July 24, 2026 · 4 min read
The One Thing You Won't Let Go
“Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.”
Take My Life and Let It Be, Frances Ridley Havergal, 1874
From Dan's Desk
He came running.
That detail is easy to miss, but Mark says the rich young ruler ran up to Jesus and knelt before him. He was sincere. He was earnest. He had no idea that asking the question would expose the one thing he was holding too tightly to let go of.
Two pieces this week. One on the story everyone assumes is for someone richer than themselves. One on the question most men skip before they say yes to the cheque.
From Wise and Faithful
The Rich Young Ruler Got It Wrong, and So Do We
Mark 10 gets filed under warnings for the wealthy. That is the comfortable read. The question this essay actually asks is harder: what would you walk away from Jesus to keep?
The One Conversation Before Your Parents Help You Buy a House
The number on the cheque is only part of the cost. Reverse mortgage interest, RRSP withdrawals, GICs cashed early: none of it shows up on paper. This is the conversation most people skip. Read it
This Week's Tool
Before the conversation with your parents, know your actual number. Enter your income, existing debt, and rate to see what you can carry without stretching anyone. Try the calculator
Worth Your Time
[Article] No Emergency Fund? RBC Poll Finds Over 40% of Canadians Worry Even One Major Unexpected Expense Could Derail Their Finances · RBC / Newswire.ca, July 16, 2026
42% say one unexpected expense could derail their finances entirely. 32% have nothing in reserve at all. The breakdown by income level is worth the full read. Read
[Article] Count the Cost of Missions, but Don't Forget the Joys · Desiring God, July 21, 2026
Luke 14's count-the-cost language wasn't meant to produce only reluctance. It was meant to produce durability. The link to what it means to show up financially for your family is direct. Read
[Article] Male Friendships Are Not Doing the Job · Institute for Family Studies, July 20, 2026
Most male friendships are activity-based. The activity ends, the friendship collapses. Men rarely notice until the crisis hits and nobody picks up the phone. Read
The Week in One Number
9 years
Roughly how long it takes $50,000 borrowed through a reverse mortgage to become $100,000 owed, at 8% compounding. No payment arrives in the mail. The balance grows in the background, invisible in the monthly cash flow, until the day the home needs to be sold. A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children (Proverbs 13:22). Worth knowing what the loan actually costs before the cheque clears.
Good News About the Good News
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, founder of Beijing's Zion Church, landed in Los Angeles on July 4 after nine months in Chinese detention. He planted Zion Church in 2007; by the time of his arrest it had grown to over 1,500 members in Beijing with affiliated congregations in 40 cities and an online audience of 10,000 each week. In October 2025, authorities launched the largest coordinated crackdown on a single urban house church in 40 years, detaining Jin and nearly 30 other pastors and workers across Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Chengdu. He is free. Other Zion Church leaders remain detained, and the prayer continues.
A church planted in a hostile capital, grown to 40 cities, and still standing after the worst the authorities brought against it. The Holy Spirit does not need accommodating conditions to build the church. [Al Jazeera, July 5] [Christian Post, July 8]
Coming Next Week
Your teen may already be earning this summer. Next week: what to tell them before the first paycheque arrives, the Canadian paperwork they need to understand (SIN card, T4, what happens at tax time), and why that first pay stub is a discipleship moment worth slowing down for. See you Thursday.
Close
He came running, which means he wanted to be found. He asked sincerely, which means the answer was going to cost him something.
Jesus named the one thing standing between the young man and wholehearted discipleship. The young man went away sad because he had many possessions and could not open his hands.
Open hands are lighter than they look.
Grace and peace,
Dan
P.S. The parents/down payment piece is one of the more practically important things I have published this year. If you know a couple navigating that conversation right now, forward this before they say yes.