Steven Garofalo
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Everybody Is An Investor PT1
By Steven Garofalo, March 7, 2025 (Copyright 2025)
March 07, 2025

Everybody Is An Investor PT1

Steven Garofalo M.A.A. March 7, 2025

 

In 2024, 62% of US adults invested in the stock market, according to Statista. This is a 20 year high. 87% of upper-income, 65% of middle-income, and 25% of lower-income Americans own stocks.

TODAY, through James 1:9-12, I am going to show you how we as Christians are to invest above all other means. Furthermore, we are going to learn what God tells us considering how we are to act and think in relation to the amount, levels and value of our earthly investments.

While a large percentage of people participate, the wealthiest individuals own a disproportionately large share of stocks. According to an article by the BUSINESS INSIDER, written by Jennifer Sor, January 10, 2024, the wealthiest 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks even with market participation at a record high.

·       The richest Americans own the vast majority of the US stock market, according to Fed data.

·       The top 10% of Americans held 93% of all stocks, the highest level ever recorded.

·       Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans held just 1% of all stocks in the third quarter of 2023.

The wealthiest Americans have never owned so much of the stock market, with the top 10% now holding a record 93% of US equities, according to Federal Reserve data. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wealthiest-10-americans-own-93-033623827.html

ARE CHRISTIANS TO INVEST?

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 makes clear that monetary investing is good with king Solomon telling us to: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”

WHAT IS KING SOLOMON SAYING?

King Solomon is saying that we are invest, and as a wise investor we ought not always be averse to taking some risk, especially when there is genuine possibility of real gain (v.1). The adverse is to become like the lazy sluggard and fail laid in verse four which says, “HE WHO OBSERVES THE WIND WILL NOT SOW, AND HE WHO RAGARDS THE CLOUDS WILL NOT REAP”. In other words, there is a real danger in being overly cautious in light of life and nature’s unpredictability. Investing part of life and the only way to get ahead and have a more rewarding life. Reckless or taking excess risk by the can be bad, especially in your older years. But taking some risk can always be good. Risk to move to a new city, state or country can be good in our older years. In the end, taking some risk to start a business in retirement can be very good for our minds and our financial well-being. Risk at most any time in life is biblical and can be exciting and rewarding.

WARNING-INVESTMENT OF ANOTHER KIND IS MORE IMPORTANT

But then Luke 12:33-34 makes clear that investment of another kind is even more important, saying to: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

God warns us through Luke what we might do with the fruits of our investments in that you are to “sell what you have”. This contrasts with the world’s hoarding of possessions; the disciple must be generous with what God gives. “MONEY BAGS WHICH DO NOT GROW OLD”: By serving God and others, you can invest in your eternal future. You cannot take possessions with you in the next life, but you can store up an eternal treasure by giving to others. In the end, as verse 34 makes clear, what people consider valuable is WHERE their energy will be spent. Knowing God and investing in His purposes should be where we invest and the TREASURE we seek.

Please allow me to leave you with one thought about today’s investor. In 2024, 62% of US adults invested in the stock market, according to Statista. This is a 20-year high. 87% of upper-income, 65% of middle-income, and 25% of lower-income Americans own stocks. Perhaps the truth is a good portion of that 87% of today’s upper-income investors have been investing a bit too much in the wrong places. Perhaps a good portion of the 65% of middle-income have been investing in the wrong areas of life. And what about the 25% of lower-income Americans who own stocks? Perhaps they are “watching the clouds” (v.4) and not investing enough. Or maybe, just maybe, they are investing properly in God’s kingdom. God’s authentic followers are found across all three classes of income and people. I think the question becomes an issue of where their heart is and where they are with their relationship to Jesus Christ and the biblical teachings. In any case, let’s remember that EVERYONE IS AN INVESTOR. It’s not a matter of IF but WHERE. Let’s choose wisely.

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When I was in seminary, the question was raised as to if pets or animals in general go to heaven. Our professor, Dr. Norman Geisler said this: “Jesus Christ came to earth and died on the Cross for the human race, not animals.” I was working out at the gym one day when one of the regulars, who had just moved to Charlotte, NC from California told me that one of her beloved dogs died; and would that dog go to heaven. I have her the same answer. But, was that the whole story? That’s what we are going to look at today.

In a peace by Michael Housman, Founder of GotQuestions.Org, Housman wrote that “The BIble does not give any explicit teaching on whether pets or animals in general have souls, or spirits, or whether pets and other animals will be in heaven.

His answer was short but the animals not having souls maybe up for debate.

We can use general biblical principles to develop some clarity on the subject though Housman wrote. The Bible states that both man (Genesis 2:7) and animals (Genesis 1:30; 6:17; 7:15 and 22) have the “BREATH OF LIFE” that is, both man and animals are living beings. Furthermore, the primary difference between human beings and animals is that humanity is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), while animals are not.

Being made in the image and likeness of God means that human beings are like God in some ways; they are capable of spirituality; they have a mind, emotion, and “will”; and part of their “being” continues after death.

If pets and other animals do have a “soul” (or spirit or immaterial aspect), it must therefore be of a different and lesser “quality”. This difference possibly means that pets and other animal “souls”  do not continue in existence after death.

Another factor to consider regarding whether pets will be in heaven is that animals are a port of God’s creative process in Genesis. God created the animals and said they were good (Genesis 1:25). Therefore, there is no reason why there could not be pets and animals on the NEW EARTH as described in (Revelation 21:1). 

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Until next time, I’m your host Steven Garofalo, and this is your reason for truth for today.

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AN ETHICAL ECONOMY IS GOOD FOR ALL
By Steven Garofalo, May 2, 2025

WHAT MAKES A GOOD ECONOMY

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The Vanity of Wealth and Honor is an interesting subject in light of wealth, corruption, and the human heart. This subject effects many things, including what makes a good economy. 

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 5, verses eight to nine, Solomon says the following:

Ecclesiastes 5:8-9
“8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.”

COMMENTARY: There are two things king Solomon is saying here within the theme of the vanity of WEALTH and HONOR. Wealth and honor are two different things, as one can have wealth with or without honor or honor with or without wealth. That being said, let’s look at verses 8 and 9 independently to see the simple message God provides us today through Solomon.

BREAK DOWN
Ecclesiastes 5:8-9

THE ABUSE OF AUTHORITY & WEALTH
 “8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them." 

COMMENTARY: Verse 8 clearly illustrates that there is a corruption at every level of government, with higher level oppressors plundering the equally oppressive lower-level magistrates. This perhaps explains the st state of America and the world. With blackmail running. Rampant and the public sector unchecked, they have been robbing the everyday citizen of their hard earned money. As a result, the system became insulated and division between the haves and have nots became more defined. When the high level government officials rob and abuse those below them, someone above that person robs and abuses the higher level person himself.

In America, where we print money out of thin air for the world, in this short period of history, there is little need to plunder those under one authority because there is so much to steal that those in authority can simply pay them off or blackmail them; whichever is most convenient. Either way, Solomon makes abundantly clear that when there is nobody minding the ship, evil perpetuates to the point of overtaking the government in whole. As a result, we end up with a 2024 government, riddles with corruption, immorality, blackmail, lawlessness, and all other things evil due to the lack of God-ness which equates to “goodness”. 

Economically speaking, when this happens to a country, its own economy begins to decline into debt due to their insatiable desire and emotional need for more money and resources. When resources are stripped and money is squandered, the elite few are smart enough to collect those resources and money and we end up with a U.S. Stock Market where only 5% holds up to 80%  of the entire market wealth. 

WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
The answer and solution is to keep to return to the system we created in the first place which is free market capitalism that allows those who desire to work hard, to have a fair chance at success, making money and turning a fair profit. This is called “honor for everyone”.

HONOR FOR EVERYONE
"9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.”

CONCLUSION:

Government corruption comes to the advantage of a few-but at the expense of many if not all the rest of society. Vanity and wealth, if not kept accountable, devours one’s honor and the honor or the nation in whole. Solomon (Qohelet) considered goverment to be frustrating becuase it was a necessary evil, something deply flawed but indespsnsible. On the one hand people sould "not be shocked" when they see OPPRESSION and injustice in a governmental province (v.8). After all, bloated government bureaucracy tends to frustrate justice (v.8b). On the other hand, government has it advantages (v.9). Many hold to the belief that this verse continues the negeative assessment of government. Others see this passage better understood more positively since it fits with Qohelet's normal pattern of "on the one hand, on the other.." way of teaching. 

Even a corrupt government is better than anarchy, which devastates a country, it's culture and in Solomon's time, an agrarian economy that would lead to starvation. Keeping to God's ways is the only solution to man's sinful nature; especially in governmental rule. In the end, a king who devotes himself to developing the resources of the land ushers in a systems that brings the opportunity for profit to all, not just the corrupt few.

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SOLA SCRIPTURA
A Protestant & Catholic View Comparison

I grew up Catholic and now go to a Protestant or non-Catholic church in Charlotte, NC. Michael Houdmann, Founder and CEO of GotQuestions.Org writes that a major difference between the two boils down to believing in the Bible alone as God's word verses believing that God's word plus man's input as the divine inspired word of God.

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A major difference is the issue of sufficiency and authority of Scripture. While Protestants believe that the Bible alone is the source of God's special revelation to mankind, it also speaks to everything we need to understand as necessary for our salvation from sin.

Protestants view the Bible as the STANDARD for Christian morality and ethics which governs our behavior. This is called sola scripture and is one of the five Solas in Christianity. (Solas meaning "alone" in Latin. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 makes clear that "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (ESV).

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