Ignatius of Antioch: Ponder

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

“Don’t have Jesus Christ on your lips and the world in your hearts.”

Ignatius of Antioch in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 71.

I have arrived safely home. The Christ-mass, the gathering to celebrate the birth of Christ, is fast approaching, but for most there will be no physical gathering.

For me, self-quarantine begins, which will be a time of reflection and thanksgiving for all I have been able to experience with dear brothers and sisters while serving in Egypt.

Join me. Take time to pause to welcome Jesus Christ this Christmas. We can only grow as givers when we become good receivers, and Christmas is about receiving the best gift in history.

Don’t focus on presents, parties, or people. Ponder with Mary about Christ. Sit with Him in the nativity. Soak in the wonder. Ask Him to fill you with His love and peace.

The world needs us to do this and drip His love and peace everywhere we go.

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:25

“Realize above all that you are in God’s presence . . . empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like a chick that tastes nothing and eats nothing except what its mother gives it.”

Romuald in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 121.

I am posting this from Frankfurt en route home to Denver. It’s been a fruitful trip. Reply if you’d like a copy of my GTP trip report.

Romuald gives helpful advice for all who want to live a generous life: “empty yourself and sit waiting content with the grace of God.”

Then he paints a vivid word picture “like a chick that tastes nothing and eats nothing except what its mother gives it.” Are we as dependent on God as a little chick?

I am weary and waiting on God to restore my strength on the long journey home and to resource me for generous giving and service.

If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Deuteronomy 15:7-8

“We must take to heart, brothers, from what stuff we were created, who we were and what kind of creatures we were when we entered the world, as if from a tomb and from utter darkness. Having prepared for us bountifully before we were born. He who fashioned us and created us brought us into His world. Since, then, we owe all this to Him, we ought to give Him thanks for everything. “

Clement of Rome in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 281.

God’s people in the Old Testament were to live openhanded, generous lives with their brothers and sisters because God had been so generous to them. But we often get off track and think like the world. We think we became who we are and got what we’ve got from our own doing, our own effort.

We came from dust and were born with sin. When we realize this rightly we don’t see others as deserving or undeserving of our giving. We realize that all we are and all we have is thanks to the bountiful provision of our gracious God. This is the vital starting point for rich generosity.

May we be as generous to others as God has been to us. It was a miraculously productive time of ministry in Egypt despite COVID. Praising God for His bountiful blessings. Join me in acknowledging this and choosing to live generously in response.

Praise the LORD. Blessed are those who fear the LORD, who find great delight in his commands. Psalm 112:1

“No one in all creation is rich but the one who fears God.”

Ephraem the Syrian in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 104.

To fear God is to acknowledge and take great delight in His commands. The ones who do this not only obey but experience and celebrate the blessings of obedience.

To fear God is to be rich and positioned to give materially and in many other ways. When we follow His design and enjoy and share his blessings He enriches us for greater generosity.

As we approach the end of our discernment retreat, we are rejoicing. It’s been a great time. We’ve emptied ourselves in the spirit of Isaiah 58:1-12 and He’s caused our light to shine.

I don’t where you find yourself today, but I am thankful that it is not the one in creation who stores for himself or herself that is rich but the one who fears God and does what He says.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.” Zechariah 8:4-5

“A saint was once asked, while playing happily with his companions, what he would do if an angel told him that in a quarter of an hour he would die and have to appear before the judgment seat of God. The saint promptly replied that he would continue playing because he was certain these games were pleasing to God.”

John Bosco in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 199.

When we are focused on doing good works with we can easily fail to block time for play. Any of us can be guilty of this, especially during a pandemic when with short notice, any of us could die.

After finishing a full schedule of ministry work in Egypt, we blocked time for retreat together. It’s been rich to read the Scriptures, to do some fun activities together to build our relationships, and to rest.

I don’t know about you but I tend to not block enough time for play. It looks different for everyone and as Bosco notes, it pleases God. We should almost certainly play in moderation so it does not eat our margin for generosity, but we must also consider what it means to play generously.

We wrap up our retreat tomorrow and fly back to Cairo on 16 December. I am pray for some God to continue to guide our conversations and for moments of play today.

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9

“You say that you are wealthy and rich, and you think that you should make use of those things that God has willed you should possess. Use them certainly, but for the things of salvation; use them but for good purposes use them, but for those things that God has commanded and that the Lord has set forth. Let the poor feel that you are wealthy; let the needy feel that you are rich. Lend your estate to God; give food to Christ.”

Cyprian of Carthage in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 300-301.

It’s been a great GTP trip to Egypt so far serving NABLA.

We just finished Journey of Empowerment with a influential group of Protestant and Coptic Christians in Aswan and it could not have gone better. They are so excited to multiply it with others to build faithful stewards who follow standards to help ministries flourish.

This work is only possible when people use their wealth to help build up faithful workers in poor countries. And I’ve seen a lot of poverty this week. Daily we have walked to our meeting place through the dusty streets. The people are humble and kind and yet their needs are great.

I learned recently that GTP received word of our first estate gift. That means that one person has named GTP as a beneficiary. He has lended part of his estate to God. I hope others do it too! And in the short run, at year-end, I hope all of you give to good purposes like GTP.

When you do, you are giving to God.

Now Adel, Evette, Andrew, Ereny, and I will spend some time together reflecting on the four events we have done. We call this taking a discernment retreat to fast, pray, and discuss faithful activities for 2021. Pray for some good rest, reflection, and recreation together.

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16

“Much caution is necessary, lest by much talk about faith, and much insistence on it without any distinctions or explanations, occasion be given to the people, whether before or after they have faith informed by charity, to become slothful and lazy in good works.”

Ignatius of Loyola in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 99.

Why exercise caution related to our faith?

We must match our talk with our walk. The Christian life is radically countercultural and generosity is the authentication of the all-in commitment that Jesus requires. Our words must match our actions. Too many people stop with proclamation and fail to exhibit demonstration.

What happens when our faith is not informed by charity?

We fail to sacrifice. When the going gets tough, like COVID times, our generosity can go into slothful and lazy mode instead of doubling down. Or we come across hard and legalistic. When that happens, there is no love and grace in the giving. There’s nothing Christian about it.

The world is watching. Give generously with charity. Under promise and over deliver!

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Matthew 6:9-13

“We neither say “My Father, who art in heaven,” nor “Give me this day my daily bread.” Nor does each one ask that only his own debt should be forgiven him; nor does he request for himself alone that he may not be led into temptation and may be delivered from evil. Our prayer is public and common; and when we pray, we pray nor for one, but for the whole people, because we the whole people are one.”

Cyprian of Carthage in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 191.

The Lord’s prayer is both a public and common prayer. Consider the implications of this for our walk with God, our relationship to other people, and generosity.

The fact that it is public means that we should not merely pray for ourselves. God is not like Santa Claus to whom we send a wish list. Our focus should also be the needs of those around us.

The common nature of this prayer relates to the recepients of His daily provision. As He supplies, His blessings are not merely for our enjoyment but also for our sharing.

While Cyprian gets it right, do we? When Jesus says, “This, then, is how you should pray,” we need to take seriously the community nature of the prayer.

If and when we do, God will make us a people who pray for the forgiveness and needs of our community. And as He supplies, it will increase our generosity for God’s glory.

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15

“Even a little child can scatter flowers, to scent the throne room with their fragrance; even a little child can sing, in its shrill treble, the great canticle of love. That shall be my life; to scatter flowers—to miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word, always doing the tiniest things right, and doing it for love.”

Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) in A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, ed. Paul Thigpen (Charlotte: TAN Books, 2001) 166.

It always strikes me that Thérèse touched many people but only lived 24 years. Her childlike faith inspired her to scatter flowers, to sing of the love of God, and to show it through sacrificial service.

What if we all lived that way? 

Adel, Evette, and Andrew from NABLA and Ereny and I from GTP have arrived safely in Aswan, Upper Egypt. Here we will lead about 25 influencers from the Protestant and Coptic Churches of Egypt through a replicable retreat experience called Journey of Empowerment or JOE.

Click here to watch a short video about JOE.

In short, with this experiential learning tool, we aim to empower people to scatter flowers. JOE points the way to influence change in a context by helping people understand their role as faithful stewards who implement standards to help churches and organizations flourish.

Pray with us that JOE will be a powerful tool for the transformation of churches and ministries in Egypt (and the whole world). And join me in supporting the GTP regional campaign for MENA which is at $4,527 toward the goal of $5,000.