Obama and McCain Going Public with Their Giving: Observations for the Next Generation

By now you are probably aware that both Barack Obama and John McCain have posted prior year personal tax returns on their respective websites for public inspection. Public officials being public about private financial matters merit some positive and public praise. But let’s be careful as we scrutinize the candidates’ charitable giving.
Yes, we see that [...]

My First Capital Campaign

My wife Lisa and I learned an important lesson early in our married life about stewardship. We lived in a great community and were members of a great church. The preaching was good, the Bible lessons were good, the people were good, and most importantly, the food was good. Every time we [...]

Reflecting on Declines in Giving to Religion

By far, the largest amount of charitable giving in the United States on a year-by-year basis is to religious causes. So, should we be concerned if we see shifts in certain factors surrounding this area of philanthropy?
Maybe so. The alarm sounded with the recent release of a study by the Indiana University Center [...]

Lessons Learned from a VW

Back in the early 1980s Lisa and I moved to Tallahassee, Florida so that I could attend graduate school at Florida State (Go ‘Noles!). This was less than a year after we were married and it was a time we learned a great lesson about how the Lord provides. We had packed our [...]

Soap and Toothpaste–A Testimony About Giving

I ran across an old book the other day, Spiritual Life Through Tithing by Ernest Thomas. As I glanced through the book I saw a brief paragraph about William Colgate, the founder of the Colgate-Polmalive Company, maker of soaps and dental-care products. I thought it might be useful to share this paragraph from the [...]