Monday Morning Message - Giving

The Bible has more to say about money and possessions than ANY other topic. That comes as a surprise to many people. Most think the Bible is all about praying, or heaven, or hell. The Bible is about God's relationship to man and God certainly knows the single greatest hindrance to that relationship is "stuff". All too often our goods become our gods. How are we to keep our possessions from possessing us? I believe we need to practice the discipline of giving.

We need to give graciously, not greedily. 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 recounts Paul's encouragement to the Corinthian church to give. The chief reason he offers them for giving is that they are recipients of God's grace. "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things you may abound in every good work" (v. 8 ESV) . Those who have entered into a saving relationship with Jesus understand and know from firsthand experience that God is able to supply every need. We can give from a position of confidence because of the confidence we have in God's ability and willingness to supply all of our needs.

There is a popular brand of "Christian" teaching out there which leads many to give out of greed. The teaching goes something like this, you give a little and God will give you a lot. Greed motivates the gift. It is selfish rather than selfless. It is a pattern of giving that is focused on getting rather than giving. Unfortunately, it seems that the only ones benefiting from this teaching are the ones doing the teaching.

We not only need to give graciously, we also need to give intentionally rather than incidentally. Giving should be planned and systematic. Paul encouraged the Corinthian church to "put something aside" on the first day of each week. (1 Corinthians 16:1-2) The weekly practice of "setting something aside" serves to remind us of God's grace and provision. We can easily become wrapped up in our own importance and forget God is the one who gives us strength for the work. There will be opportunities for incidental giving, the friend in need, the unexpected windfall that allows us to bless others, however, incidental giving should not be our plan for giving.


As believers we can also give victoriously! Trusting God's continuing provision allows us to give victoriously as an act of worship. It is incredible to drive through some neighborhoods and see the incredible homes being built. I often wonder how people can afford to build such lavish places of habitation. I also find myself wondering to what end are they being built. The terrible reality is that the day will come when another will come and live in that place. Death will visit all and then what good is all our wealth? (For more on this visit the book of Ecclesiastes). But, for the Christian death is no threat!

Finally we need to give with excitement. There are three kinds of giving: 1. Grudge giving says, "I have to give.", 2. Duty giving says, "I ought to give.", 3. Thanks giving says, "I want to give!". I can honestly say, "I want to give!" because I see where the gifts I give are making a difference close to home and far away! Through our church we are able to help support over 5300 international missionaries, 5000 North American missionaries, 3 colleges, and a myriad of other ministries. Every time I give a dollar, I know a portion of it is going to support these wide ranging ministries. I am excited about giving!

Give
Generously
Intentionally
Victoriously
Excitedly

Some Project Updates and NEW Project for Christmas

Project #1. Carol, over at Watch Me Paint, has posted her end of the conversation about the painting she chose for us to engage. It is a marvelous painting (and apparently huge! 100 x 110 inches. Would love to see it up close and personal...) with some equally marvelous things to say to us. I'm still working on my end of the conversation and will likely post sometime over the weekend.

Project #2. Peggy, over at The Virtual Abbess, shamed me into reviewing the Reader's Digest Condensed Version of the Bible. I have posted once and should post again late next week by which time I should be well into the prophets. It has been a remarkable adventure racing through Scripture like this. I feel like I'm taking in all the wonders of God's Word on an interstate doing about 80 m.p.h. Quite a different view than the scenic by-way I am accustomed to driving. I know I'm missing some wonderful stops along the way but I have somewhere to be in a hurry so, I'll keep zipping along.

Project #3. Back before shepherd work went crazy busy I started a pilgrimage called "A Shepherd's Tale". But as wanderings and journeys are apt to do, this one was interrupted. Well, perhaps a resumption of the pilgrimage is in order. There is surely some spiritual insight to be gained from this experience on pilgrimage...I'll have to work on that one. A fresh installment is on the drafting table now and will be ready for daylight soon.

NEW project!

I'm officially creating a meme (what the heck does that stand for anyway?!). Here's the drill...

Whatever you view of the war in Iraq may be, the reality is there are men and women who, in the faithful dispensation of their duties, have been seriously wounded and are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Here's an opportunity to let some of them know they are not forgotten.

1. Send a Christmas card to...
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
690 Georgia Ave. NW
Washington D.C. 20307-5001

2. Tag 5 others with these instructions.

3. Post this info, along with your tags, to your blog.

4. Send the card!

I hereby tag Idaho Paul, "Idaho, By Way Of New Mexico" John Martinez, Lucy, Kuya Kevin, and Four Eyes. Enjoy the blessing of blessing someone else!

Remembering those Who Can't Remember

There are now more than 5 million people in the U.S. living with Alzheimer's and unless a cure is found that number will increase to 14 million by 2050. Every 72 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer's. Almost 10 million people are caring for someone with Alzheimer's and approximately one out three of these caregivers is over the age of 60. (Statistics from The Alzheimer's Association)

I have not been in the position of dealing intensively with someone with Alzheimer's but I have been alongside some of those caregivers from time to time. My friend, Netherlands Paul participated in a wonderful discussion on Alzheimer's disease and how we, as the body of Christ, can engage and minister to those with the disease and those caring for the sick. This is a discussion worth 10 minutes of your time. Read it at Postings from Prairie Hill.

Hilarity Near My Home

This sign ALWAYS makes me laugh. You may need to open it full screen to be able to read the smaller sign below. Why, oh why did My Beloved and I not get married here!

Monday Morning Message - The Call to Worship

There are some things you just can't do by yourself. Exhibit A, have a good argument. I know, I know, some of you argue with yourself all the time. However, to engage in a robust disagreement you need another party involved. Exhibit B, be in a relationship. As the old wag states, "It takes two to Tango." I could go on here but you get the idea. (Feel free to submit your own exhibits in the comments section.)

Worship is something that we need to do together. Gathering with others in times of worship is a necessary spiritual discipline. There is certainly a place for worship in the daily life of the believer. In fact, all that we say and do, every circumstance we encounter, and every relationship in which we engage is an opportunity for individual and personal worship (See Colossians 3:17). It is my firmly held belief that if our personal, daily worship is not lively then our times of corporate worship will not be lively. That said, there is a call for God's people to gather in worship on a regular basis.

Throughout Scripture there is the repeated call for God's people to gather together. Psalm 95 is one such instance. "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." (Ps. 95:6-7) Why do we need these reminders to worship God together?

One reason is that we are a forgetful people. I don't know about you, but the memory thing is getting worse for me. Those who are older than I tell me it's going to get still worse in the years to come. I'm in trouble. I'm the kind of guy that can go to the grocery store with a list in hand and still manage to forget something on the list! If I can be forgetful about simple things in my life I'm fairly certain that I am prone to forgetfulness about the truly important things in my life. I can even forget to worship God. Deuteronomy 6:10-12 stands as one of the most relevant warnings in all of Scripture for the church in America. "Take care lest you forget the LORD" Prosperity, comfort, and ease can easily cause us to forget the only one worthy of our worship.

Another reason we need the reminder to worship God together is that we tend to wander. Even after we experience all the marvelous benefits of knowing and following God we can wander away from Him. Following their miraculous deliverance from Egypt the people of Israel began to wander away from the One who had delivered them. God, speaking to Moses, asks, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?" Remember these are the people who saw the Red Sea parted. These are the people that picked up manna every morning. These are the people who saw water flow from a rock. These same people saw a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They saw all kinds of evidence for the presence and provision of God in their lives and they STILL turned their backs on Him. Incredible, I know, but it's still happening. We need to be called to worship on a regular basis because we tend to wander away from Him.

Finally, we need the reminder to worship because we need to worship. We are created to worship. It is an anthropological note of interest that in every culture there is a system of worship. There is within mankind a need, a hunger, an understanding that worship is necessary to our existence. St. Augustine famously and eloquently stated, "Our souls are restless until they find their rest in thee, O God." Alan Reynolds writes, "Worship is essential to our humanity because it gives us insight into who we are and why we are here. But more...it gives power...to be what we are not yet but yet may be, that which we become by God's grace."

We need to worship. We need to get together with others to worship. It is a vital spiritual discipline that will shape our life of faith. Don't miss the opportunity to get together with others and encounter God among His people this week.

Involved in a bit of a tiff

From time to time I get involved in conversations over at Josiah Road. Currently involved in one that has ignited some pretty strong reaction. I'm wrestling with this one. I feel pretty strongly that the evangelical Christian community is largely going about "the culture war" in a way that simply doesn't square with scripture. However, I see my brother's POV. Below is a summary post I placed in the midst of the discussion (read the entire thread here). Would love some feedback here, and yes my rhino skin is firmly in place so fire away.

I in no way dispute that there is an enormous battle being waged for the hearts and minds of our children. I am simply raising the unpopular question of whether or not we are engaged in this battle in the right way.

The easy way is to beat the war drum, get the troops mobilized, create yet another stir that gets some results (albeit temporary) and pat each other on the back for “standing up to the evil empire” and all the while losing more ground. (Do you hear anybody talking about how much better it’s getting because of all these efforts? I don’t - just the opposite in fact.) The hard, but in my estimation, more effective way is to teach our children and our brethren to critically and biblically examine the culture in which they live and to respond to it in a biblical fashion. (See 1 Peter 3:15-16 for guidance).

It simply causes me to grind my teeth when we run around shouting about all we are “losing” when the understanding I have of our position in Christ is that we’ve already won.

There seems to be some expectation that a fallen culture is going to reflect and embrace God-honoring principles. I just don’t see it happening, no matter how many companies or movies we boycott. Without changing the hearts of the people we have little hope of changing the heart of the culture. “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” (John Adams, 2nd President of the United States)

Saying no to “The Golden Compass” may be a right decision to make. I’m just not sure creating another cultural firestorm is really productive

My Art Teacher Told Me I Needed To Write

Carol, over at Watch Me Paint, and I are attempting to collaborate on a blog project. Utilizing her expertise and my willingness to give my opinion about any and everything, even (especially?) things I know next to nothing about, we are going to attempt to bring some culture to this corner of the blogosphere.

I suggested that we choose (more she than me) some biblically inspired artwork and comment upon it. Carol from the artist's viewpoint and I from a pastoral point of view. Carol readily accepted and immediately suggested a couple of works with which to grapple. I've got to tell you, she's throwing me into the deep end of the pool immediately! (Like I indicated, I'm into stuff WAY above my pay grade here.) You will find the relevant posts linked to each other to make it easy to follow both conversation threads.

All that aside, I am excited about the opportunity to learn and discuss some wonderful pieces of art and the attendant issues they bring to our attention. If a picture is truly worth a thousand words I think it well worth a bit of our time to discover what these men and women are trying to say to us.