NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

“Financial Peace” by Dave Ramsey

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Did you know that most Americans retire on an annual income below $10,000? Better yet, do you know why? If you can’t answer the question not too worry. Dave Ramsey’s book, “Financial Peace,” explains why this happens and tells us how to avoid landing on the wrong side of that statistic.

Financial Peace is a reference book, how-to book and biography all in one. Ramsey gives financial advice based on his personal experience instead of what he learned in a classroom. It’s the best “school of hard knocks” book around and his approach has proven so useful to so many that he presently conducts a nationally syndicated daily call-in radio program, regular seminars and a twelve week training program (Financial Peace University) all dedicated to financial health.

But it wasn’t always great for Dave.

Ramsey was on top of the world or so it seemed before going bankrupt at the age of 26. Following popular trends he used borrowed money to invest in more than $4 million worth of Nashville, TN real estate only to realize that unexpected events can change everything. He learned that “high on the hog” can be synonymous with “brink of disaster.” Jaquars, designer suits and even a good name didn’t help much when the banks called in his loans. [Read more…] about “Financial Peace” by Dave Ramsey

John 3 – Evangelism One On One

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Jesus Teaches Us That The Most Important Question Is Not
“What Do You Say To Enquirers?”
But Rather
“How Do You Get Them To Enquire?”

Is your Christian life so compelling that people go out of their way to approach you with questions about Christianity or must you, like so many other Christians, chase people with the Gospel? We are called light and salt and these are elements that hungry searching people are drawn to. Unfortunately, it is not very often people ask us about God. It should be. That happened with Jesus on several occasions. A study of John 3 helps us understand why.

In John chapter 3 a very interesting exchange occurred between a priest of the Pharisees (Nicodemus) and Jesus. In fact, the whole chapter – 39 verses – is dedicated to Nic’s confusion and Jesus’ response.

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What people don’t always point out is the fact that John chapters 2 and 3 go together. Both cover Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem for the Passover which means, of course, what happened in the 3rd chapter was influenced by events in the 2nd.

In chapter 2 Jesus did the appropriate but outlandish thing – He threw everyone and everything involved in commerce out of the Temple. With that action, plus the many miracles He performed, He had everyone guessing. In response many, the Bible says, believed. Everyone else was confused, challenged or chagrined.

What Jesus did was exactly what the common people wanted (I’m sure they cheered Him under their breath) but no one before Him had the courage to take action. Everyone, including the priests, was amazed or shaken. Some priests found Jesus aggravating and they dismissed Him. Others found Him compelling and were drawn to Him.

Enter Nicodemus. [Read more…] about John 3 – Evangelism One On One

Nails, Spit Balls And Intelligent Design

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Michael Zimmerman, a rabid antagonist of Intelligent Design (ID) recently defended, in true zealot fashion, what he considers the crown prince of science, evolution, claiming that ID was dead.

His remarks were motivated by John C. Avise’s article (“Footprints of nonsentient design inside the human genome”) presented at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Zimmerman was elated by the article and his comment was, “the last nail was just placed in the coffin of intelligent design.”

Avise didn’t use those exact words but they do summarize his stated intent.

Simply speaking, the article suggested that imperfections in the human gene code are evidence of chaotic design (my word) and hence ID is out. You can see the full text here.

After reading Zimmerman’s exuberant response I had to see the article for myself. What I found was anything but a funeral. In a few sections the terminology was well over the heads of most down to earth people – very much like academic journals – but for the most part was readable. I’m sure a special effort was made to keep this statement within the intellectual reach of lower life forms. [Read more…] about Nails, Spit Balls And Intelligent Design

“Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman

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Emotional Intelligence is a must read for every parent. It speaks to an area of human development that has huge implications for personal health, relationship happiness and success in business (what every parent wants for their children).

Emotional issues, however, have been mostly ignored up until recent history and current research is scattered here and yon. Goleman brings all the relevant information together in one source and makes the point that emotional health is not only imperative it is possible for all.

The good news is, the information is useful for every person at any stage in life. Whether your children are young adults or prenatal it’s never too late or early. Even older adults have something to gain from this read.

Goleman does what hasn’t been done before, associating intelligence with emotion and suggesting that this kind of smarts is as important, if not more, than the academic kind. In fact, he sites studies that suggest the difference between success and failure has more to do with emotional intelligence (EQ) than it does with IQ. That is actually the opening argument of the book, “Why it (EQ) can matter more than IQ.” [Read more…] about “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman

The 10-90 Rule of Evangelism

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In the last half of John chapter 2 Jesus did some very unusual things. Nothing improper and definitely within the law but very much out of the ordinary. No one saw it coming. He threw everyone and everything involved in commercial activity out of the Temple. We usually say He “cleansed” the Temple but that is just a nice way to say He caused a ruckus.

Taking a homemade whip He drove out all the sacrificial animals and the people selling them. He also turned over the tables on which they were exchanging money and doing business.

At first glance His actions seem a little out of character for the One about whom children sing “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” but it was exactly what the situation called for and served an important purpose. Not only did He right some very serious wrongs but once done He had everyone’s attention. The only people unhappy about this were the religious leaders, who no doubt benefited from the business, but even they could not ignore Jesus after this sensational happening. I’m sure the crowds and the disciples waited with bated breath to see what came next.

And what did He do next? He performed miracles. We don’t know the number but we are told many people, seeing this, became believers.

The interesting thing is, the Bible says Jesus did not commit Himself to any of these new believers. That also seems a little bit out of the ordinary especially for One who was known for disciple making, but the fact is, He hadn’t yet committed Himself to anyone, including the already named disciples: Peter, Andrew, John and so on. It wasn’t till much later (Luke 5) that Jesus called the disciples into full time service and He didn’t appoint the twelve as Apostles until even later.

He waited until the more fractious moments had come and gone like the people of Nazareth attempting to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4) before calling and appointing Apostles. By then they were beyond infatuation. He didn’t want anyone misunderstanding the call to service.

But, we learn a very important lesson about evangelism from what Jesus did here. Even though the time was not right for Him to commit to disciples the time was right for Him to call the masses to salvation, an exercise we usually refer to as evangelism. His approach to evangelism in this chapter is was I call the 10-90 rule of evangelism. Following explains why: [Read more…] about The 10-90 Rule of Evangelism