Tithing/Charitable giving

A bit of history on the word “tithe”:

It is from old English and literally means: “one tenth of one hundred” or ten percent; this has been most frequently used by churches to denote the portion of your income you should “give” to God. (Whether you practice/believe in this or not is not what this post is about; just thought I would give you a background on the word–so please, do not spam me to death!)

This is one of the most difficult concepts for people to grasp, yet one of the most important. If you do not believe me, just try it. Find a charity that is dedicated to helping people and go see it–that’s right, go see where you are thinking about giving your money to.

Once you find one you feel comfortable with, start making donations to them on a regular basis. After three-six months evaluate your finances and your own well-being and see if you aren’t doing better and/or feeling better about yourself. (There are food banks/homeless shelters in just about every city in the world, just do a quick search or ask around. It certainly does not have to be a food bank that is just a suggestion; give where you feel you are meeting a need.)

No matter where you decide to give, I would caution you to find out what they truly do with the money; ask to see their annual report or simply send your gifts/donations with a note attached stating how/where you wish the funds be used (this is not full-proof, check this article, however a written statement can be considered somewhat binding). You might even write your wishes on the check, in the memo line.

When you find a charity that you are comfortable with, make a commitment to yourself to give a set amount from every paycheck that you receive to this charity. Ideally ten percent is a good number, but if you feel overwhelmed by that, give five percent to start. (One reason I think a food bank is a great place to start is you can ask them how much a meal costs them on average, then figure out how many meals you are providing with your gift.)

I know by this point I have lost some of you; you are thinking “Why on earth would I do that? Give away my hard earned money?”

Call it what you will, but I like to think of it as a way to honor those who have helped you get where you are. Whether you want to admit it or not, someone helped you get everything you have (I know, I know, the Western mindset is “I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, etc, etc.”)

Look, whether you believe in God or a higher power or not: somebody gave you a break, someone took a chance on you for that job, someone helped you out in school, someone spoke up for you, someone offered you a promotion…do I need to go on?

Think of this as a way to honor them, and a way to help someone else out with what you have–you worked hard to get it, which makes giving it away that much sweeter.

Do this as a direct reduction of your income, not as an expense–which means do not include this in your budget (do it that way and it becomes much easier to part with.)

I would not include this in your 50-30-20 plan, you will find it much easier to give if you treat this like you are treating income tax and other automatic deductions from your paycheck (i.e. employee benefits–health insurance, 401k’s, etc).

You can give your time too, but it will not feel the same as giving away your cold hard cash…you can stop clutching your wallet now!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Missed a post? Catch up here!

The “B” word

Part Duex

Say Wha?

Related posts:

1. Say wha?

It’s happening as we speak, er type, er read, um….

Just know that it is happening, the Revolution. Most of us do not realize it, but it’s coming; a wave of anarchy…

“What in the world are you talking about Josh?”

“Who me? Oh, I don’t know anything…”

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Thanks Brian @ briansawyer.net

What is Christian Apologetics? Why does it matter? As a Christian should I even care about arguing? Shouldn’t I just live right, accept Christ, and love my neighbor?

The answer to all those questions is yes. Let me explain.

Christian Apologetics — the branch of theology that is concerned with the defense of Christian doctrines

While I don’t want to sound like a used cars salesman (my apologies if you sell cars), to properly answer the importance of apologetics within the Christian faith you must understand your clientele and their needs. Please don’t mistake my casual analogy about clientele as I desperately care about soul winning and the eternal resting place of all humans. I just feel that, in order for apologetics discussions to do more good than harm, one must first assess the spiritual status of the folks to one is witnessing.

For the sake of length I am going to divide all non Christians into two groups. Those who are broken and somewhat ready for salvation and those who condescendingly sit perched among intellectuals in ivory towers waiting for Christian “slip ups.” I do understand that this grouping is somewhat of a stereotype among non-believers and that individuals can fall anywhere between these two (I also understand that some might have chosen other religious paths). I simply generalize for the sake of time. Based on my personal feelings, after one grasps a general understanding of where their non-Christian counterpart stands, one can tailor their witnessing game plan.

Let’s examine an atheist and what is mostly going to work when witnessing to them (I would probably not call it witnessing–interfaith dialogue might be more accurate). With a deep desire to disprove the existence of God, most atheists will give little merit to faith and what “feels” right to the Christian (Can you blame them?). They adamantly let you know that your personal emotion and experience means nothing when trying to factually prove the existence of a higher being. So, in this instance, I personally feel that the best way to approach this type of non-believer would be to use Classical or Evidential Apologetics to formulate several examples of the existence of God according to science and leave personal salvation stories for another day.

Now I shall move to the lost, broken, and used-up person whose body is riddled with AIDS (trying to paint a picture). What does this person care about? Do they want to chat about Eschatology, 5 Point Calvinism, Moral Law, or Evolution over a cup of coffee? Or do they want to experience the overwhelming grace and forgiveness offered by a Savior who loves her more than anything they can imagine? The only question they want answered is, “Is there any chance God can forgive me and love me?” Once they hear those words they will, most likely, never give a thought to anything God did or didn’t do, other than saving them. Their Deity-seeking attitude will have been created by the amazing grace they received knowing good and well they didn’t deserve it. This simple story reminds me of Romans 4:1-8 where Abraham is made righteous simply because of his faith. So, it is absolutely plausible to be made righteous by just believing. While I love Christian Apologetics, some Christians need to remember that some people just want to be loved.

What about the body of Christ? Is there a need for apologetics to strengthen believers (besides the obvious of witnessing to atheists)? Absolutely! I do understand the controversy that can arise when a group of believers get together and start talking about Theistic evolution. I, personally, don’t believe this theory, but does it really change foundational Christianity? Also, I do understand how difficult it might be to challenge yourself and to dig deeper in hopes of finding out more about the God who created you, allowed you to fall, and then rescued you. Simply relying on your initial faith “jump” in accepting Christ will only go so far when you must get into the trenches of soul-winning–which, I might add, is part of your calling in the body of Christ. It is quite obvious Paul felt this way. You can certainly find evidence throughout the New Testament. One example that comes to mind is in Philippians 1:15 where he talks about defending the gospel.

I simply bring up Christian Apologetics because I feel many people get side tracked in their quest of ultimate defense. I love nothing more than a good debate, but we must realize that living a happy, productive and righteous life is the best example of all. Remember, don’t pound lest you push away and don’t be unequipped lest you embarrass yourself. Study hard and love even harder.

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Going on vacation?  Never get lost with your GPS!

Hungry, but not sure where to go eat?  There is an app for that!

The problem is, some of these so called advancements have moved us back a step in being normal and closer to being one of the fat guys in a floaty chair on Wall-E.  Also, some technology is just stupid.  Kind of like “Jersey Shore”.

Here is a list because that is what blogs like this do.  Enjoy it.  Or not.  Whatever.

1. No touch faucets

I get that this is a more sanitary way to handle a public restroom as holy crap public bathrooms are gross.  I am cool with being clean.  My issue is that I have to do some ritualistic water dance to make it spray lukewarm water on my hands for .26 seconds.  Then it stops spraying and you have to do the dance to get it to start back again.

2. The burger cooking thing

I have to be honest, I have no idea if this is real or not.  This is also not really a tech thing but look at this piece of stupid.  I think it cooks meat with exhaust fumes which has be to good for you.

3. Motorized ice cream cone

For all those times that you want ice cream, but not the hassle of actually turning the cone.  You still have to hold the cone to you mouth though so this is still too much work.

4. USB Necktie Fan

So, I found this on this site and I think they sum it up best.  Thanks google translate!

S rooms are air conditioned, because of the tie, but shirts do not fit in the air this season not quite cool. At that time, USB necktie cooler be used to, so send me the basis for air force head, quickly cool down your body was hot! ! Father as a gift, what do?

5. Avatar

Remember back when we first started hearing about this and how technology just was not ready for this kind of film making?  Yeah, let’s go back there…

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The percentages are meant to be thresholds, or guidelines–don’t freak out if you find your breakdown to be closer to 70-30-0 or 70-40-0 or even 50-50-0 (however if your breakdown is 70-40-0 you are spending 110% of your income!). 50-30-20 is more of a benchmark, or like the lines on the road–if you cross over the white line a bit your car isn’t going to instantly explode (imagine if it did!).

The most important of the three is definitely the “Wants” portion. Like I mentioned in the previous post, I would caution you to maintain a level of no more than thirty percent of your income going to this category–the one exception would be if you have no debt, in which case forty percent is the ceiling I would suggest.

So what about the “Needs”?

There is no “magic” number, but keeping your “Needs” below fifty percent of your income is a good rule of thumb; however I know sometimes it may seem that you are barely meeting your needs. Again, don’t freak out if your needs are closer to sixty/sixty-five percent of your income; chances are you can look at ways of reducing this or reducing your “Wants” until you improve this category (i.e. pay off a credit card or student/car loan–your “Debt” portion should be helping with this).

Where I would suggest you seek some serious guidance is if your “Needs” exceed say seventy-five/eighty percent of your income–in which case it may be time to make some difficult decisions (i.e. move to a place with lower rent or get a second job).

Finally, the “Debt” portion. I know twenty percent seems like a lot, but the results are worth it. While you may not be able to devote the full twenty percent to start, if I were you I wouldn’t sacrifice this in order to prop up my “Wants”–meaning if your “Wants” are forty percent and your “Needs” are sixty percent, worry more about cutting ten percent from your “Wants” than from your “Needs”.

By the same token, if your “Needs” are fifty percent and your “Wants” are fifty percent, try to cut the entire twenty percent for “Debt” from “Wants”–or ten percent for “Savings” (remember, once you have no debt this plan can be modified to the 50-40-10/Needs-Wants-Savings plan).

More to come…

Related posts:

1. The “B” word, part duex

Name your price.

What’s your salvation worth? Wait, how about your soul? At what price would you choose to stop following Christ and start following someone or something else? (Because trust me, we are all following someone or something; and by following I mean worshipping.)

Don’t believe me? Take a look around.

What does your neighbor worship? I’m being serious, stop and think about it.

Now, hopefully most of us do not have neighbors with idols in their backyards where they make sacrifices on an altar; but how often are they outside washing and polishing that ‘67 Super Snake in the driveway? (Speaking of which, that has to be my ultimate car. Ahem, sorry for drooling on your screen…)

Or maybe they have the “perfect” yard? (You know, the one that makes you not want to do anything to yours; just so you’ll have an excuse.)

Perhaps they have a sixty foot Raiders’ flag flying proudly (ok, let’s be serious because you and I know there are no Raiders fans left out there who are brave enough to show it). All it will take is about a ten minute conversation with them to find out what they are worshipping (or an quick look at their browser history).

You want to get real serious? I’ll tell you what I worship. Success. Yeah, I just admitted it and I know what you’re thinking, “But wait, you’re a Christian?”

Yes, I am.

I believe Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the one true God–”I am that I am”. Furthermore I believe that Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary of Nazareth, was and is the Messiah (Christ). He was born in Bethlehem and gave His life as a sacrifice for all mankind’s sins; yet was raised by His father (whom I now call Abba Father) from the grave and I am awaiting His return.

However, I am also human; and so are you. I am far from perfect and fail every day. I ask for God’s forgiveness every day. My mind and body are at odds with my spirit and soul. We wage war daily concerning whom we will serve, and what we will worship.

Jehovah or Success

Am I saying you cannot have both? No. But in a way you cannot. You see, as a Christian all success is His–but I digress.

Ok, what was this post about again? Oh yeah, what would it take to get you to make this statement?

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By: Yutaka Tsutano @ yutaka.tsutano.com

Being the only geek (I am not referencing any geeks outside of the We 3 Geek blogosphere) that has an iPad I feel somewhat obligated to talk about it. And from what one of my cohorts believes, the iPad is nothing more than a shinny paper weight. Okay, he doesn’t feel that much hatred towards the device. Well, maybe you should read his post about Smarty Phones.

Shortly after buyers remorse set in, my wife made it quite obvious that she wanted me to find good use out of this new toy. I said, “whoa tiger, lets not get crazy–look how shinny!” Did I mention my wife is pregnant and decided to leave something shinny on my face. She hits hard for girl.

Shortly after I woke up (not from a nap but from a left hook) I decided it was time to buckle down and see what actual value could be found within the iPad. Naturally, I started with where I work and what I do the most. After browsing the internet for two hours I realized I could never approach my wife and tell her the iPad created a great internet browsing experience. So, I decided to sit down and think. When I was finished I flushed the toilet and said a quick prayer. Then, out of nowhere, an idea rushed into my head (surprisingly reminiscent of what I think happened during the flood, the biblical flood. You know, water out of no where flowing out…IDK). Yeah, that’s it. A portable blogging device. No, this is much better than a net book or small computer–though very similar. Let me explain.

$50 later and an even more mad wife, I am proud to say that I believe the iPad is a great tool for bloggers.

Before I jump into talking about the obvious apps and why they are life changing, I want to talk about the iPad itself. For me, the size is perfect. When blogging on my Droid I feel somewhat limited in my sight. The iPad has a beautiful screen that is proportioned properly. Scrolling feels very smooth and somewhat futuristic making the experience very enjoyable. When I say portable, I mean portable. Minus the weight (which is still very light), the iPad resembles a small magazine and makes travel very simple. It feels pretty hardy, thought I wouldn’t test it’s durability. In my experience, the battery life is great. I have personal experience of the batter life lasting about 9 working hours, which is better than my laptop or any net book I have heard of. For an in-depth review you should virtually hop on over to this ipad review.

Now, on to apps…

1. WordPress App (FREE) – Kinda obvious, I know. When I mentioned this to my wife she made me feel smaller than ant. So, I apologize if this one is a given. Regardless, this app does what it’s supposed to do, blog. Nothing extremely fancy, but the ground work for excellence is definitely in place.
2. BlogPress ($2.99) – Okay, I must be completely honest. I have never used this app and the reviews aren’t great. Nonetheless, the concept is good. I am adding a video for those who are interested.
3. Dragon Dictation (Free) – Only because talking into the bottom of magazine sized device is normal, right? Seriously though, after a little practice this tool is very effective. Some text edits are inevitable, but all in all it is a great blogging app. By the way, disregard the funny looks you get from people. Why I get funny looks I tell them to go poop in their hand.
4. NewsRack ($4.99) – Though a little pricey, it is my favorite RSS reader. I love the split screen with my feeds on the left and the actual post on the right. It has a built in browser which makes it easy to go to the authors actual website. This app is extremely important to me. It’s almost my idea think box. I can easily keep in touch with the blogosphere without spending hours going to each website.
5. Note Taker HD ( $4.99), Sundry Notes Pro ($4.99), Penultimate ($2.99) – Surprisingly, there are still hundreds of other options. What keeps drawing me to these apps is the use of a stylus and their flexibility. Now, to talk about why note taking is important. Most of my ideas come when I am not near my desktop or electronic device. At times I am using my wife’s lip liner to jot down a few notes on the napkin. Not any more. I get my thoughts down using my iPad. There is no need to worry about what other think. Soon, everyone will by using “iPad type” devices to pay bills, study in school, and give business presentations. With the advent of the iPhone 4 and Droid X everything is moving more mobile. I have added a cool pic of me writing on my iPad. How cool am I?. I hope this is the future lest I just look really, really dumb.
6. BrowserNotes ($1.99) – BrowserNotes lets you take notes while browsing the internet or reading PDF files. This is great fro brain storming ideas and research.
7. Photogene ( $3.99) – One of the best around. No, it is not as good as photoshop, but who can honestly expect that on the iPad. With Photogene you can crop, sharpen, resize, fix red eye, add filters such as blur, and so much more. This app is great for adding photos to your blog. And if you haven’t heard, photos are kinda a big thing.

Do you have any special apps that we should try? Any apps to make the blogging experience better on the iPad?

No related posts.

Take your basic income minus expense budget discussed in the last post (which incidentally is exactly how the government works; except the crazy thing with them is they try to make sure they spend every dime of income they receive; i.e. “balance the budget”–sound crazy to you too?), and let’s take a closer look at it.

Again, I realize that there is a lot of information out there regarding budgets and budgeting tips; but everyone is different, so everyone’s budget should be different.

That being said, there are a few rules of thumb that I think are important to follow, and today I am going to look at the first:

It’s called the 50-30-20 rule. It breaks down like this: fifty percent of your budget should be dedicated to “needs”, thirty percent to “wants”, and twenty percent to “debt”. So, you can call it the 50-30-20 rule or the “Wants, Needs, Debt” rule.

Take a look at your expenses (which should be easy because you have that handy list of expenses for your last month nearby!) Now, place each expense into one of those three categories (Wants, Needs, Debt). This may prove difficult, as “wants” and “needs” can become very confusing; so to help let’s break it down like this:

First we have needs, simple right? What you need to get by right?

A place to live, food, clothing, transportation, insurance, iPhone, Starbucks, TV…

Hold it! Do you really need a cell phone, cable/satellite TV, or Starbucks?

Cell phone? Maybe. I would argue that you do need a phone, and as I do not have a home phone (i.e. land line) I would argue that I need my cell phone; however I do not need text messaging, mobile internet, or a new ring tone every two weeks. So, break that down with your monthly plan (i.e. $39.99) as a “need” and the little extras you pay for as “wants”.

I’m not even going to touch the Starbucks (if you think it’s a need then you probably should leave now, and never return…I’m serious….why are you still here?…fine, have it your way).

Regardless of how you want to argue it, cable/satellite TV is not a “need”; you could live without it, so place it in the “want” category.

Needs are best described as true necessities:

Rent/Mortgage (homeowner’s fees, insurance)
Health insurance (if it isn’t deducted from your check)
Utilities (electricity, water, sewer, etc)
Groceries (again, double stuff Oreos are more of a want, but I digress)
Transportation (car+gas+insurance/mass transit or however you get around–hovercraft anyone?)

Clothing (dry cleaning/replacing what wears out, not shopping sprees to Saks!)
Credit Card/Student Loan/etc minimum payments (yes, if you don’t believe me—don’t pay them for a couple of months and see what happens!)

What are wants then? Why everything else of course! (Include eating at restaurants here, unless you are required to eat out…yeah, not too many can claim that; so most meals at a restaurant are a “want”.)

Great, we have taken care of that; let’s see we’ve got:

Needs? Check

Wants? Check

…oh yeah, the “D” word. Debt.

Debt can be summed up as this, anything you pay on a loan above the minimum amount due. What’s a loan? Well, for starters: mortgages, student loans, car loans, personal loans, credit cards…wait, a credit card is a loan? Yep. It’s nothing more than a short term loan. (albeit at a great rate for the first 21 days!) So, if you have a balance on a credit card, it’s a loan. If you have been paying extra on any of your loans it goes here; if not, it’s okay—we just have more work to do.

Now, just in case there is someone somewhere out there, some fiscally responsible person who amazingly has no debt whatsoever; what are you doing reading this blog?

Wait! I’m kidding! I have one thing to say to you: Way to go! (And can you spot me $50 bucks? I good for it, I swear!)

Now, what to do with your twenty percent? Well, my suggestion would be to take half of it (ten percent) and start putting it into savings; either for retirement or just into an interest bearing account (even if it is only paying two-three percent).

The other ten percent? Have fun! Do whatever you like with it! You earned it! (which should be everyone’s goal!)

Until next time…

Related posts:

1. Say wha?
2. The “B” word…

Basically this.

I didn’t know they hired the original Veggie Tales animators from the 90′s to make a new generic Hulk movie.

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Need I say more? If you do not have a budget, you will never ever have any wealth or peace of mind financially. Even a billionaire will eventually end up on the street without a budget!

They are a way of life (or at least should be) for anyone who wants to control their money, instead of being controlled by it.

For those of you who claim to not have enough time to deal with a budget; you do.

At first, it may take a good bit of your time just to keep up with your budget; however the good news is as time goes by it gets easier (not really, you just become more adept!).

So, if you have a budget already–good for you; if not? Get one. Not tomorrow, not next week, today. A Google/Bing search will turn up some simple yet very useful budgets already set up for you.

There is also plenty of budgeting software out there; some free, others you have to pay for. However, I would suggest when starting out you keep it simple–even something handwritten will do!

No clue where to start? Just start at the beginning of the next month and write down every penny you spend (yes, not an easy thing to start doing; but it is worth it, trust me!) A program such as Microsoft Excel will help (or do what I do and use Google Docs, they have a great spreadsheet program that allows you to enter and save your expenses from anywhere–even your “smarty phone”!). Once you get a month (or more) worth of expenses you can see where you are spending your money. Also, keep your pay stubs!

Now for the harder part (at least where you may start feeling the pain). Look at your paychecks for the same month that you have an entire months worth of expenses and calculate your after tax income (just add up your actual checks or amount deposited in the bank). Do the same for your expenses (yes, all of them! even the $.65 coke you bought from the vending machine), then subtract your expenses from your income like so:

Income (checks) $ 2,500.00
Expenses (total) $-2,395.50

Difference $ 104.50

Congratulations, you made $104.50 more than you spent! (Don’t get discouraged if this number is more like $4.50 or even $-104.50; this just means you have some decisions to make.)

Congratulations, you just took the first step towards keeping a budget!

And if you think this post is irrelevant, this is for you:

Related posts:

1. The “B” word, part duex