“What Is Seen Is Temporary, But What Is Unseen Is Eternal”

A little over a week ago I began reading a book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for several months and I wish I would’ve opened it up and began reading it earlier. It’s called “Joseph’s Way – A Call To Fatherly Greatness.” In addition to discovering how to become a better father and husband I have been learning a lot about the Scriptures. Here is an example of what I learned in today’s reading:

Today’s reading is about the “Listening Heart of Abraham.” In learning how to listen in silence during prayer with the Lord, I have also learned how the Patriarchs did the same. In Genesis 15 Abraham fears that he will die childless and that the servant of his house, Eliezer of Damascus, will be his heir.

2 But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what can you give me, if I die childless and have only a servant of my household, Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a servant of my household will be my heir.”

God responds by telling him that Eliezer will not be his heir, but Abraham’s own offspring will be his heir. Then God tests Abraham’s faith. He takes him outside and has him “Look up at the sky and count the stars” if he can and tells him “Just so, He added, will your descendants be.”

At this point I, and I’m sure the majority of other Scripture readers imagine Abraham walking outside at night looking up and seeing the stars, BUT that’s not what happened.

As today’s reading explains, “Later in the same account, the Scripture discloses that the Lord had actually commanded Abraham to count the stars while it was daylight, which rendered the stars imperceptible. Though Abram could see, he was blind to what existed in the heavens, and yet he gave his assent of faith, believing not in what was seen but what was unseen.”

I had never realized this before so I quickly flipped to Genesis 15 to see where it said Abraham looked up at the stars in the daylight and there it was plain as day. Genesis 15:12 reads “As the sun was about to set,” making it clear that it was daylight when God told Abraham to count the stars. God is asking Abraham to have faith in not what is seen, but what is unseen.

The reading goes on to say “seeing with his own eyes that he had no offspring, Abram relied upon his eyes of faith, believing in the promise of what was unseen instead of what was seen, and because of this God reckoned it to him as righteousness, for ‘what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.'” (2 Corinthians 4:18) “Because of his faith Abraham became the father of many nations, for in view of the promise of God, he did not waver through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, being fully aware that whatever God has promised He is able to perform.”

I look forward to reading each day’s reading. It’s such an incredible book and I recommend it to every father and husband out there.

Killing Sacred Cows – Myth #1 (The Finite Pie)

In Garrett B. Gunderson’s book “Killing Sacred Cows – Overcoming The Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity”, he breaks the book down into 9 financial myths that are spread throughout our society and furthered by our schools, financial advisors, and our families and friends that cause us to believe that thinking outside the myths is “too good to be true” or at worse “risky.”

Myth #1 “The Finite Pie” explains the mindset that most people have regarding our resources among many other things. Gunderson explains how the majority of people operate under the idea that we have a finite number of resources as opposed to what we actually have, an infinite amount. The key objective in this chapter, at least as I see it, is to explain the difference between the “scarcity” and “abundance” mindset. I literally felt my paradigm shift while reading it. He lists 9 ways of thinking to help you determine if you possess a scarcity mindset.

To be honest, after doing some self evaluations when reading through these, I possess too many of them to feel comfortable leaving my mindset where it is. With the scarcity mindset, you believe that with every asset or opportunity that someone acquires, that it’s one lost for you. You can see how this mindset would breed jealousy and hatred for others and their good fortunes instead of being happy for others. Using that same mindset, you would hoard everything because one more asset or opportunity for you is one you haven’t lost to someone else. You begin to see everyone as a competitor and turn everything into a competition.

Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The main difference between scarcity and abundance is that scarcity is limited and abundance is limitless, as Gunderson describes. He makes an excellent point when he describes how valuing material things in themselves as opposed to their worth to others leads to the scarcity mindset and when you think like that then the only way to increase your wealth is to hoard things. With that same thought, losing things even in an agreeable trade would lead you to believe that you reduced your wealth. He claims that this type of thinking is illogical. The value is in the people… NOT the things.

“More gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has ever been taken from the earth.” – Napolean Hill

He poses a great question in this chapter: “If I have a book and you have $20, and we mutually decide to exchange my book for your $20, what was the book worth to you? What was the book worth to me?”

Most people would answer that the book was worth $20 to both. As he explains, that is incorrect. “We only give up something in an exchange when we value what we’re receiving more than we value what we’re giving up.” Therefore, the book was worth less than $20 to me, and more than $20 to you. “The value is not in the things – it is in the minds of people.” Gunderson claims that when people understand this simple fact, then we begin to seek how we can add value to others’ lives.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” – Pericles

My favorite point that Gunderson makes in this section is the difference between quality of life and quantity of stuff. He states that “Our quality of life is closely tied to our level of financial freedom.” He defines financial freedom as “the choice that money will no longer be the primary factor in our decision-making process.” He goes on to say that “this doesn’t mean that it’s not a factor – it’s just not the main factor.”

“People who are operating in abundance know that by serving the wants and needs of others, and thus creating happiness in the lives of others, they actually bring more happiness to themselves. The goal is to serve others, not to exploit or dominate them.”

Gunderson then lists several ways to know if you are of the “abundance mindset”:

So which mindset do you have? Do you have one of scarcity or abundance? If it’s one of scarcity, are you ready and willing to change?

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Killing Sacred Cows Review (Possibly the best book I’ve ever read!)

I’m reading a book right now called “Killing Sacred Cows – Overcoming The Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity” and immediately upon finishing the Introduction to this book, I could tell that it was worth every cent I paid for it and more. In this book, Garrett B. Gunderson breaks down many financial myths that are spread throughout our society and furthered by our schools, financial advisors, and our families and friends that cause us to believe that thinking outside the myths is “too good to be true” or at worse “risky.” Gunderson lays out 9 common financial myths and destroys all of them. The crazy thing is, these are pretty common sense, but you would likely never think of them yourself. That is why we all need to read this book.

During my reading I thought, “EVERYONE needs to know this stuff!” So I decided to highlight a few notes from the book and portions I highlighted to share with everyone, but these are only SOME highlights I made. Before going any further, place your trust in me and order this book. It is absolutely incredible and game-changing. I have taken the steps to make it easier for you and included a link directly to it right below. I cannot say enough about how amazing it really is.:

Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity

The Introduction: Gunderson states that the dictionary defines a “sacred cow” as an individual, organization, institution, teaching, or belief often considered exempt from criticism or questioning. He then relates it to the financial world claiming that its sacred cows “are the myths and traditions that distort our thinking about money, wealth, success, and prosperity.”

Throughout the introduction he poses many thought provoking questions including this one, “If only a minority of people are wealthy, why do we follow what the majority of people do financially?” When I read that, all I could think was “WOW! That’s a great question.” You always hear the majority of people putting their money in 401(k)s, putting it in a CD, some high yield savings account, etc. None of the people I know that do that are wealthy or seem to be on the track to becoming so. In fact, the people I know that are wealthy don’t do any of that. This question began to create a mind-shift for me.

This book, and particularly this section of it, is riddled with spectacular quotes. He helps the reader to see what true prosperity is and the cost of following a myth rather than our passion. He quotes John F. Kennedy saying, “There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.” My favorite quote by far in this section is from Steve Farber, “Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do.”

Gunderson challenges us to find our Soul Purpose, which is our way of adding value to the world and states that “if our new goal is to create value in the world, not simply build our net worth, then how we go about becoming prosperous changes forever.”

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein

Near the end of the Introduction to this book, Gunderson lays out some of the things you will learn by reading it including:

• How the scarcity paradigm, which is at the root of so much common financial advice, limits our financial success
• How the “accumulation theory” of wealth that most of us subscribe to destroys our potential
• Why “investing” in the stock market for most people is little better than buying lottery tickets – and how you can create real wealth instead
• How most people are in a security dilemma caused by avoiding things they fear, which actually decreases their security – and how to find true security yourself
• Why money doesn’t equal power
• Why the most lucrative investments are by nature the lowest risk
• Why the best way to reduce the cost of insurance is to buy the most you possibly can
• How false beliefs about “getting out of debt” may keep you from financial freedom
• Why value is infinitely more important than price.

His underlying questions for all of us, as he asks in the beginning of his Introduction, are “What if everything you thought to be true about money and finances was actually completely false? How soon would you want to find out, and what would you do about it?”

My goal is to lay out my notations on each of the 9 myths not only to help educate people that may have the same or a worse mindset than me, but also to journal so that I can learn through repetition. This is truly one of the most incredible and thought provoking books I’ve ever read. Do yourself a great service and purchase it today and read it as soon as possible. It’ll change the way you think of money, your worth, and how you live your life.

Check out my reviews of each Myth:

• Myth #1: The Finite Pie
• Myth #2: You’re in It for the Long Haul

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”