Category Archives: Advice
8 Reasons For Capping Our Standards of Living
18th century British evangelist John Wesley is the inspiration for this post. I first learned about how Wesley capped his own standard of living from David Platt’s book “Radical”: “He identified a modest level of expenses that he was going to live on every year. The first year his income surpassed that level by a small amount, and he gave that excess away.
The next year his income increased, but he kept his standard of living the same, so he had more to give away. This continued year after year. At one point Wesley was making the equivalent of about $ 160,000 a year in today’s terms, but he was living as if he were making $ 20,000 a year. As a result he had the equivalent of more than $ 140,000 to give away that year.”
I am convinced that as long as we believers allow our standards of living to perpetually creep upward, we will never experience the spiritual vitality God has in store for us. I have therefore listed some reasons we should cap our standards of living.
Whitney Houston and the Blessing of Being Ordinary
Most of us knew of Whitney Houston as a world-class entertainer, but we should remember that she was also a daughter, a mother, a friend and a family member to so many others. She was also a role model to millions for much of her life, and very likely a believer in Jesus Christ.
Whitney Houston’s Early Death: What Can We Learn?
There’s much speculation in the media and on the street as to the cause of her death, but what ever it was, it was still a tragedy. Her death should be a reminder to us all of the frailties of the human condition. Even the mighty are not exempt. In John 8:7, Jesus commanded us “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Since we’re all sinners, we’d do well to heed His warning and refuse to join in the speculation.
Does a Second Job Hinder or Help Your Ministry?
I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of pastors in planning for their retirement. As you can imagine, the stories I’ve heard of God’s blessings and faithfulness are really encouraging. I can’t tell you how many missionaries I’ve worked with who are ready for retirement because they consistently saved 10% of their income, even when it didn’t amount to much.
While many pastors and missionaries are quick to share about God’s provision, a lot of them still have very modest incomes. Now there are some churches that can support their pastoral staff with very healthy salaries, but that represents a very low percentage of the pastors I’ve met with.
One of the most common scenarios is to meet with a pastor who is bi-vocational, meaning they serve the church and also hold a job outside of ministry. This is especially true for smaller churches that don’t have the resources to support a pastor full time. It’s always fascinating to hear the line of work a bi-vocational pastor does to support their family while in the ministry. In order to make ends meet, I’ve seen pastors with jobs as web developers, photographers, teachers, school bus drivers, factory workers, accountants, and small business owners.
How To Work When You’re Overwhelmed
As I write this article, I have exactly 32 other things to do that I’ve labeled high priority. In addition, I have 39 things to do that are medium priority. And, lingering toward the end of the list, I have 21 things to do that are low priority.
You might think that I’m overwhelmed. But guess what? I’m not. Here’s how you too can take your productivity to a whole new level while keeping your stress down.
These ideas will work whether you’re running a home-based business or simply trying to be more effective in life or work.
4 Ways To Budget For “Gotcha” Expenses
Budgeting can be difficult at times. Some don’t see it that way. They just put out a budget every month that is exactly the same as any and every other month (what Dave Ramsey calls “the perfect month from heaven”). When we really stop and think, though, we all know that no two months are exactly alike.
What are Gotcha Expenses?
How to Pay Less for College: 6 Ways
When a semester of college can cost more than a parent makes in a year, it is time to look for help. And although the mountain looks immovable, we need to remember that our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. If we know we are in His will for our future, He will provide the needed funds. With that in mind, I’d like to share 6 ways to cut that school bill down without taking out student loans. Graduate debt free!
1. Keep Your Grades Up
I earned a full paid scholarship to the local junior college simply for being in the top 10% of my graduating class. My son will transfer from his community college to university for free for carrying a 3.8 grade point average. A high school student needs to ask his guidance counselor for information regarding any opportunities that exist in his local area.
What is the True Cost of Purchasing a Vehicle?
When shopping for a car, you should look for the lowest price for the best quality. Right? Well, sort of … in the back of your mind, you realize that, all other things being equal, the car which gets better gas mileage is worth more than the one which doesn’t. But how much more?
And what other factors should you consider? Depreciation rates? Cost of insurance? How about maintenance and repairs? If all of this is giving you a headache, don’t despair. Edmunds.com has done much of the work for you, by calculating the true cost for owning any new or used car five years.
I appreciate the work Edmunds has put into their “True Cost to Own” (TCO) projections, but I advise caution about simply taking all of their numbers at face value. You will need to use discernment because some of these numbers will apply to your circumstances and some won’t.
Investment Diversification – Is There a Magic Formula?
If you’ve been investing your money for some time—or at least studying up on the subject—you’re no doubt aware of the importance of diversification. The purpose of diversification is to reduce the risk inherent in investing, which improves investment performance (by minimizing losses) in the long term. Coming up with the right diversification formula then seems like a critical component of any investment plan.
And it is. But the open question is, which formula? No one claims that investment diversification is an exact science, but there are at least a couple of models that have become so common that they’re assumed to be winners.
Fixed allocation. In this model you set a specific allocation, say 60% stocks, 30% bonds, 10% cash, and keep it no matter what happens. Through bull markets and bear markets, you stay faithful to the diversification plan, rebalancing periodically to make sure that you don’t become “overweight” in any one investment class. The advantage of a set allocation is that it imposes discipline on your investment habits in that you’re much less likely to make investment decisions based on emotional factors.
CPF Update: No Internet for a Month?
Getting Started Series
First I want to thank everyone for the great feedback I received about the series. It was great hearing from so many of you about how it helped!
If you have feedback (good or bad) or ideas to make the course more helpful send me an email – I want to hear your ideas!
When I return (more on this in a minute) I will organize the series in an easily digestible format for those who want to go through the whole thing. But for now you can access all the posts in the series by clicking here.
