Survivor Finale - gut-wrenching TV...

OK, because I’m a survivor junkie I have to offer my 2 cents on last night’s finale…

Going into last night I, like many others, hoped that Yau man would be rewarded for his act of generosity (and it WAS a generous act, even if it had strategic value to him personally). And I’ve gotta say, I believed in Dreamz. I was cheering for him too, hoping that he’d have the opportunity to make good on his promise – and that in doing so he’d be recognized as a man deserving of the final 3 anyway. I don’t know what it is about him – but I’ve felt sympathy for him for awhile. Even when he was making mistakes or doing stupid things. It was easy for me to be sympathetic and to rationalize that he wasn’t well equipped to make great decisions because of his background. I was pretty able to see that if I grew up with nothing, and with no quality parental input or mentoring and I went on a show where lying and deceit were part of the game, and all I had to do to was to go back on a promise in order to guarantee myself a share of the runner up prize and have a chance at $1M – I would probably have made the same decision.

It actually frustrated me to think that so many watching the show would judge him so harshly from their comfortable homes, watching on big screen TVs with two cars parked in the attached garage. I think we’re all a lot more capable of making those kinds of wrong decisions than we’re generally willing to admit.

But here’s the piece that cut like a knife – when they went back and replayed the footage from the original promised and Dreams “swore to God” that he’d keep his promise – ugh, my stomach dropped. I think that many in our Culture (both Christian and non-Christian) love to point the finger at someone when they make Christianity look bad. I admit, I was angry that he said what he said and did what he did, BUT what the millions of viewers didn’t here was that we all make similar mistakes and GOD FORGIVES THEM ALL!

That takes me to the final tribal counsel. First, it goes without saying that the kind of taunting, bullying, verbal abuse and strange logic that we saw from bitter cast-offs like Alex and Lisi were painful to watch and didn’t reflect favorably on the characters who launched “said assaults.” But it was Boo’s segment that conflicted me the most.

On one hand, I was thrilled to death that he was boldly proclaiming his Faith to a national audience. On the other hand, where was this character and these values throughout the game? Were they just edited out? That’s a possibility. Back to the first hand – I was glad to see him say that he still had hope for Dreamz, but on the other I felt that throwing this in his face they way he did might not have been the way Jesus would have chosen to handle it. I reflected also on the way that Boo approached the final three when it was his turn. He warned them that they’d better “wipe those smiles of their faces” - why? Because this holy Christian Warrior was about to show the nation how “real Christians” conduct themselves? Or was he a bit self righteous and grandstanding just a teeny tiny bit?

I love it when Christianity invades pop-culture, but this was really a tough one for me to watch. I was cheering for God in that episode – excited that He’d be brought some glory, but man, I just kept getting that let down, disappointed feeling. Don’t get me wrong, there is hope and forgiveness for all – I know that – I was just hoping that the millions that watch the show would be witnessed to in an awesome and unexpected way last night.

I’ll keep watching, and I’ll pray that Pastor Benny gets a shot to witness before this audience some day!

Papa's pride

Logan pitched in her first game ever last night. Both our team and our opponents were short on "seasoned" pitchers last night due to a choir performance at the Akron Aeros game. Prior to last night Logan had such fear of being called on to pitch in a game. She had seen only one other third grader on our team attempt the feat before. That girl had a rough time throwing strikes and ended up in tears. Logan, whose emotions are often delicate anyway, wanted nothing to do with that experience. Anyhow, her coach told her that she was going to pitch in the 4th inning. She was nervous and I knew that if she walked anyone she was going to fall apart in tears. Well didn't she surprise me? I had told her before she went to the mound that she would walk someone and that great pitchers can shake that off and stick with it. Well she must have taken it to heart. The other team did score the 7 run limit that inning. Logan did walk a few runs home, but she threw a lot of strikes too and even recorded her first strikeout. And most importantly, despite the walks and despite the runs - NOT A TEAR WAS SHED! In fact a short time later I cuaght her smiling and giggling to herself - She wouldn't tell me why. Later in the car she told me that she felt really good about herself and that she surprised herself by feeling comfortable on the mound and that she was proud of her accomplishment. What more can a parent ask for than the kind of genuine joy that makes a girl smile and giggle through adversity?

I love being a dad!

Playing Defense

Some time ago I read Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad poor Dad. It made monumental changes in my life and in the lives of my family. I learned a new way to view finances, opportunities, “the rat race,” and it even caused me to reflect on values and what success and wealth are defined as for me. My revised definition of wealth is the topic for a future blog entry. Right now I want to talk about finances.

I was reminded this morning of a great mantra that I adopted during the period of time that I was studying personal finance: “Financial independence requires playing a mix of good offense and good defense.” Playing offense is creating money – going to work, or better yet (as Kitosaki suggests) investing in assets that create passive income for you without much blood, sweat, and tears. Equally important is palying good defense – which means spending wisely. A bad defense can negate a great offense in a hurry. (For more on this, read “the Millionaire next door).

The reminder came from my wife who called me to tell me about the incredible deals she had just found at the Salvation Army store. She said that she was finding “TOP NAME BRANDS AT CRAZY LOW PRICES!” Ok – she didn’t say it that way – but it’s more fun to tell it that way. Anyhow, seriously, she was finding things that appeared to be brand new, by the same makers that sell for huge money at the mall, for small fractions of the price. A $60 pair of “Tommy” jeans like new for $4.99. A $70 Liz Caliborne something or other for 3.99. A Limited whatever for 2.99! She was thrilled – said she never wanted to shop anywhere else.

What else can we do to play good defense? For each of us it’s different. Each of us spends money wastefully on different things. I’ve decided to give up my $75/mo parking pass at work to instead park at the 50 cent lot on the other side of the highway (at least until winter). Sure I’ll have to walk a bit each day, but I can use the exercise and the $65 I’ll save. Recently we switched over to an all in one cable, phone, and internet service that will save us $35/mo. We’re also starting to use online bill payments everywhere possible to save on stamps. We’re visiting the ATM less often. We’re TRYING to eat out less. This stuff all adds up in a hurry! Thank goodness we never started with the “happy meals” – I think those things should be outlawed – and please don’t ever set foot in an Aaron’s or rent a center. I think it’s criminal what they charge people for “furniture rental.” Instead get on freecycle.com and tell folks what you need – you’d be shocked at the generosity in your own back yard (by the way, freecycle is a great way to get rid of stuff you don’t want by giving it away to someone in need who is also willing to come pick it up).

So anyway, think about your defensive game – How are you doing?

We’ll talk offense another day…

Here's an answered prayer..

Friends of ours traveled to China today to adopt a little girl that needed a home. The adoption has been over 2 years in the making. I'm so happy and excited for them. Words don't exist that can capture the joy and the impact that this adoption will have on their whole family and on friends and even acquaintences around them. Thank you God!

Real Estate on the Brain

Father God, I pray in agreement with Steph. You blessed us by putting the condos, cabins and houses before us. In addition to the financial blessing, you've taught us that worldly things are less important than our Spiritual and Family life. We've learned that we should value time spent with others more than money or prestige - that "things" bring with them problems and stresses of their own. If it is your will for us to also be financially blessed by these condos in addition to these other learnings, we so sincerely pray that you will relieve us of the financial and mental burdens associated with owning them. We pray that through these sales we will become free from debt, and more able to focus on relationships and on extending your Kingdom - by witnessing about our experience and doing more to show your love to those in the world that need it most. We know that you have a plan and that sometimes we need to go through dark valleys in order to appreciate the glorious mountaintops, and so we thank you even for the rough time, as it will make the blessing even sweeter. Thank you for the gift of our salvation and the blessed lives you've chosen for us. In the holy name of your Son Jesus we pray.
Amen.

Lessons Learned?

We’ve been praying for over a year – probably more like a year and a half about getting the condos sold. God did answer with one sale in 2006 and we’re very grateful. At the same time we’re desperately praying for the sale of the others, and of the Gatlinburg cabin (and the local rentals for that matter). We feel that God has done much through real estate to get our attention. We believe that even before we came to church and were baptized as new Christian, that he was laying out some lessons for us. I think that he wanted us to feel blessed in our early walk – and we did. I think he wanted us to place all faith in Him to sell the Auburn property that sat for over a year before we stopped trying to do things to make it happen ourselves. Less than 24 hours after that we had a full price offer. His presence was undeniable. Steph did the same thing and yielded Hazlett to Him and literally 15 minutes later, our tenant called and asked if they could buy it from us. The tenant is a tough case for financing but through God’s intervention alone, it appears that the sale will go through. After cutting our prices at least 3 times, and after negotiating to let the resort take over management, and after sincerely giving away the selling of them, we’re still waiting for our prayer to be answered. Ya know, since become Christian, there have been very few passion filled prayers that have not been fulfilled for us. I mean we’ve watched two young people be healed of cancer, for “unreachable” relatives’ whole families come to Christ. Maybe God wants us to learn some lesson about unanswered prayers this time. I Sooooo, don’t want that to be the case. Deep in my soul I trust Him, and I know that he’s got our best interests in mind, and that I can’t see what He can, but from my perspective at ground zero, It’s really rotten that we haven’t been freed from these yet. I was so sure that we clearly saw His direction for us to eliminate debt so that we wouldn’t be its servants. Maybe we received a message that wasn’t really the one He sent. Maybe we misinterpreted. Maybe there’s something He wants us to learn from the struggle. As I write this I do remember that RiverCity was something that we prayed passionately about for a long time and it didn’t pan out as we prayed. Somehow maybe this is similar. I have no choice but to wait to see how His plan unfolds and pray for it to happen expeditiously. I trust Him and know that He knows best (but I still don’t like waiting…LOL)

Kingdom Building Co.

So here's an idea that I've been praying about. I'm not ready to kick it into full gear yet - I don't know if/how I can muster the energy to do it with excellence so I'm looking for God's affirmation or correction. Nonetheless, it's a VERY exciting concept. Maybe this is my "Lion" (reference to Batterson's book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day")

KINGDOM
B U I L D I N G C O .


The BIG Idea:
The Kingdom Building Company will spread the Word of God and show His affection for His people by generating financial resources through real estate investment. ALL of the profit generated by EVERY investment will be used to fund needed physical resources for areas stricken with poverty. Delivery of the physical resource will be accompanied by spiritual feeding for all of the beneficiaries.


The Details
Each investment will be a stand alone project, with its own team, and will be focused on meeting a specific need in a specific geography. Each team will have an individual or group of financial investors and several volunteer laborers. Each team member will donate/invest either their time or their money (or both). The only payback they will receive is the satisfaction that their investment will return fantastic dividends in terms of Kingdom growth. In addition to the investment of time or money, each team member will pray for the projet, for the people that will eventually live in the subject home, and for those living in poverty who will receive the physical and spiritual benefit from the project. Prayer will be an important part of every team and every project.

Who We Need
- Financial investors – These individuals or groups will agree to fund the project either with cash or paper. At the end of a project, ALL of the costs incurred in the project will be refunded to its investors before any profit is calculated. ALL profit generated in the project will be used to provide physical blessings (eg. Medicines, food, clothing, shelter, ect.) for people living in poverty.
- Laborers – These individuals will give of their time and talents. Both skilled an non-skilled labor will be utilized to provide such functions as painting, dry-walling, roofing, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, flooring, and general construction.
- Realtor – This individual will donate their skills and services to identify, negotiate, and acquire new properties, and to list, market, and sell completed properties.
- Financing Parner/Underwriter – This individual or company will donate their skills and services to secure any needed borrowing for the investors or potential buyers. All avoidable costs will be donated.
- Auditor – This individual will testify to the financial responsibility of the Kingdom Building Co. They will provide assurance that all of the money is handled in accordance with Company rules. They will make certain that a) Investors are made whole of all costs incurred b) That ALL remaining profit goes toward the financial blessing targeted by the project.
- Partnerships – The Kingdom Building Company will seek partnerships with other like minded organization who are already on the ground in areas of poverty to a) Identify needs and b) to deliver both the physical and spiritual resources.

Who Gets Paid?
The goal will be that no one gets paid from one of our projects, however, there will undoubtedly be some unavoidable expenditures. For example, any borrowed money will have a cost – some financial institution will make a profit on that borrowed money. Also, there will be some skills that we will not be able to employ within our volunteer groups at the birth of this organization. When it makes sense we will hire out those types of skills until we do get those skills on our team. In those cases we will negotiate excellent pricing to maximize value. It will be a goal that all skills on a project will be volunteered.

An Example of a current Opportunity
Today there is an opportunity to buy a property in Canton for either $31,500 cash or $34,900 financed. A contractor has quoted the cost of the needed improvements at $12,000. A realtor has estimated that the property will sell for $69-79,000.

Using the most conservative estimates (which Kingdom Building Co. will always use), As a Kingdom Building Company project it should unfold like this:
Investors acquire the house for 34,900. At closing they provide $8,000 (down payment and closing costs). Over the life of the project they incur another $2,000 of carrying costs. They also provide funding for the materials needed to rehab the property. If we hired out 100% of the work we know the cost would be $12,000, but because this project will be done primarily with volunteers, the expected cost to rehab will be $4,000. So our investor(s) total out of pocket investment in the project will be $14,000.

Our laborers will paint the interior and exterior of the home from top to bottom, clean up some minor electrical and plumbing issues, and do some landscaping outside. A third party will install carpet and a new furnace.

Throughout the project, the team prays for the individuals that will one day live in this house and also for those folks living in poverty whose physical and spiritual needs will be met through this project.

The house sells for $67,000 to a first time home buyer who feels fortunate to have gotten such a good deal on such a nice home in such fantastic condition (new carpet, paint, furnace and a good roof). That buyer will be advised of the Christian team that prayed for them and blessed their home.

Because the person was represented by a non-partner realtor, we must pay their half of the commission on the sale - $2000. We also agreed to pay $2000 of their closing costs, in addition to our own $1000 of closing costs.

Of the 67,000 the reductions are…
(2000) selling agent commission (note that our listing agent deferred their half of the commission)
(3,000) closing costs
(14,000) returned to investors
(27,500) to pay off the investors’ mortgage
=$20,500

This $20,500 will then be used to procure medicine, food, clothing, or shelter for a community of people living in poverty. When those resources are delivered, the people will hear a Gospel message perhaps for the first time. They will know that a team of Americans undertook this project because God is good and loves them deeply and wants them to enjoy His blessings.

Note: $30,000 starts a Compassion Life Saving Station. How many of these might be funded this way?

Not every project will be this profitable. Some will be even more profitable. Every project will be a success.

Will you join me?

If this vision moves you, please share it with others. If you or they are interested in being a part of this ministry, please contact me at 330-854-4579 or by email at dfletcher@sssnet.com.

I look forward to serving with you!



David C. Fletcher