Cnn.com recently posted a great video that is a microcosm of what is happening in Northeast Ohio.  A Johnson Rubber Factory recently closed in Middlefield, OH leaving 500 people on the street.  In one worker's words, "Northeast Ohio is a tough place to work, its a tough place to get a job right now."  Certainly, blue-collar jobs are not as prevalent as they used to be all across the country.  But Northeast Ohio is a region that was founded on those jobs.  Nicknamed, "The Rust Belt" cities all along the great lakes are no where near recovering from the jobs lost to cheaper labor over seas.  Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the state of Ohio without winning Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.  How can she win a state primary without winning its three largest cities!?  Simply because many people believe that she is the answer to the job crisis and will fight the hardest for poor working class families.  Throughout Ohio, many factory jobs are the main draw to live in their cities.  Cleveland has an industrial wasteland of factories that housed thousands of blue-collar jobs which have now vanished pushing many people further away from Cleveland and other major cities to look for factory jobs in smaller more rural areas.  Note to John McCain and Barack Obama, if you want to win Ohio, figure out a plan to bring blue-collar jobs back to Ohio.  Good luck.

When credit cards put you in jeopardy by cnn.com

I have become increasingly convinced that the church in the United States is captive to the greatest sin plaguing our country, consumerism.  While easy to spot, defining it will always be tough.  Lately, I feel consumerism is defined as the philosophy that sees the possessing of things as a right to be exercised rather than a gift to be enjoyed.  Certainly, this is up for debate in terms of clarity and accuracy, but this latest cnn.com article is yet another warning bell to be sounded for our nation.

And it's become a habit for them to spend more than they have. The overall credit card debt grew by 315 percent from 1989 to 2006, according to public policy research firm Demos.

To compound the problem, fewer people are paying their credit cards bills on time. The percentage of people delinquent on their credit cards is the highest it's been in three years, according to CardTrack.com.

Unbelievable.  In 17, the US grew its credit card debt by 315 percent.  Surely, this period of outrageous spending will be looked down upon in light of history.  But perhaps a greater question will be asked, "Where was the church when this was happening?"  Sure we preach sermons on money and offer classes on financial how-tos, but obviously its not enough.  The problem is not slowing down, but growing exponentially.  This stat has to be one of the largest contributers to the massive foreclosure crisis plaguing our nation (in particular Ohio).  When we lose all restraint on our spending habits and feel that we are owed things rather than earn the right to buy them, we will realize that there is no amount of "stuff" that will satisfy our craving.  Jesus warned that we could not serve two masters; God and money.  The church has perhaps the greatest message to counteract this type of rampant individualism in the life and death of Jesus Christ.  God chose to forsake all comforts and pleasures beyond what money could buy, to become a poor, blue-color carpenter and eventually be executed by the very people he was called to help.  Financially speaking, God made a poor investment in sending his only son to a people he knew would kill him.  But in doing so, he showed us that in giving us Christ he showed us that the greatest of sacrifices for God's purposes cannot be bought with silver and gold (in this case to bring people back into a loving relationship with their God).  

I pray we can all reflect on this and grasp the freedom offered in Jesus Christ to liberate us from the enslavement of stuff and allow us to experience the joy in giving.  "It is better to give than to receive."

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently opened up a searchable database for foreclosed homes in Cleveland. You can search by zip code, street, or defendant. Just to give you an idea of the high rate of foreclosures on my side of town, in 2006-2007, my zip code alone has had 806 foreclosure filings. Some of those are multiple filings for one home, but the number is still astronomical. That's just over 1 foreclosure filings per day in my zip code alone! Please pray for our area and for wisdom from God on how we as a church can help to redeem our city from this crisis.

I have created a new tag on my blog that shows my posts related to the foreclosure crisis.

Cleveland Foreclosure Factors This article highlights some of the factors that contribute to the state of the housing market in Cleveland. Foreclosures=Crime This article highlights how the rising foreclosure rate has created a heaven for crime in Slavic Village.