Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. Philippians 4:17
“In a society which sets no bounds to its conspicuous consumption, we frequently see apostolic works and the people who have dedicated their entire lives to them deprived of the means to continue, often subjected to privations, and re-organizations, and constantly questioned as to whether they should not cease their activities and close down. The greatness of soul our Lord asks of His own will lead us not only to be very generous with our own time and economic means, but also to assist others to feel moved themselves to help, according to their means, for the good of their fellow man.”
Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 372.
Thanks for your prayers.
I had the privilege of preaching at Sarang Church today, one of the largest churches in the world with more than 100,000 members. Today’s service launched a Special Global Leaders Convention. I served as the first of ten speakers.
My talk aimed at the youth. Specifically the church commissioned 7,000 youth as prayer warriors. So my message came from Mark 6:30-44 challenging the youth to be like the boy who gave Jesus what he had, 5 loaves and 2 fish.
I also showed the Palmful of Maize video with Korean subtitles. It impacted many people deeply.
The Korean people, much like Americans, live in a context of conspicuous consumption. And in such settings we need to raise our sights higher to aim at assisting others “according to our means.”
The thrust of my message challenged listeners to ask each other, “What do you have? Go and see.” And from there I charged them to “Give God what you have!” If you want to watch it, click here.
And join me in praying that the many people who said the sermon impacted them will assist others according to their means and shift from conspicuous consumption to facilitating transformation.
I delivered this message not because of what I want from them, but because of what I want for them, what I want to see credited to their account. I pray that for all who watch it and all who are reading this.