What to do about it part three! This one is all about setting up a Rule of Life in regards to our finances. We talk about asking and answering the following questions as a means to put action to our faith, and align our lives to both the heart and the commands of God when it comes to financial giving: Step one: Take an audit. ·    What are your assets, debts, and earnings?·    How much have you made in your lifetime?·    What do you spend your money on? Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly?·    How much money (if any) do you currently give away? To whom?2. Step two: Set a rule.·    What financial practices and philosophies make up your current rule of life?·    What kind of person are you becoming because of them?·    What financial and giving practices would you like to add, cut out, or change? 3. Step three: Test it.4. Step four: Refine, and commit.

Today’s podcast is part two of our “what to do about it” series, and this  episode is all about setting what is called a Rule of Life. A Rule of Life is an intentional set of practices that are used to guard our habits and guide our lives;  structure upon which our greatest desires are brought into alignment with the practices and habits of our everyday existence. In the episode today I reference John Mark Comer and his fantastic resources on the topic which can be found below:The Ruthless Elimination of HurryNote: The Rule of Life Workbook and sermon have been removed from the Bridgetown website, so unfortunately I can no longer link them here for you.I also reference the four-part Rule of Life process which is as follows:Step 1: Take an audit.What practices and habits make up my current rule of life when it comes to (this topic)? What do I do hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and annually? And then, What kind of person am I becoming because of them? Step 2: Set a RuleWhat practices and habits would I like to add, cut out, or change from (this topic)? What kind of person do I desire to become because of themStep 3: Test it for one month and see how it feels.Step 4: Refine and commit.

We are on the podcast home stretch! This episode is part one of four “what to do about it” episodes. This one is all about where we have come so far over the past 20 episodes (a long way!), and what I believe is the foundational ingredient to eradicating global poverty and being a part of positive, practical change, which (spoiler alert) is: getting upset and raising our expectations. We all need to find a way to move forward from simply having a heart for the poor, and move instead into living a lifestyle of redemptive justice. This episode starts the process of unpacking what that can look like practically. 

Today’s episode is the second half of the two-part series on materialism and minimalism. Minimalism is the intentional choice to live with less. It is a set of deliberate life choices designed to to simplify our lives in order to magnify what really matters; including (but not limited to) the Kingdom of God, service, and relationships with others.We cover some practical tools for pairing down our possessions, and I recommend five resources to further assist on the journey to living an intentionally simplified life:The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark ComerMoney, Possessions and Eternity by Randy AlcornMinimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things  Your Money or Your Life:9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More by Courtney Carver. 

Today’s episode launches a two part series on materialism and minimalism. Materialism is the belief and supporting actions that money, possessions, and comfort are the most important matter to obtain in life. It is a set of lifestyle and worldview practices that is so deeply entrenched within our current culture; a culture that depends and feeds upon our perpetual dissatisfaction and discontentment.  Our current levels of material consumption are not only unprecedented in all of human history, but they are also unsustainable and un-Biblical. Our new level of “normal” is doing great damage to both our planet, and our souls. Randy Alcorn puts it well like this: “To set our heart on earthly riches not only deprives God of glory, others of help, and ourselves of reward, it also destines us to perpetual insecurity. Materialism has no upside.”

Today’s episode is all about the (horrible and awful) global fashion, textile, and clothing industry. Here are some highlights (lowlights?):1 in 6 people around the world currently work in some part of the fashion industry, making it the largest labor force on earth. It is a $3 trillion annual industry that currently produces over 80 billion new pieces of clothing per year, which far exceeds either necessity or demand. This is a production increase of 400% in the last two decades. As late as the 1960s, 95% of clothing purchased in the United States were made within the country. Now, this number is just 3%, with the other 97% being outsourced to majority nations with low-wage economies. 80% of the people who work in the fashion industry are women.Fewer than 2% of textile workers are paid a livable wage. The average American throws away 82 pounds of textile waste each year, which creates 11 million tons of waste from the United States alone. 85% of this waste will never be recycled or reused.The fashion industry is also the second most polluting industry on earth, contributing 10% of  total global greenhouse emissions, and producing 20% of the world's wastewater.There is no upside to our current system of clothing and textile production, and we do not have to buy into it. Instead, we can make intentional lifestyle choices that have a direct and positive impact on the world’s poorest people. It’s a simple way to do some true global good, which is what this podcast - and this episode - is all about.Today's Resource Room Highlight: The True Cost

Today’s episode is all about the earth! And specifically the fact that 82%  percent of the costs associated with climate change are burdened on the poor, and often by the countries who contribute the least to global emissions. This is obviously deeply unfair, as 50% of global emissions are created by the wealthiest 7% percent of the world’s population. And thus, the poor majority are paying the cost of the wealthy minority’s unsustainable lifestyle habits.On this episode we talk about simple daily solutions, and I highlight 2040 as my resource room of the week.

Today’s episode is all about the global inequality of food. We live in a world of food crisis; with starvation and obesity epidemics co-existing side-by-side, and food (on mass) going to waste in the midst of it. On the podcast today, we talk about what we can do to close this gap both locally and globally, to be a part of daily and Biblical justice and righteousness, and to provide all people with their basic human right to food.

This week’s episode is all about health and education - and the vast, deep and terrible inequalities that exist within both arenas globally.Both healthcare and education are huge, important, and life-changing things that we who live within the minority world too often take for granted. Suggested resources for continued education:BOOKSCorbett, S., & Fikkert, B. (2009, June 24). When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself. Chicago, Illinois: Moody PublishersTodd, S. C. (2014) Hope Rising. Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Books Alcorn, R. (2003) Money, Possessions and Eternity. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers Lupton, R. D. (2011, October 11). Toxic charity: How churches and charities hurt those they help (and how to reverse it). New York, New York: Harper OneFikkert, B., & Kapic, K. (2019, March 5) Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn't the American Dream. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers Keller, T. (2012, August 7). Generous Justice How God's Grace Makes Us Just. London, England. Penguin Books.Comer, J.M.,  (2019) The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Colorado Springs, Colorado: WaterBrook DOCUMENTARIESMiller, M.M. & Fitzgerald J.F. Jr. (Producers). (2014). Poverty Inc. Available from https://www.povertyinc.org/

Today’s episode is all about short-term mission trips! The $2 billion annual industry that takes 2+ million Americans on national and international trips each year. Why do we do this, and what (if any) are the benefits short and long-term?At their best, short-term trips are powerful and transformative experiences both for those who are going, and for those who are receiving the team. However, at their worst they can be a tremendous waste of time and resources, and conduits for harm and exploitation. This episode details the differences between terrible and fantastic trips, concluding with nine check-list questions that every short-term leader and team member should work through before planning on going to serve:Do they have a respectful presence in the community?  Does your work continue when you leave?Are you invited? Are you actually helping?Who gets to decide the need and the response? Are you stuck in emergency principles?Are you creating dependency issues? Are you (or your team) going for the right reasons?Are all levels of leadership employing best practice?