Mark Allan Powell: Beyond duty to delight

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Mark Allan Powell: Beyond duty to delight

“If we think the point of the offering is collecting funds to meet the church’s budgetary expenses then we probably derive no more satisfaction from this portion of liturgy than we do from paying our gas bill…

The Sunday offering is a worship event that provides us an opportunity for expressing our love for God in the purest way imaginable, by giving up something that we value. Giving as an act of worship takes us beyond duty to delight.”

Mark Alan Powell in Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2006) 12-13.

Whenever we worship this weekend, let’s approach the offering with a sense of awe at God’s faithful provision for us, with an attitude of thankfulness for the salvation we have in Jesus Christ, and with hearts full of love that we get to give. Let’s see what happens when we do this…I’m thinking we will move beyond duty to delight.

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J. D. Greear: Where does the trail of our money lead?

“We don’t give because God has needs. I repeat: God doesn’t need our cash. He doesn’t come to us, hat in hand, sheepishly asking for funding for His mission. We don’t give because God needs it, but because in giving we declare His value to us and our love for Him. Jesus told us that if want to know what a person really loves, we should follow the trail of his [or her] money…Do you see your resources as yours to benefit from, or as opportunities to be generous to others? The world, of course, finds it absurd to be this open-handed with our resources (I earned it, I deserve to benefit from it!)…When was the last time your generosity made someone question your sanity?”

J.D. Greear in “Three Ways the Gospel Changes our Generosity” blogpost on 19 November 2014.

Greear inspires me today be sure that when the world looks at me and my family and follows the trail of our money…we really hope they think we are crazy! Goodness, if our giving fits within the culture, it likely will not reflect the image of Christ.

My study of NT times has taught me that those with an abundance of resources in the Roman world were instructed not to care for the sick, prisoners, and the destitute, because they could not render honor and service back to the Emperor. Ironically, those are precisely the people–the sick, prisoners, and the destitute (cf. Matthew 25:31-46)–that Jesus wants to find us caring for, in order to show that God’s love is for everyone!

Care to join us and be numbered among the ranks of the crazy and insane? Remember, people thought Jesus was nuts too, and it’s Him (not the world!) to whom I will ultimately give an account for our stewardship!

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WaterStone: Christian generosity is unique

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

“While people of all walks of life can be generous, Christian giving is unique because:
• It is the Christian’s genuine response to Jesus’ own gift
• It is cheerful, growing out of joy, not guilt or compulsion
• It is thoughtful
Cheerful givers are those who begin by deciding in their hearts to give. That means thoughtfully considering how God is calling them to share their blessings with others.”

Twice in the past ten days, I crossed paths with Jeff Gott, SVP of generosity at WaterStone. I appreciate the work God is doing through him and his colleagues to facilitate cheerful Christian giving. To read more, download the free ebooklet from them at: Intelligent Giving: Maximize Your Gifts for God. I resonate with WaterStone’s emphasis on the uniqueness of Christian giving: it’s our joy-filled response to Jesus’ generosity to us.

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Baxter Dickinson: Train children to practice generosity

“Look to the character, and guard vigilantly the deportment of the young. Let them be trained to reverence and love all that is sacred, and to practice all that is pure, generous, and noble. Let the Gospel get its firm hold upon their hearts, and they are secure against vice and ruin; and you may then leave them, and go down to the grave, with little anxiety about their welfare; for God is their defense.”

Baxter Dickinson preached a farewell sermon entitled “Sure Means of Spiritual Prosperity” on 22 November 1835 from Acts 20:32.

And now I commend you to God and to the message of His grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified. Acts 20:32

My friend, Scott Loe, entered the presence of Jesus yesterday. I am so thankful my ND trip got cancelled last week so that in God’s timing I was privileged to say “farewell” to him. As another friend, Debbie Discher, reminded me, he has gone from “the land of the dying to the land of the living.” My last gift to him was a copy of the movie: “Heaven is for Real.” What comfort! For those of us who remain, we place our confidence in the Gospel and “look to the character” of our children.

One of the many things I am thankful for about my wife, Jenni, is her love for training children “in all that is sacred” and specifically her service at Trailhead Church. She helps coordinate efforts to “let the Gospel get it’s firm hold” on young hearts, which represent about 75 of the 150 in our church family. Of course we must also teach them to “practice all that is pure, generous, and noble” too! When we do, we too can “go down to the grave with little anxiety.”

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R. Kent Hughes: Does God have our hearts?

“God can have our money and not have our hearts, but he cannot have our hearts without having our money.”

R. Kent Hughes, former pastor of College Church in Wheaton, IL, as recounted by Ron Blue in Master Your Money (Chicago: Moody, 2004) 19.

We demonstrate that God has our hearts by deploying His money to the things He cares about rather than stockpiling it for ourselves. This also demonstrates our trust is in Him rather than ourselves to secure our future. Does God have our hearts?

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

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Ron Blue: Three implications of God’s ownership of everything

“First of all, God has the right to whatever He wants, whenever He wants it. It is all His because an owner has rights; I, as a steward only have responsibilities. I may receive some benefits while maintaining my responsibilities, but the owner retains ownership…

The second implication of God owning it all is that not only is my giving decision a spiritual decision, but every spending decision is a spiritual decision. There is nothing more spiritual than buying a car, taking a vacation, buying food, paying off debt, paying taxes, and so on. These are all responsible uses of His resources…

The third implication of the truth that God owns it all is that you can’t fake stewardship. Your checkbook [or bank statement] reveals all that you really believe about stewardship. Your life story could be written from your checkbook [or bank statement]…Faith requires action!”

Ron Blue in Master Your Money (Chicago: Moody, 2004) 22-26.

Thanks to a Lilly grant and the collaboration of Northern Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University, and the video experts of Seedbed.com at Asbury Theological Seminary, I started work on the production of a biblical stewardship curriculum with outlines, suggested teaching materials, and short videos.

I have been asked to draw on many of Blue’s practical resources for this project. In reviewing them, I appreciate his clarity. He writes like a modern-day John Wesley: We have responsibilities, every decision is a spiritual decision, and we can’t fake it! Why should we understand and practice biblical stewardship principles? We are writing our life story and faith requires action. Do I hear an “Amen?”

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John Wesley: Lay up treasure in heaven!

“Let every one who readeth these words, narrowly search his own heart. Where hast thou laid up thy treasure hitherto? Where art thou laying it up now? Art thou labouring to be rich toward God, or to lay up earthly goods which takes up the greater part of thy thoughts? Thou that art careful for outward things, diligent in doing good, and exact in outward duties. Beware of covetousness; of decent, honourable love of money; and of a desire to lay up treasures on earth.

Lay up treasure in heaven! A few days hence, thou wilt step into a land of darkness; where earthly fruits will be of no avail; where thou wilt not be capable of eating and drinking, or gratifying any of thy senses. What benefit wilt thou then receive from all thou hast laid up in this world? What satisfaction in all which thou hast treasured up, all thou hast left behind thee? What? Couldest thou then take nothing with thee into the everlasting habitations? Nay then, lay up treasure, before thou go hence, which fadeth not away.”

John Wesley in On Worldly Folly 119.2.9. Wesley preached this sermon on the Rich Fool in Luke 12 at Balham, February 19, 1790. Whether or not you make it to church today, this sermon is not too long and well worth reading.

In the crowd of voices that speak on biblical stewardship and Christian generosity today, I find that few practice or preach what Jesus teaches with regard to laying up treasure in heaven. Most foolishly store them up on earth. On this issue, I echo the response of Wesley from Causes of the Inefficacy of Christianity 116.19:

“I call God to record upon my soul, that I advise no more than I practice. I do, blessed be God, gain, and save, and give all I can. And so, I trust in God, I shall do, while the breath of God is in my nostrils. But what then? I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus my Lord!”

Let every one who reads these words, narrowly search his or her own heart because it is not our beliefs but rather our actions that display where we are placing our trust.

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Christian Smith & Hilary Davidson: The paradox of generosity

“Generosity is paradoxical, those who give, receive back in turn…By giving ourselves away, we ourselves move toward flourishing…The generosity paradox can also be stated in the negative. By grasping onto what we currently have, we lose out on better goods that we might have gained. In holding onto what we possess we diminish its long-term value to us.

By always protecting ourselves against future uncertainties and misfortunes, we are affected in ways that make us more anxious about uncertainties and vulnerable to future misfortunes. In short, by failing to care for others, we do not properly take care of ourselves. It is no coincidence that the word “miser” is etymologically related to the word “miserable”…

For our purposes, by generosity we mean the virtue of giving good things to others freely and abundantly. Generosity thus conceived is a learned character that involves both attitudes and actions…what exactly generous people give can vary: money, possessions, time, attention, aid, encouragement, emotional availability, and more…”

Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson in The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping wWe Lose (Oxford: OUP, 2014) 1-4.

I am officially declaring a season of jubilee–50 days with no air travel–for the first time since my doctoral journey began eight years ago. Thankfully this jubilee begins with a celebration. I signed a contract this week linked to the publishing of my Ph.D. dissertation for scholarly readers in the BBRS series. It will be released sometime in 2015.

For this jubilee, I am giving the LORD the next 50 days, making myself available to God, to my wife, my family, and my friends. I plan to give myself to four disciplines: prayer (focusing on listening), study (responding with writing), solitude (taking time to rest), and celebration (reflecting on God’s gifts to me). My work and daily meditations will continue as usual during this season. I just won’t be traveling.

Why share all this? I guess to invite you to join me. Consider giving yourself to God anew and afresh with me. The paradox of such an act of generosity is the more we give ourselves to God, the more we get of Him. The more we give ourselves to those we love, the more we gain. It’s a paradox. Let the jubilee begin!

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Dennis Baril: Time is a gift of God

“There is a difference between temporal time (our time on this earth) and eternal time (eternity with God). When you view time as a gift and understand your temporal time is fleeting you will live your life differently. Time goes so quickly, you need to cherish every moment and live with a purpose. When you wake up every day and ask “Ok, God, what are we going to do today?” You will use each day as if it were a gift from God to you.

The eternal perspective helps you get through the troubles of your days because you know in light of eternity, our problems are momentary. When you live for God, you know you can get through your temporary problems because you know you will have eternity with God.”

Dennis Baril in “Time is a Gift, Use it Wisely” blog post dated 20 February 2011.

Yesterday was my second “snow day” and while I still wished I was pheasant hunting with friends in North Dakota, God blessed me with another gift. The gift of time with a friend whose health is failing. His name is Scott Loe. Scott’s been battling kidney failure for about four years. Over that time I’ve had the privilege of picking up a couple Subway sandwiches and taking them to his place for lunch about once a month. We’ve laughed together and cried together. Over a 6″ black forest ham and cheese sub, we have talked about everything from the Bible to Major League Baseball.

Yesterday, a mutual friend, Tom Assmus, kindly texted me and told me that he had just visited Scott who seemed to be, in Baril’s words, nearing the end of his temporal time. I was so thankful to be able to go over to his house to say goodbye. Scott was lucid for only a few minutes. I reminded him of what he would soon experience, eternity with God and relief from pain, and with his wife Mindy by his side, we prayed for a merciful end to his suffering. Scott has taught me a lot these past four years about waiting patiently for the Lord and enduring suffering, and now I find myself overwhelmed with the realization that time is a gift of God.

The question for each of us is this: How will we use the gift of time?

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John Saul Howson: The blessing of providential care

Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me. Psalm 66:16

“How our life has been sheltered at dangerous times! What good directions have been given us by the word and example of others. What invitations to make ourselves well acquainted with Christ and His service, and with the peace which His faithful servants are permitted to possess! Whatever the result may have been, surely no thoughtful mind can hesitate to regard with thankfulness such providential care as one of the highest benefits which God hath conferred upon the soul.

And especially let the mind dwell upon this providential care as intended for the discipline and training of the character for some real usefulness in life — as something intended to make us more thoughtful, more watchful, less frivolous, and less selfish — something to give us the rare blessing of a right and well-balanced mind, so that we may be helpful to our friends, and that they may learn from us the lesson which we ourselves have been taught.”

John Saul Howson (1816-1885) Dean of Chester, from his comments on Psalm 66:16-20 entitled “Gratitude and Generosity.”

Today I celebrate the gift of God’s providential care. I was not supposed to be home yesterday morning when the distress call came from our daughter, Sophie, who had spun in circles and slid of the road in the wintry, icy conditions here in Littleton, Colorado. While I am sad I missed out on North Dakota pheasant hunting, I am thankful God changed my plans so that I was home and available to come to her aid in the storm.

As I consider Psalm 66:16 with Howson, I conclude that reflecting on God’s providential care fills my heart with thankfulness and inspires me to be “more thoughtful, more watchful, less frivolous, and less selfish” because God has been so faithful to look out for my needs, to hear my cries for help, and to come to my aid in the storms of life. God, make us a thankful, generous people eager to do what is good.

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