wife to participate in moderating and/or eliminating those weaknesses. So the ultimate benefit a man gets from talking to his wife is protection – protection from his own behavioral extremes. – Steve Kroening

Success How to Predict How Successful Your Children Will Be Last week, we talked about the Bible’s #1 principle for success: Success comes when you serve God first with your life. Unfortunately, this idea of service is not something we do so easily. That’s because service is tied up with character. And, I’ve not met anyone yet who didn’t have character flaws. That’s why it’s important to teach children to serve at an early age. The more it becomes a habit, the more successful they will become. By the time you reach adulthood, you have already former your character. That’s why so many people launch out into the world and wonder why things don’t work out the way they want them to. So how do you instill this principle in your children? My good friend Brent insists that his sons open the car door for their sisters because, in his words, “I know how they’ll treat their wives in later life.” It is such a simple thing, but it teaches them service, respect, and courtesy. All this and more from one easy-to-remember action. If you don’t have children, just remember this: It is easiest to predict our level of success in this world by the way we serve those who are close to us. These are the people we love and cherish most. If we don’t serve them, it is highly unlikely that we will serve those who are not so close to us. - Ian Hodge


Wisdom From History He Challenged Darwin, Then Saved Lives Lost in the great evolution/creation debate is the work of Robert FitzRoy. He was the captain of the HMS Beagle, the ship that took Charles Darwin on his infamous voyages. Some have said FitzRoy was partially responsible for Darwin’s Origin of Species book. That's because Darwin's works were essentially written to "disprove" the teaching of his parents and FitzRoy. They claim FitzRoy essentially extinguished all of Darwin’s faith. It’s true that FitzRoy held mandatory church services aboard his ship, and that Darwin turned against the captain’s faith during their travels. But Darwin had great respect for Fitz Roy, and they jointly produced a journal about their trip (though most publishers now reprint only Darwin's part of the journal). In fact, FitzRoy was the first Christian to formally challenge Darwin. Darwin’s works were essentially written to “disprove” the teachings of his parents and FitzRoy. When Darwin published his Origin of Species, it greatly depressed FitzRoy, who did feel partially to blame. And, while Darwin’s teachings on macro-evolution have brought no discernable benefit to society, FitzRoy went on to save the lives of thousands of sailors? You see, FitzRoy had an unwavering belief in God’s design of the earth. He believed that the world has order because God gave it order. And, as a sailor, he was always drawn to the weather. He believed that God’s order meant that the weather followed certain predictable patterns. Based on that theory, FitzRoy developed weather charts that were remarkably accurate. At first, many sailors didn’t believe the warnings he would issue – and some of them died as a result. But before long sailors based their travels on his charts, and many escaped destruction by doing so. He was the first to coin the term “forecast” in regard to the weather. And though weather forecasting may sometimes seem to have gone downhill since FitzRoy’s time, he is in fact the father of a science we make crucial use of every day. – Steve Kroening

Word for the Wise “Our word ‘ambition’ derives from a Latin word meaning ‘canvassing for promotion.’ A variety of ingredients may be present in ambition – to be seen and approved by men, to be popular, to stand well among one’s contemporaries, to exercise control over others. Ambitious men enjoy the power that money or authority brings. Such carnal ambitions were roundly rebuked by the Lord…. “To His ambitious disciples Jesus announced a new standard of greatness: ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.’ (Mark 10:42-44)…. “True greatness, true leadership, is achieved not by reducing men to one’s service, but in giving oneself in selfless service to them….” – J. Oswald Sanders (Quoted from Spiritual Leadership, by J. Oswald Sanders, Moody Publishers, 1994)

Resources Spiritual Leadership, by J. Oswald Sanders, Moody Publishers, 1994 (Buy Now) \| Audiobook on CD (Buy Now) Evangelicals Then and Now, Peter Jeffery, Evangelical Press (Buy Now)

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