Big TV

It's your money. You earned it honestly. If you would like a bigger TV, and it's within the budget, then, by all means, get yourself a bigger tv.

Johnv
Owner of a 32" RCA

 

If you have your TV viewing under control, if your wife is in agreement, if you have prayed about it, if you don't have any credit card debt, and you don't have any other pressing household needs, then I think it would be fine.

The Bible teaches that we are to enjoy the blessings that He gives us. Sometimes God will put it on your heart to sacrifice an enjoyment so that you can give more to church, but not always.

Andy

 

Don't let anyone make you feel guilty for wanting to watch an occasional football game on a screen you can actually see.

Will your family suffer if you buy this? Will they go hungry or without cothing or basic needs? Will you stop tithing at your church or taking care of your other financial responsibilities? Will this T.V. keep you from worshiping the Lord like you do right now?

If you're a good stewart with it, why should anyone have a problem with it?

 

Hubby said to tell you that Sony has a 36" on sale here in the states for $800 ish. He said it's a great deal. Wondering, tho, if you pay a lot more because of shipping!

Go for it and enjoy!
Diane

 

Maybe I'm just dumb, but don't they have TV stores in HI?

Clearly you don't need the new tv. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have it.

My big concern (okay, two) is that you might be spending money on something like this not because you can afford it (not that you can't, but wait and see where I'm going with this) but because you got a "windfall." Would you have saved to buy the tv? If not, I wouldn't buy it.

If so, well, it's your call. There's nothing sinful about having a big tv. If you're feeling moral conflicted (perhaps even spiritually convicted) about it, then perhaps you should look into another way to spend it.

As for the windfall -- get thee to a financial planner or tax consultant (or if you can figure out the IRS website, have at it) and stop having too much money withheld from your check! This is my big soapbox. If you're getting a huge refund (big screen tv money counts as purdy darn big, IMO!), you really should reevaluate your tax situ. You could be earning interest on your own money every month rather than handing it over to the gov't (yes, I realize you work for the gov't ) to hold onto for you.

The windfall mentality makes us forget that this is not gift money, but is money we've earned over the year and paid to the government, basically to hold in escrow for us until sometime in April of the following year. It's that mentality that makes us want to spend it on luxuries we always say we can't afford.

I have a 36" tv myself, but I don't know that I would have bought it, if I'd been in the market. It was a gift, so I never really had to think about the money side of it. I do know that when I get bonuses, I let myself spend 20% of it, and sock the rest away. That'd be my inclination in this case, just from a financial perspective, not a television one.

 

I just wanted to add - I know you weren't looking for financial advice, and I'm sorry if the tone of my post went that way.

My main point was about whether or not you would have saved to buy the tv, and the need to examine the windfall mentality. Sometimes it seems that money we receive as a windfall is mad money, when we really should treat it not much differently than we do any other money we get, particularly tax refund money, which we really should NOT count as an "extra."

 

And you're still single? How can that be????

Johnv
Looking for a relationship with attractive woman with big screen TV and X-Box. Please send picture of TV and X-Box.

 

Not if you give my your old one.

 

XBox? Seriously, PS2 is SO much better. That's what you need to be looking for! (My better half only has a Gamecube, but I love her in spite of that...)

 

We all like to live in comfort and occasionally spoil ourselves by purchasing something we think we need. Personally I think we should give thanks to God for the luxuries that we can afford, whilst at the same time, as has already been said, we must be wise stewards.

I don't think there is anything sinful in wanting a big TV, the problem arises when the love of material goods becomes central to your thinking.

I heard a beautiful poem once, written by Bill McChesney, a missionary who was martyred in the Congo.

My Choice

I want my breakfast served at eight
With ham and eggs upon the plate
A well-broiled steak I'll eat at one
And dine again when day is done.

I want an ultramodern home
And in each room a telephone;
Soft carpets, too, upon the floors
And pretty drapes to grace the doors.
A cozy place of lovely things,
Like easy chairs with inner springs,

And then, I'll get a nice T.V.
- Of course, I'm careful what I see.

I want my wardrobe, too, to be
Of neatest, finest quality,
With latest style in suit and vest
Why should not Christians have the best?

But then the Master I can hear
In no uncertain voice, so clear:
"I bid you come and follow Me,
The lowly Man of Galilee."

"Birds of the air have made their nest
And foxes in their holes find rest,
But I can offer you no bed;
No place have I to lay my head."

In shame I hung my head and cried,
How could I spurn the Crucified?
Could I forget the way He went,
The sleepless nights in prayer He spent?

For forty days without a bite,
Alone He fasted day and night;
Despised, rejected - on He went,
and did not stop till veil He rent!

A man of sorrows and of grief
No earthly friend to bring relief;
"Smitten of God," the prophet said
Mocked, beaten, bruised, His blood ran red.
If He be God, and died for me,
No sacrifice too great can be
For me; a mortal man, to make;
I'll do it all for Jesus' sake.

Yes, I will tread the path He trod,
No other way will please my God,
So, henceforth, this my choice shall be,
My choice for all eternity.


The lesson to be learned here is that we must clutch the things of this world very gently so that it doesn't hurt if God prises it out of our hands. We must always be ready and willing to leave behind all our material goods as Peter left, Paul left, as Moses left.

 

Television is a total waste of money...unless, of course, you are watching the UK Wildcats whip up on somebody.

 

That really would limit your television watching, wouldn't it?

 

I am not a good one to ask that. I didn't get a VCR until about 6 years ago. I still have not bought nice new set. (I have a BW small thing I bought new and a color that I got from my brother in law.)

 

...yeah. But, OTOH it is a dandy excuse to get a big screen TV. Now, if I can just convince my wife...

 

Artimaeus,

Don't worry about it. If I only watched TV when the University of Houston was winning, I would not need a television at all.