Invest In The Kingdom

 Matt Furey runs a pretty good blog.  You know writing is an exercise.  There are relatively few who can sit down and muster out verbiage until they have enough to call it a blog post or an article.

Writing about investing is something that I like to do.  There is a big psychological vibration that naturally runs through every human being when the subject of money is breached.  After all without this magical money we would be no better off than the man on the street.

Most human beings work hard to keep themselves sleeping indoors and having three square meals every day.  It is a natural instinct.  And then, depending on the economy, they either survive or not.  Not surviving is not fun unless you are doing it for Jesus.  That nails it on the head right there.

And if you are doing it for Jesus then the subject of money is just how to get more into God's kingdom before he comes back to set things straight for good.

You can fool yourself, but you can't con God.

I like my brother in arms William T. Lester who is a man of God who straight away went to support Pastor Tony Spell in Baton Rouge.  Brother Willy jumped right in his car and drove seven hours straight from Houston.  And brother Willy is not a rich man.  He just flat out did it.  He jumped straight in to his car and drives seven hours straight to Baton Rouge from Houston with the sole purpose of giving everything he can give to that church.  Now that's a story worth printing but you likely won't see it on the six o'clock news.

Things are changing my friends.  Changing very rapidly and it is all God's plan unfolding right before our very eyes.  We know many who have gone on before us and many who will be here after we have gone on to our reward.  I feel like I should have jumped in my car and went straight to Baton Rouge and done the same as brother Willy.  So we feel guilt but we must go as the Lord calls us to go.  At times I feel called to sit right here and work my snowplow plan until I die.  Trouble is you don't want to snowplow all of God's blessings straight down in to a bottomless pit.  That is not the desired end result.

The desired end result could be different for every individual and could change from day to day within each individual.  Or change from month to month or year to year.  Or season to season.  It seems I am entering a new season here at my villa in Key West.  It is nice to look out on the ocean and contemplate the greatness of God.  Am I selfish?  What choice do I have?  One cannot connect with his reader without letting his reader know about the writer.

I am a sinner, and a selfish man who has much of my life believed that this was all about me.  It took a good bout with cancer to knock my head in line for good.  And by the grace of God I am sitting here and writing these words today.

It is truly amazing the change we have seen over our lifetimes.  Mark Cuban was quite fortunate with is broadcast.com venture at the beginning of the internet, and today he is looking closely at crypto.

So should I go out and snowplow every penny that I have in to crypto?  I think that would not be the wisest move in the world.  Might a nuclear bomb be dropped on Washington DC today?  Many would not be surprised but all would be terrified.  Not even satan is immune from the psychological effects of terror.  None of us are. John and Samuel Adams were not immune to it in 1776.  Pastor Spell is not immune to it.  But Pastor Spell does not give in to it.  Rather he goes after it.

And I like Pastor Spell for that reason.  And I like all of the others that would be too long to list here even though I have unlimited white space.  We have good pastors all over the world.  Up in Canada.  p in Montana.  Down in Florida, in Colorado, and in California.  Pastor Spell gave a great presentation to his church last night by inviting another pastor from Oklahoma who gave a presentation on the black robe regiment.  Great performance.  I would have liked to see him given a big cheering round of applause but Pastor Spell decided that the singing would start before really giving the congregation a chance to begin applauding.  Not sure if that was planned.  Could have been.  He is a very strict pastor and he runs a tight ship.  My hat is off to him.  I am almost as excited as he is about his new property and its development.

So once we get past the pleasantries it is time to go to work.  Every man cuts his own trail.  I'm not sure I could stand all of that church goin' as much as I admire it. Plus I'd have to move and I just invested my entire fortune from 20 years of blood, sweat, and tears into my condominium home.  It is a beautiful home and God has blessed me greatly to have given me this home.  Tony Spell says he has been blessed more than anybody in the world and then he says and we have to be able to argue the same back to him.  And I believe that is true.

Pastor Murray says handicapped people who believe in God are the most blessed people on the earth.  Maybe sometimes the worse it is the more you believe.  True for some.  Certainly not for all.  True Christian believers are probably not in the majority worldwide, but there are many of us.  I don't feel worthy but it is for whomsoever will.

So is writing nonsense a worthwhile endeavor.  Is starting a satellite television broadcasting channel and broadcasting your program of you reading the bible and teaching from the bible for one hour seven says a week a worthwhile endeavor?  Every pastor cuts his own trail.  Many follow in the paths of their fathers and grandfathers.

At the present moment here in Reston, Virginia I have not found a church within 100 miles that is not closed.  Other than one small church here that I probably should go back to and keep going every Sunday and tithing to.  I just have to take things one day at a time.  I am working on my giving but I know I fall short in this area.

Why write?  Because you are just waiting.  My plan is to begin to diversify my portfolio.  Up to know I just have my 401k, my house, my cash savings, and my job which is my shovel.  As Dave Ramsey says your income is the most powerful wealth creating tool that you have.

Now there are those who speculate in real estate and every investment vehicle from here to eternity.  Again, each man has to cut his own path.  You can choose to follow this plan or that plan or the other plan.  Some like Warren Buffet have more success than others.  But how could Warren Buffet or Mark Cuban not be using all of that money to wholeheartedly proclaim the name of Jesus like Rodney Howard-Browne?  And Pastor Tom Laipply.

I like the story that Howard-Browne tells.  He is stranded in Africa trying to get back to the United States.  The rich man offers him a rid on his jet plane.  Half way through the flight they get to talking.  The rich man brags to Howard-Browne how he made $500 million the previous year and how he gave $5 million into the kingdom of God.  Pastor looked at him in astonishment and says man you're $45 million short and that's just on the tithe!   The rich man seemed a bit shocked, face kind of went blank, didn't say anything then after a minute or two laid back his seat, put a couple of cucumbers on his eyes and went to sleep.  Never said another word throughout the entire flight.

And this is probably the one true way.  To give 90% and live on the tithe.  An unheard of concept for me before tuning in to Howard-Browne but probably the one true way.  How could anybody do that you say.  And I say too.  Because for me and many others, ten percent is nowhere near enough to even pay the rent and pay the bills and buy food and clothing.

And those who are further down towards the bottom of the income brackets, those are who Dave Ramsey likes to help.  Now some of those might turn it around and end up making a $55 million fortune like Dave Ramsey did.  And others will be lucky if they ever get out of debt before they six feet under.

So I've been blessed and I am working on my giving, and working on my studying.  It would be nice to have a church like Howard-Browne's or Tony Spell's close enough to where I could go to a weekly men's bible study group.  I could start one locally.  Or I could go back to Emily Rose Lewis Ministries right here in Herndon.

Not everybody is cut out to be a church goer.  Howard-Brown goes six days a week.  Pastor Spell has three services every week.  And one BIG youth conference coming up.

I wouldn't mind going to that youth conference.  I'd have to shave my face and cut my hair and buy a suit to wear.  I like that about a church.  But some old frontiersmen just aren't cut out for too much church goin' or getting all excited in a big crowd of people.

Not sure if I would even want to attend Pastor Terry Shuttlesworth's church down Virginia Beach way.  I really like his preachin' but I can get enought of it on the youtube without ever leaving the house.  And play it anytime I want to watch it at my convenience. Church's will start to realize that the online presence will begin to build up a virtual church right along with the physical in-person church.  Pastor Murray figured this out a long time ago.  As did J. Vernon McGee and many other radio and television preachers.

Kenneth Copeland seems all right to me.  I think he's a good preacher.  And there's a young man Clark Copeland who will be preaching at Pastor Spell's youth conference in June.  Wow I wouldn't mind goin' to that conference.  Maybe if I had more money.  Could afford to spend the money to attend.  But it seems to not fit in at this juncture.

So the diary of a madman is a fun thing to me.  What it does is gives me a place to line out my thoughts and to make friends of similar persuasion.   The gist of the project is working, saving, and investing.  A simple plan.  And one that is very solid or is at least the most solid that I can imagine for me at this time.  And it is the plan that I have been working since starting this plan and making my mind up to stick to this plan.  

So working, saving, and investing.  Working, saving, and investing.  Working, saving, and investing.  And writing about working, saving, and investing in the meantime.  Because the great majority of my time in this plan will be spent working.  The saving just comes along for the ride, and the investing is just reading and watching youtubes and putting a little of my savings here and a little there and so forth.  Knowing the portfolio and the risk reward ratios.  

So I will work on my giving, spend as little as possible, save as much as I can, put the majority of the remainder into most the conservative 401k, ESPP, and TMUS RSU accounts at Fidelity.  Work the Individual account at Fidelity, and shovel small amounts into crypto.  Still feeling out the exact amounts and ratios.  But the crux of my plan is to only buy, never sell, read and study to help me decide what I think will be the best investments, the best stocks, the best cryptos, etc.  But I'm gong to say here not more than 10%.  For some 10%