Readers of my work and those who attend my programs know that I am an advocate of diversification when it comes to investments. It is my view that diversification, when properly undertaken, is a great risk management technique and a truly prudent action. Many so called experts have argued that diversification limits real growth but many of its advocates would argue otherwise, this writer included.

However, there is one important area in our life when diversification is not only counter-productive, it is destructive – our faith.

A few weeks ago, I visited the beautiful home of a client. It was a nice place, well adorned and very functional – one that you would typically see in architecture magazines. However, there were adornments that caught my attention. In one corner, I saw a small altar with a crucifix displayed. On another part of the house stored some figures like Sto. Nino, Mother Mary and a saint or two. On another part of the house was bald and fat Buddha and a skinny bronze Buddha while on its opposite was some Chinese god of some sort and probably one that resembles Confucius. There were also some crystals that probably subscribes to some eastern pantheism or new age belief.

I have seen many houses like these and know of friends who live in those houses. I once asked a friend about the many idols in their home, and he was very coy in his answer… “para sigurado” (just to be sure)! Nice answer.

I respect the belief of others even if I do not agree with it. However, I also wonder about our commitment to our faith if we ‘diversify’ our beliefs. Some people I know genuinely believes in God and its trinity, yet they also subscribe to some other practices or beliefs because “wala naman mawawala” (we don’t loose anything). My view is simple, if I really belief in my God then I also believe in his glory and power, omniscient, omnipotent and all that. My logic will dictate that I should put my faith on Him and only Him; doing otherwise will be a contradiction of my own belief. If I contradict my own belief, that is also saying that I contradict my own self. Bible says it simply “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3).

If I am to put my faith in my God, I will do so completely. If not, why believe in a god who you think is inadequate for you in the first place? My simplistic logic is this: if I believe that there is a super entity that created me and everything around me, I must believe in its power and glory completely. If I believe in such an entity, I must put my faith in Him and I must try to know Him as much as I can so that I may know what He expects of me. If He is an all powerful entity as I believe Him to be, then logic also tells me that I should not challenge his righteousness.

If you believe in God, get to know Him better. Best way to know Him is by praying to Him and reading His word, the Bible. As you get to know Him better, you will understand his infinitude nature with His unbelievable love for you.

Diversify your money but stick to one God. There is only one God.

I just needed to blog this.

Earlier, we had a ‘picture-perfect’ moment in my family. In our small bed, our 2 boys squeezed in and this is the picture: my wife Mia was reading a Christian Book (Chinkee Tan’s new book Rich God, Poor God), my 8 year-old son was reading his Bible while my youngest son Chino, aged 5 years old was lying on top of me as we share the earphones of my iPhone and we listened to Praise and Worship music.

I was truly elated at this experience and this is a picture that will forever be etched in my heart. Also, earlier in the morning, my teen daughters went to our room to ask their mom to pray over them as one of them was awaken by a bad dream. Last night, my daughters took part of the youth service at Victory Green Hills.

As fathers, we are often burdened by the pressures of providing for the family. While many of us can be great providers financially, it is sad that many fathers limit their provision on something that is financial in nature. While it is our responsibility to make sure that our children are fed, clothed and educated… our provisions should be expanded way beyond finances.

Here’s a responsibility which I believe should be given utmost priority by fathers — Spiritual provision. We must provide spiritual covering for our family… pray for them and instill the love and fear of God in them. We must truly make Christ the center of our family first and foremost.

The picture I described earlier was a good reminder about our real priorities as parents: to raise God loving and God fearing children with Jesus Christ as the model.

Thank you Lord for this responsibility.

As a trainer, writer, speaker, consultant… and whatever it is that I do, I need a lot of input. If i would be a good communicator, I must also get a lot of information and data all the time. There is a need for me to read, and to read a lot.

While I still enjoy reading, I have a huge waiting line in my reading list and I have been trying to find more and more time to read. Since I take a lot of long trips, the travel time would have been a great time to catch on my reading right? However, I am unable to do so because I have some motion sickness… Fail!

The next best thing? Podcasts. I’ve been subscribing to some podcasts and they are very convenient for an information junkie like me. So what’s in my podcast subscription list right now?

1) Ravi Zacharias: Ravi and his team are my favorite Christian Apologetics and they have 2 programs over at iTunes — Just Thinking and Let My People Think. Listening to Ravi and his team’s podcasts is an absolute must for me… this is nourishment for my spirit and my brain as well. If you doubt your faith and if you doubt God, listen to Ravi Zacharias!

2) The Dave Ramsey Show: I try to catch Dave’s radio podcasts and his podcasts are always updated over at iTunes. I get a lot of practical personal finance knowledge from Dave Ramsey, I just love his no nonsense approach to money. I must admit though that I haven’t been listening to Dave’s show as much of late. Looks like I need to do so again.

I’ve also recently subscribed to the podcasts of Seth Godin and the The Economist. Seth Godin was introduced to me by my good friend Carlo Ople and my pastor Dennis Sy. The Economist was a magazine/journal I used to read a lot before, good thing they now have podcasts.

While reading books/journals are still best, podcasts may be the next best thing.

However, there’s still one book that I must read everyday and no technology can be a good substitute for me, the Bible.

ps – I still like to read books by the way, I just need to find time to do so. Will share my reading list soon.