Reflections, encouragement, and faith-centered writings
Most of wealth management is about managing and mitigating risks. One of the big risks we often face is losing our ability to make decisions. Disasters come from not being prepared for the unexpected. There are tools available to help us mitigate these risks. One of them is Power of Attorney (POA). The time to prepare is when you don’t have
The big question recently on the market is “is the A.I. revolution a real thing or only a bunch of big companies spending a lot of money making each other’s numbers look good”?
The key to manage and excel is to build an infrastructure within your organization that will encourage ideas and innovations to flow up and reviewed, identify and resolve problems effectively, measure efforts and results accurately and regularly.
This genius of the “And” is demonstrated in the story of the Stockdale principle told in a few of Jim Collins’ books. In the Stockdale principle, they found that the prisoners of war who made it out of the prison are not the optimists, but the ones who can hold both the belief of being free one day along with the brutal fact that they need to manage their dire conditions and survival in prison.
It works in family. It works in business. To create momentum, model the values and practice the principles that are core to you and your business.
As long as we stay within the teaching of the bible, our authority is not of our own, but from God.
Three times Pharaoh tried to negotiate with God, and three times Moses flat out refused.
Walking through grief with Jesus
Admiral Stockdale was the highest ranking Unitied States officer at a prisoner of war camp during the Vietnam War, called “Hanoi Hilton”.He was tortured over twenty times during his eight years of imprisonment.In camp, he developed systems and methods to communicate with the others. They encouraged each other to persist by sending codes at different junctures of the torture experience.
In Jim Colin’s book, Good to Great, the first ingredient of a good to great company is having a level 5 leader.Their definition of that leader is someone with humility and professional will for the enterprise or mission.As much as leadership requires good communication skills, there is a lot to say about being quiet and rolling up your sleeves to work.
This is the premise of the entire psalm. The words “very present” have a footnote that say it can also mean “well proved”. God has proved Himself to be our protection and endurance whenever we are in trouble.
Our whole life we work hard to make a better living, an easier journey with lots of fun with minimal suffering and pain. But each time we find ourselves getting stronger through the time of adversity and not a time of ease.
Speaking is the most effective tool a man has in his arsenal. This is one of the most talked about truths, commands, promises, and powers in the Bible, and I’ve only just started to really see it.
Song playing as the fireworks finished: “I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I am free.And I won’t forget the men who died who gave their lives to me.”
One of my mentors, Rex Renfrow used to say, “Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time. Sometimes you cry.” I was young and full of hopes and dreams. The most difficult things we had to deal with was financial troubles in that season. We never dreamed one day life can make us cry like we have never cried before.
“Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~ Isaiah 41:10
In all that happened, the people would not turn to God. Instead they kept turning to Pharaoh, the one who was putting work on them while simultaneously telling them that they were lazy!
When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me stories about successful investors losing money prior to achieving great fortune. Though I am not looking for great fortune, I am working toward being a successful investor.
I love stories of when people meet God for the first time. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Abraham, Jesus’ Disciples… But Moses is a special case.
God designed our brains like sophisticated computers: garbage in, garbage out. What we repeatedly feed our minds becomes the operating system for our lives.
True leadership, whether at home, in business, or in life, begins with a servant heart. The greatest leaders and the greatest parents are those who give themselves away in love.
Do you have a dream? God gave it to you. Don’t give it up. Give it to Him. He will make sure it is kept safe until the time is right.
Breaking bread is something Christians have always done to bond. In fact, meals appear throughout Jesus’ ministry in celebratory, instructional, everyday, and even miraculous events.
This past Friday, our life group had an unforgettable Easter celebration. We enjoyed a wonderful potluck dinner in my office, filled with great food, laughter, and meaningful conversation. After cleaning up, all of us headed to the elevator together, still chatting and enjoying each other’s company. Since no one wanted the night to end, we squeezed all 15 of us into one elevator.
Sons represent inheritance, strength, authority. Pharaoh knew that taking that away would destroy Israel. But if the son were to remain, then the enemy would utterly fall.
No matter what we do in life, honesty is a cornerstone of everything that truly matters. We must be honest with ourselves, with others, at work, at home, and yes, even at church. Honesty builds trust in our relationships with people, but its deepest importance lies in our relationship with ourselves.
Go to where God is, worship Him, and you will find provisions and growth.
“Can you think of a time when God asked you to make an Isaac offering something that didn’t make sense at the time?”
When we are in jaw dropping worship of Jesus, He will open our eyes to the intimate thoughts of His heart, and in turn, you will have “life more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Growing up in a loving home in Belgium and Poland, young Henri’s life felt almost perfect. Then, at just thirteen years old, his entire world was shattered.
Some things I learned when washing my poncho in the bathtub
Certain things we are not to comprehend on this side of heaven, and that’s ok.
Christ is above all creation, but He humbled Himself so that the Old Covenant might be fulfilled, the New Covenant might be revealed, and so that we can draw near to God, declaring His goodness over us.
Nick Nilson, in his book You Can Live The Dream, writes about releasing the past so we can step into God’s promises for the future. Those words have been echoing in my heart lately.
Numerous factors contribute to financial success: consistent saving, prudent risk management, strategic asset allocation, and avoiding common pitfalls like excessive debt or emotional decision-making. Yet, the single most powerful ingredient remains the time value of money—more precisely, the exponential force of compounding.
A F-15E was shot down on Good Friday over Iran during the recent Iran war. The pilot was rescued pretty much immediately. But the second pilot…
I have the choice to accept what the physical or mental realm is telling me, or I can agree with the Bible which literally tells me that I am as perfect as Jesus is right now.
A bar of gold is worth the same amount, whether it’s polished perfectly or scratched and dirty. It is the same for Christians. When we are doing amazing in life, it’s easy to feel like a million bucks. But when it feels like everything is getting sucked into the toilet the easiest thing to do would be to go with the flow.
I had to learn that my thought life is what controls my emotions, my energy levels, my physical health, my attitude, and my receptiveness to compliments and insults.
Few things in life are certain except, as the saying goes, death and taxes. Yet there is one certainty even more absolute: nothing material or self-made crosses into eternity. No gold, no silver, no bitcoin. No earthly accomplishments. Even our good deeds, if done apart from faith in Christ, carry no lasting weight.
As an investment and financial professional, I often have friends, family, or acquaintances pull me aside to talk money. We dive deep into the weeds: Will gold keep rising? Is the stock market overvalued? Can you help me trade options?
This morning at the White House National Prayer Breakfast, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee shared a moving testimony about losing his wife years ago. His words hit close to home: “The most tragic days of my life were strangely becoming the most transformative. What happened to me, I would never want. But what was happening to me, I would never trade, I began to believe that to the degree a man was broken, he could experience wholeness. To the degree a man experiences sorrow, he can know true joy.”
Every day we make thousands of decisions. Most are small, automatic, handled effortlessly by habit and past experience. Part of becoming an adult is building that internal library of practiced responses: thousands of situations where we already know exactly what to do.
As a dad, when my children rely on me and believe I can do anything for them, it puts tremendous pressure on me to perform. Their trust inspires me to step up in every way possible.
What a Brother we have; that He would think of us before Himself. The dust of the earth or the Son of the Eternal God? He chose you.
Make A Wish Foundation gifted our family of eight an absolutely amazing trip to Orlando, Florida. It has been for years, we had the pictures of Disney’s World on our refrigerator. Whenever, our kids wanted something, we would remind them, we were working towards Disney’s. Automatically, everyone would be refocus again.
Reading Bringing Out the Best in People by Alan Loy McGinnis reminded me: The more we pressure someone to change bad behavior, the less likely they are to comply.
It was in the upper room at the Last Supper, and Jesus had just told His disciples that one of them would betray Him.
Four months ago, our daughter Jessica went home to be with Jesus. She spent a third of her life battling cancer and grew up with periods when even basic needs like complete, nourishing meals were hard to come by. Yet she lived with remarkable joy and purpose. Jessica’s faith in Jesus was extraordinary and unshakable. Her radiant smile and quiet strength, even in pain, drew love and comfort to everyone around her.