Back in the saddle again...

Hello world!

Here we are - to borrow a phrase - "back in the saddle again."  I am really sensing a need / desire / call to write.  The purpose is multi-faceted (hey, a good thing for MULTIPLE Strands, right?)

First, as a manner for me to journal non-personal information.  More and more I read articles, see news, etc. and need to comment.  I've tried Twitter; it works just fine.  However, the character limit is very constraining, and the concept of Twitter is for very quick, brief, sound-bite type publication.  I want to expound further than the 140 characters (or whatever it is).

Second, I want to publish for a broader audience.  I have no delusion of grandeur; I do not expect hundreds, much less thousands or millions of readers.  However, even publishing to a dozen people will fall in bounds of this blog.

Thirdly, it can serve as a self-discipline of writing and organizing thoughts - which is always a good thing.

Finally, this blog can serve as a record of past thoughts, and a way for me to find those tidbits of information I remember, but cannot put my finger upon in terms of reference.

So ... here goes.   back in the saddle again.

The wise use of money...

What an example our forefathers set for us when it comes to money and material wealth management. Consider John Wesley...

(source: Desiring God blog, June 17 2011)

He is famous for saying: “Having, first, gained all you can, and, secondly saved all you can, then give all you can. (Sermon 50, "The Use of Money" in The Works of the Reverend John Wesley, 1840, edited by John Emory, Vol. I, 446). Here is how he lived this out.

In 1731 he began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. In the first year his income was 30 pounds and he found he could live on 28 and so gave away two. In the second year his income doubled but he held his expenses even, and so he had 32 pounds to give away (a comfortable year's income). In the third year his income jumped to 90 pounds and he gave away 62 pounds. In his long life Wesley's income advanced to as high as 1,400 pounds in a year. But he rarely let his expenses rise above 30 pounds. He said that he seldom had more than 100 pounds in his possession at a time.

This so baffled the English Tax Commissioners that they investigated him in 1776 insisting that for a man of his income he must have silver dishes that he was not paying excise tax on. He wrote them,

I have two silver spoons at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate I have at present, and I shall not buy any more while so many round me want bread.

When he died in 1791 at the age of 87, the only money mentioned in his will was the coins to be found in his pockets and dresser. Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his life had been given away. He wrote,

I cannot help leaving my books behind me whenever God calls me hence; but in every other respect, my own hands will be my executors.

In other words, I will put a control on my spending myself, and I will go beyond the tithe for the sake of Christ and his kingdom. (Quotes from Mission Frontiers, Sept./Oct. 1994, nos. 9–10, pp. 23–24)

Karis recently performed for a recital. Here is a video of a duet she played (Bach double concerto), along with her solo piece.