The Master’s Minute

Recently, our oldest daughter Christie and I had a good conversation regarding the verses found in I Timothy 6:17-19. This passage from the Bible gives a clear call to generosity, in both attitude and action. As I thought more about that conversation, and those particular verses, I was impressed by both the power and the privilege of generosity. Let’s first look at the privilege component. This may be stating the… Read More

I often find myself using the word blessed.  I suspect that we might use this word too casually.  We are blessed when we get a pay raise.  We are blessed when we have a series of warm pleasant days.  We are blessed when a new healthy baby arrives in our family.  We are blessed when we see our children making responsible decisions and then those decisions lead to preferred outcomes. … Read More

John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group, told the following story about writers Kurt Vonnegut and Joe Heller: “They met at a party on Shelter Island. Kurt looks at Joe and says, ‘That guy, our host over there, he made a billion dollars today. He’s made more money in one day than you made on every single copy of ‘Catch 22,’ [Heller’s novel].’” “And Heller looks as Vonnegut and says,… Read More

Here we are at the birth of a new year. 2015 is here already! Typically this time causes us to reflect on what has transpired in the previous year and make plans for the year to come. None of us knows what this year holds, but we do know that life is predictable on one hand yet unforeseeable on the other. If you experience a surprise (good or bad), we… Read More

I have always appreciated gaining the perspective of those around me, especially when I am feeling undue pressure. This fall I took on a big project – building a large deck out of concrete blocks and pavers. The job required a lot of precise measuring, leveling, and grading. I got so wrapped up in the project that at times I was trying to get almost every paver perfectly level. Thankfully,… Read More

Wealth and wisdom seldom go hand in hand, but scripture offers wise instruction for the wealthy in God’s family.   Here are three of those timeless principles. Remember who gives you the ability to create wealth. These are the words Moses used to warn God’s people as they prepared to enter the promised land: You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth… Read More

Either through our own experience or the account of someone we know, we can all recall people who have much less than we do, or who live under unthinkable circumstances, yet their lives are characterized by joyful contentment. I believe contentment is a universal pursuit. Since the desire to be content permeates every area of our lives, let’s take a closer look at contentment. The pursuit of contentment involves choices… Read More

In the late 1990s a small group of Boston College researchers wrote a paper projecting an enormous transfer of wealth via inheritance. They estimated that over 40 trillion dollars would change hands to an inheriting generation within the first 50 years of the current decade. This theory became known as “The Great Wealth Transfer.” Since their writing, other experts have given varying opinions as to the overall amount of projected… Read More

Maybe life for you is routine where each day blends into the next.  Or perhaps the demands of life have made your schedule so hectic that busyness steals time away from you, and you often ask yourself “Where did the time go?” “What did I actually accomplish today?”  Life often feels quite ordinary leaving us to wonder what impact we are making with the life we’ve been given. God has… Read More