​Once all your money has been spent, people decided “hey, since we’ve spent all our money on us, we should probably have a day to actually help the non-profit organizations and churches…”  So, at the tail-end of all your spending, if there’s anything left, you’re encouraged to participate in #GivingTuesday to give to local charity organizations and churches.

Let me say this, Church - our giving has been down over the last few months.  Some weeks it’s been WAY down.  Now’s the time to make up for our budgets and get your tax write-off’s in before the end of the year.  It is my responsibility to be teaching you about the discipline of giving… it’s a hard one to learn, and it’s a hard one to teach, but it’s necessary.  It’s not necessary for God to have your money, but it IS necessary for us to learn to be generous with our time, our talents (skills and passions), and our treasures (our finances).

Why is it necessary for us to learn to give to God’s work?

1. His work is eternal in nature.  The Bible says in 1 Cor. 3 that our work and our world that we build on wood, hay, and stubble will be tested by fire in the final days, and we’ll be judged for what’s left.  For those unaware, wood, hay, and stubble doesn’t last long in a fire.  All those gifts you’re buying for Christmas probably won’t be around by this time next year.  Batteries die, clothes shrink (or our waist-line grows), and other things break or corrode.  Does that mean we shouldn’t buy gifts? Absolutely not… gift-giving is a wonderful thing to do for others to express our love and appreciation for them… but don’t forget our love and appreciation for Him Who gave His ALL for us.  And the ONLY thing He wants from us is to lead others to Him, and to invest in THAT work!!

2. His work is necessary in society.  Unless you live under a rock, you can watch the news and see that our society and culture is headed in the wrong direction, and some would argue the Church is losing it’s impact and relevance in today’s world.  That’s the lie the enemy wants everyone believing… As many in church go on sitting in their seats and listening on Sundays, many aren’t taking that out into the world and making the POSITIVE IMPACT in the communities in which we reside and work.  We keep it to ourselves, and if we’re unwilling to say or do much, then we need to be giving to those who ARE willing to use it for expanding God’s Kingdom by preaching God’s Word in a relevant way for God’s Glory and the good of others.  We need churches willing to lovingly accept everyone where they are and lead them to the One who can heal them from the inside out.

3.  His work is a timeless and timely.  The Word is clear that TODAY is the day of salvation, and that there is NO difference between the Jew and the Gentile, and that ALL should come to repentance.  That means we have to be innovative in our methods while delivering a timeless Message!!

The bottom line is this - if we have $1.00, we can do $1.00’s worth of ministry.  However, if we have $1,000,000.00, then we can do $1,000,000.00’s worth of ministry!!  Let’s REACH DEEP in our pockets so we can REACH OUT to the lost!!!

So, starting this Sunday, and especially on #GivingTuesday, let’s DO THIS!!  TOGETHER!!!

I’m ALL IN.  How about you??

In other places on social media, I’m reading about the furor happening at the University of Missouri (to most college sports fans, also called “Mizzou”) over an apparent lack of concern by high-level officials of the university in the poor handling of some racial issues within the student body.  There is a student on a hunger strike until the university president resigns (which, news reports are saying he has indeed resigned today,Monday, November 9, 2015), as well as faculty-led walkouts and peaceful demonstrations, including African-American football players refusing to practice or play until the situation is resolved.  Clearly, these issues run deep and cause much hurt in some social circles throughout this nation.  Obviously, racial issues continue to haunt this nation as a whole…

My question to these two scenarios is how Jesus would deal with all of this?  Would Jesus be “rallying the troops” to show up at Starbucks, guns in tote, and force these baristas to say “Merry Christmas” by writing those words on His cup thats holding His $7 upside down caramel macchiato?  Would Jesus be staging walkouts and going on hunger strikes in order to “demand” justice for His race or His people?  To be unashamedly cliche, “what would Jesus do?”

Let me say this - I despise that question.  It assumes that we know the mind and heart of Jesus, and can therefore make completely correct and accurate judgments in lieu of our knowledge of His Word.  In my humble opinion, it creeps uncomfortably close to setting us up on God’s throne to accurately prophesy or forecast God’s decisions in areas that we didn’t see Jesus deal with in 1st-Century Israel.

I would rather re-word that question to say this - “What DID Jesus do?”  That’s a question that can be answered with solid footing.  We know what Jesus did because we can read about it in His Word that, for over 2,000 years, has been on the Best-Seller list and has yet to be proven incorrect in any area to which it speaks.  I’m much more comfortable with that than with projecting my own thoughts into the mind of Christ.

With that settled, we can see both what Jesus DID do, and a little of what Jesus DIDN’T do.  He did NOT purposefully stir up conflict just to prove His point.  When He was sought out to be proven wrong, He was OUTSTANDING at turning the tables on His would-be nay-sayers, but He didn’t intentionally stir up strife and conflict.  What would Jesus do with this anti-Starbucks movement?  I don’t know.  But I DO KNOW that He did sit down and have conversations with those who were seeking out the Truth.  He lovingly explained some intricacies of the faith and didn’t condemn those for sinning, but sent them on their way with an encouragement to sin no more.  He rewarded those willing to listen to the Truth and submit to it… and He did so in a way that was inviting and conversational, not in a way that was hell-bent on creating a raucous in the streets (or online) to prove His point.

In the case of Mizzou, I don’t see Him going on hunger-strikes (but I don’t see Him mocking those who were passionate for a just cause, either).  I do see that He loved the unlovely, and sought out opportunities to engage people in conversation with the hopes that eyes and hearts would be opened to the Truth they were being presented with.

So, as Christians, how do we respond to these types of things?  We all know that there are those who are so “anti-Christian” that they’re just chomping at the bit to judge our faith by Mr. Feuerstein’s actions against some poor barista at Starbucks who had no control over the corporate decision to use plain red cups this Christmas season.  How did Jesus respond to false accusations against Him?  Silently.  He answered the questions with truth, but didn’t seek to set everyone straight and prove His point by degrading others.  There are times when words aren’t going to prove the point, but how we live our lives and love Jesus and love others will speak volumes.