Diet Preachers

In this day of Diet Coke, Diet Snapple, Diet This & That, we also have Diet Preachers. These are guys who refrain from preaching "the whole counsel of God." They are all about wealth, health, happiness, goodness, and stuffed animals. Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of these things, but they are only one part of life. There is also hardship, illness, suffering, death, trials and PC computers.

We should not hesitate to hold any of today’s Christian celebrity preachers accountable to God’s revealed word. When they cannot give clear answers to those who ask them about their faith or the hope they have in Christ, there is a significant problem. For example, Joel Osteen, pastor of 30,000 member Lakewood Church, was interviewed by Larry King and waffled throughout the interview, failing to articulate clearly anything. Read the transcript of the interview for yourself.

Dan Phillips has a commentary about this interview and says that at one point Osteen had posted a letter of apology on his ministry site, but it is no longer there.

In this day of muddled theology, there are many who have embraced new ways of thinking that are actually old ways of doing heresy. Let’s hold all our Christian "heroes" to the standard of truth as revealed in God’s Word. That will also require us all to be better students and devotees to the scriptures. Now is not the time for mass biblical illiteracy. The Word of God is the hope of salvation to all who believe.

Don’t diet. God’s Word is a banquet for the starving. Fatten up.

Won’t you be my neighbor… in heaven?

Dan Phillips has a powerful entry about how many high profile Christian
leaders appear to be more and more uncertain about who will be
neighbors in heaven. Check it out here:? The “It’s not for me to say” dodge.

Blogged with Flock

The Dash

Many thanks to Jenny Sipes, who emailed this link to me… Check it out by clicking the image below:

In another web-verse, Scott Adams at the Dilbert blog has an entry about mumbling in movies that made me laugh out loud (I’m the only one home until tomorrow when my family FINALLY returns!).

If I had the money, O Monticello, I would love thee this way…

Google has announced that it’s giving away free WI-FI to the town it’s located in. Congrats, Mountain View! (I’m so jealous and impressed!)

read more | digg story

Thanks, Mark: For readers…

Aaah, Mark took me up on the challenge. Go here to read his amazing post!

Spread the word…

I’m really excited about the upcoming Marriage & Parenting Weekend and wanted to enlist your help in spreading the word. If you’re going to be around Monticello the last weekend of this month, and are married or have children, this is an opportunity that will encourage, enrich, and equip you. Journey Church is sponsoring it, and we’ve got some great speakers coming down. Jackie and Ben are old friends from campus ministry days. Jackie is currently the Pastor of Discipleship at Eastside Baptist Church in Fort Smith. Ben is the Family Ministries Team Leader for the Arkanasas Baptist State Convention. Both have a laid-back, fun, and authentic way of relating to folks.

I’m perhaps even more excited about what will happen after the weekend. We’re going to follow it up with small groups focused around either marriage enrichment or parental equipping. This will give us all an opportunity to laugh, share and learn from each other and the material in the context of relationships and, most importantly, food.

I’d sure appreciate you sending folks here in town to the Journey page or this entry to get more information. Go ahead and register yourself through the Journey site today. Spread the word!

Reading in a flash

I recently stumbled across an online speed reading test. It measures your words per minute and your comprehension. Go here to take the test. It notes that people reading speed is noteably slower when reading on your computer screen than when reading from a page. Interesting.

It also notes that everyone can improve their reading. In fact, the site even recommends to you a software package designed to do so. One of the greatest detriments to personal growth – whether spiritual or otherwise – is the refusal to read. I constantly run across folks who do little to no regular reading. While wonderful people, I am always struck by the observation that they are generally "set in their ways" and have most likely encountered little to no significant change in their thought patterns, habits, or lifestyles in years. Not a good thing. Change is good. For the Christian, non-change is not only unheard of, but it is most often the sign of disobedience.

Psalm 119 is the scriptural monument to the importance of reading. This was in a day before printing presses and mass publication. It contains amazing implication for the non-reading Christian today. I’d suggest you review it.

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. v18
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. v11
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. v97

For the pre-Christian or decidedly non-Christian, I doubt whether these calls from the Bible would encourage them toward more reading. However, there are a plethora of studies that would suggest the importance of reading is intertwined with self-confidence, career advancement, cultural competence, and relational peace. I call on my buddy Mark to help me communicate this. Yet, I doubt that I have any non-readers reading this blog. Chances are, their reading friends or spouses will take this post and bop them over the head with it. Please refrain from doing so until you read Mark’s forthcoming (I hope) entry which will encourage you and make your bat heavier and more fun to swing at your non-reader.

Cuzz visit

He’s the only person I know who is related to everyone in southeast Arkansas. When his cell phone rings, (and it’s usually an Arkansas fight song as his ringtone) he answers, "Cuzz! Wassup?!" I can only assume his family tree doesn’t fork. But aside from that, I

was thrilled to get to visit with Ben Coulter late last week. He stopped by the house to drop off some jpg’s for his new CD cover that he’s asked me to design. It will have a whopping 17 songs on it, all of them original. Wow!

Ben was a co-pastor or Journey a couple of years back before he left to pursue his music career. He is incredibly talented, genuine, and humble. He’s one of those guys who make you feel like you’re the most important person in the room. I continue to wish him the best.

If you’re looking for some great, original, country music "Delta style," you need to swing by his website and order one of his previous CDs, or get in line for the upcoming release of his new one.

Neck wrap project

The 2006 Babe Ruth World Series (16 year-old) is in Monticello for the next week. As our church prayed and deliberated on how to minister and serve the community and guests in the best way, Ryan, our small groups pastor, came up with the idea (or at least he claims it!) to make “neck coolers.” They are like hollow scarves (material donated from Wal-Mart) filled with this crystalline substance that expands and turns into a gel when wet. When you immerse them in cold water, they stay cool for a good while.

Our original goal was to make 2000. We quickly revised that to 1000. Then after 3 weeks of sewing, ironing, and funneling crystals into the neck wraps for about 3-4 hours each night, we had made almost 600. Today was our first day of handing them out.

Here’s how we did it:
As people arrived, some stopped by our booth/tent where they picked an ice cold neck wrap up for free. We had “APEGL” on our signs, which reminded us to tell people who tried to donate money (which we refused) that it was “a practical expression of God’s love.”

We let them get seated in the stands, and then began taking armfuls of the cold neckbands around. When it’s hot like today (over 100), everyone wanted one. We told them that when they warm up, they can bring them back and we’ll give them a recharge. It’s pretty neat watching their faces light up in relief.

We found today that all the kids in attendance loved to help. We soon had a small army of kids ferrying warm-cold neckbands back and forth for us. One lady tried to give me money today, very insistent. I was gracious but equally insistent that our church would not take money for this. Many in the stands heard this interaction as I explained APEGL. Folks today were here from Syracuse, NY; Minnesota, Texas, and Alabama. It was a blessing to hear them all talking about what was going on.

However, this same lady came by our booth as she was leaving, angry at us. She accused us of “robbing her of a blessing” by not accepting her money. We were pretty perplexed by this and were sad that she was angry but resolved to continue to offering the neck wraps for free. She was the only one to respond in such a way.

I’ll be posting some pix of it on my Flickr account tomorrow. If you’re in and around Monticello and would like to help, we need all the help we can get. We really thought we’d hand them all out today and be done. We had no idea how God would work things out to allow us to keep re-using them. Everyone even brought them back by as they were leaving, urging us to use them again for the next few days. We’re excitedly overwhelmed. May God receive all glory, and may folks be nudged closer to a joyful, love relationship with Christ.

Addicted to addictions

I think that I may have a compulsive personality. I’m like a pitbull on hobbies, issues, and interests. Once I get my teeth sunk it, I don’t let go very easily. I’ve learned over the years that not everyone is as interested or enamored with the same things I am, and they tend to get this glossy-eyed look as I froth at the mouth about something I’m interested in.

I mean, why in the world people wouldn’t people be hot-to-trot about fantasy football, reading, basketball, blogging, Xbox, movies, coffee, and Macs? Everyone of those has been proven scientifically to prolong your life, bring peace, and make you rich. Really. Just check out each of the previous links. and then read Mark’s excellent column about how reliable science is. (Of course, there’s also Steven Johnson’s new book, Everything Bad is Good for You.)

To be truthful, I can see how anyone of those things (and yours are most likely different) can become more than just hobbies. For some folks, they can become obsessions. For others, it might even approach the "addiction" level. Addictions ain’t good. You can quote me on that. It’s quite profound.

Here’s the rub: for those seeking to have a biblically-shaped and informed worldview, you will find quickly that Scripture doesn’t deal with addictions the same way our culture does. In Scripture, we are simply told, for example, not to get drunk. But what about someone who is an alcoholic? Our culture prescribes a 12-step program replete with reliance on a "higher power." Scripture has a simple imperative: don’t do it. Let’s continue using the alcohol analogy:

Continue reading »

The joy of being linked

It’s one of those affirming, surreal things to be reading down your Bloglines list in the a.m. with a cup of joe and discover your name or blog mentioned in another blog you enjoy reading. Especially when it’s a great blog or entry. I was humbled to be mentioned in Richard Pool’s excellent blog, The View from Here.

One of the many books that influenced me more than I realized is The 5 Love Languages. When I initially read it, I remember thinking, oh, this is nice and bland. However, I’ve found ever since that it’s helped me understand my own motivations better, as well as those around me. To quietly and considerately ponder what others need to feel loved or be appreciated is a victorious leap from a selfish paradigm. To realize that what makes someone else smile may be different from what causes my toothy grin is a much-needed, daily reality adjustment.

I discovered, with some surprise, that one of my primary love languages is words of encouragement. This refers to what I desire to be affirmed and verbally supported. Yet, I most often give as my “love language” acts of service. Pretty interesting.

Chapman points out in his book that if I keep trying to talk in acts of service to others who might prefer quality time, they will be sorely disappointed and perhaps even feel unappreciated. Every person is different, and the key is to consider what might encourage someone else. Pretty biblical considering Hebrews 10.23-25.

There is a simple, albeit poorly colored online test here, if you’re interested in taking it to determine your own love language.

Long story short… thanks Richard!

Time for another cup of coffee.

How blogs are giving denominational leaders nightmares

I’ve been following Wade Burleson’s blog with interest for some time now. He is a Southern Baptist pastor who serves as a trustee on the SB’s International Mission Boards, one of the largest missionary organizations in the world. He began blogging about his experiences and his concern there appeared to be a lot of abuse of power in the Southern Baptist Convention hierarchy. He has come under fire and taken a lot of heat for his blog, which sincerely seeks to shed light, not malign individuals.

What is occurring now among varying levels of Southern Baptist Convention leadership, both within state conventions and the national one, is rather disheartening. Rank and file Southern Baptists for so long have just assumed that their convention is being led by men who sincerely seek to be obedient to scripture. I still believe that is true for most. However, there are still those at great levels of influence who use their own agendas and opinions to isolate, condemn, undermine, and prevent open dialogue, dissent, and honest questions.

The blogging world gives such autocrats nightmares. It reaches the masses like no other form of communication prior to our era. No longer does one have to go through a means of a publisher to disseminate his findings or thoughts. Leaders who don’t appreciate input or counsel but would rather choose to have everyone march in lock step with them, are terrified by the mobilization of individual churches and believers that is occurring through the blogosphere.

Granted, blogs are also a way for anyone to shoot off at the mouth, make irrational and unsubstantiated claims, and malign others. Bloggers desperately need to commit themselves to being ethical and fair, and to avoid personal attacks. (A great set of suggested ethical guidelines is here).

I have a great respect for Southern Baptists. I am deeply indebted to them for my own heritage, discipleship, and friendships. I would simply encourage them, however, to be informed, to think for themselves, and to hold their leaders and convention accountable to pursuing Christlikeness and the building of God’s kingdom rather than their own.

Hmmm again, 3

Leapin’ Leopards, Batman!

Oboy, oboy, oboy! The MWWDC (Mac World Wide Developer’s Conference) is this week, and they’re announcing all kinds of cool new toys, gadgets, and software. Aaaah. It’s a great time to be a Mac user!

read more | digg story

By the way, you’ve got to check out this new Mac commercial!

Chasing the rain

As I headed home today from speaking in Hot Springs, I gazed over the dusty hood of our Sequoia to the unfolding road beyond. Asphalt changed to concrete and back to asphalt from county to county. 95 degrees outside, a bank clock gleamed.

Somewhere southwest of Arkadelphia, the roads became wet, evidence of a recent rain. Slicing through the teasing steam vapors, I saw dark clouds over the tops of pine trees. I wondered, would I catch the rain? I was driving leisurely, listening to Mercy Me’s new CD, Coming Up to Breathe. Highway 8 is a two-hander at many places. S-curves and a few “tummy-tickle” hills contribute to the feeling that the highway department was drunk when they laid out this stretch.

The Sequoia’s tires laughed at its hood. They were enjoying the rare moisture. I heard the other day that more than 60% of the country is experiencing draught conditions. Yet, here was evidence of rain. The smell of fresh rain on a hot day wafted through the vents. I continued chasing the rain.

The lyrics to one song in particular suddenly made the wet-tires-dry-hood paradox deeply spiritual. The song is called “Bring the Rain:”

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I’ve gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It’s never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what’s a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy

“But if that’s what it takes to praise You, Jesus, bring the rain.” As the stripes flashed by, seemingly being eaten underneath my front bumper, I lfited my tinny voice to sing the chorus. Whatever it takes to praise You, Lord. Bring it.

Somewhere around Fordyce I caught the rain. My hood was cleansed. And so was my spirit.

Noble Family Legend, 1

We drove up to Little Rock today and spent the morning with Rick and Kathy Lee, whose 6 year-old daughter, Abby, had successful open heart surgery today. Please keep them in your prayers during Abby’s recovery.

Then we went to lunch with my mom and dad and my “Uncle Jr.” (yes, we’re all from Arkansas!) He’s my dad’s brother, and the oldest Noble sibling of three. He drove in from Fort Worth to visit for a few days. We ate at La Hacienda and then spent the afternoon listening to Noble yarns. When dad and Uncle Jr. get together, stories and yarns fly. How I wish I’d had a recording of today’s session.

I want to recount for you one of those family tales. I’ve heard it from every Noble family member as long as I can remember. It’s been verified and passed on, mainly because of it’s hilarity and the severity of trouble my uncle got into as a result.

My grandparents lived for several years in Perryville, Louisiana, a small settlement centered mostly around the natural gas pump station that was there. Company employees lived in a closed community where every white clapboard house was alike. The kids played freely in the roads and woods around there. The pump station and community are gone today, replaced by progress. They had not arrived in Hamburg, Arkansas yet, which is the only place I’ve ever associated with the Noble’s.

As Uncle Jr. tells it, Friday nights were the night to “go to town.” For them, that meant Bastrop or Monroe. However, for this story, my uncle and some of his buddies had their minds set on the Rose Theater in Bastrop for these particular weekend shenanigans.

That afternoon, several of them had waded in the ditches and marshes near the pump station and caught several baby alligators. Yep. You read that right. Before there was ever Jeff Corwin or Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, there was (theme music here) Uncle Jr.

Now apparently the ideas of “fun” have changed a lot since he was a kid and I was a kid, because I played “Kick the Can” and then moved into “Kill the Man with the Ball.” I never quite had the testosterone to play “Risk the Finger” with miniature alligators. Maybe that’s why I’m driving a minivan today.

When they arrived at the Rose Theater, they bought admission tickets and entered the dark theater with somewhat bulging shirts, depositing themselves on the back row. The theater was full. Suspense builds. Frankly my dear, you better give a darn what happens next.

At this point in the story, I’ve always interrupted the teller. Not having ever had an alligator in my shirt, I’ve always asked, “Didn’t the alligators bite you?” To which every teller relates with sadistic glee, “Oh well, sure, they scratched quite a bit.” I made sure to interrupt at my traditional point in the story today and got the same answer.

Somewhere into the first 30 minutes of the movie or so, the Reptile Rebels released the cargo of their shirts onto the floor in front of them. They then watched and listened carefully for the ensuing chaos. It didn’t take long before they could see people shifting in their chairs and glancing down absent-mindedly. However, as the alligators made their way forward on the sloped concrete floor, the began to nip at the heels and shoes of the movie goers.

Realization of reptile invasion seemed to hit several rows at one time. All it took was for a few panicked popcorn poppers to yell out, “Alligator!” 4-5 people in this section or that would jump up, women screaming, leaping onto chairs, and then the balcony erupted.

Now these were the days of segregation. It was in the late 40s, and the “colored folks” had sole possession of the balcony. There were no alligators released there, but as the story goes, at the first cry of “alligator!” from below, there were echoing screams of “gator, gator!” from up above. It happened so fast that it unfolded in slow motion. Literally, people were falling over each other to get out of the theather. The unthreatened black audience above were unaware of their safety and began to climb over the rails and drop down to the aisles below in panic. As the crowd banged their way out of the swinging doors in the back of the theater, there was just one row of people left.

Uncle Jr. and the Alligator Boys.

While this could be a great name for a rap group of today, it was not a welcome site for the theater workers and manager upon their hasty arrival into the almost-empty movie hall. The boys were obviously and totally guilty. They were not breathing; they were laughing their heads off. Even Inspector Clousea could have solved this case with rapidity.

So ends the tale of the Perryville Reptile Rebel, my Uncle Jr. I hope in the future to begin recording some of these stories (this is just one of many) for posterity – if not here, then on mp3. I’d encourage you to find the storytellers in your family, pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy the richness of moments gone by.

Hmmm again.

Hmmm.

Stuck on stewardship…

Stewardship keeps coming up in conversations around me. It may be one of the most exciting things I get to talk about – really. Let me explain why.

Back in 1992, I married my best friend, Carolyn Brooks. She was a freshman at Ouachita in 1989; I was a senior. She refused to date me because, well, I had dated a lot at OBU. In fact, when I met her, I was dating one of her friends. Needless to say, our romantic relationship took a long time to develop, and as a result, we experienced an amazing depth and richness to our friendship before romance was ever a factor.

After marrying, we moved to Garland, Texas where I served on staff at First Baptist Church as a youth intern. It was a storybook time in our lives – in spite of Caro having recently undergone treatment for Hodgkin’s Disease. However, in the midst of the excitement of working with youth, living in a great, amazing house (another story for another day), we entered a prolonged and somewhat heated debate about finances. It went something like this:

Jeff: “We have to pay our bills before we “tithe.” God understands that; why can’t you?” (The reality was that I had several thousand dollars in credit card bills when we married. I had sold my share of Advantage Advertising and ended up having to forgive the debt of the guy who bought it when he was unable to make the business work. However, that had not stopped me from spending a lot of money with the assumption that the money was going to come in… Got the picture?)
Carolyn: “I don’t care what you think. We’re going to give 10% of our income to our church. I’ve always done this, and God has always been faithful.”
Jeff: “You’re absolutely crazy. You’re being so legalistic. We live in an age of grace. God expects us to pay our creditors.”
Caro: “NO, God expects us to honor Him with the firstfruits of our lives, whether that be money, time, or talents. There is no option here. I’m not budging.”

It was not just a stalemate. It was a checkmate.

So I did what any good husband would do at this point. I let her have her way so that I could prove how wrong she was. My thinking went something like this:

I’ll be glad to write this stinking check to the church. I’ll write it and just watch as we can’t pay our bills at the end of the month. Then I’ll smugly point out to Carolyn just how wrong she was, but in a gentle-twisted-sadistic way. I’m gonna love being right on this one.

Imagine my shock and incredulity when we reached the end of that first month, having written a fairly sizeable giving check, (in my eyes, any amount over $20 here or $50 there to the church was extremely generous; I was shocked at how much 10% was and was already planning on pointing out what that money could have done for us had we not given it to the church) to discover that we had money left over… Oh no. It couldn’t be.

Carolyn was incredible about it. No “I-told-you-so” dance or smug attitude. I figured it was a fluke and set out to prove my point the next month as we wrote our giving checks first, before paying our bills. 4 weeks later, however, it had happened again. All bills paid – in spite of having given so much (in my eyes) to the church.

To make a long story short, it was only a 3-month skirmish in our marriage. It couldn’t even be classified as a battle because I never got to fire a shot. Caro was right. Period. God could be trusted to take care of our finances when we worshipped Him with them first. At the end of that year, not only had I been converted into a giver, but we were completely out of debt. Several thousand dollars of debt.

That’s why stewardship is exciting to me. It’s an opportunity for me to tell people who aren’t there yet how amazing it is to witness your life being renovated from the inside out when we become stewards instead of owners. You see, owners clutch,protect, and depend upon their possessions; while a steward uses, gives, and manages another’s possessions. It is really all about your worldview.

If you consider that all you have is yours because you’ve earned it or deserved it, then you are an owner. If you consider that all you have has been given to you and that you have the privilege of managing what you have, then you become a steward.

For years I was an owner; however, after having spent the last 13 growing as a steward, I can honestly and passionately say that I will never go back. It’s not like I have “mastered” stewardship. Stewardship, rather, masters you. It requires constant vigilance upon your attitude, because ownership can sneak back into your life.

I find that it is not only Christians that have learned the amazing concept of stewardship and generosity. A quick tour through the best financial courses or books on money management today reveal that it is a world-wide, established, and proven principle. When you live on less than you make, giving a percentage, saving a percentage, and establishing a lifestyle of generosity, you become much happier, peaceful, and purposeful about life.

For Christians, I encourage you to check out generousgiving.org, particularly their page on excuses why people don’t give. In addition, Randy Alcorn’s amazing little book, The Treasure Principle will encourage you and set you on the right path. For a more secular approach (but with many of the same conclusions, I would get Peter Block’s Stewardship: Choosing Service over Self-Interest.

Learning to worship God with your possessions, time, and money through stewarship is one of the most exciting stages of growth in a person’s life. What God does in your life as a result is even more amazing. I mean, who are we, that He should stoop to bless us? He could command obedience. Yet, He chooses rather to bless it.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites had gotten stingy and forgotten the Source of all life. Malachi the prophet addresses them:

“I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse?the whole nation of you?because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

I am so thunderstruck by God’s offer to allow us to test Him in our giving. He practically begs us to. He desires that people see that He is faithful to His Word and that living a life of generosity and worship is far better than living a life of selfish ownership.

I also noticed the implication that when things we not going right for the Israelites, it was because they had failed to surrender to God their “tithe” – their willing love offerings to Him. The pests had started devouring their crops as a form of discipline from the Lord. We do not give to God in order to be blessed by Him, but in order to bless Him. It is an act of joyful worship. However, the resultant blessing from Him is established, firm, and promised.

So many folks wonder why their finances, homes, or businesses are a mess. I wonder if they have ever considered that they may be under some kind of discipline due to their lack of worship through stewardship. It’s not that they cannot afford to give; they can’t afford NOT to give.

I love the passage in Deuteronomy 8, where it’s revealed that the Israelites had long-lasting loafers during their 40 years in the wildnerness:

“Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.”

God is able to make your dishwasher go an extra mile if He so desires. I am confident that when we put God first in our finances, we experience prolonged provision and personal peace. It is vitally important that we acknowledge Him as the Source of what we have and who we are. When we cling to our things and our dollars as owners, it’s as rebels who refuse to worship the Ultimate Giver.

When the Israelites first returned to Israel after being captive in Babylon for 70 years, they were quick to establish their own homes and cultivate lifestyles of personal comfort. While they lived in relative ease, however, the work on the temple went undone, as did the service of ministry for lack of attention and the people’s giving. After some time, however, the prophet Haggai shared this message from the Lord with them:

“You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with
holes in it.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.”

In other words… it was no accident that these people who put their own homes first had begun to experience breakdown in their livelihoods (crops), their personal effects (clothes) and their income. They were working harder than ever, but they had nothing to show for it. God had created a no-win situation for them, in order to get their attention. I encourage you to read Haggai 1 in this context.

I’d love to hear from any of you who have proven God faithful through your humble stewardship and generous giving. I’d also love to help anyone who “ain’t there yet.” The important thing is beginning somewhere.

Again, check out generousgiving.org – they have a wealth of resources for everyone – wherever you are on this journey.