Handmaidens - Stewardship Issues

April 17, 2001

Stewardship Issues

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Just A Thought
By Staff Writer Sharon Barrett

1Cor.3:19 " for the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: He catches the wise in their craftiness;"

How wise is man to think he is smarter then anyone else in the world? How wise is man when he considers him/herself better than another? How wise is someone when they think God cannot see their misdeeds, vile attitudes, and trod on another? Wisdom of the craftiness will fail. How foolish can man be when he undertakes that which he cannot understand?

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The Question of Taxes
By Iona Hoeppner

As I recuperate from tax season (I prepare tax returns to help fund this and my other web ministries) I ponder the chaos that is supposed to be my two-room office... Folders are stacked on the sofa and all four desks... The work table is buried, and the chaise lounge piled high... For weeks I have worked nonstop, neglected cooking, housework and web work, and it will take a week or so to catch up on all these undone tasks. But that isn't what stirs me to write tonight...

Tonight, as I have done after every tax season for over 30 years, I am contemplating the need for a fair and simplified tax system, one that is manageable for all, equitable to all.

My crusade against our present highly unfair and actually illegal tax system has been ongoing for decades. O don't carry signs, I write letters... I also spend untold hours trying to ensure that my clients take every legal tax break available.

Most Americans file simple tax returns consisting of a few pages. In contrast, our personal tax return included over 50 pages, and the average return I prepared for clients this year was 31 pages... not because these are the tax returns of the rich, but because tax law has become so complex! It has become so convoluted and confusing most filers fail too fully avail themselves of all tax "advantages," which of course pleases the government and fleeces the people.

Tax planning is a joke because no one knows just what changes will take place from one year to the next as lawmakers tinker with an already hopelessly dysfunctional system. I am not even trying to counsel clients regarding tax year 2001 because I have no clue what to expect out of congress... and neither does anyone else!

A Call to Prayer
We as Christian Americans should always be in prayer for our nation's leaders, and especially for the tax legislation being bartered at this time... I challenge you to seek the Lord's will on these matters daily.

Tax Cuts?

President Bush has proposed a $1.6 trillion tax cut, and a big part of it has already been approved by the House of Representatives. Prospects in the 50-50 Senate are less certain, however.

President Bush's Proposal
President Bush has made his tax cut one of the two major priorities of the early days of his administration (the other being his education plan). The proposal he submitted to Congress is essentially what he advocated in his presidential campaign. Legislative language is not available so some of the details are fuzzy, but here are the main features:

Lower income tax rates.
Double the child tax credit to $1,000.
Reduce the marriage penalty with a 10% deduction for two-earner couples.
Eliminate the estate tax.
Allow people who don't itemize to claim a deduction for charitable contributions.

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