Samuel M. Ngewa: Trade in earthly wealth to establish your heavenly foundation

“To give generously is not to lose wealth but to build wealth, establishing a firm basis on which to start life in heaven.”

Samuel M. Ngewa, on 1 Timothy 6:17-19 in “1 & 2 Timothy and Titus” in (ABCS; Nairobi: Hippo, 2009) 164.

“The principles is stated twice in Acts: they gave to anyone as he had need (2:45), and there were no needy persons among them…the money…was distributed to anyone as he had need (4:34-35)…Christian fellowship is Christian caring, and Christian caring is Christian sharing…So we must not evade the challenge of these verses. That we have hundreds of thousands of destitute brothers and sisters is a standing rebuke to us who are more affluent. It is part of the responsibility of Spirit-filled believers to alleviate and abolish destitution in the new community of Jesus.”

John Stott (1921-2011), The Message of Acts (Downers’ Grove: IVP, 1990) 84.

“Real trust in God will lead to doing His will even if it appears to bring financial disadvantage. In today’s consumer society the goddess ‘economy security’ has so captured even Christians’ affection that we are often blind to what God really wants in our lives.”

Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (NAC: 1993) 273.

“When it comes to materialism, it is increasingly difficult to tell where the world ends and where the Church begins.”

Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions and Eternity revised and updated (Tyndale: Wheaton, 2003) 59.

“That many languish in misery today because they lack access to things like adequate food, shelter, employment, and sundry forms of care is not due to nature or a perverse God but to the distortions of human desire that first shaped and now is shaped by an economic order that fails to use the gifts of God properly.”

Daniel M. Bell, Jr., The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012) 80.

“Affluenza’s costs and consequences are immense, though often concealed. Untreated, the disease can cause permanent discontent. Were you to find it in the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition might be something like the following: affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more…

In our view, the affluenza epidemic is rooted in the obsessive, almost religious quest for economic expansion that has become the core principle of what is called the American dream. It is rooted in the fact that the supreme measure of national progress is that quarterly ring of the cash register called the gross domestic product. It’s rooted in the idea that every generation will be materially wealthier than its predecessor and that, somehow, each of us can pursue that single-minded end without damaging the countless other things we hold dear.

It doesn’t work that way…If we don’t begin to reject our culture’s incessant demands to “buy now” we will “lay later” in ways we can scarcely imagine.”

John de Graaf, David Wann, Thomas Naylor and David Horsey, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2005) 2-3.

Today is my 46th birthday. No, I did not sleep in.

This meditation is coming to you later than normal because I left Maine very early this morning and had limited wifi and tight connections en route home to Colorado. Thankfully, I am home now. This meditation will be longer than normal too, because I have had hours to sit with the Lord and think on my flights since 3:45am MT.

This is my birthday wish, or rather, prayer:

Father in Heaven, pour out your Holy Spirit on every church family that embraces the gospel of Jesus Christ, possesses a building, and opens their doors to the poor and homeless in the name of Jesus like Trinity EFC in Skowhegan, ME. Amen

Backed solely by the promises of God and the bold obedience of less than a hundred people, Trinity EFC has not one, but now, two shelters where hundreds have come to faith in Jesus since they opened the church doors to the destitute. As the gospel comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable, many people left Trinity EFC through those same doors. But those who have stayed have witnessed miracles. Pastor Richard Berry is a modern day George Mueller.

Last night I met the first guy who asked Pastor Berry if he could sleep on the couch in the youth room instead of in his car one cold winter night in 2008. Today, the hurting and homeless and those who call this church “home” enjoy meals together like the early church. They have services daily and hundreds of baptisms annually. They don’t have to create community because all who enter there experience God’s love in Christian community.

Enough of my rambling!

Rather than tell their story, read these lyrics by Tinker, once a lost logger and a depressed drunk and now a godly leader at the men’s shelter. He sums their story aptly in song. Read them to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies, and you will see why I invite you to join me in praying this birthday prayer. Or click to watch Tinker sing the song (I recorded this last night in the front row and Derek Soucy uploaded it).

“The Ballad of Trinity”

Come listen to a story about a pastor named Rick
He ministers a little church a way out in the sticks
He took some people in because they had no place to stay
And that’s when his congregation all moved away
(Left him broke, took their checkbooks that is)

Well the next thing you know, the town’s up in the air
They all screamed and hollered, “We don’t want those people here”
It was 25 degrees the day they said, “You gotta go!”
But Rick said, “I won’t put em out in in the snow”
(Not what Jesus would do, Un-Christian that is)

Well the church isn’t coded and the neighbors live in fear
The Fire Marshall said, “You gotta get ‘em outta here”
Police Chief said he would shut the whole thing down
And then run Pastor Rick straight outta town
(With torches and pitchforks, tarred and feathered that is)

Now the town had a meeting and they got in Pastor’s face
He said, “Cut me just a little slack and I will build a place”
They said, “you make progress and we’ll leave you all alone”
So Pastor Berry went to work to build us all a home
(A new home, “Shelter by Jesus” that is)

Well he got a crazy German to put four stakes in the the ground
Took a picture of it and they sent it to the town
The town said “That’s progress!” And they let the project go
And the seed that was planted really started to grow
(Good fruit, on the vine that is)

Now the good Lord has led us with His power and His grace
His mighty hand and Spirit have raised up this special place
The promise that He made to Rick has almost been fulfilled
To make this little ministry a beacon on the hill
(A light unto the world, for His glory that is)

Well now it’s time to say goodbye to Rick and all his friends
They really praise and thank the Lord for bringing you all in
You’re all invited back any time to this locality
To have a heapin’ helpin’ of our hospitality
(With open arms, Love that is)

Ya’ll praise god now, ya hear!

“Our God is a generous God. However, His kindness, generosity, and blessing do not exclude us from hard times, struggles, or injustices in this life. For many, faith is the coin you put into a ‘vending machine God,’ obligating Him to dispense your selection.

The hard truth is that the tendency toward suffering in this life is more normal for the Christian than the promise of perfect health and extraordinary wealth. There is a Proper Pursuit of Prosperity, but it bears little resemblance to the so-called ‘good news’ being hawked by many of today’s ‘purveyors of prosperity.’

In William Cripe Sr.’s inspirational and informative book, you will discover what the prosperity gospel is, what is wrong with it, and what is right with it. You will also find the answer to the question: Is there a legitimate expectation of prosperity this side of heaven?

There is a day of perfect prosperity promised to all who believe, but that day is not in this lifetime. We exist not for the pursuit of our own gratification but to do God’s bidding not the other way around. Dive into The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity and discover Cripe’s message of how God does not exist for us. We exist for Him.”

William Cripe, Sr., The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity (Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing, 2011), back cover.

I cited this book by my friend, Bill Cripe, today because I will be at his church, Faith EFC in Waterville, ME, this morning for meetings. I commend it to you for understanding this topic!

Later tonight, I have have the privilege of speaking at the celebration service for another Skowhegan Miracle Homeless Shelter at Trinity EFC in Skowhegan, ME. You read that right, another miracle! God has provided resources to acquire an adjacent property for pennies on the dollar so now they will have a shelter for women and children in addition to the shelter for homeless men. Check them out at www.shelterbyjesus.org and join me in giving thanks to God.

“Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition…It is opposed to an unsettled and unstable spirit by which the heart is distracted from the present duty that God requires in our several relationships, towards God, ourselves and others…Contentment is soul business…”

Jeremiah Burroughs, (1600-1646), Puritan Preacher, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (1648; Edinburgh, Banner of Truth, 1964) 2-4.

Today is “Colorado Gives Day!” That means that all giving made to organizations through their website will receive an added blessing as they will get a portion of gifts given to motivate others to generosity.

It’s also the Christmas season, when carols like “Good King Wenceslas” are sung. Read the words, for therein you will find a message about the King’s generosity to the poor that may also shape your giving.

Good King Wenceslas looked out

On the feast of Stephen

When the snow lay round about

Deep and crisp and even

Brightly shone the moon that night

Though the frost was cruel

When a poor man came in sight

Gath’ring winter fuel
.

“Hither, page, and stand by me

If thou know’st it, telling

Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger

Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Music from Finland (c. 1500s)
Modern lyrics, John Mason Neale (1853)