Understanding Economics

One of my favorite subjects is economics. I read several economic themed websites each day and I actually once read a whole economic textbook just for pleasure! Well, actually, I was studying to take the Macroeconomics College Level Examination Program (CLEP) test. I passed it (of course!) and earned three credits toward my Gen Ed requirements for my Bachelors Degree. Anyway, it's been my observation that most people's understanding of economics is woefully inadequate.

Recently, I came across a series of short videos on Youtube that explains the various macroeconomic theories concerning the business cycle. The lecturer is Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Mason University (and a regular contributor to the New York Times). Professor Cowen also has a blog called Marginal Revolution. While I don't always agree with everything he writes, it is always interesting.

I hope you will watch the videos. Here's the introduction. By the way, when Cowen talks about "fiscal policy" he is talking about the use of government spending and taxation to influence the economy. When he talks about "monetary policy" he is talking about the manipulation of the money supply by the Federal Reserve to influence the economy.



Here's the overview of Keynesian Theory. This is by far the most popular theory, although, in my humble opinion it is the weakest.



Here's the overview of the Real Business Cycle theory.



Here's the video on Austrian Theory.



Here's a video on the Monetarists theory.



I am by no means an expert, but the two theories that make the most sense to me are the Austrian and Monetarist theories.

If you are interested, listed below are a few of the websites I visit often. Many of them are Libertarian and would fall into the "Austrian" camp, but not all.

Cafe Hayek (my favorite).
Greg Mankiw's Blog.
The Money Illusion. Sumner is a Monetarist. 
The Grumpy Economist.
The Conversable Economist.
The Circle Bastiat.
Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Hit and Run (not strictly an economics blog).
Free Exchange (the Economist).
Econlog.

There are others I read regularly but these are fairly representative of the various perspectives. Cafe Hayek is Austrian in flavor. Mankiw is considered to be a New Keynesian. Mankiw is the Chairman of the Economics Department at Harvard University. His "Principles of Macroeconomics" was the textbook I read as I studied for the CLEP test. The Money Illusion is considered Monetarist and the Free Exchange tends to be liberal and Keynesian in their perspective.

I hope this will pique your interest to dig deeper into the study of economics.

D.C. Talk - What if I Stumble

One of my favorite "Christian" groups...

Friday Free for All

The rule of thirds in social media.

Democrat and Republican songs on the Twitter charts.

The best and worst foods to eat while on a diet. Nothing really new here, still a good reminder.

Shark food? H/T Elaine

How Crony Capitalism Works. This just infuriates me, but because of the political affiliation of both Mozilo and especially Johnson, the left and the MSM will just ignore this one. Both were also major players in the housing crisis.

Here's a great chart on all the various aspects of cronyism. Make sure you hover over each dot and read the information.

First no texting and driving, now this, give a guy a break!

11 ways we as consumers are bad at math.

The politics of the social web. What do you think? H/T Doug

Sometimes a shoe is just a shoe...or maybe not.

I am constantly arguing with my friends and family about their paycheck withholding and how stupid it is to give the government an interest free loan each year just so you can get a big "refund" in April (and by the way, when was the last time the government gave little old you an interest free loan?). I hope by 2016 you will stop that practice and here's why.

It's no secret I am not a fan of government bureaucracy...this story illustrates why. The paragraph below almost made me weepy!

While the people of Joplin largely took matters into their own hands, pushing aside burdensome rules and refusing help when it came with too many strings attached, New Orleans and the surrounding area to this day remains hamstrung by federal, state, and local bureaucracy. Joplin’s experience offers a powerful lesson in self-sufficiency and knowing when to say “no thanks” to government.

Yes, stuff like this happens in AMERICA! People better get used to more of this as we surrender more and more of our rights to the Government. Wake-up!

Phantom iphone buzz, it's happened to me!

When I was in Jr. High we had a teacher named Mr. Ball. Rumor had it that his kids were named Crystal and Cotton. Who knows if it was true or not? Nonetheless, here are 25 real-life names you should be glad you do not have!

Top nine passive-aggressive things to say to your husband during a road trip. 

Bryan Duncan - Lies Upon Lies

From the Strong Medicine CD, one of my favorites.

Friday Free for All

How to live like a King in a world of Princesses. Avoid the princesses!

Nine beliefs of remarkably successful people. Hat Tip Nick

The Clinton Surplus myth. One of my friends on Facebook threw the "Clinton Surplus" out in a debate about the "terrible Republicans." I did not have time to argue and I did not want to violate my no politics on Facebook resolution. However, there is plenty of basic evidence that disproves this mainstream media myth. Additionally, during Clinton's "surplus" years the House and Senate were controlled by Republicans. Congress controls the purse strings. So if you are going to give Clinton credit, you have to give the Republican Congress credit as well. More accurately, both Clinton and the Republicans increased the National Deficit during Clinton's term. Additionally, both Bush and Obama have been irresponsible in their spending policies and Congress has as well, whether it is controlled by Republicans or Democrats. 

Who knew there were competing "Evil Overlord" lists? One appears to be based on James Bond Villains while the other has a Star Trek heritage. Both lists are funny.

What Facebook knows.

Boomers and their children and their money.

The next big legal battle with Obamacare.

Top Baby Names for 2011

The Social Security Administration has compiled a list of the most popular baby names for 2011.

Popularity in 2011

Rank	Male name	Number of males	Female name	Number of females
1	Jacob	20,153	Sophia	21,695
2	Mason	19,396	Isabella	19,745
3	William	17,151	Emma	18,674
4	Jayden	16,861	Olivia	17,169
5	Noah	16,719	Ava	15,383
6	Michael	16,598	Emily	14,164
7	Ethan	16,567	Abigail	13,149
8	Alexander	15,591	Madison	12,298
9	Aiden	15,389	Mia	11,451
10	Daniel	15,138	Chloe	10,917
11	Anthony	14,181	Elizabeth	9,972
12	Matthew	14,051	Ella	9,501
13	Elijah	13,817	Addison	9,246
14	Joshua	13,601	Natalie	8,593
15	Liam	13,347	Lily	8,112
16	Andrew	13,152	Grace	7,560
17	James	13,133	Samantha	7,330
18	David	13,098	Avery	7,303
19	Benjamin	12,942	Sofia	7,285
20	Logan	12,913	Aubrey	7,135
Note: Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth. All names are from Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

Both of my grandson's names make the top-twenty. Aydan (spelled slightly different) and Logan.

The Star Spangled Banner

This is by far, my favorite rock version of the Star Spangled Banner.

A Christian Response to Government

I have been thinking about this subject a great deal lately and wanted to address it by reviewing a few passages in Scripture. Unfortunately, God and Government seem to bring out the worst in many of us. The passion that both subjects engender is palpable when I discuss either one with my friends in person or on Facebook. In fact, I became so frustrated by the endless and unproductive debates on Facebook that I made a New Year's resolution not to make political posts or comment on the political posts of others. To date, I have been mostly successful in keeping that commitment.

I certainly have my own personal views about government, developed over the years through the study of Scripture, history, economics and enhanced by my personal experiences in dealing with the effects of government on the lives of people. I am a true small-government conservative with strong libertarian leanings. I believe that in general, people are served best when they are served least by the government. I believe that religious, economic and personal liberty can only be guaranteed and maintained when we the people practice self-restraint in the sometimes necessary use of the force and authority of government to do something for the common good of society. The unintended consequences of government involvement in any societal problem is almost always to make the problem worse and more complicated. I also believe that we the people should be willing to accept more personal responsibility for helping our fellow citizens and to voluntarily give of our talents and resources (through private charity) for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole.

I am not against government, I am just wary of big government. Government that hurts the people instead of helping them, government that impinges on our freedom as citizens, government that incentivizes dependency, government that creates unwieldy bureaucracies, government that punishes those that are productive to reward those that are not and government that is easily corruptible.

Now after I have said all of that, I am going to shock you and say that I also believe that it is important for us to support government because government is God ordained. That's right...government is from God.

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. ² Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. ³ For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; ⁴ for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷  Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. (Romans 13:1-7)

In this passage Paul does four things to encourage a proper response to Government. We'll look at the first thing in this post and the other three in a follow up post.

Don't Worry, Be Happy Pt. 3

We have been discussing the unhappiness we see in our country today. It's been my observation that this unhappiness can be attributed to three things. The circumstances we face, the people we encounter and the problems we worry about. In Philippians 4:4-7, Paul addresses these three areas by giving us three principles to follow. 

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Principle #1 - Greet Every Situation with Rejoicing - v.4 

You can read part 1 here.

Principle #2 - Treat Every Person with Gentleness - v.5

You can read part 2 here.

Principle #3 - Meet Every Problem with Prayer - v.6-7 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

In 1988 a song by Bobby McFerrin hit the charts and quickly raced to number one. That year it won three Grammy awards. The song was not a song of intellectual depth, in fact, one phrase was repeated over 20 times, but somehow it struck a chord with the public.

The song was titled, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Why did this little diddy take the country by storm? Because worry and anxiety are part and parcel of today’s human existence. Worry reigns over more human beings than any king who ever ruled.

Everyone is looking for answers to help overcome anxiety, worry and depression – people want to stop worrying and be happy! Paul says however, “be anxious for nothing.”

The word “anxious” means to be pulled in different directions, to have divided energies, to have a divided mind. Our English word “worry” comes form an old English word meaning to strangle. When worry takes over our lives our minds become divided between legitimate thoughts and destructive thoughts. This battle strangles out right thinking. We are pulled in different directions and consequently worry chokes out the truths we have been taught.

When right thinking becomes distorted and the Word becomes squeezed out it causes us to abandon our trust in the Lord who tells us to cast all of our cares upon Him (I Peter 5:7).

This is what worry does to us.

Friday Free For All

The following links consist of articles/stories/videos that I found interesting during this last week. They are posted here for your consideration.

Should cursive writing be saved? The only time I use cursive anymore is when my signature is needed.

Five graduate degrees that don't pay off. Thankfully, Public Administration wasn't one of them!

A Post-It Desk?

That is one interesting fish story.

Can't get a song out of your head? You have Earworms.

Don't Worry, Be Happy Pt. 2

In my prior post (Part 1), I mentioned that we seem to be grumpier and less happy in our society today. It is no doubt a reflection of the times in which we live. Life is difficult on so many levels and it seems as though each day brings a new struggle. Yet, despite the every day hardships we face, we don't have to let them control us. In fact, the Bible gives us some principles to follow to help us to overcome the tendency to let our circumstances, the people in our lives and our problems make us unhappy. These principles are found in Philippians 4:4-7.

⁴  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Previously, we looked at the first Principle, which teaches us how to deal with our circumstances.

Principle #1 - Greet Every Situation with Rejoicing - v.4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice

We must understand that what God wants for us in this life is not happiness, but joy. We can experience joy (a settled satisfaction and contentment that comes from our relationship with Him) when we realize what it means to rejoice "in the Lord." To rejoice in the Lord does not mean that we ignore our responsibilities. Neither does it mean that we evade obvious issues. Rather, it means we are to be fully cognizant of the situation we are in, fully prepared to deal with it responsibly, and fully convinced of the power of the Lord to give us wisdom, grace and courage to deal with whatever comes along. When we adopt this attitude it will not produce a giddy irresponsibility or a naive ecstasy, but a deep, mature, responsible faith that rests on God's sovereign goodness.

Sometimes though, it isn't so much the the situations that make our life difficult, but the people in it! That leads us to our second principle.

Don't Worry, Be Happy Pt. 1

There seems to be a lot of grumpiness going around in our country today, not without good reason. The circumstances we find ourselves in is less than hopeful for most. In fact, if I could use one word to describe the mood of the country I think it would be "unhappy." It is my sense than many are just weary from the political and economic realities of the day.

I am reminded of a story I once read about a young man who went to a renowned doctor in Paris complaining of depression and wanting to know what he could do to get better. The doctor immediately thought of a well-known leader in the café society of Paris named Grimaldi. Grimaldi cut a wide and light-hearted swath through Paris night life and the doctor thought this is what the young man needed.

The doctor told the young man, “Introduce yourself to Grimaldi. Let him show you how to enjoy yourself and you will get well.”

The young man sat up with a sad smile and said, “but doctor, I am Grimaldi!”

No one ever promised us that life would be easy. Sometimes things happen that make life difficult to bear. At other times, you think you have everything going your way when something unexpected comes along and throws a monkey wrench into your life. Whether our difficulties are ongoing or catch us by surpise, it has been my experience that the burden created by those difficulties comes from one of three areas. The people we meet, the situations we encounter or the problems we face.

Maybe today you are struggling to cope with some situation, some person or some problem in your life (and we all will at some point in our lives).

If so, then listen to what the Bible has to say to us.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ.

(Phillipians 4:4-7)

Monk & Neagle - Beautiful You

You can believe this all happened by random chance if you choose...not me...

Bryan Duncan - Strollin' on the Water

Strollin' on the water
High over every care
Strollin' on the water
Sinking no longer
Let me rise above the high tide
I can do it, I'll do it, yeah
I know where my strength comes from

Chemistry

No, this is not a post on the physical science of chemistry. It is however, a post on that magical, mystical, metaphysical, mysterious, hard to define relationship thing called "chemistry."

According to a recent book, men “get the axe” on the first date for any number of 300 reasons, but reason number one is no chemistry.

My first encounter with this concept came when I decided to try online dating. I was fascinated by the fact that so many women talked about how important "chemistry" was on their profiles. I thought I understood what they meant by the term "chemistry" but I also thought it seemed a bit shallow and superficial because it appeared to be physically focused. It also seemed to me to be a rather rash way to decide whether you you might ultimately have a heart to heart connection with someone.

Subsequently, I have found that this "chemistry" thing really is a big deal to women. Women tend to make instant decisions about guys. They have to "feel" it or it's a no go. In fact, most women make up their minds within five minutes whether they will ever be "physical" with a guy.

As you can imagine, this makes it very difficult for a man when he wants to develop a long-term "connection" with a woman. If he's not on his game, he is in trouble. If he can't get her pheromones going and give her butterflies and make her googly eyed, then he may be a one date wonder!

When I was on eHarmony, one of the guided communication questions that I always sent was "How important is chemistry to you?" The possible answers were as follows:

A: I need to feel that instant "click"
B: within the first couple of dates I need to sense a certain chemistry
C: I think chemistry can be generated over the long-term with someone I really like
D: I don't believe chemistry is really important to a successful relationship

The reason I asked this question is because I wanted to know how shallow thoughtful my potential match was. If she chose A, I would not pursue the match any further. If my match chose D, I would also close the match. Who wants to be in a relationship when there is no chemistry at all?

What I was really looking for was a C or B answer. Originally, I thought C was the ideal answer. Like Harry and Sally in the above clip I thought that the best approach was a long-term one. You find out you are compatible (that was what I was paying eHarmony for), then you discover that you like each other, then you become friends and then, if there is a real connection, you fall in love. Alas...that hasn't really worked out for me yet (although, I still feel like that is the ideal).

In the last year or so, I have gravitated toward B as the best answer and I am a little less harsh toward those that choose A, but just a little. I mean, think about it, those women that choose A will just drop you like a hot potato if another man get's that instant clicks with her. Am I right?

So here is my issue. To know me is to love me. I say that with all humility...no, really! You probably can't just get Jim Wheeler on one date. I have said on more than one occasion that I don't look like Brad Pitt, I don't have the money of Bill Gates, and I am not even close to being as spiritual as the Apostle Paul. But I am a great guy nonetheless. I can be charming and funny and wise and intellectual and adventurous and romantic with the best of them...but...believe it or not, I may have an off day every now and then. That's why if you don't feel that instant click on the first date with me, you may end up missing out if you quit there.

And just so you know, I try to practice what I preach. I like to have more than one date with a woman that I may be interested in, even if there is no initial "chemistry." On more than one occasion, my attraction to a woman has grown as I have had the opportunity to get to know her better.

Like everyone else, I would love to have a "meet cute" where my future wife and I meet at the grocery store while we both are reaching for the last box of pasta on the shelf. We look at each other and say "go ahead, you take it." We laugh at each other and gaze into each others eyes and voila...it's kismet! Since that is probably not going to happen, I am going to need to go on a few dates, to figure out if there is any there, there. More than likely though, the scenario will be more apt to be me as a Harry falling in love with a Sally, and only after we really get to know each other and develop a heart to heart connection. Obviously...that will take more than one date.

Then again I'm a guy, what do I know?

Friday Free For All

Good for him. I sure hope that someone from a reputable homeless service agency will come along side of him and help him manage the money wisely.

10 classic dying lines. My favorite: "Freeeeddddoooommmm!"

Just to be clear, the chihuahua is my daughter's!

Is the antivirus era over?

Once again science proves what I have been saying (and catching flak for)...women love the bad boys.

Pot, meet kettle.

What does breaking the sound barrier look like?

Someone has guestimated that the average single woman receives $14,000 in free food, movies, drinks and other forms of entertainment over the course of her life. Not a bad gig if you can get it!

The special interest state.

If Fox News did this to Obama, there would be howls of protest from the left.

Ummmm...thankfully, Crisco is not a female name.

A view from above.

This is an interesting post on how one indivudual has moved from atheism to Catholicism because of her inability to explain the origins of morality from the perspective of a naturalistic world view.

I’ve heard some explanations that try to bake morality into the natural world by reaching for evolutionary psychology. They argue that moral dispositions are evolutionarily triumphant over selfishness, or they talk about group selection, or something else. Usually, these proposed solutions radically misunderstand a) evolution b) moral philosophy or c) both. I didn’t think the answer was there.

She goes on to describe the moment of her "conversion" to Catholicism.

I believed that the Moral Law wasn’t just a Platonic truth, abstract and distant. It turns out I actually believed it was some kind of Person, as well as Truth. And there was one religion that seemed like the most promising way to reach back to that living Truth. I asked my friend what he suggest we do now, and we prayed the night office of the Liturgy of the Hours together (I’ve kept up with that since). Then I suggested hugs and playing Mumford and Sons really, really loudly.

I hope and pray that her journey will continue to lead her to the personification of the truth, i.e. Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

This is an interesting list of 10 things not to say to someone when they're ill. I thought the list was very good. One of the best things I ever learned as a Pastor is that people don't necessarily want to hear you talk when you visit them, they just appreciate that you are there. Sometimes the best thing you can say is nothing at all!

Why "stimulus" spending doesn't work. I have a great deal of experience with this subject being directly involved in the public sector and trust me, the "stimulus" didn't stimulate anything, except the growth in government.

If you can't find a job in the private sector, you can always go to work as a heckler for the Obama Campaign!

Favorite Star Trek quotes. My favorite, from Spock: "I have been, and always shall be, your friend." (Star Trek II)

The average lifetime spending by a husband-wife family on one child? $234,900! I've spent a million dollars on my four kids...AND counting!

This one is for my friend Doug. Recasting great TV shows using photoshop. Check out the A-Team.

Okay, I could relate to most of these.

And for my own personal enjoyment. Just sayin...

Fun with Grammar

The English language continues to be a challenge for me in my writing. However, I am determined to master it before I die! Below are words that I either had questions about while recently writing a blog post or mistakes I caught while proofreading a post (I hate proofreading). Most of these grammar rules are basic, but still, I hope this is a helpful reminder.

Site, Sight, Cite

Site means "a piece of land" or "to assign a position to." Sight relates to vision. Cite means "to mention" or "to quote." One of the results of the internet age has been the increase in the usage of the word "site" as in Web site. I think this has caused some confusion.

It also brings up an entire separate issue for me. Is website/Web site one or two words? Interestingly, if you read some of the national newspapers you will see both spellings depending on which paper you are reading. The Wall Street Journal uses website while the New York Times uses Web site. And the Washington Post? It can't make up its mind! It uses website and Web site (with a capital "W") about equally. In 2010 the AP Stylebook, which is the bible for news room writing, changed their standard from Web site to website.

If you can remember cite is short for citation and site is a location, whether it's online or off, your grammar victory will be within sight!

You can take a quiz here to test your mastery of these three terms.

Affect, Effect, Impact

This one is tricky and I always have to stop and think about it when I use either word. The word affect is most often used as a verb and it means to influence something, while effect is a noun and speaks of the thing influenced. Effect can also refer an outcome or an "appearance or impression" that's created on purpose as in special effect.  Generally speaking, if there's a or an or the in front of it, it is an effect.

One of things I started doing while writing was using the word impact instead of affect or effect. It just made it easier. Evidently, this is frowned upon.

For me the easiest way to remember the difference between affect and effect is to ask how the word is going to impact (sorry) the subject in the sentence. Will it happen before or after? In other words, the action (affect) has to happen before you can have the result (effect).

Especially

Is especially a word? I remember reading something several years ago that said the term"especially" is not really a word. Every time I would use it, I would feel bad. However, according to these three sources, especially is indeed an acceptable word. 

Illicit, Elicit

The word elicit is a verb and means to "draw out" or "obtain." The word illicit is an adjective and means "illegal" or "contrary to accepted morality.

Grammar Monster says that you can remember the difference this way:

Elicit = Extract

The first letter of elicit can serve to remind you that it means extract.

Illicit = Illegal

The first three letters of illicit can serve to remind you that it means illegal.

That's it for now...my education continues...

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney turned 70 today! Wow, all of my favorite musicians are getting old. While he will always be remembered as a member of the Fab Four, his musical genius is not limited to his time in the Beatles. I am a product of the 70s by that I mean that the decade of my teen-aged years when I really started listening to music was the 70s. The Paul McCartney music that I associate with most, is his music during this time. So my video tribute to Paul contains songs from that time period.

First up, Sir Paul's contribution to the James Bond series. Live and Let Die.

Next up, one of my favorites, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. It is a quirky little song.

Maybe I'm Amazed.

My Love.

 
Silly Love Songs.

Band on the Run

Jet.

Listen to What the Man Said.

Let Em In.

Not a Wings song, still a great tune (and released in 1970). Hey Jude.

I hope you enjoy!

Bryan Duncan - Step By Step

Another one of my favorite Bryan Duncan songs...

Good advice...

What Makes a Good Dad?

What makes a good dad? It is a question that elicits many different kind of responses. Charles Swindoll writes,

It's tough being a dad. It's almost impossible to live up to our own standards, to say nothing of God's. And the toughest thing of all is that, deep inside, every father knows he is leaving an indelible thumbprint on the life of each of his children. Whether he's nuts-and-bolts practical or scrapes the Milky Way with his visionary ideas; whether he's strong and aggressive or weak and passive; whether he's a workaholic or an alcoholic--there's not a dad that doesn't know his fingerprints are all over his children as he molds and shapes them into the adults they will become.

In his book Promises to Peter, Charles Shedd tells how his messages on parenting changed along with his experience of fatherhood. In his early years on the speaking circuit before he was a father, he called it "How to Raise Your Children." People came in droves to hear it. Then he had a child and it was a awhile before he gave that sermon again. When he did, it had a new title "Some Suggestions to Parents." After a few more years and two more children, he was calling the message "Feeble Hints to Fellow Strugglers." After several more years and several more children, he seldom gave the talk. But when he did he called it "Anyone Here Got a Few Words of Wisdom?"

That's sort of how I feel after raising four kids. I want to make it clear that I don't know it all about being a father and fatherhood. I am not even close to being a perfect dad, but I do know where to get some good advice.

⁸ Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
⁹ For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; ¹¹ just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, ¹² so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:8-12

One of the first churches founded on the European continent by Paul was the church at Thessalonica. Despite their contentious nature, he stayed there several weeks pouring himself into their lives Working night and day Paul and his group of fellow missionaries sought to establish them in the faith. Ultimately, Paul was forced to leave Thessalonica never ever really able to return again for any length of time (Acts 17:1-9). However, they were always in his heart and on his mind. Knowing that these believers were facing severe persecution he did two things:

(1)        He sent Timothy to them to encourage them

(2)        He wrote this letter to express his fatherly love for them

As Paul pours out his heart to them an inspired portrait begins to take shape, that of a dad sharing his love for his children. It is in this portrait that we can begin to see those qualities and characteristics that make a good dad.

A Good Dad is Affectionate - v. 8a

"Having so fond an affection for you"

Out of a half dozen terms that Paul could have used to express his feelings to the Thessalonians he chose a very unique word used only here in the NT. The word is “homeiromai” (hom-ir'-o-mahee) means to long for (someone), to yearn for them. Paul was so “strongly attached” to them that he longed to be with them and he wasn’t afraid to let them know.

Paul was many things but he was NEVER cold and distant toward his spiritual children. It was easy for him to express himself through affectionate words and actions. Sadly, for many fathers today, affection is a foreign concept. Whether through upbringing or through a sense of machismo they have bought into the false idea that it is not manly to be warm and caring.

Gordon MacDonald, in his book The Effective Father, includes a chapter called “Please Show Me That You Care.” In it he writes,

The physical expression of our approval is of great importance. We affirm what a person is, and we appreciate what a person does. But this assurance must be given in more than words. Affection, the nonverbal communication of closeness, touching and stroking is among the most important experiences we share with one another.

Affection is not just an emotional response, but it is mainly a physical response. I must admit that I have some big concerns about the “feminization of America” where men are discouraged from being men. But there is nothing unmanly about showing affection toward your wife and children. In fact, research has shown that sexual promiscuity in young women can often be traced back to a lack of fatherly affection in childhood and adolescence.