Just another day?

Forgotten God

If you know me, you know how much I like Francis Chan. It all started when I heard him speak while volunteering at the Passion Atlanta Regional in 2008. His first book, Crazy Love, is extremely challenging and I'm sure his next book, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, will be as well. The book will be released September 1st. Here's a preview:

How it all started...

I've recently joined Compassion International's Child Advocate Network in an effort to increase awareness. I envision regular postings related to Compassion in the future, but for now I'd like to share how it all started:

I've always been touched by the photos and statistics of children living in poverty, but was never more touched until we had Maddie. There are a multitude of of statistics, but the thought that children just like mine die every 7 seconds from hunger-related causes is unfathomable. Maddie made those statistics tangible -- REAL tangible.

Shortly after Maddie was born, I was reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love. I had mentioned to Emily my desire to sponsor a child. We had talked about it in the past, but never followed through. This time didn't seem any different -- we were trying to figure out whether or not she could quit her job and the goal was to REDUCE spending. I'm pretty sure Dave Ramsey would have suggested holding off.

One day I found myself sitting on the couch reading Francis' chapter on lukewarm people.

"Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it's safe to give, they do so."

That's when it hit me -- If we give up ESPN, maybe we can use the money we save switching programming packages to sponsor a child! And that's what we did.

It wasn't easy -- I experienced a tightness in my chest as I called Dish to switch. A sports-friendly household without ESPN? I felt so un-American. But I knew every time I was missing Monday Night Football I'd be reminded of WHY I was missing it -- for the sake of a child who has SIGNIFICANTLY less than I do.

Now I'm in no way suggesting sports are the devil. In fact, my Troy Polamalu jersey arrived yesterday! It's just that for us, giving up ESPN was a way we could make it happen.

For more information, Email me or check out Compassion International today!

More than Just a Clean Slate

I was listening to a Cornerstone podcast and heard something along the lines of:

Let's say you write a check. There's not enough money in your account. The check bounces. Your bank charges you a fee. Now you owe the bank. You forgot about another check you wrote. It bounces too. You're charged another fee. Now you owe the bank even more!

Let's assume someone notices your struggle to make ends meet. They pay off your debt to the bank. It's just the break you've been waiting for. Now you have a clean slate. BUT if you go to the ATM to withdraw $50, all you're going to see are goose eggs. You still don't have any money. You're still broke!

But what if someone says "Let me sell my house, my car, cash in my retirement accounts, etc. and give you everything I have." This is more than the break you've been waiting for. Not only do you have a clean slate, but that $50 is going to be there!

That's what Christ has done for us. His death on the cross has cleaned our slate and by placing our faith in Him, we have a right standing relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Do you want more than just a clean slate? Click here to learn more.

Crazy Love

Francis Chan's Crazy Love is one of Family Christian Stores' books of the month. It's 50% off! I highly recommend getting it.

For those of you unfamiliar with Francis, check this out:

Certainty in a time of uncertainty...

As a banker, I couldn’t help but share my thoughts on what has been dubbed the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

What started as a "slowdown" in the residential real estate market has led to Government seizures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest bankruptcy filing in the history of the U.S. (Lehman Brothers), an $85 billion emergency loan from the Government to rescue AIG, the conversion of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley into bank holding companies, the largest thrift failure in the history of the U.S. (Washington Mutual), Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia, and of course the unprecedented $700 billion Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fluctuated wildly since its largest one-day point drop in history (777.68 points) on 9/29/08 and was down 40% from its peak on 10/9/07.

All of this has left us with a tremendous sense of uncertainty and while I was reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love last night, I was reminded of what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17-19: "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

I think Paul hit the nail on the head when he warned of the uncertainty of wealth 1,944 years ago. The only thing that was certain then and the only thing that is certain now is God.