Haiti or U.S.?

I recently read an article on www.ac360.com that was very thought provoking.  In it the author, David Gewirtz shares his thoughts and feelings about America helping Haiti long term.  The United States helping its’ neighbors while seemingly neglecting our in house problems has been a long standing arguement.  But, in light of our current economic status and the war in Iraq, what should our stance be?  We have a moral obligation to help those in need at home and abroad, but at what cost?  Tell us what you think…

Haiti is not our long-term responsibility. Detroit is.

First, I’d like to send a good thought to all those suffering today in Haiti, and all their family members here in the United States.

No one can look at the horror of Haiti and not feel both a deep sense of sadness and a desire to help. It seems almost mean and selfish to suggest that we need to do something other than provide our full support to this devastated nation, but that’s exactly what I’m about to do.  Continue reading…

An Alternative to Christmas Gift Giving

This is great information for those of you wanting to donate to a charity or organization, but you just don’t where to start.  This is a great way to donate to those in need on a more global scale.  This also helps us to see the broder picture of  the human condition, not just what we see around us.  With that said, don’t forget local charities that are in desperate need of donations.  Read and be enlightened!

by Bob on December 8, 2009

I love giving and receiving gifts each Christmas, but I have always been intrigued by the idea of financially supporting a cause or a person in lieu of traditional Christmas gift giving. I have heard of families who take their money that they would normally spend on gifts for each other and use it to adopt another family. You can bet a sacrifice like that would really make it a Christmas to remember.

I recently found a site (that has actually been around a while) called GlobalGiving.org which is basically an online marketplace for charities. The site conveniently allows you to donate to any one of countless causes and charities in your neighborhood or around the world.

So if you want your Christmas giving to go to orphans in India, or if you want to donate to help Mothers with AIDS in Africa, or if you want to just give to the poor in your own area, you can do it all from the website. 

A Little Bit on How it Works:

The Process

Here’s how the Process Works

• You browse the website, research causes by topic or location, and pick the one that matches your interests and passions.
• You make a tax-deductible donation and we combine your giving with other generous folks doing the same thing.
• We ensure that at least 85% of your donation is on-the-ground within 60 days and has an immediate impact.
• You get regular updates telling you what a difference your gift is making and the results that have been achieved.
• If you’re not satisfied with your donation for any reason, the GlobalGiving Guarantee provides you with your money back in the form of a voucher for the amount of your original donation.

How efficient are they?

GlobalGiving is rated 4 stars (the top rating) by CharityNavigator.org. According to their website…

“All donations go through the GlobalGiving Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 organization, which receives a nominal 15% fee. This helps cover the cost of operating the marketplace – finding and researching projects, supporting project leaders in the field, attracting donors, and building our website. It also includes the fees assessed by vendors for credit card processing. Donors can choose whether to make an incremental contribution to cover the fee, or to have it deducted from their donation.”

Source:  http://www.christianpf.com/alternatives-to-christmas-gift-giving/

How To Set Your Christmas Budget

I know this may be late, but this is very useful information in preparing and shopping for the holidays.  Be enlightened!

Step By Step Guide for Making Your Christmas Budget

1. Make a long list of everyone to whom you want to give a Christmas gift.

Be sure to include the following groups of people:

• Family – aunts, uncles, children, spouse, cousins, siblings, grandparents, and even the stray dog your brother-in-law adopted.  Include everyone you WANT to give a gift to.
• Co-workers – partners, bosses, co-workers, support staff
• Church friends – Bible school teachers, church staff, grandparent figures
• Community friends – neighbors, fellow volunteers, clerk at the grocery store
• Those who provide services – paperboy, mail man, pizza delivery boy, yard worker, pool cleaner, teachers
• Anyone else – feeling jovial?  Put them on the list.

2. Determine how much you can afford to spend on Christmas.

This calculation can be relatively simple.  How much money can you save between now and December 25th? How many of those dollars are you willing to dedicate towards Christmas gifts?

Christmas Spending Rule:

How much you can afford to spend must be an amount you save in CASH.  This is not an ‘if-I-were-rich-I-would-budget-this’ list. This is how much you actually have to give for Christmas.  If the number is low, that is fine.  Christmas is not about financially crippling yourself so someone can have a pair of socks that will go in the trash before January. Christmas is about expressing love and appreciation.  Both of which can be done without money.  Christmas can be enjoyed without money.  Be sure that your budget is reasonable in relationship to your income.  This can be done by making sure your total amount fits within recommended budget percentages.

3. Prioritize your list from step #1.  Make it a short list.

If married, before prioritizing the list, pray that God will give you the patience to work together – not against each other.

You might want to cut out your Great Aunt Sally, but your wife has given her a gift every year for two decades.  She might want to remove a business partner who doesn’t deserve anything, but you want to grease that relationship.  This process could be painful, so prayerfully get on the same page before you start.

At this stage you are just going to separate each name into three groups – paid gift, made gift, no gift. Since you know how much you can afford to give you will have a better sense of how many people can be on your paid gift list.  Knowing your time, available you can limit your made gift list. The others – no gift, but perhaps a Christmas card.

4. Assign and complete necessary preparations.

Paid Gift List:

Beside each name on the paid gift list, assign a budgeted amount.  For example, dad might get $50 and cousin Steve $25.  Be sure that total does not exceed the amount in Step #2.  The only rule here is you cannot overspend that amount on that person.  Here are 8 tips to save money on your Christmas shopping.

Made Gift List:

What will you make?  Cookies and other Christmas treats are a great idea for close friends, neighbors, and colleagues.  For family, a customized card with a picture of the kids will suffice.  Need some guidance?  Here is a list of 50 Personalized Christmas Gift Ideas.

No Gift:

If they made it on your first list you might just send them a personalized card.

Merry Christmas Uncle Joe.  We just wanted to let you know that you are a special part of our family.  Thanks for all the time and attention you give to our kids.  We’re blessed to have an uncle like you.

5. Make the budget work.

Don’t spend more than you budgeted.

If your budget is tight, you will need to capitalize on a free valuable resource – CREATIVITY.  Creativity must be combined with another necessary ingredient – TIME.

Time + Creativity = Awesome Valuable Christmas Presents for a Lower Price

How do you set your Christmas budget?  How soon do you start saving money for Christmas?

Source:  http://www.christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-christmas-budget/

How Much Money Does a Christian Need?

This is a tough question to answer because it is different for every person, but I like to think that the answer for most of us should be “a lot”.

The reason shouldn’t be to squander as much money as we can in our lifetimes, but should be to be good stewards with what we’ve been entrusted and help advance God’s Kingdom. If we really understand that all of “our” money is really not “ours”, but God allowing us to manage it for Him, it really changes the perspective of things.

And if we consider it all in light of eternity, I would much rather, “store up treasures in heaven,”(Matt 6:20) rather than down here for a very brief 100 years.

Christians need more in order to give more

Personally, I want to earn a whole lot of money over the course of my lifetime and see how many lives can be blessed by it. As I am starting to mature a bit, buying stuff just doesn’t create the thrill it used to. How much better would it be to use that cash to spread the message of the gospel, to love those who don’t know what love is, and to meet needs that need to be met.

Money and a heart

I read this quote over at the wisdom journal the other day…

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions; he had money as well.

–Lady Margaret Thatcher

While it is true that you can do tremendous things to help people when you are broke, it is also true that money (when used wisely) can be used to amplify the effect. As I was reading over the parable of the Good Samaritan I noticed that the most important thing he did, didn’t require much money. He helped bandage his wounds and took care of him for a day.

But the next day he paid someone to take care of him until he returned. Not much different than paying someone’s hospital bills – right? What if he had been lazy with his work the previous 10 years? Do you think he would have had the extra cash to pay for someone’s medical expenses?

Personally, I take this as a challenge to get myself out of debt and to get ready for opportunities to give. If the Good Samaritan would have been living paycheck to paycheck, he probably wouldn’t have been able to pay for the bandages, let alone the extended medical care.

Getting ready for the opportunity

We all know that the Love of money is the root of all evil, but on the other hand I have written before about how not making the most of what God has given us is a dangerous place to be as well. For me this has meant becoming a diligent steward of my money, paying off debts, working hard at my job/career, and asking God to provide more seed for the sower! Like I said at the beginning, the answer is different for everyone – but I encourage you to always strive to maximize your gifts to benefit God’s Kingdom. Remember, the Good Steward was presented with the opportunity when he was ready for it. I wonder what opportunities lie ahead for us as we get ourselves ready?
Source:  http://www.christianpf.com/page/4/

Keep the Top Up: Materialism and Christianity

This is a guest post from Bill Provenzano who is a 20‐year veteran commodity trader of the CME. He is also the founder of Upside Breakout, a biblically based coaching and mentoring program for Christian stock and commodity traders. Find out more at ChristianTradingCoach.com.

I used to love going to the underground parking garage of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or the Merc, when I began trading there in 1991.  Four floors of underground parking held some of the most expensive and sexy automobiles I had ever seen.  Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, they were all there in abundance.  Those visits to the CME parking garage were my inspiration for success.  It was one thing to see those cars on car lots dotted throughout the suburbs.  But to know that I traded next to and with the owners of those fine automobiles made it more tangible, more attainable.

I used to dream of the day when I would drive my some‐day‐I’ll‐own‐it‐ two‐seater convertible Mercedes from the suburbs into the city, stealthily dodging the early morning traffic.  And when the market closed at 2pm, I could just see myself taking the elevator down to “P3” where my freshly washed red chariot awaited the comfortable drive home in the summer air, top down of course.

But something funny happened on the road to wealth. My early struggles as a trader were not just about making enough money to survive on. I overcame that hurdle after the first couple of years. My struggle revolved more around how not to compartmentalize my faith and my career.  I wanted to be not just successful, but wildly successful.  That was certain. But my focus on material wealth continued to cause me inner static that I could not ignore.  

Various and specific Biblical principles began to shape my mind and change my heart about material possessions at the time that my trading success began to escalate.  In my study time, I formed what I call Scripture Links between very specific Biblical principles and precepts that, when taken as a whole, create a wonderful tapestry of God’s instructions and promises.

Breaking the grips of materialism

One specific Scripture Link was instrumental in breaking the stronghold that materialism had on me…

In John 15:7, Jesus said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”  “AMEN!” I shouted when I first read that.  Who wouldn’t?  Just spend time with God, “remain in Him”, and we get whatever we want?  I know what I wanted – a red convertible two‐seater Mercedes.  Bring it on, God! But hold on a minute.  There is a bit more to the promise that cannot be ignored.  Let’s take a peek at the next verse, verse 8: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciples”.  “Okay, I can live with that”, I thought.  What I ask for should enable me to bear much fruit.  Well, a convertible could take me to church, that’s a good thing, right?  And maybe I could use the car to pick up a visiting missionary form the airport.  That’s got to be a good thing.

Further Bible study brought me to a Scripture Link that opened my eyes in a new kind of  way.  The Scripture Link is found in Romans 14:26‐28.  Here, Paul describes that he is on his way from Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem where he will bring the contributions for the poor given by the Macedonians and the Achaeans.  Paul says that the Macedonians and the Achaeans were “pleased to make a contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem” (Romans 14:26).  And again, “They were pleased to do it” (Romans 14:27). They were pleased “to share with them their material blessings” (Romans 14:27).  But here is the part that struck me hard.  This was my “Aha!”’ moment: “So after I (Paul) completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit (emphasis added), I will go to Spain and visit you on the way” (Romans 14:28).  Did you catch that?  Sharing material blessings, (yes, money) joyfully, counting it as a privilege; this is truly bearing fruit!

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciples”. God’s desire is for us to remain in Him, to have our hearts connected with His.  When we get there, God can confidently say that He will give us whatever we ask because our heart’s desire is wrapped up in His.  It is at this place in the relationship that God can trust us with that promise.  It is at this place in the relationship that we will bear much fruit.  After the discovery of this Scripture Link between John 15:7 and Romans 14: 26‐28, my heart began to slowly change.

My visits to the underground parking garage at the CME became less frequent.  Instead, my eyes become ever more opened to the needs of the poor and hungry around the world.  Over time, I came to understand the joy of giving material blessings, (yes, money), and God was faithful.  My prayers, my “asking whatever I wished”, focused less and less on what I could spend on me.  In fact, it was around this time that Trading Account Giving Goals, TAGGs I call them, were born.  TAGGs are goal‐setting mechanisms that specifically revolve around giving away increasingly larger portions of my income while challenging me to maximize my trading results.   

I never did buy that Mercedes, even though I could have. Rather, I continued to drive a rusty 1991 Honda Accord with over 150,000 miles on it.  I used to joke that I was afraid to wash it because the dirt was all that held it together.  The guys at work used to have a field day when they saw me in that car.  

Certainly God is not against any of us driving a luxury car, as long as we can afford it.  God is the giver of all good things.  If a Mercedes is in your driveway, I say, “God’s blessings to you!”  But for me, God knew a severe change of heart was needed.  The focus of my desires needed to change.  As my trading success flourished, so too did the focus of my desires. God showed me a way to harness my desire to set goals and achieve higher profits for a higher purpose.

Source:  http://www.christianpf.com/page/6/

5 Lessons from the Garden about Fruit Bearing

The Fruit of the Spirit

by Bob Lotich

Who doesn’t want to be more loving, joyful, at peace, patient, kind, full of goodness, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled? Each of those are the fruit that the Bible says we should be bearing (John 15:16). I know I would love to see each one of those more in my own life – wouldn’t you? So, what do we need to do to bear more fruit?

1. Fruit needs water in order to reach it’s fullest potential

You can probably ask your five-year old how to take care of a plant and they will tell you that it needs water to survive. And if you have ever kept a garden, you have surely realized that if only water it once a week during the summer months your harvest is going to be much smaller. On the other hand, if your plants are recieving frequent and consistent waterings, the plants are going to be stronger and the fruit is going to be better.

Psalm 1:3 (NIV) - He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

2. Good soil is very important

The soil contains a lot of the nutrients that cause the growth of the plants. There are tremendous differences between good soil and bad soil. This was one of the reasons I said that good potting soil was one of my 10 things worth spending more on. We need to be spiritually receptive to allow the seeds of God’s word to grow and develop the way they should.

Matthew 13:23 (NIV) - The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

3. Death brings life

John 12:24 (NIV) – I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

We must die to ourselves and our own desires and submit to God’s plan. In doing so, like the above verse states, we will bear much fruit.

4. Pruning produces more fruit

I am by no means an expert gardener, but I have found this one to be true. It doesn’t make sense while you are doing it, but the results prove its effectiveness. God is an expert gardener and He knows which areas of our lives can be pruned to make us more effective. It does hurt, but the end result is beautiful.

John 15:2 (NIV) – He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

5. A branch can’t bear fruit separated from the plant

That is a no-brainer right? Well, I don’t know about you, but I have caught myself trying to do that in my own life. I will find myself trying to accomplish things in my own strength rather than “abiding in Him.” All the fruit that we will bear in our lives will be a result of us being connected to our source: God. Just like a severed branch can bear no fruit, neither can we bear any fruit if we are not abiding in Him.

John 15:5 (NIV) – I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Source:  http://www.christianpf.com/page/2/