Meditations

“Worldliness consists in these three: attachment to the outward—attachment to the transitory—attachment to the unreal: in opposition to love for the inward, the eternal, the true: and the one of these affections is necessarily expelled by the other. Unworldliness is this—to hold things from God in the perpetual conviction that they will not last; to have the world, and not let the world have us; to be the world’s masters, and not the world’s slaves.”

Frederick W. Robertson (1816-1853) English preacher in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 620-621.

Does “worldliness” or “unworldliness” depict your posture?

As Robertson exhorts us, let us “hold things from God in the perpetual conviction that they will not last” so that we use and master them, lest they possess and enslave us! This reminds me of J.B. Phillips rendering of Romans 12:2.

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

“There is but one way in which God should be loved, and that is to take no step except with Him and for Him, and to follow with a generous self-abandonment every thing which He requires.”

François Fénelon (1651-1715) French archbishop and theologian in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 542.

For the past 16 years, every Friday that I am in Colorado (and that He is able to meet) I have gotten together to talk, pray, read a chapter from God’s Word with a dear friend, Tom Assmus.

Today is Tom’s 65th birthday. Tom lives with generous self-abandonment in service to Jesus Christ and has modeled for me that it’s the only way to live life with and for God. Thanks Tom!

God, please bless Tom with many more years of fruitful service with and for You, and help the rest of us follow Christ obediently with self-abandonment thanks to the Spirit’s enablement. Amen.

“Greed, in essence, embezzles what God intended to be passed on to others in need, but eventually God sees to it that His resources get to His desired end. The saying in [Proverbs] 28:8 teaches this principle: “He who increases His wealth by exorbitant interest amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.” Old Testament law prohibited charging interest to those in need (Exod. 22:25; Lev. 25:36-37; Deut. 23:20), and by that means exploiting their plight into an opportunity for commercial gain for the wealthy. In God’s design, however, the profit will find its way back into the hands of the generous person…”

Daniel J. Estes in Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005) 241.

Isn’t it ironic that Proverbs basically proclaims that if you choose greed (amassing for self) rather than generosity (sharing with others) that God Himself will ensure that “His resources” make it to “His desired end.” Will you and I be His conduit of blessing to show His love? Or will our disobedience result in God taking from us that which was intended for the good of many?

God’s resources will be redistributed to accomplish His purposes one way or another.

“Thirsty, weary, dissatisfied in this sultry life, come as you are; come at once; come because you are invited; as you would not do affront to infinite Generosity, come, and drink, and live forever.”

William Adams (1707-1789) in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 342.

What can match this description of our generous God who offers to quench the parched lips of all who are thirsty, satisfy the pangs of all who hunger, and give life to all who seek Him!

Father in heaven, empower us with your Holy Spirit so that we reflect your infinite generosity toward others through our living, giving, serving, and loving. Do this I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I am in Pittsburgh today meeting with representatives from about 20 ATS seminaries. My contribution is a course I developed, “Faith and Finances”. I am here to share it freely. Email me if you want the PDF.

“Give, and you may keep your friend if you lose your money; lend, and the chances are that you lose your friend if you ever get back your money.”

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English Novelist in Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical, compiled by Charles Noel Douglas (London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1917) 783. Bulwer-Lytton is the bloke who first inked the famous phrase: “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

A gift can set a friend free while a loan enslaves the friend and the relationship.

My mind goes to the times that I have heard about wealthy people thinking they are helping friends or ministries by offering them a loan. If you are holding such a note today rip it up with gratitude that God paid a debt you could never repay: His generosity set you free from your sins.

Since you are free, give generously and set others free.

“When we handle money that has been given by God’s people, we are handling the fruit of God’s grace, the practical proof of human obedience to the gospel…Money that has been given as an offering to God is not just coins and notes or ledgers or pieces of paper or entries in a journal. When we handle money that has been given by God’s people, we are involved in a deeply spiritual matter. Their giving is their response to God, and our involvement is a stewardship of grace and a stewardship of other peoples’ obedience. That is what stewardship means: we are entrusted with something; we are stewards of something that is the fruit of grace and the proof of obedience.”

Christopher J.H. Wright as cited in Accountability in Missions: Korean and Western Case Studies, edited by Jonathan J. Bonk (Eugene :Wipf & Stock, 2011) 42.

The meetings with Korean-American pastors and ministry administrators exceeded expectations yesterday. Thanks for your prayers.

“Biblical stewardship accountability is doing our best to effectively use the resources God has entrusted to us, doing so according to His intention and with accountability for both the process and result. All Christians must be faithful before God in maintaining an attitude of accountability for their life and work…If an organization——whether business, church, missions, or any other——has a well-established system of accountability, that organization can be acknowledged as trustworthy and healthy. We cannot expect an organization that lacks a good reputation to be able indefinitely to carry on effective ministry.”

Min-Young Jung as cited in Accountability in Missions: Korean and Western Case Studies, edited by Jonathan J. Bonk (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2011) 54. Original article in Korean, “Seongyo-wa Chaegmu” (Mission and Accountability) in Hanguk Seongyosa-wa Chaegmu, 20-21.

Today in Orange County, Sung Wook Chung and I are moderating “Transparency Talks” between a group of Korean-American pastors and ministry administrators and Dan Busby and John Van Drunen of the ECFA. Ho Chan Hwang (CCFK president) and Sam Ko (Sarang Church pastor) have also joined us from Seoul for these meetings to share the impact of transparency on ministry and generosity in Korea. Pray with us that these conversations will be fruitful and result in commitment and action to adopt “a well-established system of accountability” for the flourishing of God’s work.

We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 2 Corinthians 8:20-21

“Are you tired of casting vision to raise money for your church? You know what I’m talking about. Showing how a dollar can advance a mission, erect a building, fund a budget…Everywhere people go, there’s a need…a problem…and a vision for how money can fix it.

Vision is not bad…The problem is over past years vision has squeezed out doctrine. Now instead of teaching people biblical reasons why they should give, we’re selling church goers on a building, a budget, an orphanage, or something else…Decades ago churches were starving for vision and were heavy on doctrine.

Now vision casting is in oversupply, and doctrine has been abandoned…For pastors willing to stand out from the crowd, sound giving doctrine is in order. Teach that biblical giving was instituted before there was sickness, hunger and homelessness. Before there were needs, God’s first born children (Cain and Abel) brought gifts to Him.

Teach them that in heaven, John saw the elders surrounding the throne and presenting their crowns and rewards before Jesus (that was some vision, by the way – see Revelation 4)…Giving isn’t only about fixing problems. It’s about worshipping God.”

Jeff Anderson in Acceptable Gift email dated 10 September 2015. For resources that are helping pastors and church leaders teach giving doctrine, visit www.acceptablegift.org. If you’ve not read his book, Plastic Donuts, get it and read it, because Christ-followers need both doctrine and vision!

“The July 2015 issue of Church Finance Today reported the statistic from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability that when church leaders were asked: “Does your church have a written strategy for inspiring people in biblical generosity?” a resounding 66.1% of all church leaders said NO, that they do not have a written strategy! Less than one-third of churches (30.5%) said that they have a strategy.”

Tim Dittloff in Incandescent, Issue 8, Volume 1, August 2015, an electronic publication of Stewardship Innovations.

Pastor (or forward this to your pastor), don’t have the “no plan” plan.

Tim adds: “As your congregation heads in to the fall months of “programming”, do you have planned ways of communicating and inspiring biblical generosity beyond the annual fall stewardship program? This fall, end the year well, by planning strategically how you will inspire your people next year. Stewardship Innovations offers workshops to guide you through this process.”

I am speaking at one of those workshops on October 19, 2015. Click here for more information.

People often ask me for practical examples of people who are teaching biblical principles of generosity. Today’s post features what God is doing through a group of students, Harvesters, at Johnson University linked to the chapel offering.

“Harvesters recognizes the need for a transformation in the way the student body views the chapel offering. During the 2014/2015 school year, Harvesters realized a lack of purpose and ownership, as well as a degree of confusion from the student body. Through research, mentoring, and discussions, Harvesters has decided that, in regards to the chapel offering, the student body has drifted away from a biblical view of generosity. A paradigm shift is necessary for the offering to benefit both the givers and the recipient. When the student body roots itself in a biblical view of generosity the purpose for giving will be clear and ownership of the offering will be given to the entire student body. The result will be a spiritually transforming experience for the student body and meaningful gift for the offering recipient.

The paradigm shift is a shift from need based giving to spiritual formation based giving. The reason for giving then moves from a financial transaction to a spiritual transaction. Giving becomes an opportunity for us to grow in our relationship with God. Giving is an act of worship, where we spend our money demonstrates where our heart is, so we want the quality and thoughtfulness of our giving to demonstrate an undivided devotion to God. Despite the financial burdens of being a student, we want student giving to be rich towards God regardless of what that may amount to. On this note we want to drive two ideals home.

First, we want to drive home the full meaning of the story of the story of the widow’s mite from Mark 12:41-44. Second, we want to focus in on last year’s efforts to create a partnership with the chosen missionary. During the 2014/2015 school year Harvesters attempted to create a partnership of prayer, giving, and encouragement with our chosen missionary. This was done through the utilization of commitment cards; we found great success in the encouragement aspect, and nominal success in the giving and prayer aspects.

For the 2015/2016 school year Harvesters is choosing to focus in on reforming the giving aspect of this partnership. We will continue to press a prayer element, but our teaching energies will not be focused there. The hope is to show students that everyone has something to offer whether time, talent, or resources and Harvesters plans to create avenues to contribute those things so that the fruit may increase to the student body’s credit!”

Philip Eubanks, a friend and former student of mine who works with the Harvesters, shared this example with me. Email him directly at PEubanks@johnsonu.edu or email me if you’d like to receive the PDF of their detailed Harvesters 2015/2016 plan! It’s a wonderful sample that you just might decide to adapt to your setting.