Archive for October, 2021

And [Jesus] said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

“Three qualities or characteristics stand out very conspicuous in him: truth, faith, and love. Our Lord frequently taught His disciples that childlike spirit is the soul of discipleship , and in the ideal child these three traits are central. Truth is one centre, about which revolve childlike frankness and sincerity, genuineness and simplicity. Faith is another, about which revolve confidence and trust, docility and humility. Love is another centre, around which gather unselfishness and generosity, gentleness and restfulness of spirit. In the typical or perfect child, therefore all these beautiful qualities would coexist, and in proportion as they are found in a disciple, is he [or she] worthy to be called a child of God.”

George Muller in George Muller and His Witness to a Prayer Hearing God, compiled by Arthur T. Pierson (New York: Baker and Taylor, 1899) 360-361.

When we went to the World Series, Gregg Capin and I were talking and we said, that the gift of tickets from God made us feel like little kids. We were so excited.

God wants us all to have childlike faith and trust in Him. That is a posture that is confident in God alone to provide, sustain, and care for all our needs.

When we exhibit such faith, we show we are His children. Would people say that you have childlike faith? Do you appear as one who trusts God for everything?

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Ecclesiastes 11:6

“My business is, with all my might to serve my own generation; in doing so I shall best serve the next generation, should the Lord Jesus tarry… The longer I live, the more I am enabled to realize that I have but one life to live on earth, and that this one life is but a brief life, for sowing, in comparison with eternity, for reaping.”

George Muller in George Muller and His Witness to a Prayer Hearing God, compiled by Arthur T. Pierson (New York: Baker and Taylor, 1899) 431.

God blessed me with an awesome night at the World Series with five dear brothers in Christ: Gregg Capin, Ken Tan, Paul Bolte, Greg Mauldin, and Calvin Edwards. We enjoyed sweet fellowship.

We talked about many things: family, baseball, work, life, and roles we are playing for Christ in His kingdom. And of course we watched a great fantastic game on a misty Atlanta night.

When I got back to my room at the airport hotel I was wide awake so I did some reading and found this quote. It seemed fitted as we talked about the importance of sowing generously in God’s work.

For Muller, it was his business sow and serve with all his might. That means, he sowed and served with all the resources He could muster. What if you sowed and served with all your might?

Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:4

“We are made “partakers of the divine nature,” receiving and sharing God’s own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of recognizing God’s provision for us.

We say, however, “Oh, I can’t afford it.” One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is a sign of true humility to say at the end of the day, “Well, I just barely got by today, but it was a severe struggle.”

And yet all of Almighty God is ours in the Lord Jesus! And He will reach to the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will only obey Him. Does it really matter that our circumstances are difficult? Why shouldn’t they be! If we give way to self-pity and indulge in the luxury of misery, we remove God’s riches from our lives and hinder others from entering into His provision.

No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges—always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. And there is nothing lovely or generous about our lives.”

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest reading entitled “The Habit of Recognizing God’s Provision” for 16 May.

I don’t know about you, bit sometimes I’m guilty of sharing my earthly nature in self-pity rather than sharing God’s nature through His promises. Chambers helped me see today afresh that self-pity creeps in when I think the Father has not supplied what I want or what I feel I need in my timing.

From there, self interest leads to frustration and complaining. Not good. So, how do we avoid this? The Apostle Peter would say to rely on God’s promises and not our own strength or our self-determined timeframe for things to happen in life. When we do this, we find ourselves sharing His nature widely.

So the lesson for those who want to be generous today is to trust in the promises of God. By this way, we testify by experience to the faithfulness of God. As our trust grows, we become people of faith instead of fear and people who share the divine nature rather than fleshly self-pity. God help us.

Today’s my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday Patsy Hoag. I love you. Thanks for sharing the divine nature everywhere you go and raising me to trust in the promises of God to sustain me. May God continue to give you good health and strength to demonstrate God’s faithfulness to His promises for another year!

As Jesus looked up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4

“If you don’t have a heart to give out of your lack, you won’t give out of your abundance. This widow had a generous heart. She gave even when she had little to give. She is one Jesus called generous… A generous person, gives above and beyond what is required of them. They look for ways to invest in the Kingdom of God and in God’s people. Their heart is to give.

Personally, I am always looking for ways to go deeper in God. To be more pleasing to Him. I think one of the ways I need to work on this year is being a more generous giver. I wake up each day and ask God who I can pray for today and that is great. But what about asking Him who I can bless financially today as well? To pray for someone only takes a little of my time. To bless someone financially, that will take more than a prayer…

While writing this today, I remembered a word someone I love dearly once gave me. She told me it would be a life Scripture to me, it was… And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work… There is certainly a way to have all grace about toward us…to have all sufficiency in all things…to have an abundance for every good work.

That way is to be a generous, bountiful giver. May God give us all a generous heart. A heart to give above and beyond what we feel is required of us. A heart like His. This year, may you and I become, a generous source of blessing to those whom the Lord leads us to bless.”

Kim Potter in “Becoming A Generous Source of Blessing” blog post dated 22 October 2021 from A New Thing Ministries. Special thanks to Daily Meditations reader, Pat Warbington, for sharing this post with me.

I am learning that giving out of my lack requires a generous heart that knows, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that God is the faithful supplier of everything I have ever needed, ever need now, and will ever need in the future.

The widow likely put in everything because over the course of her life she had experienced God’s faithfulness, so often that she knew He could be trusted to sustain her. So, what is the only way to grow in this area?

Potter points the way. We must grow in the grace of giving. That is, increase our giving to learn by experience why we are on this round ball called earth. Speaking of a round ball, I will conclude today’s post with a story.

I am flying to Atlanta today. I will attend the World Series #21. How is that possible you ask? About three decades ago I let go of my dream to be a Cleveland Indians season ticket holder to go to seminary.

God saw me give up everything to follow Him. In return, He did the impossible. I would forge a close relationship, like a spiritual advisor, to the founding owner of the Colorado Rockies. I encouraged him to be generous.

He knew my love for baseball so he put me on a special list which gives me access to up to 42 WS tickets a year at cost. All glory to God. I will attend WS #21. Better than that, I have shared more than 800 WS tickets.

How is this possible? It’s how God’s economy works. Let go of your plans, your dreams, even your money like the widow with a generous heart and see what happens. For me, WS tickets are a gift from God to enjoy and share.

I got to go to Houston in 2005 so I shared all my Houston tickets. In the future, if you want to a WS ticket that God supplies at face value, let me know when your team is in the Fall Classic. I will share with you as I am able.

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Acts 16:9-10

“Words matter. The change of one simple word in a phrase can make all the difference.

Words convey a message, which is why it is so important for us to consider the difference between “ministry to/for the poor”, and “ministry WITH the poor.” The change of a single word makes ministry look different.

At its most basic, one form of ministry is a hand out and the other is a hand up. One form of ministry is hands-off, and the other is relational. One form of ministry will help someone out, and the other will transform lives.

It is crucial that in our churches we put an emphasis on ministry WITH the poor.

Why is that? When we are in ministry with, rather than to or for, we are respecting cultures, practices, resources, and giftedness of any given people or community. In ministry with we take the time learn names, stories, and real needs. Ministry with takes out the assumptions we tend to make about people and situations. It empowers and equips people to live into God’s reality for them.

When I’ve visited places of brokenness, poverty, and suffering, both in my community and abroad, in most cases what I’ve witnessed are not needy, helpless people. Instead I’ve met hard-working, passionate, creative, faithful people who don’t need someone to do for them, but rather someone to walk alongside them, offering support, resources, or a hand when needed.”

Katie Lineberger in “Why the “WITH” Matters in Ministry WITH the Poor” a post of the WNNC.

Notice in today’s Scripture that cross border ministry engaged a person standing and begging. This implies he was in the posture of a servant and needing some assistance. The vision was to come and to help.

Lineberger is spot on in speaking about the importance of ministry with people. At GTP we also say that such giving provides a hand up rather than a hand out, which actually creates unhealthy dependency.

If this post resonates with you, then I’d encourage you to support GTP. This is what our work all over the world is all about: empowering national workers to build trust and grow local generous giving to God’s work.

Skilled servants are crying for help! We are praying for $75,000 in the next month or so to add staff in 2022 to respond to unanticipated demand. Got a grant for part of the funding. Praying for the rest. Click to give here.

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Revelation 3:17

“The region of Asia Minor (called simply Asia in Roman documentation) was rather wealthy, especially its western coast and the valleys of the Lido and Lico Rivers, where the churches mentioned in chapters 2 and 3 of the Apocalypse [a.k.a. the book of Revelation] are located. During a certain period of the first century, this region underwent a time of economic recession, which reduced its relative importance in the Roman empire, but it remained a prosperous region in general terms.

Cities such as Smyrna, Ephesus, and Pergamum were important centers for that era, and others of lesser demographic importance, such as Laodicea or Thyatira, were experiencing good economic development both through their rural surroundings and through certain prosperous regional industries.

These cities, mainly Greek in origin and certainly empowered during the Hellenistic period, had been integrated into the Roman save system. It could be said that, in general, they had been transformed into cities that followed the imperial economic scheme in terms of their social formation, stratification, and class division.

This means that the “urban prosperity” to which we refer is prosperity for the aristocratic sector, the decurions supported by the Roman system under the patronage of Caesar. It is no accident, then, that in this region of the empire the worship of the emperor became very powerful, with Smyrna, Sardis, and Ephesus as important centers for this practice.”

Néstor O. Miguez in “Economics in the New Testament Apocalypticism” in God’s Economy: Biblical Studies from Latin America edited by Ross and Gloria Kinsler (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 229-230.

The idea of “urban prosperity” or that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is not a new idea. It’s also the precursor to apocalyptic times for a society.

What does this have to do with generosity? Everything. As a society flourishes, it tends toward being less generous. From there it idolizes the economic system to preserve comfort and place.

What will we do? Live according to the system or live differently? The choice is up to us. God is watching. But know this. The system we serve shows whom we worship.

If you think I am trying to shake and wake you with this post, sit with Jesus to discern what He may be saying to you. I am not trying to rob you but help you.

Read for yourself the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. Which church are you? Some will be rich materially and yet poor because they followed the wrong system.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Acts 4:32-35

“There was a community of possessions that was made concrete by giving to each one according to his or her needs, so that the community lived an alternative form of economic and social organization in which the person was more important that possessions or money. The logical consequence of this lifestyle was the absence of needy persons among them.

This constituted a unity so strong that it made possible, within an economic organization in which some had many possessions and others were hungry, a different style, in which first place was giving to the well-being of all the brothers and sisters of the community, more than individualistic well-being.”

Franklyn Pimentel Torres in “The Practice of Christian Communities” in God’s Economy: Biblical Studies from Latin America edited by Ross and Gloria Kinsler (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 213.

I have safely returned home from Guatemala. Reply if you’d like a copy of my trip report. And, as this book has one more chapter, I will make one more post from it tomorrow, and move on to other reading.

I hope you have appreciated the Latin American insights linked to generosity.

Let’s sit with Torres and soak in this core idea that he has shared with us: “the community lived an alternative form of economic and social organization in which the person was more important that possessions or money.”

This is a profound idea, and as Torres notes, it’s different.

When we get to heaven and all the material possessions we possessed will be long gone. All that will be there is people. There will be no marriage or families. Just a host of brothers and sisters in God’s family.

Our generosity in this life is one of the ways we demonstrate our faith as one of those people.

It’s not that we don’t care for our immediate families. We do. But God wants to make us into a radical people that care more for the larger group, that is the family of God, because that is what we are.

So, think about it. Most people hoard for their earthly family rather than caring for their eternal family.

Rather than tell you what you should do in response. Consider yourself alerted to this eternal reality now. Sit with the Father. Reflect on the teachings of Jesus. And follow the leading of the Spirit.

My hope is that God leads you to take concrete steps that look different.

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:30-31

“It is common for societies that are nominally Christian or have a Christian background to locate the concepts of repentance and conversion within the sphere of religious language. They are conceived of as breaks in the daily march of life, a reflection of the attitudes, mentality, conduct; a recognition of errors; a change in one’s way of thinking and acting; a turning to God, and so on.

For repentance and conversion to be considered authentic, they must include all spheres of life: thought, sentiment, language, interpersonal relations, labor, and of course, economics. This is where major problems tned to arise, for egotism is manifested fundamentally in the sphere of goods, money, capital, treasure, and possessions.”

René Krüger in “Conversion of the Pocketbook: The Economic Project of Luke’s Gospel” in God’s Economy: Biblical Studies from Latin America edited by Ross and Gloria Kinsler (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 169.

While sitting in Guatemala on the final morning of my visit, a poor country with amazing people, today’s Scripture strikes a chord with me. Jesus basically says that if the rich do not care about the poor, even a dead person coming back to life will not shake and wake them to repent of their egotism. That’s a strong statement.

When I board a plane later today, I will be transported back to the States. After reading Krüger’s thoughts, I am struck that the only right path to take is to ask God where repentance and conversion is necessary in my own life? As my eyes have been opened, what will I do about it? How will this experience shape my generosity?

There is one thing I know I will continue to do. After a fantastic trip with fruits that exceeded expectations, I will continue to help those in the majority world, like poor Lazarus in the parable, not with a handout that would create dependency but with a hand up to build them up as disciples. God show me areas for repentance and conversion. Amen.

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:8-10

“The story of Zacchaeus provides evidence that through actions that caused harm, through fraud, and through the thefts connected to his profession, he damaged and in fact made impossible a life of dignity for many people. The relationship with Jesus brought Zacchaeus back to his origins, restoring justice.

The fourfold return in the case of theft of means of production or of products, an act that took place during the collection, was foreseen in Exodus 21:37 (see also Numbers 5:6-7). The purpose of the return, as part of the Jewish tradition of the Jubilee, is the opportunity for the impoverished people to be rehabilitated, so that they can return to having their own independent means to produce and to live, free of processes of indebtedness! Thus, the damages can be, if not compensated, at least alleviated, and the persons who were deprived can once again have at their disposal the capital that was taken from them by fraud. They can reorganize their lives.

Moreover, Zacchaeus reclaimed a tradition of his people, namely, returning fourfold more to persons he had robbed and giving over half of his goods to persons who had entered into a process of impoverishment, perhaps even precisely because of those fraudulent actions. Zacchaeus practiced the forgiveness of debts in its full and profound sense. With that, old Jubilee traditions were revived that had been proclaimed and longed for by the suffering people.

The grace of Jesus in relation to Zacchaeus is converted into relationships of grace and commitment in the social and communal life of the people. Only in this way do rich people have a space in the ministry of Jesus and in the communities of Luke.”

Ivoni Richter Reimer in “The Forgiveness of Debts in Matthew and Luke” in God’s Economy: Biblical Studies from Latin America edited by Ross and Gloria Kinsler (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 166-167.

I hope you like the new header photo of the chapel in Antigua across the street from the hotel where we are facilitating the Journey of Empowerment retreat this weekend. I also must say that am learning a lot from these Latin American authors whilst traveling with this book full of articles by Latin American scholars on God’s economy.

Today’s reading helped me see something I’ve missed in my reflections on Zacchaeus over the years. His distribution of funds must not be understood as generosity per se, as it is not portrayed as such by Jesus or Luke (though we may read it that way). Instead we must see Zacchaeus (and rich people in Luke’s narrative) as doing justice.

The giving of Zacchaeus to the poor must not be understood as generosity. His accumulation and subsequent redistribution of that which, in God’s eyes, belonged to the poor and those he cheated must be seen instead as making right the wrongs he had done. This reading is affirmed by the fact that the measure He chose linked back to justice requirements in the law.

To be generous and to do justice are different. To apply the lessons of these texts in modern times leads to two conclusions. First, sharing surplus with the poor may not be generosity after all but may, in God’s eyes, be doing justice. Two, the kind of giving Jesus celebrates demonstrates sacrificial (like the widow who put in everything) and does justice (like Zacchaeus).

So, for “salvation” to come to your house, is there a need for redistribution and justice? I am not saying that our giving can secure our eternal salvation. What I am saying is that God sees everything, that our handling of money reveals what we believe, where we place our trust, and whether or not we take seriously the teachings of Jesus regarding the handling of money.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

“The stunning suggestion in Matthew 6:25-34 is: in order to solve the crucial human problems of sufficient food and clothing, “just say no” to the greater production values of the modernized economy of ancient agriculture with its advanced technology of sowing and reaping and storing in barns. At the same time, the text disparages—by seeing through—the dazzling refinements of imperial civilization. In contemporary terms, the proposal of Matthew 6:25-34 would be that the solution to widespread hunger and the threat of exposure is not to be found in the pursuit of ever more efficent means of material production and better distribution. Nor are the Solomonic virtues of exceeding wealth and advanced wisdom, or free-flowing international exchange and expert scribal knowledge, to be trusted. Instead, we are instructed to imitate the birds of the air and the flowers of the field… Human existence need not be imagined to occur in spite of nature but as part of the realm of God’s continuing beneficience.”

Leif E. Vaage in “The Sermon on the Mount” in God’s Economy: Biblical Studies from Latin America edited by Ross and Gloria Kinsler (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 144-145.

I will share another lesson from the coffee plantation, pictured above, that illustrates the point of today’s post. Vaage rightly notes that the answer to the world’s economic challenges is not to stockpile harvest in barns but to enjoy and share all God richly supplies and to sow it for sustainability.

On the coffee tour I learned that the two seeds in each coffee bean must either be planted or consumed promptly. The coffee plantation that had thrived for over a century had no barns on it. One seed is planted right away. The other bean is dried and only good for a year after being packaged. Once opened, the bean is good for only three more months whilst ground coffee is only good for one month.

What’s the point? If we imitate the birds, we see that they enjoy and share God’s provision promptly and generously. Storing them up is senseless. It is not big barns but rather God’s beneficience that sustains the birds and us. So, why would Jesus say to imitate the birds? A closer look reveals that He is pointing us to the realities of God’s abundant economy.

This heavenly economic model demonstrates the belief that, like the birds, we can even reap where we do not sow because God can supply all things beyond our limited capacity in his abundant economy. The world’s model does not comprehend that what sustains us is not our advanced technologies but our generous God.