Evangels For Life
Why Passion Makes A Difference
C. ERNIE NIVENS
Baker’s Dozen
Thirteen Insights from Highly Successful Financial Advisors
Copyright © 2009 by C. Ernie Nivens
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information
storage and retrieval system without written permission from the
publisher, except for the inclusion of quotations in a review.
Published by:
Evangel Publisher, LLC
Gastonia, NC 28054
www.EvangelPublisher.com
Cover design and interior layout: www.TheBookProducer.com
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-0-9819419-2-9
AUTHOR’S NOTE: These stories have been collected over
the years from the influence of a variety of places and sources
throughout my life. It is impossible to credit every person who
has inspired me, or whose material and thoughts inspired me
without an acknowledgment. My thanks to those who have assisted
me in generating a few of these ideas and stories.
Dedication:
I honor my wife, Rosemarie, and our three daughters,
Cathy, Noelle, and Emily.
Without their love and commitment I probably would not be here to publish this book.
I also in memoriam salute my father and mother:
Cecil J. and Vivian M. Nivens.
My brother, Jimmy, who taught me to putt my focus.
Also my beloved brother, Dennis E. “Sandy” Nivens.
As a young man, they taught me to have faith, how to love, and to dream boldly!
Acknowledgements
I have to first acknowledge my wife, Rosemarie and daughter,
Noelle who tirelessly typed and edited this manuscript. I
cannot thank them enough.
I also have to recognize my business family: Bill Humbarger,
Indianola, Mississippi my Presbyterian brother; Warren Budd,
Newnan Georgia, who is probably my cousin and is a great
Patriot; Jim Erben, Austin, Texas (who successfully defeated
cancer this past year), Scott McGuire, Shreveport, Louisiana,
who is a constant cheerleader for me; Rosie Franklin, Charlotte,
NC who was a great prayer warrior during my accident time;
Wayne Helms, Rock Hill South Carolina, my first year mentor;
Gene Sullivan, Rock Hill South Carolina, who is a source of encouragement
and entertainment for me; Jesse “Buck” McQuay,
Charlotte, North Carolina, who has served as my persistent
coach over 19 years; and Thomas Herlong, Johnston, South
Carolina, whose merging of faith and work create quite an example.
I salute Wes Morris, Kingsport, Tennessee and Boyd
Phillips of Marion, North Carolina who I have mentored for a
number of years and are my two cheerful sons.
I appreciate and recognize Titus Greene, my client who has
become like an older brother to me. His effervescent joy is a
contagion to all who know him.
I owe my appreciation to Mark Skillestad, Gastonia, North
Carolina, my client and good friend who sat with me countless
hours this past year in my hospital room. His joy, willing ear
and presence helped me fill many otherwise lonely hours.
Most importantly I thank my Great God who has enabled me
to regain my health, cognitive creativity and physical strength.
Therefore I am able to complete this dream of mine.
Introduction
I have given a lot of thought to passion in living. I guess this began with the impact of 9/11 on all of our lives. It caused me to review my vocation and the purpose of my life. I began to look at how I spend my time and evaluate my relationships with family, friends and clients. It has occurred to me that since 2001 my passion comes from a sense of stewardship, a sense of responsibility. Our time in this world is so short. It’s like a spark.
I heard a story recently about a grandfather who took his granddaughter to the grave of the little girl’s grandmother. They looked at the grave marker, and he pointed out the date she was born and the date she died. The little girl solemnly regarded the marker for several minutes.
Then she asked her grandfather, “Papa, what’s the dash for?”
He replied, “All the years she lived in between. There were years of love, joy, happiness and some trials. Mostly there was joy.”
During the past twelve months I have been faced with three life-threatening illnesses. Although my recovery is now complete, I am left with a new passion for life. It is more important than ever to me to inject that dash with the values and renewed zest that occupy my daily life.
What does the dash stand for in each of our lives? I passionately believe that I want my dash to stand for years of giving my best effort every day. I want my dash to be filled with good news that I have been able to bring to friends and clients who have turned to me for help. I want my dash to draw a picture of me as an Evangel for Life. In the financial services industry, it occurs to me that every day we meet with people who are seeking some type of hope. They are concerned about the future, they are concerned about their plans, and their money.
Over the two decades that I have been involved in this industry, I have noticed three common fears that emerge from people. The first fear, and the most recurring fear that I discover is the fear of running out of money. People are afraid that they don’t have it invested correctly, or are making too little on it, or the market is going to crash, etc., etc. This is true for people who have a little money, as it is just as true for people who have a lot of money. Believe it or not, I sat in my office one day with a man who is worth $65 million, and I couldn’t help but ask him the question, “What do you fear most in life,” and as if he were a little old man who had $10,000, he looked at me, and said, “I’m afraid of running out of money.” How could a man with $65 million have that fear? But, you see, the problem is that it is a common fear, based on the desire of the heart, not the total of the asset page.
Another fear that I have discovered are the people who tell me, “I’m afraid that I’m going to die and leave my family destitute, that they won’t have any money to live on. And, my wife and family have been so great to me all my life,” and in this case the man is speaking, “and I’m afraid that I’m going to leave them with not enough money.” Of course, we have answers for that. Reposition money, and for tax-favored growth, and also to help them utilize the best tax-shelter in America, and that is a permanent life insurance contract.
The third fear that I have discovered is from people of means, who have sizeable estates, and they say, “Ernie, I’m afraid I’m going to die and lose my estate, that the government is going to come in and seize my estate and tax it so severely that my family will have to sell everything just to pay the taxes and that that will wipe out my estate.” Of course, then I introduce him to the estate planning process, and how to pay the taxes with “pennies on the dollars” as Ben Feldman used to say. It takes little dollars, and leverages them through a life insurance contract into large dollars. That is the key for life insurance, is a simple leverage tool, and to take pennies and turn them into many, many dollars.
It occurs to me, as Evangels for Life, of the task that we assume in helping people, when it comes to their fears, that we are the imparters of hope. We give people hope and help take away their fear, if we just take time to listen to them, and let them talk about the affairs and the fears of their hearts. That is probably the true meaning of being an Evangel for Life, taking the time to know how to impart hope to change their lives. What a great mission we have, to touch people, to touch their fears, and to impart hope. What a great mission we have as Evangels for Life.
In the financial services industry, it occurs to me that every day we meet with people who are seeking some type of hope. They are concerned about the future; they are concerned about their plans, and their money.
Over the two decades that I have been involved in this industry, I have noticed three common fears that emerge from people. The first fear, and the most recurring fear that I discover is the fear of running out of money. People are afraid that they don’t have it invested correctly, or are making too little on it, or the market is going to crash, etc., etc. This is true for people who have a little money, as it is just as true for people who have a lot of money. Believe it or not, I sat in my office one day with a man who is worth $65 million, and I couldn’t help but ask him the question, “What do you fear most in life,” and as if he were a little old man who had $10,000, he looked at me, and said, “I’m afraid of running out of money.” How could a man with $65 million have that fear? But, you see, the problem is that it is a common fear, based on the desire of the heart, not the total of the asset page.
Another fear that I have discovered are the people who tell me, “I’m afraid that I’m going to die and leave my family destitute, that they won’t have any money to live on. And, my wife and family have been so great to me all my life,” and in this case the man is speaking, “and I’m afraid that I’m going to leave them with not enough money.” Of course, we have answers for that. Reposition money, and for tax-favored growth, and also to help them utilize the best tax-shelter in America, and that is a permanent life insurance contract.
The third fear that I have discovered is from people of means, who have sizeable estates, and they say, “Ernie, I’m afraid I’m going to die and lose my estate, that the government is going to come in and seize my estate and tax it so severely that my family will have to sell everything just to pay the taxes and that that will wipe out my estate.” Of course, then I introduce him to the estate planning process, and how to pay the taxes with “pennies on the dollars” as Ben Feldman used to say. It takes little dollars, and leverage them through a life insurance contract into large dollars. That is the key for life insurance, is a simple leverage tool, and to take pennies and turn them into many, many dollars.
It occurs to me, as Evangels for Life, of the task that we assume in helping people, when it comes to their fears, that we are the imparters of hope. We give people hope and help take away their fear, if we just take time to listen to them, and let them talk about the affairs and the fears of their hearts. That is probably the true meaning of being an Evangel for Life, taking the time to know how to impart hope to change their lives. What a great mission we have, to touch people, to touch their fears, and to impart hope. What a great mission we have as Evangels for Life.
Chapter One
About five years ago I was sitting in the home office of my major insurance company. The CEO and president of this company sat with a few other agents and me. He was talking to us about our industry, our company and his perspective. He looked at our group (I felt he was looking me straight in the eye) and said, “It occurs to me that we are evangels.” Well, he kept talking but I didn’t hear anything else he said. He had me at that point because he used “my word”. Since I have a Masters of Divinity, that word EVANGEL captured my attention.
I began to think about what an evangel really is. You probably know that it is a messenger of good news. Now that doesn’t make every reporter on television an evangel. They don’t bring good news. They bring mostly sad, sorry, bad news. They are not evangels, but we are.
To understand evangel, we have to look at the historical origin of the word. Here my biblical studies come to bear. In the Old Testament there is a history of Israel as they made their way out of Egypt and were looking for the Promised Land, a place to settle. Time and time again they encountered people of other cultures and beliefs who disputed their right to do this. Wars resulted. While the men went off to battle, the women, children and old, old men stayed home. They were left to wonder day after day what was happening to those they loved.
They, of course, didn’t have CNN or text messaging or any of the ways of communication of our age. Instead they had a system. They would look to the mountains and watch for a runner to come over the mountain pass. Once they saw the runner they saw the news. If the runner was carrying swords and arrows, they knew the war was continuing. It might even be advancing toward them. They had better pack up their goods and get out of town in a hurry to save their families. If the runner came over the mountain carrying items of greenery, palm or olive branches, that was a symbol to those who could see him that they were in for a time of peace. Whenever they saw the runner bearing the green branches, they broke into celebration, singing, laughing, dancing and feasting. These were happy days for the land of Israel. They rejoiced because they and their children could settle there and enjoy their lives together in a time of peace and, hopefully, prosperity.
The Greek name for that runner coming over the mountains is euangellion. Today it’s the same thing. People are watching for the runners, the people who are bringing to them good news, messages of hope. I hold out to you, my friends, that we in the life insurance and financial planning industry are this generation’s Evangels. We, however, are Evangels for Life for we bring great good news of strategies and product information that people may use to help them have a life of prosperity, peace and hope. We are Evangels for Life.
It occurs to me that as we work day-to-day a lot of days have repetition, redundancy of yesterday and of last week. The great thing about our industry, the insurance industry, the financial planning industry, is that we have the freshness of everyday. I believe that we are called every day to give our best. As you read this page, I would like to ask you to do something with me.
Make a fist as hard as you can. Do you have it? Have you made your fist as hard as you can? Now make it a little bit tighter. The funny thing is that you probably did. You squeezed it just a tiny bit more. Well it occurs to me along the same principle that if you put a pot of water on a burner to heat when it reaches 211 degrees, it is really hot. You have to be careful not to stick your hands in or spill it on you. It is hot. Then when the water heats just one more degree to 212 degrees, all of the sudden it boils into steam. This is the release of powerful energy. With steam it’s possible to power a train and to move things from one place to another. I think that’s a story for our age. We are called every day to give that little bit of extra effort. We are called to give each day our best. We are called not to look back in regret and wish we had done more, but to give that little extra squeeze every day. We can make one more phone call, one more contact, and one more appointment. It’s the consistency of that daily application, of the extra measure, that makes for great success in this business.
Ever since I heard that CEO used the word “evangel”, I have considered that we are the runners in our age. We are bringing the good news and hope for the masses of the economic lost. We are Evangels. That’s where passion comes from. If we understand that we hold something that people need very dearly, we need to summon up our passion to help as many people as we can.
Chapter Two
For twenty years I was a minister of United Methodist churches all around South Carolina. I served in rural and suburban areas. I have seen people up close and personal. Into the insurance industry I have carried many people’s concerns from that twenty years of ministry.
Many times I saw an angry widow’s tears. After her husband died and the fried chicken had been eaten, the family goes back to work and the friends leave. I was the one who was there with the widow to bear witness to those angry tears. In many cases I knew that she would have to face the reality of having to sell the house, take the kids out of college and tell the children that their dreams were dashed. On more than one occasion I recall an angry widow looking me in the eye and saying, “I am so upset; I am so disappointed in him. If he were here now, I would just kill him!”