I am well aware of the conversation and debate regarding the difference between education and training. Many who have heard me speak about exceptionally employable have gently suggested that maybe exceptionally employable is not a good aspiration for a liberal arts university. You know the old stories about liberal arts graduates having to find work in the fast food or…
Lasting life change is what spiritual leadership is all about. Pastors and Christian business people often want to be involved in life change and yet feel frustrated knowing how to establish a church ministry climate where leadership and evangelism passion can flourish. These last seven years, I’ve had the privilege to lead such a place, and I think that God…
This week one of our attendees told me, “I am very nervous about this week’s topic at church. In 1984 at the age of 18, I had an abortion. I already had my daughter and had separated from her father after a violent episode. I know that God has forgiven me…but I haven’t forgiven myself. Do you have any scripture…
Everyone has a unique personality. No problem. Every personality in leadership interacts with other personalities. Now that can be a big problem! In my roughly 30 years of vocational ministry, I have heard (and said!) it many times….”Ministry would be no problem if it weren’t for the people!” I’m sure you are like me in that you’ve had experiences where you…
As we discovered by your homework of last week, the commitments you already have circumscribe your financial freedom, and the priorities you have help to dictate the allocation of resources. You will recall the five short term uses of money: give it away, spend to support lifestyle, repay debt, use for taxes, save or accumulate. Note that lifestyle, debt, taxes…
Practical Guidelines to Spending Money(Adapted from Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions and Eternity, Tyndale House, 1989) Nothing is a good deal if you can’t afford it God isn’t behind every good deal Understand the difference between spending money and saving money Resist manipulative advertising Know that Little things Add up Proverbs 21:20, “In the house of the wise man are stores…
Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower {becomes} the lender’s slave. I have know personally the “cost” of debt, when it was not just dollars and sense, but peace and security. In my list of ten financial principles that will last you a lifetime(from week 3), one of them states that “Debt makes you a servant…
We have discussed a variety of topics these last several weeks. Most of them have been designed to get us to the place where we can have some “free cash flow”. There are really only two sides of that equation: Income & Expense. We have spent the majority of time on the Expense side of the ledger; though we have…
Today’s retirees are the wealthiest in U.S. History. Baby Boomers can reasonably expect to live 20-25 years past retirement. It is literally becoming the “third phase” in people’s lives. In it, you hope to move from “success” to “significance”. Recommend to you Bob Buford’s book “Halftime”, which will both encourage and stimulate your thinking on whether the conept of “retirement”…
Former Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes is reported to have said “I wouldn’t give a fig for simplicity this side of complexity but I’d give my right arm for simplicity on the other side of complexity”. That thought has been rolling around in my mind as I think about transformational leadership for our troubled times. Tension threatens to overwhelm us with…