About The Site

"But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny" --Mark 12:42

How the actions of this poor widow challenges a slightly irreverant, Linux-using, business school educated Christian. And his money.

The Parable of the Portfolio Managers (Matthew 25:14-28)

Okay, okay… you may call it the Parable of the Talents. But it’s a parable on investing. You should probably read it yourself. If you’re too lazy, here’s my less-than-divinely-inspired paraphrase:
Three men are assigned to manage a portion of their master’s money. The first man invests well, doubles his master’s money, and is well [...]

Recession? Maybe an Investment Opportunity

A famous joke says, “Economists have predicted 10 of the last 3 recessions”. And if you point your TV to CNBC, you’ll see lots of talking heads opining about the looming recession.
Their reasons make sense. The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), a measurement of household’s expectations of the economy, registered its sharpest drop since 2005. [...]

The Backlash Against Tithing

The Wall Street Journal wrote a pretty interesting article about church and money, titled The Backlash Against Tithing. The term tithe, for those not familiar with it, refers to the practice of giving 10% of one’s income to the church. This article comes at an appropriate time, since most churches are wrapping up their stewardship [...]

Fundraising for Breast Implants

Feeling generous and looking for a good cause? This holiday season you can help out a poor flat chested girl. That’s why Jason Gunstra created myfreeimplants.com, a website where a women can raise cash for breast implants that they cannot afford.
According to a Yahoo news story, Jason got this idea at a [...]

“Anything helps…”

You know a fake smile when you see one. It’s smarmy, forced, and all too used-car-salesman-like. That’s what I received from the latest beneficiary of my experiment, where I’ve set aside $10 to give to beggars. He was a well-groomed, physically fit man, probably in his thirties. You wouldn’t even know that he [...]

Two beggars. One dollar.

I’m running an experiment. The details are in my last post, but I’m basically making an effort to give money to panhandlers and seeing if I feel more charitable (i.e. happy about giving away my hard earned money) afterward.
The first beggar I encountered was in downtown Berkeley. I didn’t give him anything. I only [...]