- Ron Blue is the head of Ronald Blue & Co., a financial advisory firm with
offices in Atlanta, Orlando, and Indianapolis. He is also founder and owner of Christian
Financial Management. He is a C.P.A. and holds an MBA degree from Indiana University.
Blue's wife, Judy, who has co-authored two books with him (Money Matters for Parents
and their Kids and A Woman's Guide to Financial Peace of Mind) has a
degree in Speech & Hearing Therapy from Indiana University, as well as an M.A. in
Counseling & Guidance.
- Ron Blue is one of the two so-called "Christian financial experts" so
popular today (the other being Larry Burkett). Blue is probably best known for his book
and video series, Master Your Money. He is also the popular author of several
other books on financial management -- The Debt Squeeze [now renamed Taming
the Money Monster], Money Matters for Parents and their Kids, Raising
Money-Smart Kids, A Woman's Guide to Financial Peace of Mind, Sneakers
From Heaven, and Storm Shelter. One of Blue's books (Money
Matters for Parents and their Kids) has been endorsed by Gary Smalley (of left-brain/right-brain
pseudoscience fame), another (Sneakers From Heaven) by Chuck Swindoll
(pop-psychologizer and recommender of books by occultists and New Agers), and another (the
1991 edition of Master Your Money) by both Swindoll and Howard Hendricks (self-love advocate).
In addition, Blue not only appears regularly on James Dobson's radio
program (as well as being published by Focus on the Family Publishing -- The Debt
Squeeze:1989), but also serves on the board of directors for Swindoll's Insight for
Living and for Promise Keepers (see later in this report).
- As for Blue himself, it is almost humorous the way he incorporates pop
psychological ideas into his explanations of financial and economic phenomena. For
example:
(a) In a February 1992 Moody Monthly article, Blue discusses the problems associated with the huge amount of consumer debt outstanding. A logical question for Christians would be, "How can I avoid getting into debt, and what are the causes of people overspending?" Blue has the answer: "If we look beyond overspending to the root cause, we often find a low self-esteem [Dobson], or a need for significance or approval [Crabb], which can trigger materialism" ("The Middle Income Muddle," p. 30). (Emphasis added.)
(b) In the August 1991 Focus On The Family magazine, Blue co-authored an article with his wife titled "A Woman's Guide to Financial Peace of Mind." In that article, adapted from the Blue's book by the same name, the Blues incorporate Larry Crabb's "need theology" into their idea of why men and women invest the way they do: "Women tend to be security-oriented in their attitude toward money, whereas men tend to be more motivated by a desire for significance. It's common, for example, for a husband to want to invest in the stock market while the wife wants to pay off the home mortgage. Men are driven more by the need to build something of significance than by the [woman's] desire to provide short-term security for their families" (p. 12). (Emphasis added.)
(c) In the February 1995 In Touch magazine (Charles Stanley's publication), speaking of his latest book at the time (Storm Shelter), Blue exhibits more Larry Crabb terminology: "The Christian who struggles with his or her finances needs to stop and ask: 'Where does my security and significance come from?...'"
- Promise Keepers
is the gigantic new (1991) "men's movement" among professing evangelical
Christians. Its roots are Catholic and
charismatic to the core. PK's contradictory stand
on homosexuality; its promotion of secular psychology; its unscriptural feminizing of men;
its depiction of Jesus as a "phallic messiah" tempted to perform homosexual
acts; and its ecumenical and unbiblical teachings should dissuade any true Christian from
participating. Promise Keepers is proving to be one of the most ungodly and misleading
movements in the annals of Christian history. Nevertheless, Ron Blue is a
promoter of this ecumenical, charismatic, psychologized men's movement -- he has spoken at
PK conferences, has written articles for the PK monthly newsletter, PK promotes
his books, and he is a member of PK's Board of Directors in 1996.
- Blue is quite ecumenical in his associations and speaking appearances. Besides the
previously detailed affiliation with Promise Keepers, Blue was also a scheduled speaker at
CBN's (Pat Robertson's)
11/10/94-11/13/94 "Financial Success in the '90s" Conference (10/92, Charisma,
p. 11; 4/1/96, Calvary Contender).
In addition, in endorsing ecumenical evangelist Luis Palau's 1991 book Say
Yes!, Blue says: "I consider Luis Palau and the LPEA to be one of the vital
forces in world evangelization today. ... The world needs more examples of men like Luis
who with boldness and integrity communicate the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Palau is a Catholic sympathizer whose ecumenical message is heavily diluted with pop
psychology and Arminian
easy-believism.
