I'm not the man, I'm just His representative

Heard ’round the web

January 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Snow was supposed to fall heavily where I live (in the order of 6″ – 12″ of snow overnight, but we had a light dusting of 2″ at best. The system covering the Midwest totally split right at Springfield. Crazy.

Anyway, on to the best links of today’s lunch hour!

Harvard Business Review ponders whether an MBA makes you a better CEO. Turns out, if you’re under 50, having an MBA isn’t as beneficial as if you’re over 50. I hope that doesn’t mean that an MBA is losing relevance! I don’t seem to think so and neither does this article.

Peter at Bible Money Matters posted a guest post on a handy list of common tax deductions. ‘Tis the season to obsess over deductions and AGI, right? I’ll find a couple of these tips particularly helpful as I just got a good amount of my tax documents this week.

I’ve thought about posting a plant up in my office to give a little more life and spark to my little space on campus. I started with this article from Planet Green. I keep getting the spider plant recommended to me, but I don’t know about trying to soak a plant in water here because our only accessible sinks are bathroom sinks (not kitchen sinks). What do you think? If you’re a green thumb (not an extreme novice like me), please leave a comment with your advice.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

A collection of weeks

January 27, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Harvard Business Review (which I recommend for daily updates on what’s new in business and related information) posted an article on why Conan shouldn’t have jumped so quickly for Leno’s slot.

Can you really have a MNC from your own living room? Is the world flat? Check out BusinessWeek’s article on “Mom-and-Pop Multinationals”.

Mehdi from StrongLifts.com shares how anyone can wake up early.

Craig at Money Help for Christians (an excellent resource) discusses retirement planning: are we working so hard to enjoy life later? Shouldn’t we be joyful always? A great read. I commend to you as well Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Dr. Marva Dawn.

A couple more insights from God’s word:
“Thus says the LORD: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” – Jeremiah 17:5, 7 (Moravian Daily Texts)

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” – Proverbs 23:4-5 (NIV)

My goal for 2010 is to become a little more consistent in posting (once every 2-3 weeks) and a little more insightful when I do. I hope you keep reading on!

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

Pray for Your Campus

January 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment

http://www.collegiatedayofprayer.org/ – This link is from Student Volunteer Movement 2. For those not familiar with the Student Volunteer Movement, check out this link. We can change lives by simply calling on His name!

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

Adventure studying?

January 11, 2010 · Leave a Comment

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

Links and an update from the road

January 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I’m on vacation in Winston-Salem, NC this week visiting my mom with my brother. We’ve had some time just to relax and catch up – very needed.

Was reviewing the blogroll / Facebook and got the following:

The Daily Beast shares 25 Ways to Get Smarter in 2010. This article covers things like taking classes online through Yale to debates at the University of Chicago to a search engine that narrows your questions by asking you more questions to learning a language online through tutors and your iPod.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

Christmas time is (still) here…

December 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment

SocialPrimer shares great quotes about the Christmas season in the post Merry Christmas from Dixie.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

Review: The Millionaire Mind

December 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Part of my Christmas season is usually spent catching up on good reads that I note throughout the year. My first book was The Millionaire Mind by Dr. Thomas Stanley (Andrews / McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, 2000). He follows up on his first (and more popular) book The Millionaire Next Door by studying the characteristics and habits of those with $1M dollar net worth or higher by using anecdote and statistics (my kind of book). I leave you with his main premise, found on pages 392-3:

1. Understand the key success factors our economy continues and will continue to reward: hard work, integrity, and focus.
2. Never allow a lackluster academic record to stand in the way of becoming economically productive.
3. Have the courage to take some financial risk, And learn how to overcome defeat.
4. Select a vocation that is not only unique and profitable; pick one you love.
5. Be careful in selecting a spouse. Those who are economically productive married husbands or wives who had the characteristics that are compatible with success.
6. Operate an economically productive household. Many millionaires prefer to repair or refinish rather than buy new.
7. Follow the lead of millionaires when selecting a home. Study, search, and negotiate aggressively.
8. Adopt a balanced lifestyle. Many millionaires are “cheap dates.” It does not take a lot of money to enjoy the company of your family and friends.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

Return of the Incredible Machine! Look out for hours of fun!

December 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

A couple thought-provokers from Trent at The Simple Dollar caught my attention, but his review of Fantastic Contraption was well worth it. If you loved The Incredible Machine game, you will really dig this free version online. Easy to set up, but gets really, really hard!

Check out these other two posts: Living on Half Your Income: Could You Do It? and The Expenses of a Soda Pop Addiction – And How to Defeat It.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

What Does Full Commitment to Christ Entail? Some thoughts on Muslim-Background Believers

December 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Joseph Cumming from Yale has some great thoughts on this at Muslim Followers of Jesus?. You can learn more about Dr. Cumming here.

This is a struggle that we partially explore in Perspectives. Do you have any thoughts on how Christians can minister to their brothers / sisters in Christ who come out of Islam?

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Uncategorized

The Holidays are Here!

December 21, 2009 · 2 Comments

A couple posts to round up before I start cleaning the house a little bit (Christmas is almost here):

Modern Forager has this gem: Deadly Holiday Drinks, Acai Berry Scams and Seasonal Weight Gain Survival Guide.

What a great resource for those looking for international friends! Open Doors posted the U.S. State Fact Sheets for 2009. Did you know that Missouri (my state) is 17th in the nation in international students studying here?

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Uncategorized