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Aspiring to the Median

evaluating-ministries
Clare DeGraaf, Businessman, on Decisions that can Change Your Life

Clare DeGraaf, Businessman, on Decisions that can Change Your Life

podcast

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James Waters, Founder of Kingdom Impact, on Balancing Prayerful Discernment and Strategic Analysis in Generosity

James Waters, Founder of Kingdom Impact, on Balancing Prayerful Discernment and Strategic Analysis in Generosity

podcast

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Becca Spradlin, Founder of On Mission Advisors, on Guarding Against Mission Drift

Becca Spradlin, Founder of On Mission Advisors, on Guarding Against Mission Drift

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Jeff Latture, Executive VP of Barnhart Crane & Rigging, on Multiplying Impact Through Strategic Collaborative Giving

Jeff Latture, Executive VP of Barnhart Crane & Rigging, on Multiplying Impact Through Strategic Collaborative Giving

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Kristin Hammett, VP at the Signatry, on Family Alignment Over Agreement in Giving

Kristin Hammett, VP at the Signatry, on Family Alignment Over Agreement in Giving

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A Map for the Generous Life, Introducing the Applied Generosity Podcast

A Map for the Generous Life, Introducing the Applied Generosity Podcast

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Doug Cobb, Founder of the Finishing Fund, on the Last Mile of the Great Commission

Doug Cobb, Founder of the Finishing Fund, on the Last Mile of the Great Commission

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Heather Larson, Philanthropic Advisor, on Aligning Families’ Giving to Create Meaningful Change

Heather Larson, Philanthropic Advisor, on Aligning Families’ Giving to Create Meaningful Change

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Alan Barnhart, Business Leader, on the Story that Sparked a Generation of Givers

Alan Barnhart, Business Leader, on the Story that Sparked a Generation of Givers

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The Finish Line Podcast

On The Finish Line Podcast, you’ll hear stories and strategies to make you a more joy-filled, intentional, and effective giver.

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Regular updates to help you experience deeper joy, purpose, and freedom in your giving and finances

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Our Mission

To encounter God more personally, to radically impact our communities, and to bring the gospel to the world.

How?

We choose an objective finish line for our spending and give the rest away. And we help others do the same.

About

How Does It Work?
Core Beliefs
A New Paradigm
Meet The Team
Community
Contact

Links

Home
Calculator
SPRINT Program
The Pledge
Podcast
Blog

Our Mission

To encounter God more personally, to radically impact our communities, and to bring the gospel to the world.

How?

We choose an objective finish line for our spending and give the rest away. And we help others do the same.

"Saving for me has shifted from preparing for my f "Saving for me has shifted from preparing for my future security to preparing for my future obedience."James Lenhoff isn't arguing against saving. He's reframing what savings are for. A reserve can serve wise responsibilities and future needs without becoming the place your trust lives.When security becomes savings' only purpose, "enough" keeps moving. When stewardship becomes the purpose, the question changes: What might God ask you to do with what has been entrusted to you?That shift doesn't give you a universal savings number or remove the need for planning. It makes the Owner part of the plan.Consider one account or financial goal you are building. Alongside the practical purpose, write one faithful "yes" it could make possible: helping family, responding to a need, taking a less lucrative calling, or giving when an opportunity appears.Are you only preparing for uncertainty, or also preparing for obedience?
How do you teach a child to see people rather than How do you teach a child to see people rather than projects?During a visit to a village in Zambia, Alisa Hoober watched her three-year-old daughter, Caroline, meet another child her age. The girls didn't speak the same language. They figured out they were both three, became fast friends, and walked hand in hand as the adults visited homes and businesses.Alisa saw more than a sweet childhood moment. She saw a picture of the kind of partnership she hoped her children would learn: walking alongside people rather than only offering help from a distance.A child didn't need an explanation of international development to recognize a friend.If you give to causes far from home, the people behind those causes can feel abstract. And if you serve locally, it's possible to focus on solving a problem without really knowing a neighbor.Where could you make room to listen, learn a name, and walk alongside someone this week?
Can a financial boundary meant to bring freedom be Can a financial boundary meant to bring freedom become too rigid?In Episode 200, Kealan shares a moment when his family's spending finish line was working against its purpose. His wife, Alison, noticed she was weighing whether to delay recommended medical care so its cost would fall in a different month.They had created a guardrail for lifestyle spending, not a reason to hesitate over caring for family. After talking, they adjusted their approach: ordinary living expenses still had a finish line, but health care was handled separately.The lesson isn't that boundaries are bad. It's that a useful tool should be responsive to the people it's meant to serve.You can be disciplined without treating a number as sacred. Sometimes responsible stewardship means keeping your convictions while changing the mechanism.Where might a well-intended financial rule need another conversation in your household?
What would remain of your identity if your meaning What would remain of your identity if your meaningful work stopped tomorrow?After years leading Mercy House Global, Kristen Welch found herself exhausted and increasingly dependent on the organization that depended on her. She took a 110-day sabbatical.During a walk in the woods, she wrestled with who she was without tasks to complete or people needing her. She describes being reminded that she was God's child before she was a ministry leader.There is a particular temptation in work that matters: to mistake being useful for being loved.Your service can be a beautiful response to God's love. It was never meant to earn it.Where in your life has being needed started to feel necessary to being enough?
A spreadsheet would have suggested a trade-in. Kr A spreadsheet would have suggested a trade-in.Kristin Hammett and her husband were replacing a minivan. Instead of applying its trade-in value toward their next vehicle, they had it serviced and detailed, then gave it to a family.Years later, Kristin still remembered that decision—not because it saved money, but because it brought joy.In episode 174 of The Finish Line Podcast, she challenges the assumption that a generous choice is only worthwhile when it produces the most financially efficient result. Wise stewardship matters. So does the freedom to give something valuable without expecting a financial return.This week, consider one practical gift that might not maximize your resources on paper but could be a meaningful blessing to someone else. It doesn't have to be large.What could you give simply because someone needs it?
A generous gift can still leave the people involve A generous gift can still leave the people involved feeling distant.In episode 189, Joanna Hogan challenges a habit that can creep into relationships between givers and ministry leaders:“If you want this to not be transactional, then you can't be transactional.”Her point reaches both sides. Real partnership grows when you listen to the story behind the work, ask about the hard parts, and stay interested beyond the next gift.If you support a ministry, your curiosity may be as encouraging as your contribution. And if you lead one, learning what matters to a giver can change the tone of the invitation.Who could you approach this week with a genuine question, instead of an agenda?
Could a well-intentioned gift become a burden? He Could a well-intentioned gift become a burden?Heather Larson tells a story about a donor who wanted children at a residential ministry to experience the joy of a swimming pool. The gift was generous. But the pool didn't fit the local context. Lessons and safety were difficult to manage, maintenance was expensive, and the organization eventually drained it.Later, another donor asked more questions. Working with the organization, that donor helped transform the unused pool into a tilapia pond that could generate income and better serve the community.Same space. Very different kind of help.Before deciding what someone needs, try asking a few questions: What would be genuinely useful? What will it cost to maintain? Who will carry that responsibility after the gift is made?Generosity involves more than willingness to give. It also involves the humility to let others tell you what would actually help.Where might listening first change the kind of gift you offer?
Most of us are hoping to earn a little more. Fewer Most of us are hoping to earn a little more. Fewer have decided what happens when we get there.In episode 200 of The Finish Line Podcast, Cody and Kealan return to the question that first shaped their own generosity journey: How much is enough?A financial finish line isn't a promise that money will stop being complicated. It's a practical way to name what your household needs, keep God's ownership in view, and make room to respond when opportunities to give arise.The surprising shift? A finish line isn't the end of the journey. It's the beginning of a much better one.If your income grew next year, how would you recognize that you already had enough?
How do you pursue real impact without lessening de How do you pursue real impact without lessening dependence on the Holy Spirit?That’s the tension at the heart of the latest Finish Line Podcast conversation with James Waters, founder of Kingdom Impact.James has spent years helping Christian organizations measure what truly matters. Not just activity. Not just outputs. But real fruit.In this episode, he explores a challenge many leaders and givers feel but rarely articulate:
How do you plan wisely, track results, and steward resources well while still remaining deeply dependent on God?It’s easy to drift to one side or the other.
Either over-spiritualizing decisions without clarity, or over-measuring outcomes without humility.But faithful stewardship requires both.For leaders, advisors, and givers, this conversation is an invitation to think more carefully about what “impact” really means and how to pursue it with both conviction and surrender.What does it look like to measure fruit without losing faith?🎧 Listen to episode 187 of the Finish Line Podcast, available on your favorite podcast platforms!https://www.finishlinepledge.com/episode187/
“But what's kept in the dark grows on us. The fear “But what's kept in the dark grows on us. The fear grows, the greed grows.”Financial advisor Mary Helen Klingen made this observation while talking about the money conversations people often avoid, even at church.It's possible to discuss budgets and giving without admitting that fear, comparison, or a need for control is shaping the decisions underneath. Silence can make those worries feel normal, even inevitable.Mary Helen wasn't calling for public disclosure of everyone's finances. She was pointing toward honest conversation and the kind of fellowship that makes change possible.You don't have to share your bank balance with a room full of people. But an honest conversation with someone trustworthy may help you see what's been carrying more weight than it should.Maybe the next step isn't changing a number. Maybe it's naming the fear behind the number.Who could you talk with honestly about money this week?
"Saving for me has shifted from preparing for my f "Saving for me has shifted from preparing for my future security to preparing for my future obedience."James Lenhoff isn't arguing against saving. He's reframing what savings are for. A reserve can serve wise responsibilities and future needs without becoming the place your trust lives.When security becomes savings' only purpose, "enough" keeps moving. When stewardship becomes the purpose, the question changes: What might God ask you to do with what has been entrusted to you?That shift doesn't give you a universal savings number or remove the need for planning. It makes the Owner part of the plan.Consider one account or financial goal you are building. Alongside the practical purpose, write one faithful "yes" it could make possible: helping family, responding to a need, taking a less lucrative calling, or giving when an opportunity appears.Are you only preparing for uncertainty, or also preparing for obedience?
How do you teach a child to see people rather than How do you teach a child to see people rather than projects?During a visit to a village in Zambia, Alisa Hoober watched her three-year-old daughter, Caroline, meet another child her age. The girls didn't speak the same language. They figured out they were both three, became fast friends, and walked hand in hand as the adults visited homes and businesses.Alisa saw more than a sweet childhood moment. She saw a picture of the kind of partnership she hoped her children would learn: walking alongside people rather than only offering help from a distance.A child didn't need an explanation of international development to recognize a friend.If you give to causes far from home, the people behind those causes can feel abstract. And if you serve locally, it's possible to focus on solving a problem without really knowing a neighbor.Where could you make room to listen, learn a name, and walk alongside someone this week?
Can a financial boundary meant to bring freedom be Can a financial boundary meant to bring freedom become too rigid?In Episode 200, Kealan shares a moment when his family's spending finish line was working against its purpose. His wife, Alison, noticed she was weighing whether to delay recommended medical care so its cost would fall in a different month.They had created a guardrail for lifestyle spending, not a reason to hesitate over caring for family. After talking, they adjusted their approach: ordinary living expenses still had a finish line, but health care was handled separately.The lesson isn't that boundaries are bad. It's that a useful tool should be responsive to the people it's meant to serve.You can be disciplined without treating a number as sacred. Sometimes responsible stewardship means keeping your convictions while changing the mechanism.Where might a well-intended financial rule need another conversation in your household?
What would remain of your identity if your meaning What would remain of your identity if your meaningful work stopped tomorrow?After years leading Mercy House Global, Kristen Welch found herself exhausted and increasingly dependent on the organization that depended on her. She took a 110-day sabbatical.During a walk in the woods, she wrestled with who she was without tasks to complete or people needing her. She describes being reminded that she was God's child before she was a ministry leader.There is a particular temptation in work that matters: to mistake being useful for being loved.Your service can be a beautiful response to God's love. It was never meant to earn it.Where in your life has being needed started to feel necessary to being enough?
A spreadsheet would have suggested a trade-in. Kr A spreadsheet would have suggested a trade-in.Kristin Hammett and her husband were replacing a minivan. Instead of applying its trade-in value toward their next vehicle, they had it serviced and detailed, then gave it to a family.Years later, Kristin still remembered that decision—not because it saved money, but because it brought joy.In episode 174 of The Finish Line Podcast, she challenges the assumption that a generous choice is only worthwhile when it produces the most financially efficient result. Wise stewardship matters. So does the freedom to give something valuable without expecting a financial return.This week, consider one practical gift that might not maximize your resources on paper but could be a meaningful blessing to someone else. It doesn't have to be large.What could you give simply because someone needs it?
A generous gift can still leave the people involve A generous gift can still leave the people involved feeling distant.In episode 189, Joanna Hogan challenges a habit that can creep into relationships between givers and ministry leaders:“If you want this to not be transactional, then you can't be transactional.”Her point reaches both sides. Real partnership grows when you listen to the story behind the work, ask about the hard parts, and stay interested beyond the next gift.If you support a ministry, your curiosity may be as encouraging as your contribution. And if you lead one, learning what matters to a giver can change the tone of the invitation.Who could you approach this week with a genuine question, instead of an agenda?
“But what's kept in the dark grows on us. The fear “But what's kept in the dark grows on us. The fear grows, the greed grows.”Financial advisor Mary Helen Klingen made this observation while talking about the money conversations people often avoid, even at church.It's possible to discuss budgets and giving without admitting that fear, comparison, or a need for control is shaping the decisions underneath. Silence can make those worries feel normal, even inevitable.Mary Helen wasn't calling for public disclosure of everyone's finances. She was pointing toward honest conversation and the kind of fellowship that makes change possible.You don't have to share your bank balance with a room full of people. But an honest conversation with someone trustworthy may help you see what's been carrying more weight than it should.Maybe the next step isn't changing a number. Maybe it's naming the fear behind the number.Who could you talk with honestly about money this week?
"Saving for me has shifted from preparing for my f "Saving for me has shifted from preparing for my future security to preparing for my future obedience."James Lenhoff isn't arguing against saving. He's reframing what savings are for. A reserve can serve wise responsibilities and future needs without becoming the place your trust lives.When security becomes savings' only purpose, "enough" keeps moving. When stewardship becomes the purpose, the question changes: What might God ask you to do with what has been entrusted to you?That shift doesn't give you a universal savings number or remove the need for planning. It makes the Owner part of the plan.Consider one account or financial goal you are building. Alongside the practical purpose, write one faithful "yes" it could make possible: helping family, responding to a need, taking a less lucrative calling, or giving when an opportunity appears.Are you only preparing for uncertainty, or also preparing for obedience?
How do you teach a child to see people rather than How do you teach a child to see people rather than projects?During a visit to a village in Zambia, Alisa Hoober watched her three-year-old daughter, Caroline, meet another child her age. The girls didn't speak the same language. They figured out they were both three, became fast friends, and walked hand in hand as the adults visited homes and businesses.Alisa saw more than a sweet childhood moment. She saw a picture of the kind of partnership she hoped her children would learn: walking alongside people rather than only offering help from a distance.A child didn't need an explanation of international development to recognize a friend.If you give to causes far from home, the people behind those causes can feel abstract. And if you serve locally, it's possible to focus on solving a problem without really knowing a neighbor.Where could you make room to listen, learn a name, and walk alongside someone this week?
Can a financial boundary meant to bring freedom be Can a financial boundary meant to bring freedom become too rigid?In Episode 200, Kealan shares a moment when his family's spending finish line was working against its purpose. His wife, Alison, noticed she was weighing whether to delay recommended medical care so its cost would fall in a different month.They had created a guardrail for lifestyle spending, not a reason to hesitate over caring for family. After talking, they adjusted their approach: ordinary living expenses still had a finish line, but health care was handled separately.The lesson isn't that boundaries are bad. It's that a useful tool should be responsive to the people it's meant to serve.You can be disciplined without treating a number as sacred. Sometimes responsible stewardship means keeping your convictions while changing the mechanism.Where might a well-intended financial rule need another conversation in your household?
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Copyright © 2026 Finish Line Pledge