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I grew up in a working-class family where owning a home was a sign of God’s blessing and care for his children. My dad once told me that I should do what he had done, which was to buy a house for my future family. Dad had served in World War 2, and when he got back to our tiny village of Oxford, Michigan, he purchased 66 East Burdick Street for $8,000. That was in 1948. That same money today would be nearly $90,000. Dad’s house payment, if I remember correctly, was $60 bucks a month. He told me that he doubled his payments so that he could pay off his house sooner.  As I heard him talk about this real estate deal, I didn't think about it too much because it sounded unrealistic. To my 14-year-old mind, I couldn’t imagine how it would be so hard to double a $60 buck a month house payment. His scenario was like when he told me that he could buy ten bags of groceries for 10 dollars in his early married days (the 1930s). Ridiculous.  Ridiculous or not, that was to be my goal; not t...

" That guy can really talk! He should be a preacher!! "  This exclamation came to me last night in an email from someone I had just talked to via speakerphone. Apparently, her mom was in the same room and was eavesdropping on our (my) real estate rant.  My wife had also commentd that she wished that she had recorded my talk because she thought that I would pass out from lack of oxygen. She said that my excitement had me from near screaming to almost whispered tones inaudible and was quite comical to watch.  She actually used a synonym for "comical," but I'll ignore that.  What had me so excited that I was viewed as a "comical, preacher" person was my recent journey into the world of real estate. I've recounted a tad of that story in my last few blog posts. It has been a fascinating few years for me, and I rarely get asked to share my thoughts. So, when someone does ask, I can hardly contain myself.  I am going to have to ask the friend who called m...

When Jesus uttered these words at the end of the book of Revelation did he really mean it? If so his soon seems longer than my soon.  Every generation wants Jesus to come back to them. Isn't that what we want? Oh if Jesus would just swoop down to get us, then we'd be happy!  God's plan, however, is just that, God's plan. It doesn't make sense to us sometimes. We want a quick escape from the chaos of the day. We want the bad guys to get what they deserve.  Think about it this way, if previous generations had had their way, we wouldn't have been born. There would be no quick escape from planet earth. Nor would there have needed to be one.  Jesus time is like this, 1 year = 1,000 years and 1,000 years = 1 day. That is like saying, Jesus is timely but his clock is difficult to read. He will come back. And soon. Because he promised to do that. We should be ready for his return and doing his will until that great day. When this happens, we will trust in these precious...

With the theme that God is in total control of our lives and that he wants what's best for us, whether that best seems reasonable to us or not, I want to continue my series of thoughts on our real estate investing journey today.  My friend sat next to me at that Thanksgiving dinner in, of all places, São Paulo, Brazil, and began his conversation with me by saying, "You need to get into real estate investing." He proceeded to share a little of his story. Before his call to the mission field thirty years prior, he had aspirations of becoming a real estate investor/agent. He liked real estate, and his goal was just that, to invest in the thing that brought him joy. In the meantime, God worked His plan and called my friend to be a church planter in Brazil. Following that call, my friend left his dream behind and turned his focus to spiritual things.  However, something happened recently that had opened an exciting scenario. A close relative had died and left him her house. He...

God is sovereign. He already knows everything about every one of his own, even before creation. There was never a time when he didn't know everything about the past, present, and future. For him, there is no time. He is eternal and outside of time. He knew that I would be born, and he knows when I will leave this earth in death. That is comforting. It really is.  Jesus said that we should not worry about what we will eat, drink and wear because our Heavenly Father, who clothes the flowers that are so temporary, will surely take care of his children. He is a God of details and knows what we need.  Sometimes we plan for years to be able to retire. We have matching retirement plans at work, and if we are outstanding, we have a nest egg in an account somewhere and maybe even stocks and bonds.  When I worked at GM, I had a retirement plan that had me investing in GM stocks. The company would match my contributions, and I was on a roll. I kept that option going for a while. How...

Continuing the home-buying saga that I started yesterday, We sealed our offer with a 1000 dollar earnest money and a contingency clause for an inspection. That is most often the wisest thing to do because it gives the buyer an escape if he finds problems with the property. However, in this buyer’s market, the seller won’t wait for an inspection or any other clauses, not even Santa Clause for the most part. This time, however, the buyer DID wait! The inspection was done, by my friend Terry Russel, owner of Blessed Assurance Home Inspection, and came back with the “minor details” that Amie had mentioned earlier. However, none of the items were worth losing the deal. And with the price reduction, the owner was actually saying, “I want to sell, and here is some fix-up money to help you out.”  This guy was a godsend. Literally. Then the fun part began. When an offer is accepted on a property, the UW (underwriter) part begins. The UW wants to know every number in your DNA unless you are ...

  “He knows the way that I take...” Job said these immortal words way back 4000 years ago. The truth is still valid today. The Psalmist in Psalm 1 said it this way, “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous...” (Psalm 1:6). The cool part of this closeness is that God is always in every situation and circumstance. In his omniscience, there is nothing that takes him by surprise. In his omnipotence, there is nothing too big or small for him to handle.  In the last few weeks, I have been working on a real estate deal with several hoops and hurdles that needed attention. Each one came as a part of the UW process. UW means underwriter. Underwriters are what we commonly call “bean-counters.” They don't get involved emotionally in a loan situation because they just want the numbers of their part of the deal to add up. You can give them a sob story, but your tears fall on Teflon ® shoulders and drop quickly to the floor.  Now, take a person who lives in Brazil and throw...

I am going to begin a study in Genesis tonight and here are some very interesting facts that I found in  Barnes Bible Charts .  Interesting Facts About Genesis MEANING: A Greek word meaning "origin," "source," "generation," or "beginning." AUTHOR: Moses TIME WRITTEN: 1450-1410 B. C. POSITION IN THE BIBLE:  1st Book in the Bible 1st Book in the Old Testament 1st Book in the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy] CHAPTERS: 50 VERSES: 1,533 WORDS: 38,267 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT GENESIS: The events of Genesis end some three centuries before Moses’ birth. Genesis spans more time than any other book in the Bible. Genesis covers more time than the remaining sixty-five put together. 4,100 years of recorded Bible history. Over one-half of it (2,286 years) is recorded in Genesis. The remaining 1,814 years are covered in Exodus through Revelation (65 books). 2,000 of the 2,286 years are covered in Genesis 1-11. Genesis divides itself into three geographical settings....

Yesterday I talked a little about the Creation of everything. This morning I read the following in the Apostle Peter's second letter. Look at what he says.  2 Peter 3:3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. Is this exactly what we hear today or what? I mean, it is a brief overview of the philosophy of our day. Yesterday, I spoke of wise fools; those supposed scientists who show their ignorance by expounding on gigantic holes.  Peter said that these are willfully ignorant. They are like Fouchie, who think themselves the rulers ...

Genesis 1:1-5 is the beginning of things in our world. There were things before the start of our world. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were before. When precisely the angels came into being is debated. It doesn't seem that it could be before creation because that would necessitate two creations. However, in the end, the Bible doesn't say anything about their creation.  These five verses at the beginning of the Bible are astounding in their brevity and simplicity. Yet befuddling in their content. Look at them here,  1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was mor...

1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Not too many years ago this passage was thought to give women's liberation people a conniption fit. Submission was a dirty word that brought slavery to mind. To submit to a man was thought to b...

1 Peter 2:23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him, who judges justly. If I had all the power of the universe and then some, it would be tough for me to keep quiet if a peon was slapping me. Yet, that is what Jesus did.  You Remember the scene, right? Jesus is bound and beaten already. The following text record some of the abuse:  Matthew 26:67 Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him.  Luke 22:63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" 65 And they said many other insulting things to him.   John 18:22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded. Now, put yourself into Jesus' place. You are seemingly helpless and know what lies ahead in the next few hours. A...

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Peter doesn't sound like a fisherman; he sounds like a general calling the troops to battle. However, here he is talking to foreigners and exiles. He uses two unusual words that don't sound like battle words. Strong says that, "in the NT, a stranger, a foreigner, one who lives in a place without the right of citizenship". He also says about the word "exiles" that   Greeks used to describe, "one who came from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives." So, these people are not of this earth. What would they be fighting for? Look again. There are these sinful desire creatures that are waging war against this foreign crowd. These evil beings come from within the foreigners. They are generated in the heart (Jer 17:9) and are on constant vigil for the host's weaknesses. James likens...

1 Peter 2:24 "He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds, you have been healed." Look at this familiar verse again He l bore, what did he bear? Our sins Where did he bear them? In his body Where? On the cross Why did he bear our sins?  So that we might die to sins So that we might live for righteousness That the creator should die that he should bear our sin that he hung on a cross is all amazing grace. It also brings to mind questions like, “How does one bear sins?” Peter used his understanding of Isaiah 53 which states, Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own w...

1 Peter 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.   When we are called to be like Jesus or to follow him, we often don't think of the ramifications of that lifestyle. Peter, here in his short letter, spells it out in plain English. We are called to suffer for Christ and his cause.  That doesn't sound very appealing to most. Called to have power, or wealth or a comfortable level of fame, that sounds more like what we think that we want. However, that is not what the Son of God came to achieve.  He became somewhat famous because of the plethora of miracles that he did. He demonstrated his power by raising the dead walking on and calming the water and feeding the multitude. Wealth? He had nothing of earthly value his whole life. Though he was the creator of all.  He did suffer, however. Isaiah says that he was despised and rejected more than any other man. That puts him at the top of the "...

What are the Elementary teachings about Christ? The author to the Hebrews being up this subject in his "short" letter. He says that he did want to spend a lot of time on the basics about Christ. He then goes on to name a few of them in Hebrews Hebrews 6:1... laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. So, these are the basics? I don't know how many of these are taught in our churches today. How would you teach these? The foundation of repentance, faith in God, instructions about cleansing rights, the laying on of hands? Wow, welcome to the "new members" class.  These are doctrines that we need to know. In faith we must repent being washed by the water of the Holy Spirit and lay on hands for consecration to service.  Maybe with these primary teachings we'd go farther in reaching the lost and teaching...

  The American pastime used to be the nickname for baseball. These days there are so many different sports options that I don't think baseball is still the revered sport.  Whatever the case, the objective in baseball is to hit the ball, run the bases and cross home plate to score a run. Unless you are on defense. Then your goal is to keep the other team from scoring runs.  Abner Doubleday created the game way back, never. Look it up. Doubleday was a decorated Civil War hero who fired the first shot at the Battle of Fort Sumter and was crucial at Gettysburg. However, he never mentioned his role as creator of baseball. Are you surprised? I was too.  So, what is the connection between baseball and Doubleday? There are two that I see. Most of us have believed a myth about baseball's creator and didn't even know it. Whether we thought it important or not, we were told that old Abner gave us America's pastime, when in fact he didn't.  The other connection is that base...