The Wrong Scoreboard

From Dan's Desk

Most men I know check the paycheque first when they want to know if they are doing right by their family. It is a fast number to find. It is also the wrong scoreboard.

This week I put out the piece I teased last week: eight signs you are actually providing well, and none of them show up on a T4. I also want to flag something for anyone on this list who is in ministry, or knows someone who is. There is a tax deduction in the CRA code specifically for ordained clergy that most ministry workers have never heard of. If that applies to you, or to someone close to you, it is worth ten minutes tonight.

From Wise and Faithful

8 Signs You're a Good Provider (That Have Nothing to Do With Your Salary)

Most men measure provision by one number. This piece walks through eight better ones: the kind that don't get tracked, don't get celebrated, and don't usually get named until someone is gone and people are talking about what he left behind. If you are the kind of man who quietly wonders whether you are doing right by your family, read this as encouragement.

[Read the full essay]

The Clergy Residence Deduction in Canada: What Pastors Need to Know

If you are an ordained minister or full-time ministry worker, the CRA has a specific deduction under Section 8(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act that most clergy have never claimed. This guide explains who qualifies, how to calculate it, and what to bring to your accountant. Forward it to any pastor you know. [Read it]

Worth Your Time

[Article] Are Canadians Reaching Their Breaking Point? Insolvency Filings Hit Levels Not Seen Since 2009
CBC News

37,121 insolvency filings in the first three months of this year. The cost of debt has done exactly what it was always going to do. Behind that number are a lot of men who carried the problem in silence longer than they should have. Worth reading the actual data, not just the headline. [Read]

[Article] Are Young Men Being Drawn to Christ or Christian Culture?
The Gospel Coalition

The question itself is the sharpest thing about this piece. More young men are showing up in churches and saying they believe. Figuring out which ones are actually anchored to Christ, rather than to the aesthetic of it, matters more than watching the trend line go up. [Read]

[Article] A Father's 5-to-9: The Holy Ambition of Godly Dads
Desiring God

What a man does in the hours before 9am and after 5pm shapes his family more than the hours between. A useful reframe on where the real work of fatherhood happens, and what ambition looks like when it is pointed in the right direction. [Read]

The Week in One Number

37,121

The number of Canadians who filed for insolvency in the first quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly volume since 2009. Ontario filings were up 14.7% year over year. The Bank of Canada held at 2.25% again this morning, which means the cost of carrying variable debt stays exactly where it has been. If you are carrying debt right now, the window to deal with it has not closed. But this number is a reminder of what happens when men wait too long.

[Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, Q1 2026]

Good News About the Good News

Operation World, the respected missions research organization, now identifies Iran as having the fastest-growing evangelical movement in the world. More than 1.2 million believers are meeting in underground house churches inside the country, many of them former Muslims, in a nation where conversion carries severe legal consequences. The Iranian government's own intelligence minister acknowledged it at a conference for Shia Muslim leaders, saying mass conversions are happening right under their eyes. The gospel has a long history of thriving exactly where it costs the most.

Crossway: How Iran Became a Hotspot for Christianity

Coming Next Week

Next week: the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan for 2026. The $60,000 limit, the 90-day rule, the 15-year repayment schedule, and how to stack it with the FHSA so the down payment strategy actually works. If you are saving for a first home, or know someone who is, that is the one to catch. See you Thursday.

The Close

Every man who provides well has something the paycheque does not capture. A steadiness. A presence. Ten thousand small decisions about how he uses the hours that belong to him.

All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided. A man who believes that holds money loosely, and his fear of not having enough loosely too. He is free to provide in the full sense: income and presence and peace and the kind of home culture that outlasts everything he earns.

Grace and peace,
Dan

P.S. If you know a man who measures himself by the paycheque and is never quite sure it is enough, forward him the first piece. It is ten minutes and it costs nothing. Even the man who would never admit it needs to hear this.