Abrahams Wallet

I can make you hundreds of dollars in one month by telling you what to NOT do.  You will end that month having eaten well, having fun, and at more peace than when you started.  Don’t think I can?  I can.

Do you remember the good ol’ days when a man who wanted to wander with his nether sexual parts had to leave his abode, physically walk into a seedy part of town, enter a building known by everyone to be a house of ill repute, and THEN and ONLY THEN dive into the dark arts? No? I don’t either… But up until recently (let’s say the past 80 years or so, out of the millennia of human existence), there were effectively NO options for having your illicit fancies tickled (or tickling your fancy… or whatever you call that thing) that didn’t require you to at least risk public exposure. Those days are gone, and we are going to talk about the implications for your household. Read up here: https://abrahamswallet.com/2018/09/26/smartphones-and-porn/

Mark and Steven want YOU to join us for Lo Do Feb - the month in which we suck in our financial waistbelts and see just how little we can spend. Whether you use the proceeds to enjoy a little family generosity or to kill off some toxic debts, the month will be good for you. Check out some of the blog posts here, here and here.

Steven and Mark sit down to chat through a couple of articles that we wrote on technology and the value of sometimes being bored. As we're trying a new format here, we'd love your feedback. You'll notice that we had a technical issue mid-pod that forced Steven to the phone lines, but we think you'll get good stuff none the less. Please let us know what you think! Articles we discuss: Alright, let's talk about smartphones And: Give Boredom a Chance

We made boys! Kinda how you felt when you sat down for the 32nd session of Netflixing and finally finished The Irishman, we're at the end of our insurance series. In this double whammy, we discuss disability insurance, umbrella policies and provide you with the cautionary tale of Arsenio the Alpaca. Don't be like Arsenio - finish strong and tune in for our parting shot on insurance.

Live from the Aronoff Theatre, and then Live from Steven's treehouse! This week is a longer chat that Steven and his buddy Paul Nichols had about one of our favorite books around these parts - The Benedict Option.

Join Steven in the coffee shop this week as he lets you in on a little secret: God is preeminent over all things, at all times.  Even if you deny Him this and temporarily steal His glory, He will eventually be proven right and you will be disappointingly corrected. As first and preeminent, He demands the first part of ANY and EVERYTHING to either be sacrificed or redeemed.  The first part matters An Awful Lot To Him. Sponsor link: www.outpostadvisors.net

Join us for an instructional Q&A with mild mannered reporter Jimmy Olsen. First off, permanent insurance – which includes products like whole life insurance and universal life insurance – combines savings and investment with insurance coverage. If you’re already unsure that you’re going to make it to the end of this article, then you can just jot down our thesis statement right here: We believe that investing and insurance are both important and good, but it rarely makes sense to combine the two objectives. Head over to www.outpostadvisors.net if you want to talk in depth about your own decision process as you navigate complex financial issues!

Operating out of a position of fear will cause you to make stupid decisions when it comes to your money, your family or pretty much any other arena in your life. In this episode Steven and I discuss how we've seen fear stop guys (including ourselves) from making wise moves.

When It comes to life insurance, you most likely fall into one of two camps.  Either you’re all jumbled up in your brain about coverage amount, policy types, term vs. whole life, where to title your policy, etc. OR you have no questions at all about insurance and are just now considering that you might need to purchase some. (“Didn’t my employer say I get free life insurance at work? I’m sure that’ll be enough…?”)  In this episode we'll explore four key questions on life insurance and hopefully give you a starting point for how to think about your own needs in this area!

Gents, it’s time we broached a subject that I KNOW impacts all your lives. You’ve either worried about it, scoffed about it, or perhaps given in to it to a degree that concerns you. Because, for faith-guided missiles like us, these waters are murky, and it’s unclear if playing ball is wise or faithless. You know what I’m talking about because it’s in the title. We talkin ‘bout INSURANCE. Giveaway Alert! Send your insurance questions to mark@abrahamswallet.com and one lucky inquisitor will receive a copy of Jeff Davenport's new book - I am a Field.

Jeff Davenport is a longtime friend of everyone over here at Abraham's Wallet, and he's just published his first book - I am a Field. In this episode, Jeff dives into some of the insights from his book - particularly how small, daily obedience and work adds up to big change. You're going to love it, and it's going to make you want to read the whole book, which you can buy using this link right here! For more from Jeff, check him out at www.jeffdav.com If you're really dying to read some of that third chair trombone funny stuff, I'd point you in this direction (not going to lie - the pre-2008 stuff is the real gold): https://3rdchairtrombone.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/presidential_sp.html

How would you change the way you parent if you knew for 100% certain that your kids would obey the Lord EXACTLY the same way that they obey you? In this (long, live) episode, Steven digs deep into the complexities of how they are striving to raise children in his household. You'll forgive the audio quality because the content is just so sweet! Buckle up for a good one amigos.

Your ability to delay gratification might be one of the most powerful determinants of your success in finance… heck, in all of life.  Don’t believe me? Well, have you ever heard of the marshmallow experiment? Sure you have: some gentlemen at Stanford, back in the late 60s, offered over 600 children a choice. They were sat down at a table and a marshmallow (or similar treat) was placed in front of them. They were told they could eat the marshmallow as soon as the researcher left the room – no problem – OR they could wait 15 minutes and receive a second marshmallow to enjoy.  Some kids chomped the treat immediately, others waited and saw a 100% return on their investment. Why do I care about this experiment? Well, the two gents who were running this experiment followed up on each group over the next several decades and found some fascinating correlations. Those who delayed gratification ended up winning at almost every stage of life in significant ways. They were described by their parents as signifi

Have you ever heard of a worship album that requires an explicit tag? We think you're in for a treat today with this conversation between Craig Dockery and Steven Manuel on what it looks like to move outside of the normal Christian music safety zone and into new, grittier, and perhaps more masculine spaces. This one is a bit outside of our usual programming, but we think you'll dig it! Show notes: Find Hymns for Trucks at www.craigdockery.com, or head straight to iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your music. Check out Bloodbrother right 'chere at this link! Enjoy the mentioned bad sax solo at your leisure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He-sYfNGsv8

No lie: shame is the number one word that men (and women) are using when they talk honestly with us about their money scene. Some of those people have made huge messes of their financial life, but others, by any outside evaluation, are doing great. Shame is an indiscriminate predator.

This week, Steven brings you his thesis on why your home exists. Think about it: your God-oriented home is, like Abraham himself, looking forward to a city “not made by human hands, whose Designer and Builder is God“. You are surrounded by people who don’t see it that way. And your outpost will have to represent a Culture that doesn’t much exist in your town. You’re an ambassador for a coming King. Your job is to produce a few people who understand this Kingdom’s foreign culture as their own… and then export it to as many people as are willing to receive it.

Could there be a lurking trap in the oft-glamorized world of debt freedom? This week I sat down with Scott Dotson and heard something I’ve never heard before in the personal finance media – that there was a hidden, dangerous side to the path he and his wife walked as they aggressively eliminated almost $200k in debt over 3 years. Tune in for some wise words to anyone thinking about how to approach tackling their debt (and don’t worry, we’ll still be rooting for you as you pay that stuff down).

Sukkot is one of the big Jewish holidays that we at Abraham’s Wallet have come to love and value for its impact on our families. It tosses us fathers a veritable softball to smash out of the park: the teaching opportunities are easy, highly physical (easy for little brains to grasp, since they’re so sensory)… and lots of fun. That makes Sukkot a great holiday for the budding family leader seeking to get his feet wet. (“I don’t know how to get into this crazy world of Jewish stuff! The bar for entry is too high!” “No, not really. Just try. Everybody will love you for it. The Wallet will show you how, monsieur.”)

In this episode Mark and Steven come at you live from St. Louis and discuss the importance of having a bias for action. A relevant follow up to last week’s talk about the need to move from ignorance to readiness, this week we talk about what it’s like to move forward in faith even when that requires a bit of risk. Have we been acclimatized to so much safety that we find it difficult to take a risky step forward into the sometimes unknown (even when all signs point to that being the right way)? Here’s our thoughts on moving through that hesitation.