Servias Ministries Blog

In a speech earlier this month, President Obama called the current situation “an urgent and growing crisis”.  This crisis did not begin in the last six months.  Anyone with access to the consumer statistics in adjustable rate mortgage payment resets, overall debt as a percentage of income, and personal savings rates, knew that we were headed for a train wreck.  Hmmm!  The Federal Reserve had all of that information and more.  I wonder why they didn’t send us the early warning signal? Recession is a contraction in spending but a Depression is a de-leveraging of debt.  The globe is in a depression, not a recession.  Those that were caught with an exorbitant amount of debt are in for a rough ride and those with no debt but are relying on bank interest are also in for a rough ride… I guess everybody will have some challenging times.  However, there will be winners in this down cycle and those who can break away from the paradigm of the last 30 years will fare better than those who are holding on to the current mindset.Baby boomers are starting to downsize and smaller & simpler is better.  As we all know, the debtor is servant to the lender and we will now see how that reality plays out during this severe contraction.  When lenders move into survival mode, they rely on that “fine print” found in every contract.  That fine print is put there as a protection factor to guard against unintended consequences that are beyond their control.  Only Our Heavenly Father knows the future thus how can we create a contract for 30 years into the future without some safeguards?  Those whot saw the trends of the mortgage bubble knew there would be a day of reckoning and that day has arrived.  Baby boomers are shedding their McMansions for smaller, more affordable homes.  Why pay exorbitant taxes, insurance, heating, cooling, and maintenance for a house that you can get lost in?  What is the right size house for you?  Get on your knees and ask THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY to direct you to the right house.  That is exactly what we did.  When you do that, your home becomes part of your ministry to others.Poland is on the brink of collapse as are other Eastern European countries.  The interconnections of global financial system are complex and far reaching thus requiring us to pay attention to the exposure of other countries besides our own.  The growing complexity of the current system ultimately will break, for that is the nature of complexity, it’s a monster!  When everything is in synch, life is a bowl of cherries, but when one aspect of the system fails, the domino effect results in a crash.  A $5 internal battery can cause a computer system to fail.  With the high degree of leveraging that has taken place, the house of cards is teetering at the brink of collapse.I expect a rise in commodity prices and it will possibly occur from two separate and distinct events.  First, the depreciation of the U.S. Dollar will cause prices to increase in terms of the Dollar.  Secondly, there will be a restriction of commodities due to the developing countries increasing their relative use of commodities.  China must grow or suffer civil unrest.  It has a large investment in U.S. Dollar holdings which provides a means to continue building infrastructure at the expense of the value of the USD.  The U.S. has lost the trust of other countries as the commercial monetary base of exchange.  I expect other countries to slowly disconnect from their reliance on the U.S. Dollar which will also send the value down. Demand destruction of oil is being offset quickly by supply destruction.  However, people just don’t understand that this supply destruction will come back to haunt us if demand picks up.  We saw the same supply destruction occur 20 years ago and the domestic oil industry is half the size it was.  Unused rigs will rust and the mass training of new workers has stopped.  This is not good for the energy industry or the rest of the country.  Alternative sources of energy cannot make up the difference in the short run.  This sets the stage for a dramatic increase in oil prices in the near future.Pakistan continues to be the most dangerous place on earth.  They recently signed an agreement with Islamic hard-liners, a move in favor of the Taliban.  Obama’s war will be the Afghan/Pakistan theater… Just down the road apiece from Iraq.California is in the midst of a $41 Billion deficit and they can’t print money like the Fed can.  I expect their contraction to be more severe than the heartland since their real estate was so overpriced.  They will increase “use” taxes to the point, people will migrate to lower tax jurisdictions to flee from the sanctioned extraction of wealth.On the bright side:  As I have mentioned in the past, gold is the barometer of monetary risk.  As of this writing, gold is up over 6% from a year ago.  Silver is still down 17% from last year, but compared to the value of housing it looks pretty good.  Most of us have the opportunity to buy silver and I personally believe it is a good buy at these prices.  Those of you who can step up to gold, it looks to be heading over $1,000 soon.  Gold stocks are lagging in performance compared to the metal but that may change as more people realize that financial and retail stocks have no immediate future.Remember, Fear not: Psalm 118:6  The LORD [is] on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

Pundits on TV tend to make us believe that commodities are in unlimited supply with improved technology as the basis for finding this "unlimited" supply.  For the first time in 16 years, the price of gold has surpassed the S&P 500 Index.  For the previous 18 years, the S&P Index number exceeded the price of gold.  This would suggest a reversal in investing philosophy in the marketplace.  Gold closed the week at $927.10.  Gold producers’ cash costs in U.S. Dollars are benefiting from currency gains against the Dollar.  I expect the Gold stocks to start moving back up as the investing public sees the profit improvement in this industry.

There is not an unlimited supply of gold just as there is not an unlimited supply of crude oil.  This does not mean we have run out of either of these commodities.  It is estimated that the world supply of known oil reserves has passed the halfway point thus peaking.  Our Heavenly Father established gold as being "precious". In Genesis 2:11 the first mention of gold occurs: "The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold".  Pison means "increase" and Havilah means "circle" or never-ending.  The next mention of gold was to describe the wealth of Abram in Genesis 13:2: "And Abram [was] very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold."  Therefore, God’s Word established gold as a store of value.  It provided an adequate medium of exchange versus herding cattle, sheep, or camels when you wanted to acquire something new.  Gold has been a store of value for thousands of years.

Once the U.S. currency was disconnected from gold, the trouble began.  Gold slowed down economic growth and by removing the dollar from the gold standard, determination of value was placed in the hands of man.

Politicians are expected to print 2-4 Trillion Dollars to fund the new aggregator bank where they plan to place the toxic assets of the banks.  That is a bullish event for gold.  Nouriel Roubini, professor at the Stern School, New York University, estimates the cost of this bank to be about $3.6 Trillion.  Even though short term price gyrations and de-leveraging events can impact the price of gold, sustained excessive fiat money creation will cause the price of gold to rocket skyward.  By using the new "don’t tell the public the real cost of the problem" multiplier, we could see up to 8 Trillion Dollars before it is all said and done.

Compared to one year ago, gold is up 3/10 of 1% whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 35% and housing is down even more.

"Critical Status" is where many retirement funds are heading.  Historically retirement funds view their investments on a 40-50 year picture.  Short term fluctuations are not as important as cash for distribution of benefits.  They MUST have liquidity to meet their monthly obligations.  There is no financial based entity shielded from the current crisis.  There are some retirement funds already modifying and limiting withdrawals.  Over the last thirty years, retirement plans for the average American have been methodically dismantled in favor of Wall Street.  Defined benefit plans were replaced by individual contribution plans.  By establishing 401K plans, Wall Street effectively added millions of new stock investors to buy what Wall Street was selling.  Share volumes exploded on the upside as a result.  Instead of the boring 5% return received on bank and Treasury products, the American public was duped into believing that stock were a sure bet and could only head one direction- up.  "Boring" looks good now and a 0% return on investment looks much better than the losses now being suffered by most retirement vehicles.

We have recommended you take possession of your stock certificates and precious metals.  For those of us who focused on silver, it is more cumbersome than those who were able to buy gold simply due to the weight difference.  Brokerage firms do not want to transfer stock certificates to the owner because it reduces the possibility for revenue.  There’s been a move to eliminate paper certificates all together.  Instead, the industry would prefer all electronic media which makes their job easier and more profitable.  However, it also makes illegal activities easier and harder to investigate and prosecute.  Anytime you place someone between you and your investment, you increase the risk of loss.  See: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E5DE173BF936A35753C1A965948260&sec=health&spon=&&scp=1&sq=AUDIT%20AFTER%20GOLD%20DEALER’S%20SUICIDE%20SUGGESTS%20CUSTOMERS%20LOST%20MILLIONS%20&st=cse

The cleansing of epic proportion is underway.  It appears that we are heading for the cliff of currency devaluation.  We are less than 24 months from my 1/11/11 watch date.  Could we be at the end of an age?

In this complex world we are confronted with discerning intent on a daily basis.  Intent is purpose, an anticipated outcome that guides your planned actions.  Intent has a beginning point and a direction.  Direction is established by a beginning point and at least one additional point or position, effectively a double witness.

There are many powerful people with intent who can impact the economic picture.  For example, George Soros single-handedly extracted a billion dollars from the Bank of England on September 16, 1992.  Oklahoma native Sam Walton built Wal-mart and wiped out thousands of family-owned businesses across the country.  Former President Bill Clinton formed a foundation and has received hundreds of millions in contributions from the who’s who in the global community.

Our Heavenly Father established a purpose for everyone on earth:

Ephesians 1:11   In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Each of us is called to a purpose and our intent should line up with our purpose.  Purpose would denote an outcome while intent is an action or actions guiding you to that outcome.  Intent has anticipated consequences whereas risk has unanticipated results.  As we walk through this life, our goal is to minimize risks and fulfill our purpose.  The best way to minimize risk is to seek the counsel of GOD’S will for you.  With over 6,000,000,000 people on earth with varying intents that may affect each of us in a distinct and unique way, it is critical that we assess our intent on a daily basis.

Each of us is responsible for our own actions.  Who knows what you should invest in?  Our Heavenly Father.  Who knows when you should "pass" on an investment?  Our Heavenly Father.  Who knows what house you should buy?  Our Heavenly Father.  There are influential people out there who understand mass psychology and use it to manipulate people toward their agenda.  Bernie Madoff is a case in point and his Ponzi scheme is still being unraveled.  Could Bernie have achieved success if each of the investors, with a pure heart, had sought Our Heavenly Father and received His counsel about the intent of Madoff?  NO!  Bernie Madoff relied on the "idols in their hearts" to further his scheme.  Did Madoff begin his investment career with this intent?  I don’t believe so.  Bernie’s intent changed over time.  He started off making money for his clients but veered off course slightly and as time passed his ego kicked in resulting in the Ponzi scheme.  Once his comfort level rose and without scrutinizing his intent and purpose, the rest is history.

"Idols in the heart" present one of the greatest challenges to be overcome by each of us.  You can be broke and still have the idol of riches.  You can drive a jalopy and idolize a Mercedes or Lexus.  Investors are challenged by their lust of money and that is why over 90% of the day traders consistently lose money.  Their ego and emotions overpower that "still small voice".  Investments with greater complexities should be avoided by the small investor.  If every investor focused on his individual purpose and reviewed his intent in investing, borrowing, and spending, the country would not be in the current financial crisis.  You might say that this is an impossibility.  When unity with GOD occurs, nothing is impossible.  The Creator has ownership of the created and has given us the capacity to be in one accord.  However, Our Heavenly Father imparted ownership to us and then provided us with laws concerning ownership.  Ownership has conditions attached to it.  If you operate according to the idols of your heart, you will lose title to those things you have been given or you will be unable to attain those things you seek after.

Psalms 84:11  For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

As we walk uprightly in our intent, no good thing will be withheld.  Judging the intent of others can get you into trouble.  Only judgment through GOD’S eyes can the intent of the person be determined: 

John 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

The questions to be asked when you are being confronted with an unexpected negative situation:

1.  Is there an action I took that caused this to occur?

2.  Is there an idol in my heart motivating me?

3.  Did I ask My Heavenly Father about this matter before I became involved?

4.  Is this a test to see how I respond thus to uncover a "heart issue"?

5.  Is the loss I might suffer a matter of salvation?

6.  How would Love respond?

7.  Will this result in refocusing my efforts toward my calling?

When discerning intent, be careful that you are pure in heart:

Titus 1:15  Unto the pure all things [are] pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving [is] nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

When a person does not seek to hear GOD’S voice before acting, there is a risk of unintended consequences.  On a corporate scale, leaders take actions that may have a dramatic effect on the future of their constituents.  Not all politicians are conspiring to dismantle America.  Not all government employees are part of a scheme to hurt the common man.

Earlier this month, the people of Great Britain staged one of the largest protests in history.  See: British Protest  Although I am not an advocate of force, this video points out the effect of unintended consequences.  In the current force-based system, deterrents are often used to uphold the peace.  The threat of sanctioned bodily harm deters the would-be burglar from entering our homes.  If you remove the deterrent, do you think the criminal will be held back from their crime?

The sub-prime crisis is in full swing but there is but the next wave is moving rapidly upon us- the commercial real estate crisis.  The leverage factor associated with commercial real estate is much higher than the private sector borrowings.  All of us that qualified for mortgages "the old fashioned way" have equity built up in our houses and have manageable monthly payments.  However with jobs at stake, even once manageable house payments can become a nightmare.

We are at risk of a collapse as early as next month.  I say this not to frighten you, but to prepare you.  In 1993, I saw this current environment coming and discussed it with friends and as we all know, one of the greatest expansions of the stock market occurred.  The problem with seeing in the "Heavenlies" is that everything is presented in the present thus unless Our Heavenly Father specifically tells us when, we can only prepare.  Preparation has both long-term and short-term implications.

The thing that I find consistent with all of the rhetoric coming out of Washington is that legislators continue to push their agenda in the face of this financial tsunami.  They are taking care of the wealthy Wall Street bankers allowing billions in bonuses to be paid in the midst of the massive bailout.  They argue that the banks and other institutions are too large to fail.  In the meantime they are standing by while the small companies around the country are "too small to save".  The Inauguration speech grouped the financial problems of Wall Street with the rest of us by using the statement: “our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age”.  I don’t know about you but nobody called me concerning the last 25 years of misconduct and abuse of the financial standards?

The only precedent of the current situation is the Great Depression and once again our leaders assume they are smarter than their predecessors. There is also the problem of there being a notable difference between the two eras.  In the 1930’s the U.S. had a strong manufacturing base, it was a creditor nation, and an exporter of oil.  Today, it is just the opposite.  We have a service based economy, we owe everyone, and we export most of the oil we consume.  Each of those three attributes individually could take the country down the tubes.

When I was a chief financial officer and we were going to have an unprofitable year, the first expenses I looked at cutting were "services".  You don’t cut your inventory or sell you warehouse, you need them to generate revenue.  As a consumer, you don’t cut out food, utilities, or housing payments.  Instead, you eliminate all the discretionary purchases such as restaurants, retail purchases, entertainment, advanced technologies (such as call waiting, premium cable channels, etc.), and new capital purchases.  Retailers in the discretionary spending category make not make it in this crisis.

I expect the stock market to take a hit when December’s revised unemployment numbers come out next month.  I am sure that Washington will time its "shock and awe" of trillions to offset the bad news.  There is much talk of the formation of an ‘aggregator bank’ to take in all of the toxic debt currently on commercial bank balance sheets. What a deal!

If you step back a moment and look at the big picture, the world is heading for a collapse of some magnitude.  Iceland’s government has "collapsed".  England is teetering and the value of the British pound is at a 23 year low.  Mexico and Pakistan are disintegrating before our eyes.  Remember when the U.S. retirees were heading to Mexico for a life of luxury?  They may be returning soon.  Pakistan is probably the most dangerous place on earth now so keep you potassium iodate handy.

If you put a million dollars in a 30 day Treasury Bill and rolled it over for twelve months, you would receive a total of $200 in interest.  So much for being a "millionaire".  Pension funds will not be able to sustain retirement payments with the current economic environment.  They need a better rate of return on their funds.  It is believed that this economic cycle will form a "W" and we are in the first half of the "W" near the bottom.  At the first sign of improvement, pension funds will jump back into the market with all of the cash sitting in Treasuries.  This will cause a rally of major proportions.  This may be your opportunity to cash out of non-defensive stocks.  I believe this rally will be short lived and then it may get real ugly.

Men continue to make decisions concerning their country’s future without understanding the risk of unintended consequences.

Only Our Heavenly Father has perfect knowledge of the consequences of an intended path.  Who better to seek guidance from in these turbulent times!

Noah was a just man: Gen 6:9 These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God.  He was righteous and lawful.  Being perfect meant that he was complete, whole, entire, and sound, as we often like to say "he was the whole package".  Outside his family, all of society had become treacherous, lawless, and corrupt to the point where justice was gone.  When justice is gone, trust is gone.

When people operate outside their gifts and calling, they must rely on "unfair advantage" in conducting their business affairs.  This unfair advantage may take on many forms.  Disparaging comments about the competition is one way to unfairly transact business.  While marketing your product to a potential customer you point out shortcomings of your competition in a belittling manner in an attempt to convince the prospective customer that if they buy the other product, they will regret it.  This is a form of manipulation.

Another use of unfair advantage is the constant threat of litigation and in the United States there is one lawyer for every 265 Americans (ABA 2007) or one lawyer for every two inmates.  The U.S. has the highest per capita number among all major countries.  There are many horror stories about how justice did not prevail and how the system is "broke".  Domineering people use the threat of litigation against the weak (or perceived to be weak) to intimidate them into submission.  These intimidation tactics often expose a flaw in the character of the person instigating the actions.  If you truly heard the word of the Lord to enter into a transaction, why are you challenging the outcome?  There is a prevailing attitude that use of an attorney is superior to admitting your failure, accepting the loss, and going on with your business and life.  People who believe and live based on scarcity can’t seem to put their trust in GOD, the possessor of heaven and earth, who knows where all the wealth is and can bring forth blessing at any time.

People judge themselves by their intentions and everyone else by their actions.  Have you ever found yourself under the microscope of a judgmental person?  No matter what you do or say, you can never seem to satisfy that person.  It is because they have a core issue that must be dealt with such as rejection by a parent or some other traumatic experience that puts a wall of protection up.  People use their judgmental attitude with others to seek unfair advantage.  They attempt to make their problem your problem by convincing you that their predicament was somehow linked to you.  The end result is a downward spiral of isolation and bitterness often resulting in sickness and disease.  Attempts at unfair advantage will ultimately backfire.

In contrast, Our Heavenly Father gives each of us a unique advantage of our specific gifts and callings.  HE provides everything necessary for us to carry out our calling whether it be a leader or a carpenter.  If you are called to be a carpenter, you will have the passion and desire to be the best carpenter around.  When you walk in your calling, you will practice justice and will not need to seek unfair advantage of others- you will be a "just man".  If you reject your calling or fail to pursue the revelation of your calling, you will create separation with GOD and others around you.  By necessity you will use unfair advantage and sow the seeds of injustice in your life.  Ultimately you will reap what you sow, a GOD given law.

This is what has happened in the United States.  Investment banks, mortgage companies, ratings agencies, regulatory agencies, and unqualified consumers created a massive financial crisis.  On top of that, unregulated derivatives (casino bets) have infiltrated the current economic system like a plague.  This has created a "target rich" environment for those 1,143,358 attorneys practicing in the U.S.  Don’t get me wrong, in our current system attorneys are needed to handle dispute resolution and contract clarification.  The problem is that most attorneys do not receive their wisdom from above but pursue a position of unfair advantage for their client.  Justice does not matter, winning at all cost does.

The new Administration in the U.S. has pledged a return to regulation.  Regulation is necessary in an environment that pursues unfair advantage.  Less regulation would work if people were basically "good" however the last 25 years has shown us otherwise.  The question now is whether the unregulated nightmare will cause the demise of the current system.  Many of the major banks are technically insolvent and all of the injustices of the current system have created mistrust among the players.  Without trust the system will not work.  For years I marveled in how the banking system could get away with leveraging bets(derivatives) and reaping extravagant profits with no apparent downside.  The seeds they sowed are now producing unwanted fruit.

My recommendation: repent, turn away from your wicked ways.  Forgive the debts of the debtors, and you will be forgiven your debts.

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Truth is not "just the facts".  There is a spiritual backing to truth which has a motivation connected to it.  Truth is honest, made in good faith, and sincere while it is supported by facts and reality.

Our egos would have us pervert the truth by manipulating the facts in our communications.  For example, when Abraham was confronted by an adversary interested in Sarah, Abraham indicated that Sarah was his sister:

Gen 20:1-12

AND Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.

Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife."

But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also?

"Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this."

And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

"Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."

So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.

And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done."

Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?"

And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.

"But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Fear motivated Abraham to lie about Sarah as well as his lack of faith in God’s word to him.  Abraham did not believe the fear of God was in Gerar.  He assumed that his God was not omnipresent but found that God intervened wherever and whenever was needed.  Abraham had a covenant with the GOD of Heaven AND Earth.  Abimelech agreed.

While having lunch with a friend, we discussed the economy and its expected direction.  He said that if he could just know the truth about the various issues of the economy, he could respond accordingly.  The noise of opinion and mis-information is deafening.  Political speeches contain many facts but what in the speech is being manipulated to promote an agenda?  The truth cannot be known and understood without knowing the motivation behind the facts.  It is well known and documented that the U.S. Government statistics have been redefined to reflect theoretical economic improvement thus misleading the American public about the state of the economy.  The Federal  Reserve quit reporting M3 Money Supply numbers to "cut costs".  Withholding the truth is just as bad as providing misleading facts.

The world economy is in a very serious economic crisis and the path we’ve been pursuing is leading us over a cliff.  The world is at a serious risk of a stampede out of currencies and paper investments into "things".  The prices of commodities have plummeted due to substantial decreases in demand yet they report overall demand is down single digits.

Failure to tell us the truth ultimately forces us to move to a protective mode of de-leveraging.  The borrower is servant to the lender thus we must eliminate that liability which hangs over our future.

How do you get started in this defensive posture?  You must develop new spending habits.

1.  Go a week without "eating out" at a restaurant.

2.  Go a week without using your credit card, then a month.

3.  Pay extra on your home mortgage payment, even if it is only $10.

4.  Give away 10 items you don’t use or need and trash the items if they are of no value to others.

5.  Focus on relationships with others.  Develop face-to-face activities that encourage fellowship.

6.  Plant a vegetable garden this spring.  Go research at the library and learn to grow your own food.

7.  Conduct an energy audit of your home.  Determine how you can decrease your energy usage.

8.  Revisit you budget.  Determine your needs versus your wants.

9.  Do an act of service to your neighborhood or community.  Help the needy, hungry, widows, or orphans.  Plant some seeds of giving.

10. Most important: Spend more quiet time with Our Heavenly Father.  After all, you have a covenant with HIM whether you know it or not!

Deceit is the act of convincing another to believe information that is not true, or not the whole truth as in certain types of half-truths.  Deceit (or deception) involves concepts like propaganda, distraction and/or concealment.  In many cases it is difficult to distinguish deception from providing unintentionally wrong information.  This is a problem that began in the Garden of Eden:

Gen 3:13-14

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled (deceived) me, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

The problem did not end there.  Deception has been used by mankind to obtain power, money, status, and other forms of dominance throughout the ages.  Deceit is a symptom of greed.  You can be greedy and broke at the same time.  Greed is the self-serving desire for the pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others.  Self serving is the key word that links greed and deceit.  Information that is self serving and knowingly a detriment to the other party is deceit.  If you sell a car to another individual with the knowledge of an imminent repair issue, that is deceitful.

I received a coupon in the mail from a local car dealership where we bought our last vehicle, "$39.88 for a full service oil change and rotation".  Hmmm, sounded ok to me since I needed an oil change.  I took the car and the coupon in for the service and the service representative accepted the coupon.  They summoned me when the car was ready and I went to the cashier to pay the bill and found that the cost was $3.68 greater than the coupon.  When asking about the difference, they pointed to the fine print indicating an additional fee assessment.  Now the issue was not the $3.68, it was about them being deceitful.

Deceitfulness is a societal issue.  It is at the core of mankind.  The LORD God acknowledged its existence by dealing with the serpent and cursing it.  There are thousands of laws created to guard against deceitful behavior but those laws do not correct the problem.  All levels of government, business, and individuals are exposed to deceit daily whether they are promoting the act or on the receiving end.  Paul warned us of deceit:

2 Corinthians 11:3

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The serpent deceived Eve using logic directed towards her mind "by his craftiness".  Often deception is encompassed with complexity thus placing the self serving person in a superior position to the one who is being deceived.  This deception is at the root of the problem with financial derivatives.  Investment banks wanted to increase profits and were looking for "new" ways to do so.  By creating complex financial instruments, the investment banks were able to sell these instruments to intelligent, seasoned bankers and investors all over the world.  How could that happen?  Ego, pride, lack of revelation, trust in structure!  In some cases, the bankers and investors bypassed due diligence because they did not want to admit that they did not understand the investment vehicle- ego, pride.  In other cases, the recipients believed that the investment banks would not sell a misrepresented investment- lack of revelation, trust in structure.

The serpent was more subtle (crafty, shrewd) than any other beast in the field.  Eve had not been exposed to television talking heads, the Internet, or millions of books on every subject imaginable, she and her husband had walked with the Creator of the Universe.  She had the ultimate opportunity to ask any question and receive the perfect, honest reply but she didn’t.  Our mind is the battleground where the war is waged.  Appeal to our logic, pride, and ego is where deceitfulness can be carried out.

Paul provided us with a key phrase: Simplicity that is in Christ.  As complexity increases, so does deceitfulness.  Men hide behind complexity to mask the deceitfulness in their heart and this deceit becomes a subtle aspect of their character.  As we walk in the simplicity that is in Christ, we will no longer be fooled by the self-serving deceitfulness of man.