Hope for your financial life and beyond

There Can Always Be Redemption

November 21, 2014 by 4 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #64 - “For with the Lord there is mercy; and with Him is abundant redemption.” - Psalm 130:7

Andy Dufresne Recently I’ve been talking about some topics that are all interconnected: dealing with failure, making mistakes and asking for help. I’ve been in a reflective mood as 2014 comes to a close. Some great things happened this past year but like the rest of you there are some things that I wish had happened differently.

In my younger days I used to think that every mistake was the end of the world - that there could be no recovery from big time failures. I’m realizing more and more the folly of that line of thinking. There is always room for redemption no matter how hard we might fall.

Not that redemption would come easy mind you. It could be the toughest of challenges to redeem yourself in the eyes of others who have seen you fail. Trust, confidence in and respect for would all have to be earned again.

The possibility of redemption remains a possibility though. Those who understand that can move on. Those who don’t, sink only deeper into an emotional despair. This can be clearly seen in the lives of two of Jesus’ followers who both made mistakes and took completely different routes in dealing with them.

A Story of Redemption

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Inspiration, Vices Tagged With: ,

4 Large and Small Nonprofits I Support Who Are Doing Incredible Work

November 7, 2014 by 7 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #63 - “Go and do likewise.” - Luke 10:37

When my wife and I developed a giving plan in an effort to be more intentional with our giving, we committed to do more than give regularly to our local church. Our first step was to discuss what each of us valued. We then tried to find non-profit organizations whose mission and execution of that mission connected with our values.

give In those discussions we concluded that one of our goals would be to always give to something locally or at least within our region. These donations would help keep us in touch with the needs of our community. They would most likely be to smaller organizations who could definitely use our support.

At the same time, we also wanted to support organizations with a global reach that would have the potential to impact tens of thousands of people. By doing this we felt some of our money could be leveraged by these bigger organizations so that it could have the greatest potential return on our giving investment.

As we enter the heart of the holiday season of the next couple of months, I’d like to encourage you to consider your year-end giving strategy. Non-profits everywhere will be serving people in need and none of that can happen without the support of donors like you and me.

To that end, I’d like to share some non-profits my wife and I have been connected to in our giving and ask you to consider how you might be able to help them, or one’s like them in your local community, fulfill their calling.

Samaritan’s Purse

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Filed Under: Giving, Hidden Nuggets Series Tagged With: ,

On How to Keep Moving On After Failure

November 1, 2014 by 9 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #62 - “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed…That I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart…” - Psalm 27:13-14

Like some of you I’ve been watching the World Series for the last two weeks. My team is not in it so I’m not 100% engaged. But Kansas City is a fun, Cinderella story and my uncle likes San Francisco so I have a passing interest in what is going on.

moving onWhat’s always intrigued me about baseball is how these men deal with failure. Imagine if you failed 75% of the time you tried to accomplish something. Hard to fathom isn’t it? You’d probably give up and at the least have a negative perception of yourself.

Yet that’s what happens to the average baseball player. A .275 batting average is considered respectable in the Major Leagues. Those who hit over .300 for 20 years likely have a chance at the Hall of Fame. It’s remarkable that those enshrined as the game’s best were beaten by the pitcher 7 out of 10 times.

In order to deal with that much failure I’ll bet they have several things going for them:

a short memory…

confidence…

stubbornness (to continue)…

and belief.

Where Does Your Strength to Believe Come From?

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Inspiration Tagged With: , , ,

No One Can Serve Two Masters

October 24, 2014 by 9 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #61 - “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” - Matthew 6:24

you cannot serve two mastersAnakin Skywalker had a choice…the good or the dark side. He found out you cannot serve two masters.

Ben Hur had a choice…his Jewish heritage or Rome’s agenda. He found out you cannot serve two masters.

Scrooge had a choice…profit or Christmas. He found out you cannot serve two masters.

Choices pit one side against another. They require us to move decisively in one direction. You pick a side and go with it, all the while hoping for the best.

There is no middle ground.

There is no playing both sides.

There is no giving 100% to both agendas.

Why You Cannot Serve Two Masters

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Vices Tagged With: , ,

I’m Sick But Still Writing Only Because I Set a Goal

October 17, 2014 by 18 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #60 - “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection…”- I Corinthians 9:26-27

words "sick day" written on sheet of paperI feel awful today. From top to bottom and places in between the body is just not working the way it’s designed. I’m this close to calling it a day and going back to bed.

Yet, here I am at 9:30 am writing a post. Why? All because of the writing challenge I chose to lead and participate in for the month of October. Thirty-one straight days of writing 500 words a day was the goal. I’m a third of the way home at the time of this writing without missing a day.

And I’m not about to let some bodily discomfort and multiple trips to the bathroom stop me now. (In fact, sickness is the one scenario that I suspected might derail my efforts when I announced the challenge. Interesting isn’t it…it’s come true.)

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Filed Under: Goals, Hidden Nuggets Series Tagged With: ,

The Hands of the Diligent Make One Rich (Proverbs 10:4)

October 10, 2014 by 12 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #59 - “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” -Proverbs 10:4

diligentTake a look at your hands.

What do you see?

At first glance I see the obvious - the lines in the palm, the shape of the fingers and thumb, the knuckles and the fingernails. These are the physical features that should clearly stand out.

Yet with closer examination I see something else. These hands represent my livelihood. The way in which I use them determines the course of my life.

I perceive only two possible scenarios for the work of my hands. They can choose to be diligent hands or they can choose to be slack hands. That choice can shape my life.

Diligent vs. Slack Hands

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Work Tagged With: , ,

Proof It’s the Thought That Counts

October 3, 2014 by 13 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #58 - “Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.” - Acts 11:29

two penniesThe reign of Claudius Caesar, the fifth Emperor of Rome, was marked by a series of famines. Several touched the city of Rome, one occurred in Greece and another impacted the countryside of Judea in Israel. It is to the last famine listed that the Bible specifically speaks.

We are told that when this famine in Judea occurred, the leaders of the church decided to send assistance to the region. We can only assume this meant food and supplies, as money would have been quite useless during a time when there was so little to buy. Once accumulated, the supplies were sent to those in need by the hands of the missionaries Paul and Barnabas.

What’s remarkable is that there was no squabbling on who was sending what or how much. The Bible says each person determined to send relief “according to his ability.” In other words, people gave what they could - some gave more…others less.

Thus proving that when giving it’s the thought that counts.

Taking Their Cue From a Poor Widow

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The Do’s and Don’ts of Taking Selfies In Our Narcissistic World

September 26, 2014 by 19 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #57 - “Who would form a god or mold an image that profits him nothing?” - Isaiah 44:10

taking selfiesEarlier this year I stumbled across this news report that blew my mind. A student broke the leg off a valuable early 19th century replica sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan, Italy. He didn’t accidentally bump into the Drunken Satyr sculpture (like my kids might do), which depicts a follower of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, passed out in a drunken state. It wasn’t quite that simple.

The reason the leg broke off was because the student was sitting on it…to taking selfies.

What is the world coming to?

We Live in a Selfie World

There is no denying it. We live in a taking selfies world. The preponderance of people flipping the image-capturing system of their camera 180 degrees to take a picture of themselves by themselves is growing with epic proportions.

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Random Fun Tagged With: , , ,

Give Up to Go Up: Spending Money For Personal Growth

September 19, 2014 by 8 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #56 - “…Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God…” (Hebrews 11:24-25)

give up to go upToday and tomorrow I’ll be immersed in all things personal finance as I’m attending a conference in New Orleans known as FinCon. Finance professionals, bloggers and financial news media from around the country will be engaging one another on the current trends in the industry. I probably won’t see the craziness that might happen at an event like Comic Con or Dragon Con but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.

I’ve read over the past few weeks that some of my colleagues were able to afford the conference trip through travel rewards received from their credit card. I think that’s awesome for them, as they will be getting a nearly free stay in The Big Easy. I’m completely off credit cards though so that option is not available to me.

Once I factor in all the expenses - conference fees for my wife and I, our hotel stay, food and travel expenses from Atlanta - we will spend over $1,000 for this trip. That seems like a lot of money and maybe it actually is for a three-day conference for two.

The more difficult part is that I’ll be missing one of my daughter’s volleyball games and two of my youngest son’s T-ball games. It’s his first season playing so I’m really looking forward to being there for him. Yes, there will be other games but I’m sad at having to miss two of them.

In the end though, shelling out the money and missing family time are all sacrifices I’m willing to make for the trip because this one thing I know…

You have to give up to go up.

Give Up to Go Up

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Leadership, Spending Tagged With: , , ,

An Amazing Offer From the Coolest Inheritance Story in the Bible

September 12, 2014 by 8 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #55 - “And the younger of them said…Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” - Luke 15:12

inheritance in the bibleInheritance in the Bible is a hot topic with the word being mentioned over 200 times. There are some unique and compelling stories that involve the assets of one generation being passed on to the next. We find everything from women receiving an inheritance - which was uncommon in the culture of the time (Numbers 27), a younger brother “stealing” it from another (Genesis 27), and a woman being redeemed in an inheritance transaction by a man who would become her husband (Ruth 4).

Fun, fun stories that show not only how lives can be changed and futures altered but the passion, tension and questions that can surround the wealth transfer process.

For my money, the most memorable passage about inheritance in the Bible didn’t even literally occur. It was a parable, a fictitious story told by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32. While the ultimate message of the story was to expose the corrupt and selfish nature of the religious leaders of the day, it brings other memorable truths that can’t be ignored.

I Want It All and I Want It Now

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Filed Under: God's Provision, Hidden Nuggets Series Tagged With: , ,

Does God Want Me To Attend College?

August 30, 2014 by 26 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #54 - “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” - Luke 2:52

should i go to collegeI’m wrapping up my series on college this week with a rather odd question, something that a high school junior or senior might be asking - “Should I go to college and does God care?” Mom and dad sure have made it clear they think it’s important as they’ve been pounding the table for months to get those applications finished. What about God? Does He even have an opinion on college?

To those with no religious inclination this may seem silly. Why consult a higher power at all about a non-spiritual issue like whether to or where to attend college? I understand that line of thinking.

However, for those like myself with a relationship with God it’s huge for several reasons.

Should I Go to College?

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Filed Under: College, Hidden Nuggets Series Tagged With: , ,