Three Places For Successful Investing
In order to grow your money, you are going to have to plant it like a seed in the right soil for it to produce. You must be willing to start small and take one simple step at a time. Remember, the steps (not the running leaps) of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord (Prov. 37:23).
Here are three places you can successfully invest your money.
- In your own business. This may be the best return you will ever get, because you have complete control over all that you do. It may be investing in lawn care equipment for a landscaping business. It could be an investment in a university to become a doctor.
- In the stock market. When you buy stocks, bonds, or mutual funds (collections of stocks), you are basically buying a small part of a company like Wal-Mart, GAP, or General Motors. You must do very good research, get sound advice from experts, and believe that the stock you buy will grow.
Remember this: nine out of ten companies fail in five years. Of those that survive the first five years, nine out of ten eventually fail as well. So invest in proven companies that you know will be around a long time.
- In a home. As soon as you can, buy a home after you get out of high school. While your cars and video games will depreciate, a home purchased in the right place at the right price will go up in value.
Four DOs and DON’Ts Of Budgeting
Budgeting you money is simple sitting down and making out a list of how much income you have versus how much you’re paying out in bills and expenses each month. Your expenses include everything from clothing and gasoline to insurance and entertainment. This helps you to know “the state of your flocks,” as Proverbs teaches us (Prov. 27:23 NKJV).
Here are four DOs:
- DO be realistic about how much things cost (don’t underestimate).
- DO pay the tithe first; this will ensure that the other 90 percent is protected.
- DO pay yourself second. As a rule, putting 10 percent into savings or investments is good.
- DO eliminate as much debt, interest, and unnecessary luxuries as possible.
Here Are Three DON’Ts:
- DON’T finance purchases on a credit card unless you intend to pay the full amount (no interest) on the due date.
- DON’T put yourself in a financial straight jacket, having every last penny spoken for.
- DON’T be afraid to ask someone for help in your planning if you’re having trouble making ends meet.
by Blaine Bartel
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Blaine and Lori Bartel didn’t set out to build a place like this. They became it.
Blaine once lived at the top of the ministry world—national TV, a booming youth movement at Church on the Move, and a growing church in Dallas. But while the stage lights were bright, the darkness underneath was darker. A secret 23-year sexual addiction buried everything he valued—his marriage, ministry, finances, reputation, and identity.
Crushed and barely holding on to life, he spent over a year in deep therapy, wrestling with shame and fighting for healing. Then, somewhere on a windswept highway between Kansas City and Tulsa, he heard the voice that lifted him out of the soil:
“I am not going to give you a recovery. I am calling you into resurrection.”
Everything changed.
Blaine found complete freedom and began decoding a Jesus-centered path that leads men out of the grave and into new life. For more than a decade, he’s been guiding other men through that same resurrection.
Lori was walking her own road—rebuilding after 17 years married to a chronic alcoholic, carrying both the wounds and the courage of a woman who refused to stay broken. She was searching for purpose, for peace, for somewhere her heart could breathe again.
Then God crossed their paths.
They met over pasta at Ti Amo (“I love you”—God’s little wink).
A year later, in a simple wedding wrapped in hope, they said yes to each other and to a calling bigger than themselves.
Today—13 years in—they share one mission:
To pull men out of addiction and to rebuild the marriages addiction has shattered.
House of Resurrection is the fruit of the very ground that once tried to bury them—a sacred space for honesty, healing, and brand-new beginnings.
They are joyful parents of four grown kids, proud grandparents of two, and happiest anywhere with lakes, beaches, sunshine, and reminders that darkness never gets to write the final chapter.