Listen to “Look Out for Pirates.”   This morning I am in New York serving on a panel at the Praxis Redemptive Imagination Summit. Here is the assignment: “As tectonic shifts happen in technology, secularization, wealth creation, and business as a mechanism for impact, the theologically minded philanthropist or foundation executive may face tough decisions in the years to come: should we invest in tech-driven solutions? Or focus on relationships that may get left behind in the pursuit of scale?” For me, redemptive philanthropy is preparing the next generation of family for wealth and giving. I want to invest in redeeming inheritance. Today, wealth is synonymous with money or other…

Listen to “Jars of Clay or Faberge?”   A conversation this week with Dan Haseltine, the lead vocalist for the band Jars of Clay and the founder of Blood: Water Mission started me thinking about the origin of the band’s name. Why “Jars of Clay”? “We chose it after studying the passage in 2 Corinthians 4 and it expressed who we desired to be as artists. We wanted to deflect the attention from the band and concentrate people on the message – the treasure inside the container.” I grew up believing the phrase described our frailty or feet of clay or even our disposition toward the weakness inherent in anything earthen.…

Listen to “More Than A Singing Cow.”   It’s not often I ask someone to pray for me before going to a museum or library. But last year I did ask that of my brother-in-law because going into the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte N.C. was a test of my skeptical nature. Growing up in the middle of the post-WWII evangelical culture, I was exposed to some of the giants of that era: Bill Bright, Elton Trueblood, Billy Graham, Henrietta Mears, Ray Stedman, and others. They were men and women of great faith and vision living in a time of extraordinary expansion of the parachurch movement, seminaries, megachurches, and global ministries. Sadly, many…

Listen to “Catch a Wave.”   Several years ago, our local Chamber of Commerce brought in a renowned demographer to talk with a large group of business and civic leaders about the future impact of immigration (legal and illegal) on our community of 100,000 people. “Your community will soon experience the full force of a tsunami of brown, young, unemployed, fertile, sometimes violent, non-English speaking immigrants from the South. It is going to affect every institution and, as it has everywhere else, the economic resources of your city and region.” I raised my hand and asked if he thought there were any opportunities or was he suggesting we all move…

Listen to “I Want Your Job.”   People often ask how they can get a position as a grantmaker with a foundation. It seems sensible that donors with foundations would want help in the work of giving money. Over the years, I have had scores of people looking for individuals, families and private foundations who recognize the need for staff or consultants to assist them in their giving. I am sure there are some degree programs out there that are designed to help prepare someone for the work. For instance, The Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University has a degree program in philanthropic studies. The RGK Center for Philanthropy at the…

Listen to “Nothing Left To Prove.”   All of my ‘aha’ moments in life have come from reading, silence, or listening to others. Except one, and that was at lunch with a friend. We were talking about the Parable of the Three Servants and how we were using our gifts and our giving to the best use. It’s fair to say both of us had felt almost haunted by the moral of the story. How could we know which servant we would turn out to be? How much would be enough for the Master when he returned for an accounting? What had we done with what we had been given?…

Listen to “A Better Life.”   As I handed him the check for the work he had been doing for us he paused before folding it neatly and putting it in his shirt pocket. “Are you happy with your current lifestyle? Would you like to know about a business opportunity that could help you get more income and be able to afford a better life?” I knew what was next and, fortunately, I had a prepared answer that stymied him completely. “I really don’t want any more money than I have. In fact, I probably have more than I need right now.” I had the feeling that was a response…

Listen to “All In Good Time.”   It’s a familiar scene made even more so by movies and novels: the reading of the last will and testament. The somber family is seated quietly around the table in the law office. The attorney reaches down into his briefcase and pulls out the file. He puts on his glasses, clears his throat and starts slowly reading the wishes of the deceased. Of course, in the back of every mind is the obvious question, “How much did he leave me?” It’s not unnatural or even greedy. It’s perfectly normal behavior. Everyone has some vague notion or hope, and then the attorney says, “Your…

Listen to “The Great Divide.”   While guaranteed to be controversial, Michael Gerson’s essay The Last Temptation in the April issue of The Atlantic has captured 150 years of evangelical history as well as anyone could. As I read it, I thought about the sidebar of evangelical philanthropy and how it has evolved in the same pattern he outlines. Throughout most of the 19th-century evangelicals were focused on combining evangelism, preaching the Word and social action. During the Second Great Awakening and under the preaching of Charles Finney, the issues of prison reform, women’s rights, and the abolition of slavery were not separated from personal salvation. However, in the latter…

Listen to “When the Lights Go Out.”   One of my treasures is a framed picture of Peter Drucker, Bob Buford, Tom Luce and myself outside Peter’s house in Estes Park in the early 1990s. Underneath it Bob wrote, “The Beginning of the Social Entrepreneur Network.” It was an idea we had been working on for several years and one that was close to Peter’s heart as it combined two of his basic concepts – the value of the entrepreneur as a creative force and the social responsibility that entailed. I’ve been thinking about this recently because like the word “philanthropy,” the phrase “social entrepreneur” has morphed over the years.…