People all over the country are choosing to move their money out of bigger banks and into smaller, community-oriented financial institutions that generally avoided the reckless investments and schemes that helped cause the financial crisis.
Fueled by the personal initiatives of thousands, it’s a grassroots effort that has the potential to shift power in the financial system away from Wall Street and to Our Street. Keith Olbermann of MSNBC got behind the Move Your Money campaign on his show. He believes: “It’s time to make those Too Big To Fail banks just a little bit smaller by moving your money to a local credit union or community bank.”
Stephanie Frost decided that she had been mistreated at her big bank for too long and enough is enough — she’s switching to a small financial institution. She filmed herself going to close her account and posted the video to YouTube:
Dr. Reynaldo Anderson, my fraternity brother posed this question on Facebook: What would happen if churches got behind this movement? As I pondered that question, I estimate church goers give BILLIONS to their churches each year.
Additionally, I’m sure most of it is deposited into bailed-out banks – the same banks that refuse to lend to our members & their small businesses. Imagine what would happen if Protestants, Catholics (net worth estimated @ $1 trillion or more), & all other religions were to band together and MOVE OUR MONEY! I guarantee they’ll call us in for a congressional hearing.
Quick: Explain Sunday’s message in three sentences to your eight-year-old niece or nephew (scroll down to the end if want to see my explanation).
Why: The point here is to test your ability to communicate complex ideas in simple language.
In my opinion, the problem with preaching is that most preachers try to be deep instead of being effective. I know many preachers who are thrilled to spend precious time explaining the syntax and morphology of a word while people are one decision away from moral, financial, relational, & marital ruin.
The week between Christmas and the New Year has been officially declared as the most “unproductive” times of the year. While surfing the web, I ran across Michael Hyatt’s excellent blog, which inspired me to think long and hard about what I want to accomplish in 2010.
In order to make my resolutions stick, I decided to employ Michael Hyatt’s four strategies found here. Therefore, let it be resolved:
That I will read through the entire Bible by December 31, 2010 using YouVersion’s Chronological plan as my guide (started Day 1 yesterday).
That I will lose fifteen pounds (current weight: 217) by exercising a minimum of 3 days per week with a minimum of 20 minutes of cardio during each exercise session. I will accomplish this by July 30, 2010
That I will continue to resist the lure, draw, and undeniable seductiveness of late night unhealthy snacks like candy, soda, cookies, & other fattening foods and replace them with fruit.
That I will finish the first draft of my new book by June 30, 2010.
That I will write at least three posts per week on my personal blog, where I share my thoughts/ideas on leadership from an urban perspective and some general life musings.
So let it be noted. So let it be done. And please give me a swift kick in the rear end if you see me getting off track.
What are your goals & have you gone public with them?
As I mentioned in my previous post, I absolutely love reading books! Consequently, I’ve read a lot of books in the last 10 years. There are many books that I consider to have greatly been a part of literally transforming my life. There were many great books that didn’t make my list that are classics and didn’t meet the criteria that I considered.
Additionally, since I have so many recommendations, I’ve decided to break them down into the following categories: Church Growth, Theology, Christian Living, Leadership, Self-Improvement, Business, Sociology, and African-American Studies. I will devote blog space to cover each category in subsequent posts.
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Best regards,
Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.
