So it when I checked in I see it has been quite a while since I posted anything here. I know that is not a good thing when it comes to blogging but that is the way life goes sometimes.
Starting a new study on stewardship and will be preaching it as well so hopefully will get some good input and will maybe even change my perspective on stewardship as a Christian.
For this Sunday September 23, 2012 have scriptures as Ecclesiastes 1:1-11; Romans 5:1-8; Mark 12:41-44.
For the moment just letting them sink in a bit but want to approach from the perspective of the Gospel reading and that God watches and we need to understand that everything about our stewardship is known.
What you give is known.
What you hold back is known.
The way you use what you hold back is also known.
For some of us a brand new thought what does it mean in the grand scheme of things?
Does this make stewardship more or less personal?
Will you sleep better or worse?
There are a gillion questions that come to mind here so help me journey through some of them and see what we find on the other side.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Genesis story a myth???
Some have taken the approach that the story of creation along with a lot of other old writings are myth. Now before you go balistic we need to think about the word. In the genre the word myth does not mean untrue. It is a way of saying the writing was written as the belief in something and therefore becomes the descriptor of that belief.
I am not sure if the world was created in 6 literal 24 hour periods of time. I am certain that God created it as he says in Genesis. Seems conflicted I am sure but then that is the beauty of the faith, we never quite know what it all is.
Pastor WaynO
I am not sure if the world was created in 6 literal 24 hour periods of time. I am certain that God created it as he says in Genesis. Seems conflicted I am sure but then that is the beauty of the faith, we never quite know what it all is.
Pastor WaynO
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Begin to study Genesis
Okay so today I begin. This morning in worship I read from the book, you know the Genesis one and it was about the apple or forbidden fruit incident. I got quite a varied response from those in worship when I asked who sinned first. It was from Eve to God. That's correct God made sin and temptation and all the other stuff.
So what do you think? I challenge you to put your thoughts up about the creation account. For some fodder to excite you I ask these questions: Was the world created in 6 actual 24 hour periods of time? Did creation happen just as described or is the like a story made up by a people to explain to the world and themselves the God they worship??
That ought to be enough to get us started.
Pastor WaynO
So what do you think? I challenge you to put your thoughts up about the creation account. For some fodder to excite you I ask these questions: Was the world created in 6 actual 24 hour periods of time? Did creation happen just as described or is the like a story made up by a people to explain to the world and themselves the God they worship??
That ought to be enough to get us started.
Pastor WaynO
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Not so sure
Hello all, I am not so sure when I will begin the study as we are entering into the season of Lent and that promises to be a full time this year. I do still want to have a study in Genesis as I have some thoughts and provocations I would love to put before you for your comment. I will begin ASAP however not knowing when that will be.
I invite you to the newpreachin' blog as it will address some of the mess I am in life and hopefully keep you connected until I get this up and running.
Susie if you are out there and checking on this, keep in touch. I have not forgotten about your questions and would like to hear more from you concerning them. That may be the way to begin the study, do any of you have specific questions about Genesis or the beginning of God's story as told by the nation of Israel????
Pastor WaynO
I invite you to the newpreachin' blog as it will address some of the mess I am in life and hopefully keep you connected until I get this up and running.
Susie if you are out there and checking on this, keep in touch. I have not forgotten about your questions and would like to hear more from you concerning them. That may be the way to begin the study, do any of you have specific questions about Genesis or the beginning of God's story as told by the nation of Israel????
Pastor WaynO
Monday, January 7, 2008
Apology
I must apologize as I have as yet to post anything remotely resembling a study. My hope was to read and study Genesis with you. I will have two funerals this week so may not get any further than I am already. I will check in and see what questions might arise so we can at least attempt to address those.
Pastor WaynO
Pastor WaynO
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Genesis Study
I hope I don't dissappoint to many. Keep reading and post any questions. I had one of those real pastoral days and spent from 6:30 am until 8pm so missed getting my post together for all of you. Pastor WaynO
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Study in Genesis
I have been praying and thinking about what to post here. I have come to the conclusion that what I need to do is start at the begining and move from there.
Genesis 1.1 - 2.4a is the story of creation and where I will begin.
I will offer to set this as a reading and then we will study for a week on each section. Here is the first reading. One of my favorite resources for its ease of use and good information is http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.html. It is a great place and has several translations as well as commentaries and Hebrew and Greek word info.
Will be back tomorrow with some of my own commentary.
Pastor WaynO
Genesis 1.1 - 2.4a is the story of creation and where I will begin.
I will offer to set this as a reading and then we will study for a week on each section. Here is the first reading. One of my favorite resources for its ease of use and good information is http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.html. It is a great place and has several translations as well as commentaries and Hebrew and Greek word info.
Will be back tomorrow with some of my own commentary.
Pastor WaynO
Saturday, December 29, 2007
From Christmas to Genesis
Well I have survived the first of the holidays and seem to be regrouping well for the next one. I mentioned in an earlier post that there was the question posed to me about why we celebrate Christmas in the middle of winter rather than in the spring which would be more in line with the scriptures.
In response to this, I am not really clear but when you think of the whole story, the entire life and walk of Christ it begins to make some sense in my mind. First we have to take into consideration what the celebrations of the church mean.
Christmas is the beginning of the life, the start of the whole Messiah walk. The birth of Christ is the start-up of what is to come. If it represents a hope of new life, then the middle of winter where there are already festivals and celebrations (pagan) that represented this to the people. It became a simple task to attach the "birth of a new hope" onto the already hopefull celebration. In winter we also have "hope" of spring when life will renew itself and the hope will be fulfilled. Change will have happened and we will get the gift of new life.
The move into Epiphinay (sp), the realization of what we have. The day is when finally, it all becomes clear. I would liken it in a way to Luke 2.25 and following verses. My eyes have seen and I have held the Savior of the world.
There are other days that lift up particular events in the life of the church but the next one to really add to why Christmas would be in the middle of winter, (only in the northern hemishpere) would be that breaking forth in the spring. When the new plants emerge and life begins from the cold, frozen, dark winter. Easter!!!!!, the resurrection and new life. The real answer to the question posed at Christmas. "Is there really hope?" Yes is the answer and it comes as a blast of trumpets and death is conquered for all time.
All of this is easily misinterpreted and we begin to wonder why there is death to begin with. This comes to us from Genesis. The second question, who did the sons of Adam marry?
This one is about the same as the first, there is no easy answer without looking at the whole picture. It begins in a garden of completeness, a garden of bliss, one filled with God's presence and his peace.
Enter God's creation, human kind, and soon the whole thing falls apart. There is sin and the sin leads to getting kicked out and the introduction of pain and suffering. It continues in the murder of a brother, again a kicking out and more suffering and strife.
I will attack some things I found but the answer seems to be mathmatical at best. There are many years and lots of off-spring. Marriage is not limited to those not blood related as the purity of genes allows it to be okay biologically. So it is likely the only answer is yes, there were families created from the marriage of brothers and sisters.
It is later in scripture forbidden to marry close relatives. I hope this will create a curiosity to get us digging deeper into the big picture. I caution many who seek simple answers that there are none. The cure is simple, give your life over to Jesus. He is obviously seeking you if you have these questions.
Be careful that you don't try to make God to small so you can hold him and make him what you want. This life in Christ is a messy thing but one that is exciting and freeing.
Sue (sp) I hope this answers some of your questions and I will be calling to check in. There are those reading this who are much wiser than I so ask if you are in question and maybe someone can clear up some confusion that I created.
I can't remember where I found these but did a Google search. Like all the scriptures I struggle with there isn't much info.
Cain and his descendants.
1. (16-17) Cain moves away and marries.
Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son; Enoch.
a. And Cain knew his wife: We don’t know where did Cain got his wife. Genesis 5:4 says Adam had several sons and daughters. Cain obviously married his sister. Though marrying a sister was against the law of God according to Leviticus 18:9, 18:11, 20:17, and Deuteronomy 27:22 (which even prohibits the marrying of a half-sister), this was long before God spoke that law to Moses and the world.
i. Here, necessity demanded that Adam’s sons marry his daughters. And at this point, the “gene pool” of humanity was pure enough to allow close marriage without harm of inbreeding. But as a stream can get more polluted the further it gets from the source, there came a time when God decreed there no longer be marriage between close relatives because of the danger of inbreeding.
ii. Even Abraham married his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:12). God did not prohibit such marriages until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18:9). Marrying a brother or sister was not forbidden until God forbade it.
Commentary by David Guzik
Dr. Shuckford farther observes that the Hebrew word tya oth, which we translate a mark, signifies a sign or token. Thus, chap. ix. 13, the bow was to be tyal leoth, for a sign or token that the world should not be destroyed; therefore the words, And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, should be translated, And the Lord appointed to Cain a token or sign, to convince him that no person should be permitted to slay him. To have marked him would have been the most likely way to have brought all the evils he dreaded upon him; therefore the Lord gave him some miraculous sign or token that he should not be slain, to the end that he should not despair, but, having time to repent, might return to a gracious God and find mercy. Notwithstanding the allusion which I suppose St. Paul to have made to the punishment of Cain, some think that he did repent and find mercy. I can only say this was possible. Most people who read this account wonder why Cain should dread being killed, when it does not appear to them that there were any inhabitants on the earth at that time besides himself and his parents. To correct this mistake, let it be observed that the death of Hebel took place in the one hundred and twenty-eighth or one hundred and twenty-ninth year of the world. Now, "supposing Adam and Eve to have had no other sons than Cain and Hebel in the year of the world one hundred and twenty-eight, yet as they had daughters married to these sons, their descendants would make a considerable figure on the earth. Supposing them to have been married in the nineteenth year of the world, they might easily have had each eight children, some males and some females, in the twenty-fifth year. In the fiftieth year there might proceed from them in a direct line sixty-four persons; in the seventy-fourth year there would be five hundred and twelve; in the ninety-eighth year, four thousand and ninety- six; in the one hundred and twenty-second they would amount to thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight: if to these we add the other children descended from Cain and Hebel, their children, and their children's children, we shall have, in the aforesaid one hundred and twenty-eight years four hundred and twenty-one thousand one hundred and sixty-four men capable of generation, without reckoning the women either old or young, or such as are under the age of seventeen." See Dodd.
But this calculation may be disputed, because there is no evidence that the antediluvian patriarchs began to have children before they were sixty-five years of age. Now, supposing that Adam at one hundred and thirty years of age had one hundred and thirty children, which is quite possible, and each of these a child at sixty-five years of age, and one in each successive year, the whole, in the one hundred and thirtieth year of the world, would amount to one thousand two hundred and nineteen persons; a number sufficient to found several villages, and to excite the apprehensions under which Cain appeared at this time to labour.
Adam Clarke’s commentary on Genes
Happy reading. Will be back after the new year begins. Pastor WaynO
In response to this, I am not really clear but when you think of the whole story, the entire life and walk of Christ it begins to make some sense in my mind. First we have to take into consideration what the celebrations of the church mean.
Christmas is the beginning of the life, the start of the whole Messiah walk. The birth of Christ is the start-up of what is to come. If it represents a hope of new life, then the middle of winter where there are already festivals and celebrations (pagan) that represented this to the people. It became a simple task to attach the "birth of a new hope" onto the already hopefull celebration. In winter we also have "hope" of spring when life will renew itself and the hope will be fulfilled. Change will have happened and we will get the gift of new life.
The move into Epiphinay (sp), the realization of what we have. The day is when finally, it all becomes clear. I would liken it in a way to Luke 2.25 and following verses. My eyes have seen and I have held the Savior of the world.
There are other days that lift up particular events in the life of the church but the next one to really add to why Christmas would be in the middle of winter, (only in the northern hemishpere) would be that breaking forth in the spring. When the new plants emerge and life begins from the cold, frozen, dark winter. Easter!!!!!, the resurrection and new life. The real answer to the question posed at Christmas. "Is there really hope?" Yes is the answer and it comes as a blast of trumpets and death is conquered for all time.
All of this is easily misinterpreted and we begin to wonder why there is death to begin with. This comes to us from Genesis. The second question, who did the sons of Adam marry?
This one is about the same as the first, there is no easy answer without looking at the whole picture. It begins in a garden of completeness, a garden of bliss, one filled with God's presence and his peace.
Enter God's creation, human kind, and soon the whole thing falls apart. There is sin and the sin leads to getting kicked out and the introduction of pain and suffering. It continues in the murder of a brother, again a kicking out and more suffering and strife.
I will attack some things I found but the answer seems to be mathmatical at best. There are many years and lots of off-spring. Marriage is not limited to those not blood related as the purity of genes allows it to be okay biologically. So it is likely the only answer is yes, there were families created from the marriage of brothers and sisters.
It is later in scripture forbidden to marry close relatives. I hope this will create a curiosity to get us digging deeper into the big picture. I caution many who seek simple answers that there are none. The cure is simple, give your life over to Jesus. He is obviously seeking you if you have these questions.
Be careful that you don't try to make God to small so you can hold him and make him what you want. This life in Christ is a messy thing but one that is exciting and freeing.
Sue (sp) I hope this answers some of your questions and I will be calling to check in. There are those reading this who are much wiser than I so ask if you are in question and maybe someone can clear up some confusion that I created.
I can't remember where I found these but did a Google search. Like all the scriptures I struggle with there isn't much info.
Cain and his descendants.
1. (16-17) Cain moves away and marries.
Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son; Enoch.
a. And Cain knew his wife: We don’t know where did Cain got his wife. Genesis 5:4 says Adam had several sons and daughters. Cain obviously married his sister. Though marrying a sister was against the law of God according to Leviticus 18:9, 18:11, 20:17, and Deuteronomy 27:22 (which even prohibits the marrying of a half-sister), this was long before God spoke that law to Moses and the world.
i. Here, necessity demanded that Adam’s sons marry his daughters. And at this point, the “gene pool” of humanity was pure enough to allow close marriage without harm of inbreeding. But as a stream can get more polluted the further it gets from the source, there came a time when God decreed there no longer be marriage between close relatives because of the danger of inbreeding.
ii. Even Abraham married his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:12). God did not prohibit such marriages until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18:9). Marrying a brother or sister was not forbidden until God forbade it.
Commentary by David Guzik
Dr. Shuckford farther observes that the Hebrew word tya oth, which we translate a mark, signifies a sign or token. Thus, chap. ix. 13, the bow was to be tyal leoth, for a sign or token that the world should not be destroyed; therefore the words, And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, should be translated, And the Lord appointed to Cain a token or sign, to convince him that no person should be permitted to slay him. To have marked him would have been the most likely way to have brought all the evils he dreaded upon him; therefore the Lord gave him some miraculous sign or token that he should not be slain, to the end that he should not despair, but, having time to repent, might return to a gracious God and find mercy. Notwithstanding the allusion which I suppose St. Paul to have made to the punishment of Cain, some think that he did repent and find mercy. I can only say this was possible. Most people who read this account wonder why Cain should dread being killed, when it does not appear to them that there were any inhabitants on the earth at that time besides himself and his parents. To correct this mistake, let it be observed that the death of Hebel took place in the one hundred and twenty-eighth or one hundred and twenty-ninth year of the world. Now, "supposing Adam and Eve to have had no other sons than Cain and Hebel in the year of the world one hundred and twenty-eight, yet as they had daughters married to these sons, their descendants would make a considerable figure on the earth. Supposing them to have been married in the nineteenth year of the world, they might easily have had each eight children, some males and some females, in the twenty-fifth year. In the fiftieth year there might proceed from them in a direct line sixty-four persons; in the seventy-fourth year there would be five hundred and twelve; in the ninety-eighth year, four thousand and ninety- six; in the one hundred and twenty-second they would amount to thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight: if to these we add the other children descended from Cain and Hebel, their children, and their children's children, we shall have, in the aforesaid one hundred and twenty-eight years four hundred and twenty-one thousand one hundred and sixty-four men capable of generation, without reckoning the women either old or young, or such as are under the age of seventeen." See Dodd.
But this calculation may be disputed, because there is no evidence that the antediluvian patriarchs began to have children before they were sixty-five years of age. Now, supposing that Adam at one hundred and thirty years of age had one hundred and thirty children, which is quite possible, and each of these a child at sixty-five years of age, and one in each successive year, the whole, in the one hundred and thirtieth year of the world, would amount to one thousand two hundred and nineteen persons; a number sufficient to found several villages, and to excite the apprehensions under which Cain appeared at this time to labour.
Adam Clarke’s commentary on Genes
Happy reading. Will be back after the new year begins. Pastor WaynO
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all. It is a wonderful time to stop the busy rush of shopping and planning and all the hasle of the season and for just a moment catch our breath. I know I will enjoy just sitting doing very little and enjoying my family.
As you celebrate the day think about what the day really stands for. We celebrate the time in a rythm that moves through the life and works of Christ each and every year. This marks the begining so prepare for the middle as we get into the real excitement of being Christ's followers.
Go enjoy and know that you are loved by the Savior of the world, Jeus Christ. Put your faith in him and learn to let him lead your life.
Pastor WaynO
As you celebrate the day think about what the day really stands for. We celebrate the time in a rythm that moves through the life and works of Christ each and every year. This marks the begining so prepare for the middle as we get into the real excitement of being Christ's followers.
Go enjoy and know that you are loved by the Savior of the world, Jeus Christ. Put your faith in him and learn to let him lead your life.
Pastor WaynO
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The Real Christmas
Well it is that time of year and I just had a question posed to me, "why is Christmas celebrated in the middle of winter rather than during the spring, which is the time the scriptures would lead us to believe?"
At this point I am asking all of you who are reading to let us know what you think/know about the time of the celebration.
I have some web info I am posting but feel it may get us further if we all put some thought into it and ask the real hard questions.
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=1290 and go to the "The Real Story of Christmas" in the left column.
Then I went to the Wikipedea and did a search for Christmas.
As for the real reason, I am not sure how to answer that at this moment.
Next week, after Christmas we will jump to the other end of the Bible and take a look at Cain and Able and the beginning of the human story.
Keep sharing and learning Pastor WaynO
At this point I am asking all of you who are reading to let us know what you think/know about the time of the celebration.
I have some web info I am posting but feel it may get us further if we all put some thought into it and ask the real hard questions.
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=1290 and go to the "The Real Story of Christmas" in the left column.
Then I went to the Wikipedea and did a search for Christmas.
As for the real reason, I am not sure how to answer that at this moment.
Next week, after Christmas we will jump to the other end of the Bible and take a look at Cain and Able and the beginning of the human story.
Keep sharing and learning Pastor WaynO
Monday, December 17, 2007
Studying the Bible
I wanted to have this blog be a great place to begin a discussion for a study. I had some great ideas. I had a direction. Then life hit me in the face and I lost most of what I had in my mind. It has occured to me however that we do need to study the Bible and I will begin a study after the Christmas season is behind me
From the Stewardship study that prompted this blog I have been moved to some new thoughts about living the Christian life. I would like to study some about developing a personal mission statement. Taking our life in Christ to a new level of committment. Deciding if our lives are lived as fundraising lives or stewardship lives and what that might mean as we move along day to day.
I will hopefully be posting here as a study and leave the political, religious, and other such distractions to the newpreachin blog. I posted about the Golden Compass movie and what surrounds it and believe some of this is what we develop as personal theology.
If anyone has comment or direction for any of the above discussion let me know and it will hopefully be included also.
Have a merry Christmas if I don't hear from you before. Pastor WaynO
From the Stewardship study that prompted this blog I have been moved to some new thoughts about living the Christian life. I would like to study some about developing a personal mission statement. Taking our life in Christ to a new level of committment. Deciding if our lives are lived as fundraising lives or stewardship lives and what that might mean as we move along day to day.
I will hopefully be posting here as a study and leave the political, religious, and other such distractions to the newpreachin blog. I posted about the Golden Compass movie and what surrounds it and believe some of this is what we develop as personal theology.
If anyone has comment or direction for any of the above discussion let me know and it will hopefully be included also.
Have a merry Christmas if I don't hear from you before. Pastor WaynO
Monday, December 10, 2007
Not sure how to begin the thought process but as we study the Bible things from the world jump in and can mess things up a bit or at least add a whole new dynamic. One such thing is the movie the Golden Compass. As I have stated before I don't like the whole concept of boycotting and e-bashing or using the internet and email as a ground to throw things at someone or something. This movie is no different than so much other stuff and I happened to notice that Harry Potter is the new up and coming Christmas movie thon. I would be interested to hear thoughts and especially info on the new one the Golden Compass.
I found on the PCUSA site a statement about the movie and some of its bias' and theology. I would encourage you to check out the site at http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/goldencompass.htm
If there are other somewhat open minded sites for info I would be interested in them also. Lets get some sharing going on here.
Pastor WaynO
I found on the PCUSA site a statement about the movie and some of its bias' and theology. I would encourage you to check out the site at http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/goldencompass.htm
If there are other somewhat open minded sites for info I would be interested in them also. Lets get some sharing going on here.
Pastor WaynO
Saturday, December 8, 2007
I am not sure where to go at the moment but feel we need to find a place to study. I wonder how many of you out there worship with the RCL. If you do then you can find the scrupture for the coming week easily through your denom. If not I would suggest this, check out the PCUSA site, (if I am correct this should take you where you need to be http://www.pcusa.org/cgi-bin/lectiond.cgi).
We can then start by moving through each day with reflection and response to the scrupture listed. If anyone has another idea we can easily move where we can all get something out of this blog.
I would choose Jude 17-25 today as it seems to speak of the season we are in. Reaching out and caring without indifference to those who seem so lost. I have some fear of the OT text from Amos, I myself might fall into that group of detestible and refused worshipers. In Matt. I think we have had enough of an emphasis on stewardship but can always be reminded of what is ours to use and what should be used in a different manner.
Open to your comments! WaynO
We can then start by moving through each day with reflection and response to the scrupture listed. If anyone has another idea we can easily move where we can all get something out of this blog.
I would choose Jude 17-25 today as it seems to speak of the season we are in. Reaching out and caring without indifference to those who seem so lost. I have some fear of the OT text from Amos, I myself might fall into that group of detestible and refused worshipers. In Matt. I think we have had enough of an emphasis on stewardship but can always be reminded of what is ours to use and what should be used in a different manner.
Open to your comments! WaynO
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Thought you would all enjoy this little tidbit. Maybe I should reframe this a bit. I get so many protest this and protest that emails that I want to scream sometimes. I have wondered how many just forward them and then assume they have made a good mark for themselves in the book of life. Quit now Wayne or you will say to much. Enjoy and think about what is here. WaynO
The task AHEAD of you is never as great as the POWER behind you. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upsetthat folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybeyou've forgotten that I wasn't actually born duringthis time of the year and that it was some of yourpredecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday onwhat was actually a time of pagan festival. Although Ido appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration canprobably be most easily understood by those of you whohave been blessed with children of your own. I don'tcare what you call the day. If you want to celebrateMy birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers youthat the town in which you live doesn't allow a scenedepicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple ofSantas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity sceneon your own front lawn. If all My followers did thatthere wouldn't be any need for such a scene on thetown square because there would be many of them allaround town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are callingthe tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree.It was I who made all trees. You can remember Meanytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if youwish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching,explaining who I am in relation to you and what eachof our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one,look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of Mybirth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to theway My birthday is being celebrated, write letters oflove and hope to soldiers away from home. They areterribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know,they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have toknow them personally. They just need to know thatsomeone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing George complaining about thewording on the cards his staff sent out this year, whydon't you write and tell him that you'll be prayingfor him and his family this year. Then followup. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts youcan't afford and they don't need, spend time withthem. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I cameto live with you down here. Hold them in your arms andremind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past andforgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attemptto take their own life this season because they feelso alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who thatperson is, try giving everyone you meet a warmsmile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer inyour town calls the holiday, be patient with thepeople who work there. Give them a warm smile and akind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a"Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishingthem one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If thestore didn't make so much money on that day they'dclose and let their employees spend the day at homewith their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support amissionary--especially one who takes My love and GoodNews to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and wholefamilies in your town who not only will have no"Christmas" tree, but neither will they have anypresents to give or receive. If you don't know them,buy some food and a few gifts and give them to theSalvation Army or some other charity which believes inMe and they will make the delivery for you.10. Finally, if you want to make a statement aboutyour belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like aChristian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn'tdo in My presence. Let people know by your actionsthat you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself.Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'lltake care of all the rest. Check out the list aboveand get to work; time is short. I'll help you, butthe ball is now in your court. And do have a mostblessed Christmas with all those whom you love andremember : I LOVE YOU,
JESUS
The task AHEAD of you is never as great as the POWER behind you. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upsetthat folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybeyou've forgotten that I wasn't actually born duringthis time of the year and that it was some of yourpredecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday onwhat was actually a time of pagan festival. Although Ido appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration canprobably be most easily understood by those of you whohave been blessed with children of your own. I don'tcare what you call the day. If you want to celebrateMy birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers youthat the town in which you live doesn't allow a scenedepicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple ofSantas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity sceneon your own front lawn. If all My followers did thatthere wouldn't be any need for such a scene on thetown square because there would be many of them allaround town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are callingthe tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree.It was I who made all trees. You can remember Meanytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if youwish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching,explaining who I am in relation to you and what eachof our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one,look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of Mybirth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to theway My birthday is being celebrated, write letters oflove and hope to soldiers away from home. They areterribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know,they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have toknow them personally. They just need to know thatsomeone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing George complaining about thewording on the cards his staff sent out this year, whydon't you write and tell him that you'll be prayingfor him and his family this year. Then followup. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts youcan't afford and they don't need, spend time withthem. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I cameto live with you down here. Hold them in your arms andremind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past andforgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attemptto take their own life this season because they feelso alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who thatperson is, try giving everyone you meet a warmsmile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer inyour town calls the holiday, be patient with thepeople who work there. Give them a warm smile and akind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a"Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishingthem one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If thestore didn't make so much money on that day they'dclose and let their employees spend the day at homewith their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support amissionary--especially one who takes My love and GoodNews to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and wholefamilies in your town who not only will have no"Christmas" tree, but neither will they have anypresents to give or receive. If you don't know them,buy some food and a few gifts and give them to theSalvation Army or some other charity which believes inMe and they will make the delivery for you.10. Finally, if you want to make a statement aboutyour belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like aChristian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn'tdo in My presence. Let people know by your actionsthat you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself.Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'lltake care of all the rest. Check out the list aboveand get to work; time is short. I'll help you, butthe ball is now in your court. And do have a mostblessed Christmas with all those whom you love andremember : I LOVE YOU,
JESUS
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Copying from one blog to another may get me in trouble but the new link I put up may get me out of some trouble with studying. And I know I said I would be off for a while but I just can't help it when I find stuff that seems to open some new questions and maybe even give a few answers. This is a site I found from nosing around another blog http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com/ that caught my eye a while back. I don't how I get these except if I must put blame it is the Holy Spirit.Well with that heresy I better quit before lightening strikes.Pastor WaynO
Just can't stay away. It seems there is so much to tell, so much to say to the world that I can't get said. I am not even sure what I have to say but pray the Spirit will descramble it for me. I am preaching in the morning, Advent 1 and it is the time again when I struggle with the Christmas stuff. I researched and have discovered that Christmas in all it's forms has faded in and out of glory within the confines of the church. The Puritans punished celebrants for it, the early colonies opposed it because it was an English tradition. Most of what the Christian world holds near and dear about it has been dreamed up out of fairy tales, pagan celebrations, and pieces of old tradition here and there both Christian and non Christian.I hear so much hype from Christians and then see so little action from them, it leaves me curious what it really is this being a Christian??????Pastor WaynO
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Well here it is the post I have been waiting for. The last of the series and the one that calls on us to give 100% of who we are, what we have, and that is all Jesus wants. Think about what is here and then come back as I have a whole new thought for us to study on. Enjoy Pastor WaynO
Unselfish Love Is Enough!
The point of the widow's two copper coins is better understood when we notice what comes immediately before it in Mark's Gospel. A scribe has just asked Jesus the question. "What is the most important commandment in the law?" And Jesus has answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). The widow is quite obviously doing that—loving God with her whole life, seeking to put God first among all her priorities, seeking God's kingdom first before all other kingdoms.
As the offering was being taken one Sunday morning, the great preacher John A. Broadus came down and stood in the aisle beside one of the ushers. Broadus moved beside the usher as he went from pew to pew. watching every coin and bill that was given by his parishioners. Some of them were angered at this action. Some were confused and ashamed. Others were amazed. All were surprised. After the offering was completed. Broadus want to the pulpit to begin his sermon, which was based on the story of the widow's mite. He concluded the sermon by saying. "If you take it to heart that I have seen your offerings this day and know just what sacrifice you have made—and what sacrifice you have not made—remember that your Savior goes up the aisle with even usher even' Sunday and sees every cent contributed by his people. He knows more than what we give: he sees through to the heart. He also knows exactly what remains in our wallet or purse—the amount we keep for ourselves. That statement, like Jesus's statement about the widow's mite, helps us to see that the bottom-line answer to the question. "How much is enough?" is more than a figure or a formula.
A laywoman once asked the pastor to come to her office to talk about her stewardship. She had just joined the church after a significant conversion experience in which her life had been changed radically. She wanted to know how much money she ought to give to the church each week. The pastor carefully outlined the annual budget, then gave her a general idea of the average amount church members usually gave. The new member sat back and looked at him in astonishment. "You and I are not thinking in the same terms at all." she said. "Joining the church was one of the greatest decisions of my life, and it means I'm going to make some big changes in the way I relate to God at every point in my affairs." She then named the sum she intended to give each week, an amount so substantial that it staggered the pastor's imagination.
Pledging campaigns can sometimes unintentionally cause church members to think in terms of minimum amounts instead of sacrificial amounts. How much do other people give? How much should I raise my pledge above last year? How much would be fair? Now, let's see... inflation went up 3 percent this year, and that would be.... For most people, such figuring can lead to a phony kind of stewardship, one in which we never ask the real questions: "What percentage of my income does God expect me to give? What does God call me to do as a reasonable offering of my life?"
A certain man and his wife were going along the street one day when she stopped in front of a jewelry store to admire a ring in the window. "I wish I could have a ring like that some day," she said. The couple lived on a very low income, so there seemed little likelihood that this would ever happen—they had no money to spend on such extravagances. But the man loved his wife very much. He had always felt badly that he had not been able to buy for her the things he really wanted to during the many years of their marriage. They were constantly struggling with expenses that seemed greater than income, but that day he made a vow to himself—he was going to do something special for her next Christmas. He started saving every dollar he could and keeping it hidden. Sometimes, he would eat a small lunch or no lunch at all and set the money aside. Finally, as early December came, he began to shop for the kind of ring she had so admired in the window. He spent many lunch hours looking in various jewelry stores—comparing prices—trying to be sure he got the best possible ring for the amount of money he had saved. At last he found it. He bought it. had it wrapped, and waited in anticipation for Christmas Day.
Another man—a very wealthy man with an enormous annual income—realized that Christmas was only a week away. During the past year he had been so preoccupied with business, golf, and an extramarital affair with a pretty young woman who worked in his office that he had hardly realized that his wife existed. But it was Christmas, and he needed to "do the right thing." He sent his secretary down to a jewelry store to buy his wife a Christmas present. She selected something nice, and it was very expensive—several thousand dollars. He was proud when he gave it to her on Christmas morning. Even though he had not even see the diamond-studded bracelet until his wife unwrapped it, he had done the right thing.
Which of these two men gave the greater gift?
If you can answer that question, you understand how Jesus answered the question, "How much is enough?"
Unselfish Love Is Enough!
The point of the widow's two copper coins is better understood when we notice what comes immediately before it in Mark's Gospel. A scribe has just asked Jesus the question. "What is the most important commandment in the law?" And Jesus has answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). The widow is quite obviously doing that—loving God with her whole life, seeking to put God first among all her priorities, seeking God's kingdom first before all other kingdoms.
As the offering was being taken one Sunday morning, the great preacher John A. Broadus came down and stood in the aisle beside one of the ushers. Broadus moved beside the usher as he went from pew to pew. watching every coin and bill that was given by his parishioners. Some of them were angered at this action. Some were confused and ashamed. Others were amazed. All were surprised. After the offering was completed. Broadus want to the pulpit to begin his sermon, which was based on the story of the widow's mite. He concluded the sermon by saying. "If you take it to heart that I have seen your offerings this day and know just what sacrifice you have made—and what sacrifice you have not made—remember that your Savior goes up the aisle with even usher even' Sunday and sees every cent contributed by his people. He knows more than what we give: he sees through to the heart. He also knows exactly what remains in our wallet or purse—the amount we keep for ourselves. That statement, like Jesus's statement about the widow's mite, helps us to see that the bottom-line answer to the question. "How much is enough?" is more than a figure or a formula.
A laywoman once asked the pastor to come to her office to talk about her stewardship. She had just joined the church after a significant conversion experience in which her life had been changed radically. She wanted to know how much money she ought to give to the church each week. The pastor carefully outlined the annual budget, then gave her a general idea of the average amount church members usually gave. The new member sat back and looked at him in astonishment. "You and I are not thinking in the same terms at all." she said. "Joining the church was one of the greatest decisions of my life, and it means I'm going to make some big changes in the way I relate to God at every point in my affairs." She then named the sum she intended to give each week, an amount so substantial that it staggered the pastor's imagination.
Pledging campaigns can sometimes unintentionally cause church members to think in terms of minimum amounts instead of sacrificial amounts. How much do other people give? How much should I raise my pledge above last year? How much would be fair? Now, let's see... inflation went up 3 percent this year, and that would be.... For most people, such figuring can lead to a phony kind of stewardship, one in which we never ask the real questions: "What percentage of my income does God expect me to give? What does God call me to do as a reasonable offering of my life?"
A certain man and his wife were going along the street one day when she stopped in front of a jewelry store to admire a ring in the window. "I wish I could have a ring like that some day," she said. The couple lived on a very low income, so there seemed little likelihood that this would ever happen—they had no money to spend on such extravagances. But the man loved his wife very much. He had always felt badly that he had not been able to buy for her the things he really wanted to during the many years of their marriage. They were constantly struggling with expenses that seemed greater than income, but that day he made a vow to himself—he was going to do something special for her next Christmas. He started saving every dollar he could and keeping it hidden. Sometimes, he would eat a small lunch or no lunch at all and set the money aside. Finally, as early December came, he began to shop for the kind of ring she had so admired in the window. He spent many lunch hours looking in various jewelry stores—comparing prices—trying to be sure he got the best possible ring for the amount of money he had saved. At last he found it. He bought it. had it wrapped, and waited in anticipation for Christmas Day.
Another man—a very wealthy man with an enormous annual income—realized that Christmas was only a week away. During the past year he had been so preoccupied with business, golf, and an extramarital affair with a pretty young woman who worked in his office that he had hardly realized that his wife existed. But it was Christmas, and he needed to "do the right thing." He sent his secretary down to a jewelry store to buy his wife a Christmas present. She selected something nice, and it was very expensive—several thousand dollars. He was proud when he gave it to her on Christmas morning. Even though he had not even see the diamond-studded bracelet until his wife unwrapped it, he had done the right thing.
Which of these two men gave the greater gift?
If you can answer that question, you understand how Jesus answered the question, "How much is enough?"
Thursday, November 22, 2007
I don't believe I put this info up for you this week. As I re read the information it still seems to me that the 10% is a dangerous thing. Not only does it seem impossible for some to ever attain it leaves others an ending offering. I feel that the statement, "I give $10 and myself. Mary I. McClellan." is much closer to the real offering Jesus is seeking.
If you have thoughts about 10% I would like to hear them. Pastor WaynO
1. Luke 18:9-14 (parable of the Pharisee and the Publican)
2. Mark 12:38-44 (story of the widow's mite)
3. Matthew 5:23-24 (be reconciled to persons from whom you are alienated before you give your offering)
4. Matthew 6:2-4 (give in secret)
Discovery Questions for Group Study
1. What is your personal conviction regarding the practice of tithing (giving 10 percent of your income before taxes to God's work)? Why?
2. Do you agree or disagree with this chapter's interpretation of Matthew 23:23-24; namely, that Jesus said we should tithe?
If you have thoughts about 10% I would like to hear them. Pastor WaynO
1. Luke 18:9-14 (parable of the Pharisee and the Publican)
2. Mark 12:38-44 (story of the widow's mite)
3. Matthew 5:23-24 (be reconciled to persons from whom you are alienated before you give your offering)
4. Matthew 6:2-4 (give in secret)
Discovery Questions for Group Study
1. What is your personal conviction regarding the practice of tithing (giving 10 percent of your income before taxes to God's work)? Why?
2. Do you agree or disagree with this chapter's interpretation of Matthew 23:23-24; namely, that Jesus said we should tithe?
Now we are getting to the real stuff. Everything before was simply a lead into what we actually need to do. I send this to you on Thanksgiving day and pray you are all enjoying this day of feasting and rest. Have a happy day. Pastor WaynO
How Much Is Enough?
What amount of money is an appropriate expression of my relationship with God and with my desire to help other people? For most Christians, that question inevitably leads to another question: Is tithing enough? Strong opinions run in both directions on this subject. Research indicates that 27 percent of laity in the U.S. think the tithe is a minimum standard of giving. Other serious Christians feel that 10 percent is an arbitrary figure extracted from Old Testament legalisms.
Gilbert Davis, who for many years served as director of church relations for Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Texas, likes to tell this story. When he was a seminary student at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, he was stopped in the hallway one day by an elderly gentleman. Gilbert had never met the man, so he was surprised when the old gentleman asked, "Young man, are you studying to be a minister?"
Gilbert replied that he was, and the man asked if he might talk with him a few minutes. Not sure what he was getting into, Gilbert consented. It was not until some weeks later that he discovered who Arthur A. Everetts was. He owned what was at that time the largest jewelry store west of the Mississippi. Everetts led Gilbert into an empty classroom, where he asked him whether he preached tithing in the student church he served on weekends. Before Gilbert could reply, Everetts began giving him a lengthy and forceful set or arguments in favor of tithing, indicating that this was essential for any young pastor who ever hoped to amount to anything for Jesus Christ. At the end of his several-minute sermon, Everetts issued an altar call for Gilbert to make a decision to become a timer.
Finally getting a chance to speak, Gilbert drew himself up to his full theological stature at that youthful age, and said, "But, sir, we are Christians now. We are New Testament people; not Old Testament. We are not under the Law, we are under Grace."
To which Everetts replied. "Young man, if you can show me anywhere in the New Testament where it says that less is expected of a Christian under Grace than of a Jew under the Law. I will be glad to subscribe to your position."
This experience was a turning point in Gilbert's understanding of the spiritual qualities of money. His use of that story in many years of stewardship ministry among congregations in the Southwest has been a turning point for many others. The New Testament clearly says that we must avoid a legalistic approach to God's Old Testament laws. We tithe, not because it is the "religious" thing to do, or in order to show our "righteousness" to others. We tithe because we believe God's promise to bring us to wholeness and health as we learn to rely on and to obey God. The gospel is primarily good news, not good rules. So, we give our money because we want to give it—as an act of worship and as a way of seeing Christ's kingdom first—not because we feel that we must give it in order to fulfill a religious legalism. Yet, since we Christians base our beliefs on the authority of Scripture, we must remember that in the only New Testament verse where Jesus mentions the tithe, he tells the Pharisees, "These you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others"—referring to the practice of tithing earlier in that conversation (Matthew 23:23). If Jesus says the tithe is important in the worship of God, does it seem wise for me to decide it is not?
Tithing is clearly the form of stewardship taught in both the Old and the New Testaments. When Jesus discussed proper stewardship of money and resources with the most religious people of his culture (the Pharisees), this was the form he took for granted that they were using—the giving of one-tenth of their income before taxes to God's work. In ancient Hebrew society, the tithe was like an income tax payable to the "Department of Eternal Revenue." If faithful Jews wanted to make additional offerings to God beyond the tithe, then they might call themselves philanthropists, but to tithe was to perform their basic duty. They assumed that the first 10 percent belonged to God already. So, when Jesus spoke to his generation about giving, he was not talking about a variable amount; he took for granted their convictions about the tithe.
Yet, there is another sense in which the tithe is not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus answers the question of "How much is enough?" by saying that this is not the question! As Jesus does in all his teachings, what he says about giving goes far beyond any legalistic use of the Old Testament. Jesus teaches that our giving to God cannot be reduced to a 10 percent formula. Our most basic stewardship is to give our whole heart to God"s work (God's spiritual kingdom). Our gift of money is a symbol of that total self-giving, but money itself can never be classified as our ultimate stewardship; that is always a matter of the heart. The Pharisees tended to "materialize their spiritual relationship with God" into rituals and offerings. Jesus did the opposite: He "spiritualized the material" into an expression of loving relationship with God and unselfish giving to help the less fortunate. In so doing. Jesus was recovering the heart of the Old Testament tradition itself.
More than 150 years ago, a young schoolteacher went to the little Pearl River Methodist Church and was moved by the missionary sermon. When the offering basket reached her pew, she put in a $10 bill and a note that said, "I give $10 and myself, Mary I. McClellan." Ten dollars was a great deal of money 150 years ago, but over the years the gift of "herself' was far greater. Soon after this, she married a Methodist pastor, James W. Lambuth. and went with him to China in 1853. From there, she organized several strong institutions: a famous orphanage for homeless children, a famous school for girls, the Women's Methodist Foreign Missionary Society, and eventually Lambuth Bible School. With the gift of herself, she laid much of the foundation that carried Christianity through the last few turbulent decades in Red China.
You and I have only two things available to give God; ourselves and what we own. When the widow put two copper coins in the treasury, she was obviously giving both her money and her whole self. When some of the rich people passed by the treasury chest, what they gave was more like tipping the waiter at a good restaurant. That was Jesus's point, and that is still the major issue: Are we giving just our money? Or, is the money we give a symbol of our determination to give our whole selves? A young woman struggling with the question of how much she should give asked her pastor, "Will God love me less if I don't tithe" He answered. "Is that really the question? Isn't the real question. 'Will I love God less if I don't tithe?'" That pastor's observation was close to what Jesus said about giving. For Jesus, giving expresses our side of our spiritual relationship with God. Genuine giving does not come from God's demand but from our desire.
For some people, a tithe is an appropriate expression of unselfishly loving God and caring about other people. For others, a tithe may not accomplish that. Approximately one person out of every 350 people in the United States is a millionaire. For every forty giving units in a church, one of these units is capable of making a one-time gift equal to the church's annual budget. For those persons, does the tithe reflect an attitude of the heart that has overcome self-centeredness? Or, is that degree of wealth too great for a tithe to mean more than a camouflaged form of selfishness? It is said that the great earth-moving equipment manufacturer. LeTourneau, had an annual income so huge that he gave 90 percent of it to God's work. He said that, for him, this was the only Christian thing to do.
A couple of years before cell phones were in use, an airline pilot walking through the passenger waiting area decided to call home. The line was busy. While waiting for his wife to get off the phone, he began working on his flight plan paperwork at a nearby counter. After he realized that the passing travelers were staring at him, he noticed that he was standing at the flight insurance counter. Some people seem to treat their giving as a form of eternal flight insurance. This is not what Jesus taught. That kind of giving does not touch the heart of the matter.
The evidence indicates that another kind of incentive for giving—tax deductions—may play a greater role in our giving than we wish to admit. One example: The 1986 tax reforms adversely affected giving patterns in the United States. Before the tax overhaul, per capita giving increased by 8.7 percent between 1985 and 1986. The rate of increase dropped to 1.4 percent in 1987 and 3.2 percent in 1988. In the struggle between our basic selfishness and the desire to give ourselves to God's purposes, our best motives sometimes lose.
Inflation and rising incomes thrust us into another temptation. During 2005, the median household income in the United States was $46,326. In 1965, adjusted for inflation, that figure was $35,379.46 Unless we keep on raising the question, "How much is enough?" an amount that once involved the giving of our whole hearts can become, over the span of five or ten years, a minor percentage of our life's resources. Paul says that we should give as we have prospered (1 Corinthians 16:2). Due to inflation and increasing annual income, we can easily and unknowingly slip into a pattern of giving that violates that injunction.
A certain man became a millionaire through successful business dealings. One day several friends were discussing his progress. Said one. "Getting rich hasn't changed old George a bit."
"No," agreed the other, "He used to put a dollar in the collection plate, and he still does." That happens when a Christian falls into the rut of failing to reexamine his or her spiritual commitments. Growth toward God gets sidetracked by growth toward selfishness.
Whatever our personal temptation in this matter, Jesus's teachings still speak with power to the question, "How much is enough?" by responding, "That is not the question!" God wants us to give money, because it is one of the major ways we express our personality. But God wants more than money, God wants justice, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23-24). God wants love: "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3). God wants willing, ungrudging giving: "Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me" (Exodus 25:2). God wants humility, because humility defines a right attitude of heart—an attitude that contrasts with the self-righteous, self-sufficient mind of the Pharisee whose public prayer Jesus described in a parable. Humility illustrates our sense of dependence on God rather than on ourselves. Humility means that we see God as God, while pride and self-righteousness are ways of pretending that we are our own god.
Several years ago, Bishop Fulton Sheen was interviewing Jackie Gleason on a television program. Sheen asked him. "When you come to meet Jesus, what will you say?"
Gleason immediately replied, "All I could say would be thanks."
That statement reflects something of the humility of the heart that is found in genuine stewardship. It is money, but it is more than money.
How Much Is Enough?
What amount of money is an appropriate expression of my relationship with God and with my desire to help other people? For most Christians, that question inevitably leads to another question: Is tithing enough? Strong opinions run in both directions on this subject. Research indicates that 27 percent of laity in the U.S. think the tithe is a minimum standard of giving. Other serious Christians feel that 10 percent is an arbitrary figure extracted from Old Testament legalisms.
Gilbert Davis, who for many years served as director of church relations for Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Texas, likes to tell this story. When he was a seminary student at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, he was stopped in the hallway one day by an elderly gentleman. Gilbert had never met the man, so he was surprised when the old gentleman asked, "Young man, are you studying to be a minister?"
Gilbert replied that he was, and the man asked if he might talk with him a few minutes. Not sure what he was getting into, Gilbert consented. It was not until some weeks later that he discovered who Arthur A. Everetts was. He owned what was at that time the largest jewelry store west of the Mississippi. Everetts led Gilbert into an empty classroom, where he asked him whether he preached tithing in the student church he served on weekends. Before Gilbert could reply, Everetts began giving him a lengthy and forceful set or arguments in favor of tithing, indicating that this was essential for any young pastor who ever hoped to amount to anything for Jesus Christ. At the end of his several-minute sermon, Everetts issued an altar call for Gilbert to make a decision to become a timer.
Finally getting a chance to speak, Gilbert drew himself up to his full theological stature at that youthful age, and said, "But, sir, we are Christians now. We are New Testament people; not Old Testament. We are not under the Law, we are under Grace."
To which Everetts replied. "Young man, if you can show me anywhere in the New Testament where it says that less is expected of a Christian under Grace than of a Jew under the Law. I will be glad to subscribe to your position."
This experience was a turning point in Gilbert's understanding of the spiritual qualities of money. His use of that story in many years of stewardship ministry among congregations in the Southwest has been a turning point for many others. The New Testament clearly says that we must avoid a legalistic approach to God's Old Testament laws. We tithe, not because it is the "religious" thing to do, or in order to show our "righteousness" to others. We tithe because we believe God's promise to bring us to wholeness and health as we learn to rely on and to obey God. The gospel is primarily good news, not good rules. So, we give our money because we want to give it—as an act of worship and as a way of seeing Christ's kingdom first—not because we feel that we must give it in order to fulfill a religious legalism. Yet, since we Christians base our beliefs on the authority of Scripture, we must remember that in the only New Testament verse where Jesus mentions the tithe, he tells the Pharisees, "These you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others"—referring to the practice of tithing earlier in that conversation (Matthew 23:23). If Jesus says the tithe is important in the worship of God, does it seem wise for me to decide it is not?
Tithing is clearly the form of stewardship taught in both the Old and the New Testaments. When Jesus discussed proper stewardship of money and resources with the most religious people of his culture (the Pharisees), this was the form he took for granted that they were using—the giving of one-tenth of their income before taxes to God's work. In ancient Hebrew society, the tithe was like an income tax payable to the "Department of Eternal Revenue." If faithful Jews wanted to make additional offerings to God beyond the tithe, then they might call themselves philanthropists, but to tithe was to perform their basic duty. They assumed that the first 10 percent belonged to God already. So, when Jesus spoke to his generation about giving, he was not talking about a variable amount; he took for granted their convictions about the tithe.
Yet, there is another sense in which the tithe is not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus answers the question of "How much is enough?" by saying that this is not the question! As Jesus does in all his teachings, what he says about giving goes far beyond any legalistic use of the Old Testament. Jesus teaches that our giving to God cannot be reduced to a 10 percent formula. Our most basic stewardship is to give our whole heart to God"s work (God's spiritual kingdom). Our gift of money is a symbol of that total self-giving, but money itself can never be classified as our ultimate stewardship; that is always a matter of the heart. The Pharisees tended to "materialize their spiritual relationship with God" into rituals and offerings. Jesus did the opposite: He "spiritualized the material" into an expression of loving relationship with God and unselfish giving to help the less fortunate. In so doing. Jesus was recovering the heart of the Old Testament tradition itself.
More than 150 years ago, a young schoolteacher went to the little Pearl River Methodist Church and was moved by the missionary sermon. When the offering basket reached her pew, she put in a $10 bill and a note that said, "I give $10 and myself, Mary I. McClellan." Ten dollars was a great deal of money 150 years ago, but over the years the gift of "herself' was far greater. Soon after this, she married a Methodist pastor, James W. Lambuth. and went with him to China in 1853. From there, she organized several strong institutions: a famous orphanage for homeless children, a famous school for girls, the Women's Methodist Foreign Missionary Society, and eventually Lambuth Bible School. With the gift of herself, she laid much of the foundation that carried Christianity through the last few turbulent decades in Red China.
You and I have only two things available to give God; ourselves and what we own. When the widow put two copper coins in the treasury, she was obviously giving both her money and her whole self. When some of the rich people passed by the treasury chest, what they gave was more like tipping the waiter at a good restaurant. That was Jesus's point, and that is still the major issue: Are we giving just our money? Or, is the money we give a symbol of our determination to give our whole selves? A young woman struggling with the question of how much she should give asked her pastor, "Will God love me less if I don't tithe" He answered. "Is that really the question? Isn't the real question. 'Will I love God less if I don't tithe?'" That pastor's observation was close to what Jesus said about giving. For Jesus, giving expresses our side of our spiritual relationship with God. Genuine giving does not come from God's demand but from our desire.
For some people, a tithe is an appropriate expression of unselfishly loving God and caring about other people. For others, a tithe may not accomplish that. Approximately one person out of every 350 people in the United States is a millionaire. For every forty giving units in a church, one of these units is capable of making a one-time gift equal to the church's annual budget. For those persons, does the tithe reflect an attitude of the heart that has overcome self-centeredness? Or, is that degree of wealth too great for a tithe to mean more than a camouflaged form of selfishness? It is said that the great earth-moving equipment manufacturer. LeTourneau, had an annual income so huge that he gave 90 percent of it to God's work. He said that, for him, this was the only Christian thing to do.
A couple of years before cell phones were in use, an airline pilot walking through the passenger waiting area decided to call home. The line was busy. While waiting for his wife to get off the phone, he began working on his flight plan paperwork at a nearby counter. After he realized that the passing travelers were staring at him, he noticed that he was standing at the flight insurance counter. Some people seem to treat their giving as a form of eternal flight insurance. This is not what Jesus taught. That kind of giving does not touch the heart of the matter.
The evidence indicates that another kind of incentive for giving—tax deductions—may play a greater role in our giving than we wish to admit. One example: The 1986 tax reforms adversely affected giving patterns in the United States. Before the tax overhaul, per capita giving increased by 8.7 percent between 1985 and 1986. The rate of increase dropped to 1.4 percent in 1987 and 3.2 percent in 1988. In the struggle between our basic selfishness and the desire to give ourselves to God's purposes, our best motives sometimes lose.
Inflation and rising incomes thrust us into another temptation. During 2005, the median household income in the United States was $46,326. In 1965, adjusted for inflation, that figure was $35,379.46 Unless we keep on raising the question, "How much is enough?" an amount that once involved the giving of our whole hearts can become, over the span of five or ten years, a minor percentage of our life's resources. Paul says that we should give as we have prospered (1 Corinthians 16:2). Due to inflation and increasing annual income, we can easily and unknowingly slip into a pattern of giving that violates that injunction.
A certain man became a millionaire through successful business dealings. One day several friends were discussing his progress. Said one. "Getting rich hasn't changed old George a bit."
"No," agreed the other, "He used to put a dollar in the collection plate, and he still does." That happens when a Christian falls into the rut of failing to reexamine his or her spiritual commitments. Growth toward God gets sidetracked by growth toward selfishness.
Whatever our personal temptation in this matter, Jesus's teachings still speak with power to the question, "How much is enough?" by responding, "That is not the question!" God wants us to give money, because it is one of the major ways we express our personality. But God wants more than money, God wants justice, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23-24). God wants love: "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3). God wants willing, ungrudging giving: "Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me" (Exodus 25:2). God wants humility, because humility defines a right attitude of heart—an attitude that contrasts with the self-righteous, self-sufficient mind of the Pharisee whose public prayer Jesus described in a parable. Humility illustrates our sense of dependence on God rather than on ourselves. Humility means that we see God as God, while pride and self-righteousness are ways of pretending that we are our own god.
Several years ago, Bishop Fulton Sheen was interviewing Jackie Gleason on a television program. Sheen asked him. "When you come to meet Jesus, what will you say?"
Gleason immediately replied, "All I could say would be thanks."
That statement reflects something of the humility of the heart that is found in genuine stewardship. It is money, but it is more than money.
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