Celebrating an Anniversary, a Birthday, and Reflecting on the Brevity of Life

I recently re-read Tim Challies’ article titled ”Rule #5: Ponder the Brevity of Life (8 Rules for Growing in Godliness), in which he wrote the following: Aware of death’s inevitability, we must discipline ourselves to ponder just how short our lives will be. Though our hearts are set on immortality, we are heading toward certain … Read more

Navigating Politics and the Culture Wars as an Older Christian

The mid-term elections are nearing, and the next presidential election is only two years away. There’s already a significant uptick in the super-charged rhetoric from both sides of the increasingly polarized political spectrum. I’ve never directly written about politics or the culture wars; I’ve preferred to instead think about how they impact economics and personal … Read more

The Ordinary Christian Life in Retirement

I recently read this quote by Tim Challies: “We please God—we thrill God—when we live as ordinary people in ordinary lives who use our ordinary circumstances to proclaim and live out an extraordinary gospel.” It’s from an article Tim wrote in 2015 titled “Ordinary Christian Work.” The article was a Christian view of vocation, but … Read more

Faithful Investing

Some months ago, I received an email from a reader who was considering a particular mutual fund investment and had this question: I was looking at the holdings of a particular mutual fund and noticed a few gaming (i.e., casino games/gambling) companies in the holdings. What are your thoughts on that as believers? It is … Read more

The Master of Retirement

You may have read the title of this post and thought, “wow, he’s really gone off the deep end; now he’s calling himself the ‘master of retirement.’” Well, let me assure you that’s not the case, as you will see if you read on. I know this may sound strange, but sometimes, when I’m attending … Read more

The Stewardship of Christmas

Luke 2:1—21 tells the familiar story of Jesus’ birth. It starts with this in verse one: “In those days. . .” The ESV Study Bible says that “‘In those days’ is an imprecise date (contrast Luke 3:1–2), suggesting that Luke did not know the exact year (cf. 3:23).” The study guide also says that as … Read more

A Thankful Heart

We all have many things to be thankful for. Even when things get hard, they’re never as bad as they could be. The road to retirement can be rocky at times, and living (and aging) in retirement has its own challenges. Still, we can be thankful for family and friends, health, being part of a … Read more

There’s More to Retirement Stewardship Than Getting the Numbers Right

According to some recent stats, more people are retiring earlier than planned due to the effects of the pandemic. Their specific reasons may differ, but part of what’s been fueling it has been rising stock and real estate markets. Quality of life is also often cited as a key reason. I’m reasonably sure that a … Read more