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Vol. 1 No. 34 | November 29, 2006
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Bless your friends and family with the edge only wisdom can give --
forward this e-zine to them and encourage them to sign up.
This week
“The Bible teaches that Christians are totally different from anyone else.” -
Peter Jeffery, Evangelicals Then and Now (Buy Now)
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Finance
Simple Ways to Save Money on Rental Cars – And One Thing to Watch Out For
If you travel a good bit and rent cars, you’re probably aware of the frequent renter programs the major rental companies use. While these can save you money, there are a few ways you can save even more.
Most of the frequent renters programs are free. But some of the companies have higher-level memberships that will cost you. However, Joel Widzer, author of The Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel, says, “What most people don't realize is that it is often possible to avoid the membership fee by simply writing or calling your car rental company and asking them to waive it. They will do it because the car rental industry is very competitive, and they want your business.”
Next, Widzer says to have memberships with at least two different companies. “The first is your primary provider; this is where you will put most of your business so you can earn the highest level of preferential service. The second company is your hedge against regional market variations. As in the hotel industry, rates and availability in the car rental industry can vary from place to place; on occasion, one company's rates will be grossly out of whack. By working two loyalty programs, you won't get caught paying inflated prices….”
When you’re looking for the best rate, don’t let the company push you into something until you’ve done all your homework. Don’t just look for rates on the Internet. Widzer says, “You have to be persistent, and you have to call the car rental companies directly – sometimes several times. It is not uncommon to speak with one rental agent and be offered one rate and then call back a few minutes later and get another rate.”
And, finally, Widzer offers a word of warning. “Be sure to ask the reservation agent to calculate the total cost of your rental, including fill-up costs if you come back empty. Often the quoted rate leaves out such things as airport fees, city taxes, license fees, and more. These won’t sting so much if you know about them in advance.”
A little legwork can save you a lot of money on car rentals. It’s worth the effort.
– Steve Kroening
(For more great car-rental tips from Joel Widzer, you can read his full article “8 tips for great car rentals,” at http://www.tripso.com/archives/2005/08/8_tips_for_gett_1.html.)
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Health
Surprising Discovery Proves You Can Avoid the Flu Naturally
None of us wants to risk having the flu. The infection can be deadly. Fortunately, a story that emerged this year offers hope for the coming flu season. Armed with this information, you can start defending your health against viruses and bacteria today.
The story begins in April 2005. An influenza epidemic swept through a maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane. A psychiatrist working there learned something profound. As a psychiatrist, he was not directly involved in fighting the epidemic, but he was very concerned that his patients would be infected.
The Chief Medical Officer quarantined one ward after another. Dozens of patients had the chills, fever, cough, and severe body aches that torture a person infected with influenza. As the flu worked its way around the good doctor’s ward, first above his floor, then next door, then on either side, he waited. But none of his patients became ill. He never had to quarantine them. They lived and visited with the sick inmates. But they remained healthy.
How could this happen? They were certainly exposed. How did his patients escape infection from what some feel is the most infectious of all the respiratory viruses? What was different about his patients? Because of his strong interest in nutrition, all of his patients had been taking 2,000 units of vitamin D every day for several months or longer.
A bit later that same season, there was an interesting paper published in the journal Nature. A group at UCLA confirmed earlier studies. Instead of directly killing bacteria, vitamin D increases the body’s ability to fight disease. It does so by producing natural germ fighters called antimicrobial peptides. These immune warriors rapidly destroy the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, and viruses – including the influenza virus – and keep the lungs free of infection.
Until recent times, vitamin D in the body came from our skin, not our foods. That’s partly because it’s difficult to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from food. Before the modern day dogma touting the dangers of sunlight, humans made enormous quantities of vitamin D when they soaked up the ultraviolet B rays in sunlight.
Today, we’re indoors a lot more, so we don’t generate as much vitamin D from sun exposure. Lots of folks, especially the elderly or those who have dark skin, make far less.
Since we now avoid the sun, we can get sufficient vitamin D only if we take dietary supplements. Start with 4,000 IU daily, and have a blood test to see if that is sufficient. The correct test is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The optimal level is around 45-50 ng/ml.
Your vitamin D level should never be below 32 ng/ml. Any level below 20 ng/ml indicates serious deficiency and increases your risk of breast and prostate cancer. It will also increase your risk for autoimmune diseases, such as MS and rheumatoid arthritis.
Remember, always take the natural form of vitamin D, vitamin D3, when you supplement. And take your vitamin D with foods – ideally foods that have a bit of fat – for best absorption.
– James Balch
(Adapted from Prescriptions for Healthy Living, December 2006, 800-728-2288.)
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Business Relationships
Most Christians I know have a strong desire to hear their Lord tell them, “Well done, good servant” when they stand before Him. These words come from a very popular passage in Luke (19:12-27) where a certain master gives his servants a portion of his wealth before he leaves town. When the master returns, the servants return various amounts back to their master. One multiplies the master’s money by 10. Another multiplies it by five. And another returns exactly what he was given.
When most people quote this particular part of this passage, they typically think that “servant” refers to someone who mindlessly does as their master tells them to do.
But if this passage does anything, it clearly shows that the “good servant” is actually a steward who manages the affairs of his master well and grows his wealth. It is not a mindless obedience. In fact, the master in this passage strongly rebukes the servant who takes the mindless route.
The real story for anyone desiring to be a good steward, though, comes from the master himself. He essentially sets the example for his servants to follow. He starts by giving his servants responsibility over his possessions. And then he tells them to engage in business. That was all the instruction he gave them. But his words and actions speak volumes.
He didn’t hinder his servants with endless minutia on how they had to accomplish a task. Instead, he empowered them. He gave them complete freedom to use his possessions in whatever business they wanted. All they had to do was conduct business. The one who didn’t return anything failed to follow the simple instructions.
If we desire success, we have to be willing to empower those under us. To give a person a task and hold him accountable for its result is ridiculous if he is not empowered to fulfil the assigned duties at the same time.
For example, it is foolish to ask the computer department to write new software if those responsible cannot demand the attention and obtain information from other departments in order to ascertain the needs of the company.
It does not make sense to ask the accounts department to improve the accounting system unless you give them the resources to do so. These resources would have to include money to buy a new computer system or accounting software package.
It is equally foolish to ask the sales department to increase sales by 20% if they cannot demand the human and financial resources to achieve this goal. I consulted for one company where the managing director does not permit any of his staff, even the senior managers, to authorize expenses such as car rental when they are interstate or overseas. This prevents staff from completing their work without his interference in the process, and displays a lack of trust toward those under him. Little wonder this company is not performing too well.
Without empowerment, stewardship is impossible. We see this in the parable of Jesus in Luke 16, where the accused steward takes action to ensure that he has friends. He went to his master’s debtors and wrote off a portion of the debts. He made some quick friends in his hour of need, and his master recognized his shrewd actions. (It is good to remember that this parable is not explicitly teaching some of these concepts; they are taken for granted and used by our Lord to make His point.) The point here is that the steward had the power to negotiate with his master’s debtors. And his master liked what he saw.
So if you desire to hear “Well done, good servant,” start by following the master’s example. A good steward has a duty and obligation to provide this opportunity for people in his business. The owners of businesses face a particular responsibility here and quite a demanding one. One mistake can cost them dearly. Yet the stewardship model demands that they take risks with employees. That they grant employees an area of autonomy and say, “go for it.” Anything less is to deny our calling under God to be faithful stewards of those resources He has placed in our hands.
– Ian Hodge
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Parenting
The Curse of Obedient Parents
If you want your children to grow up to be godly adults, there’s something you must do every single day. The bad news is that it’s hard and it won’t make your children happy at first. The good news is it will help your children turn out far better in the long run. And it will work well even if you mess up on a lot of other parental responsibilities.
Our society has encouraged us not to harm our children’s self esteem. We have interpreted that to mean that they should get their own way and have unlimited choices at a very early age.
During the day, the child chooses between what color cups to drink out of. And a wail of crying can erupt if you don’t give him the right color. The obedient parent walks around in fear of upsetting the newly created tyrant. Moms spend more time dressing a child, as they go through endless outfits, than they do preparing them to worship when they arrive at church – all to make the child happy.
I noticed a mom doing this just the other day while I was serving refreshments at a mom’s and children’s play group in our church. I observed with curiosity while this mom asked her two year old repeatedly to sit down while drinking juice. She explained how it could spill and cause stains on the carpet or on someone’s clothes. The two year old spun on her heels and walked away spilling her drink as she went. The mom looked at me and sheepishly said, “Well, they’re just children.” That day the little child learned she can get her own way.
How can we reverse this hurtful way of parenting? The answer lies in the dusty pages of the Bible.
The account of Eli, the high priest and his two sons is very enlightening. His sons were behaving immorally. 1 Samuel 3:13 tells us that Eli knew of their iniquity. The word “iniquity” means to bend or to deviate from the right way. The Bible says that Eli did not rebuke them. That word means, “He frowned not upon them.”
It becomes apparent from these definitions that Eli had accepted their perverse behavior and did nothing to stop their actions. In fact, I think Eli wasn’t even surprised, since they had deviated from the right way for quite a while. The account mentions how they took sacrificial meat for their own purposes. They always got their way.
However, God will not be mocked. “Whatsoever a man sows, that also shall he reap.” It was through the mouth of a young obedient Samuel that the prophecy of judgment came. Eli’s sons would be slain, Eli's death would come by the breaking of his neck, as he heard the sad news of his sons’ deaths, and finally, his family would be dispersed. And the prophecy occurred just as it was spoken.
Often when I read this part of scripture, I rehearse how different it would have been if Eli had not been an indulgent parent.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 – Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
– Gladys Villnow
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Success
An Investment Principle With Guaranteed Positive Returns
Last week, we discussed how everything you do is an investment. It doesn’t matter whether it’s eating, watching TV, working, or spending time with others, you’re investing your time, energy, and/or material resources. So the natural question that flows out of this is, “What then are the best investments?”
We know that some investments have negative returns, some have positive, and a few simply break even. We obviously want to invest in things that have positive returns. But how do you evaluate what will bring the most positive returns? I’ve found that the best way to evaluate investments is to follow one simple principle: Direct the amount of your investment to the amount and timeframe over which it will pay you back. In other words, don’t put much time, effort, or money into things that have only a small, short-term payoff. But put a lot of your assets into things that pay off big over the long-term.
And what is the longest term we can plan for? We often think of retirement planning as a long-term planning process. And it is. But we really need to think of eternity first. You’ll spend a lot more time in eternity than you will in retirement. So the first thing we need to do is follow Matthew 6:20, where it says to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
To invest in eternity, we need to invest in two areas. First and foremost is our relationship with God. The priorities here are salvation, repentance, obedience, prayer, and furthering God’s kingdom (to name just a few). Second, we need to invest in other people. After all, the only things you can take into heaven are your relationships with God and other believers.
By focusing on these two areas first, it gives new importance to how you spend your time, energy, and material resources. And best of all, investing in these areas will always bring positive returns – guaranteed.
But this principle works just as well in evaluating material investments. This is where retirement investing comes into play. Investments such as 401ks, IRA, Roth IRAs, and such are the first place to start. Then you move into other long-term investments, such as real estate, CDs, etc.
But this principle also impacts other areas. For instance, the food you eat should focus on long-term benefits, not just on what fills your belly right now. The habits you develop should bring positive results in the long term, not just for today (smoking, for instance, might give you some pleasant sensations in the short term, but major health problems in the long run).
Sin, in fact, is often just perceived as a short-term investment. It pays off immediately in pleasure, power, or money, but the long-term payoff is very different. “‘You will not surely die [in the short term],’ the serpent said to the woman.” Invest in yourself, he directed her: “For God knows that when you eat of it [short term] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”Most Christians know how that investment paid off in the long term. Our sins offer similar rates of return.
The things you spend money on daily should have a long-term focus, as well. Is the product you’re buying a fad that will have to be replaced in a few weeks? Or will it last for many years? The more you can spend money on things that last, the better off you’ll be in the long run.
This is a just brief look at the applications of this principle. Spend some time thinking about other ways you can apply it. Adjust your focus. Don’t live for today. Live for eternity. And invest for eternity.
– Steve Kroening
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Wisdom From History
He Paid Attention to the Common Man and Became the World’s Greatest Novelist
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) could have had an easy life. He was born to Russian nobility, and his parents died before he was 9, making him a count with an enormous estate with many servants 100 miles south of Moscow.
His brilliant writing talents, displayed in essays, short stories, and novels such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina, could have been used simply to provide entertainment and earn money and fame.
Instead, Tolstoy went through an enormous intellectual, emotional, and spiritual struggle to consider profound issues about the purpose of life, the human condition, and good and evil. As a result, he became one of the greatest novelists ever.
He tried to stay acutely aware of the details of his experiences and the people he met. He kept diaries and notes about everything, some of which he'd use half a century later.
Tolstoy would strike up conversations with strangers at train stations and peasant farmers to learn more about what ordinary people thought and felt. He was equally at home talking to gypsies or the czar.
He also held teas to which he invited seemingly incompatible people, a custom that came to be called the Tolstoy Style. He invited royal prosecutors along with revolutionaries leaving for exile to Siberia, statesmen from Australia and ladies-in-waiting from St. Petersburg….
A voracious reader in a half-dozen languages (including Greek and Hebrew), Tolstoy built up a personal library of 20,000 volumes that he consulted while researching….
Being a hugely successful novelist, no matter how profound his books were, wasn't enough for Tolstoy. He wanted to help make a better world, and his writings reflected that.
He set high goals, striving forever to reach them. His search for truth – for the will of God – and his struggle to live it began in childhood and continued until the end of his life. As he grew older, he became more idealistic and adamant about applying the truth to his daily life.
–Scott S. Smith
(Quoted from “Author Leo Tolstoy – His Passion for Truth Made Him One of the World’s Greatest Novelists,” Investor’s Business Daily, November 11, 1999.)
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Word for the Wise
How Taking a Backseat Can Lead to Your Ultimate Success
“My grace is sufficient for you for my power is perfected in weakness” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
Is perfected – God never does anything without a purpose. He is not the author of random acts of kindness. He has a goal in mind. That is exactly what He means with this word (teleioutai): to reach the intended goal, to be completed. God effectively says, “I have a goal. It is the demonstration of my ability exercised through your weakness. I have chosen to use this channel for my own reasons. This is not about you. It is about Me.”
Do you want to see God’s goals accomplished in your life? Be very careful how you answer. God tells us that if we truly want to see Him express His purposes in our lives, we’d better get comfortable with our insufficiency. We’d better get used to the no-credit position. We’d better truly embrace our inability.
This flies in the face of the cultural obsession with self-improvement and self-fulfillment. Our world pursues personal perfection as if life itself depended on it. How many times have you heard the invitation to find your destiny, to discover your true potential, to maximize your life? In a world that proclaims the glory of personal power, embracing weakness as the opening for God’s action is not very appealing. And don’t imagine that you can play a mind game by saying, “Well, I’ll humble myself and be weak so that God will fill me with His power. Then I'll be strong.” God isn’t so gullible. You don’t have a starring role in this play. When you are ready to be the backstage unrecognized nobody, God puts on the show. But it’s His show all the way. He is perfecting His power, not ours.
Today is the right time to do a little self-check. Take a pause before you throw yourself back into the mad rush for recognition. Ask yourself if you are trying to play a part on the stage of your life or if you are completely comfortable being on the sidelines so that God can occupy the stage. Ask yourself if you are ready to be the water boy on the team instead of the quarterback? Ask yourself if you can take the janitor’s role in your life instead of the CEO. Is your life about who you are? Or is it about stepping aside so that God can be Who He is?
“I am accomplishing my intended goal for my power through your weakness,” says the Lord. Your part in that is to get out of the way.
– Skip Moen
(Ed. Note: Skip Moen, PhD, is the president of At God’s Table and the author of Words to Lead By.)
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Resources
Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel, by Joel Widzer (BUY NOW)
Evangelicals Then and Now, Peter Jeffery, Evangelical Press (Buy Now)
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Wisdom’s Edge is a complimentary e-mail service from Quest Media International LLC. It contains general information on finances, health, relationships, and other beneficial areas. Readers are advised to consult their financial advisors, doctors, or counselors before implementing any ideas they read about in these pages.
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