Most people in the United States have a Will or Trust directing where assets will be placed after death. The Bible is clear on the concept of tithing, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 30:10 ESV)

Most of us have a tendency to hang onto most of our assets until pasted on at death. Charles Feeney recently provided an outstanding example, he give away  $ 8 billion  over the last several decades. His goal was to give away all of his funds prior to his death.  A key advantage of giving money away while still alive affords the opportunity to be focused and ensure the funds went to the correct causes and organizations with effective management, producing consistent results.

John Wesley taught many years ago three key principles regarding financing giving:

After 140 years the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus has closed. When I lived in Detroit and the circus came to town, it was a big deal. Many made plans to go and see the extravaganza.  Those who went would remember the elephants, flying trapeze artists, lion tamers and clowns. We would try to talk our parents into letting us have cotton candy. The whole experience was exciting. If you want to get a sense of what the circus was watch the 1952 movie, “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

The other day I drove to an appointment to visit a client and the traffic backed up for several miles on my route. When the slowdown first occurred, I blamed it on Christmas shopping traffic and I allowed extra time. However, it turned out that a traffic light was out on a major intersection, and there was not a policeman to direct traffic. This created a three mile traffic snarl that made me 15 minutes late for an appointment. I have a rule that I’m never late for client appointments. I started to view my tardiness as a disaster, especially since I was meeting a client for the first time. However, after I thought about it; I started putting the situation in true focus. This was not a disaster; it was simply a minor problem or annoyance.

A number of times I have thought about the real estate costs for local churches. Often when you examine the total cost of a church’s real estate including the capital cost of the building, renovation, updating, mortgage payments, heating, cooling and other associated expenses; the building will consume a significant amount of a local church budget.

When customers visited “Natalie’s” water treatment business, she would talk about every detail of her product and service. She believed that education would sell the service. When a prospect looked at a water softener, she would overload them with details. If they glanced over at the iron filter, she gave them more information.  Too often, prospects felt so overwhelmed that they left without making a sale.