In the midst of all the bad economic news there are some positive stories. Like the story of Hal Colston’s Good News Garage in Burlington, Vermont, which repairs donated cars and then makes them available to people in need for as little as a few hundred dollars. Quoted on Oprah.com, Colston said, “In so many […]
Archive | Faith & Finances
Who’s On Your Board of Directors?
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” – Proverbs 15:22 My friend, Brad, calls it their annual “Dixie Fraley talk.” Once a year, he and his wife, Nancy, meet with their personal board of directors, which includes their CPA, attorney, and financial planner. Brad and Nancy reveal their balance sheet, […]
Recession Lessons
The recession is reshaping our financial attitudes and behaviors, and the changes may just stick. An article in Money magazine made that assertion using both anecdotal evidence and the results from several national surveys. The story cited a recent MetLife survey in which nearly 50 percent of respondents said they “already had all the possessions […]
Home Improvement
“I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” – Psalm 119:16 In the mid 1990s, Kevin Bauman began photographing abandoned houses in his hometown of Detroit. It was a creative outlet, a way to express his amazement and concern that “a once great city could find itself in such great distress.” Viewing […]
Nobody’s Fool
“Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?” – Proverbs 17:16 No one wants to be thought of as a fool – not on April first, not at any time. The Bible uses that strong term only a handful of times in regard to […]
The Power of Gratitude
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” – 1 Timothy 6:6-8 Every day of our lives, we are the unwitting recipients of countless messages designed to foster […]
What’s On Your “To-Be” List?
“My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” – Proverbs 7:1-3 The start of a new year always gets me thinking of […]
Never Forget Who You Are
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. – […]
Calming The Anxiety
Not surprisingly, a growing number of people are feeling some economic anxiety. According to Yakelovich, a market research firm, the percentage of Americans feeling high or severe financial anxiety has jumped from 33 percent in January of this year to 61 percent in June. Of course, that 61 percent figure was tallied well before the […]
Staying the Course
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power […]