freeing money
Among the poor, I’ve often encountered extravagant generosity. In the Amazon jungle, locals stretched their meager resources to provide me with daily meals. One evening they prepared fresh monkey stew and though it was not something I cared to eat, it was a costly delicacy for them. Within the slums of Mexico or Indonesia, you’ll often discover individuals who, because they have so little to horde and protect, exhibit the grace of generosity.
tell it to move!
Everywhere I look, there are people facing mountains. High, powerful mountains. Mountains that seem utterly impossible to move.
These immovable mountains are hurting the hearts of many. These mountains come in the form of financial problems for many. Debt so big with no way to overcome it. We do our best to work hard, pay our tithe and offering, pay our debt,…
worn out by money
The Internet is crawling with get-rich-quick schemes—ads that promise loads of cash with little effort and/or skills required. Simply apply the special techniques offered in their training material, and it won’t be long before you’re independently wealthy—or so they say. And you can do it all from the comfort and convenience of your home! Hmm . . .
fast cash
About 30 miles outside of Washington, DC, Heather Kelly noticed what looked like “a snow globe of cash” on Interstate Highway 270. An armored truck had failed to secure its rear door, and the money was airborne. Roughly 30 cars lined the highway as motorists pulled over and tried to grab the $5,700 in bills that had escaped the truck. Kelly recalled, “People had fists full of money, fists full of dollars.”
true value
Johannes Gutenberg had an idea that would change the world, but he needed money to finance it. He contacted his neighbor, Johann Fust, who loaned him the cash to build his first printing press. Gutenberg initially made his loan payments by printing indulgences for the Catholic Church. The job paid well, but Gutenberg had higher hopes for his new machine. He wanted to print Bibles—magnificent books with Gothic letters that resembled a scribe’s meticulous style. But his 1,200-page Bibles took too long to produce and sell, and in 3 years he was bankrupt. Gutenberg handed his press over to Fust, who used it to publish a wide variety of books throughout Germany and France.
second glance
Alex Eklund likes beautiful women. He believes, however, that true beauty comes from the heart and character of a woman. In fact, he says he would “rather have a Proverbs 31 wife than a Victoria’s Secret model.” He posted this comment after noticing the fallout from the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Watching this event prompted some of his female friends to air feelings like these on Facebook: “I’m going to have to hit the gym after this” and “I’m going to starve myself for a week.”
you choose Q: how can Christians cope with life when they're unemployed?
Q: When unemployed how do we as Christians cope with life? —Dorothy
A: Being unemployed can be a very stressful and highly emotional time of life. When you’ve out of work for a period of time, the rejections from potential employers can sap your morale and cause you to lose confidence—wreaking havoc on your self-esteem and self-worth. You can even experience…
in defense of love
Throughout much of 2011, Greece experienced unrest as round after round of austerity measures were passed, reducing pension payments and slashing worker benefits. Listening to interviews on the BBC, I heard shopkeepers and laborers speak of the gloom they felt about their future. Some were angry. Some were resigned. Everyone felt hopeless. Protests escalated. The government convulsed. Greeks expressed anger…
money matters
I was looking at my bank account recently. The dismal amount led me to think about how I could grow my money. You know, as someone in my mid-30s, I ought to have a healthy sum stashed away for rainy days, right? The next thought that came to my mind was: Hmm . . . maybe I should cut back…
our homes . . .
It matters not whether we live in ramshackle huts,
or in luxurious bungalows,
as long as God’s love freely springs from within our hearts,
and we grow wherever it flows.
It matters not whether we live in the hills or mountains,
or along the coasts or river banks,
as long as we live in righteousness until Christ returns,
and always give God glory…
security
The 21st century is turning out to be frighteningly unpredictable. As technology scampers ahead at breakneck speed, companies that were toasted yesterday are today simply toast. The Blackberry has given way to the iPhone, "brick and mortar" bookshops have been pushed aside by amazon.com, and MySpace has been supplanted by Facebook (which is being challenged by Google+). Few businesses can…
the wealthy poor
My close friends Rob and Christi Gebhart and their three young children spent 6 weeks at my home in Uganda this past year. Christi blogged that she and Rob were most moved by the poignant observations their sons made of the Ugandan people.
“Early on,” Christi wrote, “Tyler observed how strange it was that the people with so little could…
opportunity
A cave-in left 33 men trapped deep underground in a copper and gold mine in northern Chile. The men battled despair during the initial hours, when dust from the collapse choked their lungs and cloaked the mine in darkness. They barely hung on over the next 17 days as they prayed for someone to find them. And when they finally…
you choose Q: "why does God choose some to be rich and some to be poor?"
Q: Why has God decided to make some people so rich and prosperous and others poor and not prosperous? —nkeh
A: The Bible makes it clear that possession of wealth involves responsibility, including a responsibility to be compassionate to the poor. But the Bible doesn’t say that all Christians should sell everything they have and give the proceeds to the poor.…
