Hildegard of Bingen: Share good fortune and grief

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“Those who have none to share in their good fortune or their grief, none on whom they can unload their troubles, no one to whom they can communicate some sudden glorious illumination are like brute beasts. ‘Woe unto him who is alone, for when he falls he has none to lift him up!’ … But what happiness, security, and joy to have another self to talk with!”

(1098-1179) in Hildegard of Bingen: Selected Writings, translated with an introduction and notes by Mark Atherton (Penguin Books) 12.

I’ve returned to Denver and am captivated by the changing colors of the trees against the blue sky on walks with Grace. And since I am revisiting my word for the year, share, I thought I would share a glimpse of the beauty in this new header photo.

Today’s reading from Hildegard of Bingen reminds us that God never intended any of us to go through life alone. It’s my tendency. Perhaps yours too? But we find happiness, security, and joy when we share good fortune and grief with others.

This post surprised me and met me right where I am at. GTP is having a time of good fortune. We have making an impact in the lives of many people and shaping ministry in many countries. Sure there are financial needs, but things are going great!

And yet, I come off a time of grief, mourning the passing of my mentor and friend, Dan Busby. So imagine my joy, yesterday, when I woke to find numerous emails filled with encouragement and gratitude for orchestrating the memorial service.

Honestly, it was a tall order to fill. Dan was a giant of a man, who never wanted the spotlight on him, only on Jesus. He loved funny stories and baseball and serving others humbly. He wanted his three friends to keep it simple, so we did.

It should be available online in the next day or two. In the meantime, please, wherever you are, share good fortune and grief with those around you. If you do, you will experience the generous gift of happiness, security, and joy in the process.

Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

“Giving doesn’t just happen. Most of us don’t give as much as we should because we don’t plan our giving. You may need to make some financial decisions in order to have the freedom to give more. You may need to reduce your debt load or opt for a simpler lifestyle. You might need a budget. It will certainly mean having a priority list, planning and keeping records. Remember you are handling God’s money.”

Dan Busby (1941-2022) in Giving from the Heart: A Legacy that Last Forever (Winchester: ECFA, 2008) 3.

I have returned safely home from facilitating the memorial service for Dan Busby in New York. So, when I thought about my daily office today, I was reminded to go back to this little book he wrote.

It provides wonderful insights on giving. This one is key for every steward to remember: “giving doesn’t just happen.” We must plan for it. It requires diligent decision making.

The Apostle Paul gave the same instructions on giving to the church in Corinth as he gave to the churches of Galatia. He wanted each person to set aside a portion of their income for giving.

That means we must follow suit. Let’s opt for the simpler lifestyle, set aside funds for giving every week or month, and see what God does. We have found he often grows our income.

This positions us to live and give more generously. Thanks God for Dan’s example of modeling this and inspiring so many people to diligently and thoughtfully steward Your resources. Help us follow His legacy. Amen.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

“It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind.”

Branch Rickey in Rickey and Robinson: The Men Who Broke Baseball’s Color Barrier (New York: Taylor Trade, 1982) 58.

Thanks for the prayers for me as I officiated Dan Busby’s online memorial service yesterday from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. It was an unforgettable experience and a recording will be available in the coming days.

In my last conversation with Dan, I let him know that his earthly ministry was drawing to a close. But soon he’d be more alive than ever. I added that he would join the cloud of great cloud of witnesses and simply asked that as a good baseball fan, he would cheer me on. His reply, “With you!”

Branch Rickey believed in a ball player named Jackie Robinson. Dan Busby believed in me. It was a generous gift. Who might you believe in? Your words can give them confidence to run the race marked for them. Your encouragement can make all the difference. It can help the persevere in times of trial.

Rickey and Robinson left behind a heritage that would change sports and change the world. Each of us can have the same impact. Dan Busby gave his life to helping churches and ministries follow standards in the USA and planted seeds for the global movement.

He planted those in me. I am his heritage. Will I let it stop with me or will I plant seeds in the lives of people all over the world? Each of us has people whose lives we can touch for eternity. Let’s generously sow in them. Intentional effort in this area is work but can multiply our impact.

We also learn in Psalm 127:3 that “children are a heritage from the LORD.” That means everyone who has children can leave a heritage that has impact far beyond our own lives. I’m growing convinced that this is one of our greatest areas of generosity.

The greatest among you will be your servant. Matthew 23:11

“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) in the words etched on his tombstone.

In case you missed my announcement yesterday, when a Hall of Fame caliber guy like Dan Busby asks you to lead his online memorial service, and you’ve been to the Hall with him, and he even got you a lifetime pass, you make a call!

Tom Shieber, the Senior Curator of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum who met Dan on many occasions when Dan used the Hall to do research for writing multiple baseball books, responded to my message immediately. He’s eager to co-host with me.

Tom will read these words as Dan’s life was great because he served others so generously. What impact is your life having on others? What changes might you need to make to increase your impact?

Click here to register. It’s today at 2pm ET on Friday 21 October 2022. All who register will get access to the recording, but I hope you can join live. Also, listen to Dan’s July 2022 GTP podcast here. And, read the ECFA announcement here.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. Hebrews 11:1-2

“I, a pilgrim of eternity, stand before Thee, O eternal One. Let me not seek to deaden or destroy the desire for Thee that disturbs my heart. Let me rather yield myself to its constraint and go where it leads me. Make me wise to see all things today under the form of eternity, and make me brave to face all the changes in my life which such a vision may entail: through the grace of Christ my Saviour. Amen.”

John Baillie (1886-1960) in A Diary of Private Prayer (New York: Scribner, 1952).

I made it safely back to the United States from Africa. But I am far from my Denver home. I ended my trip at Newark airport, rented a car, and drove to Cooperstown, NY.

It’s the location of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the location from which I will host the memorial service for Dan Busby tomorrow.

Why the Hall? Dan asked his three friends, John Pearson, Steve McVey, and me, to officiate an online, one hour, no-nonsense service that would glorify God.

John Pearson will read these words. I thought they were fitting to share here as I am just a fellow pilgrim who seeks to yield myself in generous service like that of Dan Busby.

So, when a Hall of Fame caliber guy like Dan asks you to lead his memorial service, and you’ve been to the Hall with him, and he even got you a lifetime pass, you make a call.

Tom Shieber, the senior curator who met Dan on many occasions when Dan used the Hall to do research for writing multiple baseball books, responded to my message.

Thankfully, he remembered meeting me in 2018. He jumped to arrange the broadcast from the Theatre at the Hall. Click here to register. It’s at 2pm on Friday 21 October 2022.

All those who register will get access to the recording, but I hope you can join live. Also, listen to Dan’s July 2022 GTP podcast here. And, read the ECFA announcement here.

Dan Busby is standing before God because of his deep faith in Jesus. Dan went where God led him, and was made wise and brave to finish his course.

May God give us all the grace to do likewise.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

“. . . let us hold fast to love of him, hating and rightly turning away from the devil. For as our benefactor is loved and cherished in proportion to his benefactions, so the wicked one should be hated and rejected for his ways in equal proportion. For he is the destroyer of our life. In the words of the Master, he is a murderer from the beginning. He is the one who has divided our race into ten thousand opinions, wounding it with many darts of sin and seeking to swallow down the inhabited world. If we do not hate him, there will be no escaping the punishment that will be meted out to us, because we joined to our foe and murderer. But, my brothers, let us fly from him! Let us fly most certainly. What is flight? The avoidance of wicked actions and thoughts, and also affinity with God, the assumption of good works.”

Theodore the Studite (759-826) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection of Prayers.

Theodore offers us a fresh perspective on how we can flee from the devil. We draw near to God and do good works.

Think about it. When we walk close with God and do the works He prepared in advance for us to do, we can rest in His care. It won’t mean we will not have troubles.

Most assuredly we will have troubles. But we can be of good cheer, because our victorious Lord has overcome the world.

So, the lesson for me today as I start my travel home is this. Urge everyone I know to draw near to God and to do the good works that He prepared for them.

In Malawi, we have urged the people to turn dependency into discipleship emphasizing “Give God What You Have!”

It’s working. In case you missed it yesterday, read this update from Malawi (click here to read the trip report). Notice, even the government officials and the news media proclaims acknowledge how God is at work (click here to view a two minute video).

And join the movement by making a gift to GTP. Part of doing good works links to service and it also relates to our giving.

Draw near to God with me. Pray with me for $80,000 right away to deploy staff to spread the vision of Palmful of Maize to 16 more districts. Thank you.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 1 John 3:1

“See, My daughter, whether thou canst find a father whose love for his only son has prompted him to take care of him or to show him such tender proofs of his love as I have given and will yet give thee of Mine; for from thy earliest years My love has borne kindly with thee, and has trained and formed thee after My own Heart, awaiting thee patiently without growing weary of all thy resistance. Know, therefore, that if ever thou shouldst forget the gratitude thou owest Me and shouldst not refer the glory of everything to Me, thou wouldst thereby, as regards thyself, dry up this inexhaustible source of all good.”

The Lord to Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Gratitude.

It’s a powerful idea that when we forget gratitude and fail to give God glory for everything, with regard to ourselves, we dry up the “inexhaustible source of all good.”

It makes perfect sense. We serve a God who inhabits the praises of His people. While He is always with us, He draws near to those who praise Him, rely on Him, who rest in His love.

But not everyone acknowledges this. I am not immune to thanklessness. It happens when circumstances get rough. When God seems silent. All the while He remains patient despite our resistance.

So, the lesson for me today as I prepare to leave Africa is clear. If I want God to continue to draw near and supply the needs of GTP’s work in remote places, I must praise Him with gratitude and give Him all the glory for what He has done here.

I praise God for all He did in Malawi, pictured above (click here to read the trip report). Even the government officials and news media proclaims acknowledges how God is at work (click here to view a two minute video).

And I invite the world to join the movement by making a gift to GTP. We are praying for $80,000 right away to deploy staff to spread the vision of Palmful of Maize to 16 more districts. Pray with me for this. Thanks.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2

“Since then the only-begotten Son of God has been sent from the Father as propitiation for the world, may we, the blind, see again, we captives be freed, we oppressed be forgiven. Who is blind? One short-sighted through attachment to the passions. Who is captive? One led away by unseemly thoughts. Who is oppressed? One broken by sins. The Lord heals them; for He is a physician of souls as well as bodies… Let no one then remain unenlightened and unhealed, but let them draw near with faith and they will receive blessing from the Lord and mercy from God their Savior.”

Theodore the Studite (759-826) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Attachment.

My prayer today for everyone reading this is enlightenment and healing.

Jesus Christ not only served as the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice for our sins, He helps the blind see, sets the captives free, and forgives the sins of the oppressed.

This generous blessing and mercy is for everyone who draws near to God.

The reality is that many people have experienced the propitiation but they are still slaves to their passions. Christ is their atoning sacrifice, but they remain blind, captive, and/or oppressed.

Disordered attachments enslave and limit our generosity.

This comes into view as attachments to things like money or other possessions, slavery to addictions or debt that limit our present and future impact, and other sins that so easily beset us. All of us, me included.

So we must be free and healthy to help others. To experience this we take steps toward God.

Theodore would suggest that when we draw near to God in faith, so we experience enlightenment and healing to live in light of the freedom and forgiveness we have in Jesus.

If that sounds too complicated, just ask God what you need to detach or find freedom from to grow in generosity.

At the Global Gathering for GTP we replicated a training called Stations of Generosity which I pray spreads around the world through enlightened and healed people.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14

“I see that the sweet God is so solicitous for the welfare of the soul, that no human being could have a like anxiety to gain the whole world even if he were certain to obtain it by his efforts; when behold the love he displays in providing us with all possible aids to lead us into heaven, I am, as it were, forced to say that this sweet Master appears as if he were our servant. If man could see the care which God takes of a soul, nothing more would be necessary to amaze and confound him than to consider that this glorious God, in whom all things have their being, should have so great a Providence over his creatures; yet we, to whom it is a matter either of salvation or damnation, hold it in light esteem.”

Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Providence.

Today’s biblical text are the verses that Simon Rattray of Project 114 spoke over the staff in our commissioning service on Friday night. They have been in my heart since. Then early this morning I read this post by Catherine of Genoa.

I realized afresh that God cares more about my needs than I do. He is more solicitous about the Palmful of Maize vision spreading across Malawi than I am. He loves GTP more than I could ever dream. So I rest in His care today.

This is significant for me because the costs of convening and deploying everyone have risen. So rather than fear, because I have been amazed and confounded by His sweet Providence which fuels our generous service, I trust Him to supply.

Join me in this. Pause today to reflect on the goodness of our sweet God. May the reality of His attentive care amaze and confound you and root out all fear and deepen your faith to live, give, serve, and love generously.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

“The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go — He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me…Go therefore…” To “go” simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, “Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” but, “…you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places].” He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.”

Oswald Chambers “The Key to Missionary Work” in My Utmost for His Highest on 14 October.

The GTP board, staff, regional facilitators, and special guests convened this week. As we go forth from here, I am thankful that my mom sent me this post which serves as a generous reminder.

We go with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives witness to His sovereign and supreme power and authority. As we live in light of it, may we have victory and bless other generously.