Articles from our E-Update

From Publishers Weekly:

This latest publication from the new monasticism movement is the third book each for the two young Christian activist-authors, and it offers fresh insight on the well-worn topic of prayer. Some themes are repeated from earlier works, but the book deftly succeeds in drawing the reader out of the weeds of daily life and into a more spacious field. The text is structured around three New Testament prayers: the Lord's Prayer, Christ's intercessory prayer in Chapter 17 of the Gospel of John and Paul's prayer in the first chapter of Ephesians. From the very first pronoun of the familiar Lord's Prayer ("our"), the authors extract a compelling sermon on the power and centrality of community in Christian life and thought. The dominant theme%u02C7%u02DDthat prayer invites human beings into a partnership with God in answering prayer%u02C7%u02DDis enlivened with earthy tales from the authors' own lives, wrenching stories of service and redemption from the people they know and lesser-known anecdotes from Christian history and sociology. Readers will never see prayer or community in quite the same way again. (Oct.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

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A new study released by The Barna Group reveals that millions of evangelicals are off the sidelines when it comes to the green movement. While the term "creation care" hasn't necessarily swept through the church, many believers want their faith community to become more active in environmental stewardship and are looking for balanced, thoughtful, non-partisan leadership on the issue.

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Related article: New Tool for "Green" Christians: Eco-friendly Bible

While the United States has long been a nation of givers, a new generation is transforming the way we do good. This USA Today article uncovers how young people are using the internet, text messaging, concerts and giving circles in creative ways to help charities effectively bring about change.

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Gathering Conference 2008

Amelia Island, Florida

Opening Talk- Fred Smith

"Preparing for the Responsibility of Inheritance"

Ecclesiastes 5:19 - "Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work-this is a gift of God."

When my father died last year right before the conference I was named the executor of the estate. Like many executors before me, I had read some articles, browsed through a book and made a file on what my responsibilities were. Frankly, I didn't pay much attention because the day was always going to be a little further away. So, even though I had a file and some basics in mind, none of that prepared me for the actual work required of me for the next full year. I expected a certain amount of paperwork, certificate copying, distribution of assets, tedious legal process, a quick cruise through probate and a happy ending for everyone. I had no preparation for what the actual responsibilities of an executor were. I could not have imagined the complexity involved and the maddening experiences of dealing with investments, insurance companies, real estate transactions, tax forms and inventories. At times, I felt surrounded by people whose sole interest was capturing part of what my father had worked so hard to create...and I did not want strangers to enjoy them - to use the words of Ecclesiastes. I wanted the whole family to be part of the inheritance. But the most pressing task was not the legal or accounting. It was the ever growing sense of being responsible for an extended family - not just my own. And the more complicated it became the more I thought about the word "inheritance". I had always thought it simply meant gift. I thought it was describing something extra that was added to our lives as a cushion - but it doesn't. It's a word whose Greek origin means an assignment or a task and an inheritor is someone who is chosen for that assignment. We are not inheritors of a gift as much as apprentices for a craft. It's not a description of relief but of responsibility - and the very reason I was feeling that responsibility was because that is exactly what it is meant to be. An inheritance is added responsibility and an assignment that is shared by the whole family. My father personified someone who had been given wealth and possessions and honor and was enabled to enjoy them. He loved his work and he fully accepted his lot in life. Both my parents overcame enormous obstacles - and I was probably one of them. In spite of hardships and poverty earlier in his life God gave him gladness of heart. More than that, he worked hard to prepare his children to handle the assignment of wealth. He did not prepare us merely to receive an inheritance as a gift or a supplement to our lifestyle. While I did not understand it while he was living, I do now. This inheritance is my assignment and I am to take it as seriously as any other work. I had a long apprenticeship that I only recognize now for what it was.

Why am I saying this to you? Why am I putting up the pictures at the same time? It's because there will be a time when all of the children and young people in these photographs will be inheritors and I want them to be prepared for their work - for their assignment. I want The Gathering to help you do that. We cannot do it for you because each of you will do it in your own way that will be unique to your family...but we can help. Fortunately, I had a long life with my parents and they had years to prepare me. That may not be true with everyone here tonight. In fact, it probably will not be and those children will need to be even further along than you or they expect. I want all of these young people here and on the screen to look back and see parents who enjoyed their wealth and possessions and were happy in their work. I want them to accept their inheritance for what it is - a responsibility to be taken seriously and to be enjoyed as a gift from God. I want them to have a sense that they have been prepared by you as apprentices and will not be surprised by the trap of sudden riches. I suppose I want them to receive from you what I received from my own parents and that is the confidence that I have been prepared - perhaps not for the legal or accounting - but for the commitment to my responsibility to carry on the line and to prepare my own children for their own assignments. It's easy to say "one day" we'll do that when they are ready but no one can ever predict that "one day" will ever come. It's easier to shield them from those burdens until they are ready or, more likely, we are. But I want you to consider this weekend as a time to start preparing your children for one of the most important assignments they will ever have. Not being an executor but being an heir - a person with a lifelong responsibility to family and God.

As I close and we begin I'd like to leave you with an illustration of another man who prepared his family and his company for the work of inheritance long before his passing. Paul Gordon exemplified the man who receives wealth, possessions and honor and gladness of heart. He loved his work and the people who worked with him. He loved his family and he loved God in a way that redefined the word joy. If we could do for our children and families what he and his wife Dottie have done for theirs we will have done well.

Ecclesiastes 5:19 - "Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

Welcome to The Gathering.

Click here to read Wall Street Journal article

Have you given up on politics this year because you don't like either presidential candidate? Chuck Colson urges you to quit looking for the perfect candidate, to seek Biblical wisdom regarding leadership and, as both a civic and sacred duty, to vote anyway.

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Related: Which candidate are the rich and super-rich supporting?

With the recent meltdown of brokerages and trust at a premium, many wealthy families are establishing offices to meet both personal and business needs. While they can be costly to establish and maintain, they enable families to retain direct control over business and personal affairs in an atmosphere of complete confidentiality. These two articles may help you determine if the family office is right for you...

Family Office/Office Protocol, Worth.com

The Family Office, Granting Every Wish, NY Times