Archive for December, 2011

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. Mark 4:18-19

“There is nothing the Christian life suffers more from than the subtle and indescribable worldliness that comes from the cares and possessions of this life.”

Andrew Murray (1828-1917) in Christ’s Perspective on the Use and Abuse of Money (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1978) 65.

“How does the Lord want us to accomplish fund raising while giving Him glory?

Prison Fellowship executive Whitney Kuniholm suggests three points of self-examination to guide Christians in raising funds with humility and dependence on God:

(1) wait on the Lord, (2) test our methods spiritually and (3) conduct development as spiritual leadership.”

Whitney Kuniholm of Prison Fellowship Ministries in: “A Biblical Foundation for Fund Raising” Boardwise (March/April 1997).

“Does it make sense that a model of generosity based on obedience to biblical truths will teach a better stewardship lesson to new believers than a miserly message of frugality based on presumably legitimate missiological principles? The Scriptures clearly and consistently require responsive giving rather than reasoned giving when material needs are going unmet disproportionately. It will continue to be hard for our poorer brothers and sisters to hear our rationales for not helping them as long as they remain hungry for the most basis provisions and we remain well-heeled and hoard our surpluses.”

John Rowell To Give or Not to Give? Rethinking Dependency, Restoring Generosity, & Redefining Sustainability (Tyrone, GA: Authentic, 2006) 53-54.

Dear God: Thank you for your Son, Jesus. Thank you for the joy that remembering Jesus’ birth brings to us today. Help us live so that our words and actions help others know the joy you give. We pray that each day the joy we know, the joy that is in our hearts, will be reflected in our faces. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Advent Prayer, St. Paul’s UMC, Family Advent Guide.

“Absolute surrender involves giving up our desires, goals and preferences to God and accepting God’s will, regardless of how difficult it may be. Another adjustment we must make to do God’s will is reaching a place of total dependence on God. Jesus said, “You can do nothing without Me” (John 15:5). As God’s servants we must be in that intimate relationship so He will complete His work through us. We must depend on God alone. When we surrender our lives completely, we become totally dependent on Him. then we understand that, apart from Him, we can do nothing. We must learn to live in constant awareness of our absolute reliance on God if He is to accomplish His purposes through us. This adjustment requires a shift from doing good work for God according to our abilities, gifts, goals, likes, and dislikes to being totally dependent on God, His working, and His resources. I requires courage and faith.”

Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, revised and expanded (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 2008) 233.

“When he talks about solutions to the problems of poverty, Kuyper explicitly rejected state-administered welfare programs. We “should not seek salvation in monetary help from the State.” That “weakens our national strength,” he says. “The help the State must give is better legislation.” This legislation should aim at strengthening the patterns of work in various spheres, including giving an effective voice to organized labor. And the motivation to assist the poor must come from within those other spheres, with a special obligation for “deeds of love” from the Christian community.”

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), Theologian and Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901-1905, in Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction by Richard J. Mouw (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011) 36; cf. Kuyper, Abraham, Christianity and the Class Struggle, 57-62.

“Money is God’s. He trusts us to dish it out fairly and with a strong degree of charity…Money should be your tool…you should control it, it shouldn’t control you.”

Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003) 192-193.

“A certain rich man’s territory was successful, that is, it showed great profits, and was blessed with many crops. And he thought to himself saying, What am I to do, where am I to store my crops? And thinking hard, I have realized, he said, what I must do; I shall pull down old barns, I shall put up new ones. I shall fill them. You see, I shall make them bigger than the old ones were. And I shall say to my soul. You have many goods; take your fill, enjoy yourself. God said to him, Fool. you think you’re so very shrewd. You know indeed how to pull down old structures and build new ones; you, though, have remained in the old, worn-out ruins of yourself, where you should have been pulling down the old structures in yourself, so that you would no longer savor the things of earth.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Sermon 359 (cf. Luke 12:13-21) in Sermons 341-400 (Hyde Park, NY: Augustinian Heritage Institute, 1995) 201.

The generous make generous plans, and by generous deeds they stand. Isaiah 32:8

“The Hebrew word here can be translated as ‘noble,’ ‘generous,’ and ‘large-hearted.’ Noble-hearted people are like God. They are eager to look for ways to share with, bless, and lift up others…At the end of the year, I’m struck by [the] need for noble-hearted, all-round generosity…Of course this includes sacrificial giving, stewardship of your finances.”

Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Redeemer Report, December 2011.

“Have you great abundance? Share it with others; for the beauty of riches is not in the purse, but in the power it gives one to succor those who are in need.”

Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE-50 CE), Jewish Biblical Philosopher On Joseph 144. Cf. Bruce Longenecker in Remember the Poor (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010) 111.