We watched The Bucket List last Sunday evening. I wasn’t sure what to expect, considering that it stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I was more than pleasantly surprised. Yes, there were laughs. What movie with Nicholson in it won’t have laughs?

But there was a lot more. Indeed, I was impressed that Nicholson was willing, actually, to be serious and, even, subtle. There were some very poignant scenes.

But I was most impressed with the entire premise of the movie: Read the rest of this entry »

Isaiah 38 and 39 in the Bible describes a period in the life of one of the kings of Israel when he had an infection that placed him on death’s doorstep. Hezekiah prayed, “Oh, YHWH¹, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.”

Then the word of [YHWH] came to Isaiah: “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says [YHWH], the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.” (Isaiah 38:4-5 ESV)

Cool! Hezekiah was thrilled.

Next thing we read (chapter 39): Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah. Read the rest of this entry »

I mentioned that profits have to do with increased wealth; and increased wealth is not the same as cash. If we fail to understand those differences, we can run into some serious trouble.

I thought I would illustrate what I am talking about. Read the rest of this entry »

What are profits?

I don’t think most of us really understand the concept very well. In fact, I’ll include myself in the number who struggle to understand what profits are.

To illustrate: When you hear that a company made, say, $8 billion last year, what image comes to your mind? –For me, I tend to think: “Oh, wow! They have $8 billion in cash in a bank somewhere–$8 billion that they did not have the year before.” “Profits” mean “cash.”

That’s what many people think. But that’s not right.

I’m sure there are more technically correct definitions of the word profits, but here’s a the best working definition I’ve been able to come up with: Profits are any increase in assets for which a business does not have increased liabilities (or debts) other than to the owners. Put another way, profits are an increase in wealth–and (most important to understand–and something I still tend to forget!) wealth comes in many forms other than money!

I say this because, for the longest time, I thought of profits in the same way I thought of a paycheck: profits are the same thing as a paycheck. You take them, bring them to the bank, and buy stuff with them.

But that’s not the case. Read the rest of this entry »

Find it difficult to be involved with your family? The first step to achieve balance in this area may be to value the goal. Read the rest of this entry »

How can you maximize the time your family spends together and maximize the transfer of values from one generation to another?

I got thinking about this when my sister mentioned that her family was bringing her in-laws (both in their 90s, and not necessarily the easiest people to get along with!) into their home for several weeks. How could that time be made as pleasant and profitable as possible?

One of the things we do in our family–even now, after the kids are grown and three of the four are married, and we have five grandkids: We read out loud together. We don’t watch TV. Every once in a while we will watch a movie. But for maximum mutual engagement, besides just plain talking with one another, we will read a book together out loud.

Sarita always suggests three or four books we might read when we’re headed off for vacation. The rest of us, then, together, make the final selection.

[I should note: Sarita has an uncanny ability to choose "the best of the best" when it comes to books. But, then, I guess, she ought to! After all, she reads over a dozen books a week, and she has been doing that for some 40 years or more.]

The books themselves, of course, offer tremendous value on their own. But they also offer another value: they inspire us to interact. We always seem to want to talk about what we’re reading.

Let me illustrate. Read the rest of this entry »