Generosity On Another Level

Like many of you, I’ve developed some life-long friendships that mean the world to me. One of those is my friend Todd Lollis. Todd and I were roommates in college and seminary. We played jokes on each other and laughed and cried together. I even came close to getting him arrested one night but that’s another story. He’s just that kind of friend. Currently he’s serving as the Executive Pastor at Freedom Church in Acworth, GA (www.freedomchurch.tv)

Freedom Church had their first service on January 27, 2008 and since then, they’ve seen hundreds of people give their lives to Jesus. Not a few . . . HUNDREDS!!! They’ve had baptisms in the HUNDREDS also. Currently, they’re averaging around 600 people on Sunday mornings and they don’t even have a “church building.” They meet in a school and do things very different than the way you and I probably grew accustomed to.

But success in the church isn’t just about seeing people saved and baptized. That may be the most important thing, but it’s not supposed to be the end of the story. That’s where the hard work of discipleship begins. One of their core beliefs is to “Put God to the test” because they believe that they can’t “outgive” God.

Just this last week, their church decided to put God to the test. Instead of taking up an offering during their worship service, Freedom Church gave away $10,000 to their church members. They divided up the money in several portions, placed different amounts in envelopes, and asked the church members to be generous by giving their new money away to bless someone else. Some got an envelop with $1,000 and some got envelopes with $10.

To get the full effect on this level of generosity, check out these links below. The first is a news story that an Atlanta TV station did on them. The second link is the actual giving stories that people posted up on their website. This is a church doing generosity crazy good!! Praise God! May we all be generous people and generous churches!

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/26783875/index.html

http://freedomchurch.tv/blessback/

Need Some Money??

Jack Whittaker won a $314 million jackpot. Since then, Whittaker has been involved in numerous gloomy incidents that included a couple of deaths, physical altercations, and court appearances. He was even knocked out by a local who stole half a million in cash from him.  He’s been sued a number of times and his last venture into court found him pleading poverty. 

This reminds us that money won’t really solve the problems of our lives. We can sing with the old 80’s group Calloway the lyrics, “I want money . . . lots and lots of money. I want the pie in the sky. I wanna be rich!” but in many cases it just brings heartache.

Here are common thoughts today about money:

1.      If I had another $1000 every month, everything would be fine.

2.      If we just had some money in the bank, things would be better with my spouse.

3.      Having more money would make me happier.

4.     If I had a nicer house (or car or clothing), I would really feel better.

After being involved in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University for the last eight years, the biggest financial help for people is doing a monthly budget. Here’s a link to his website that calculates exactly how much you should be spending on each budget category depending on what you indicate your monthly income is. This is a GREAT TOOL!!! You won’t get spam mail for doing this either! Try it out and apply it!!

http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/budget-lite/

Do a new budget for every month. No two months have the same exact expenses. You’ll find that if you get a hold on this, money will begin to slowly appear because you won’t be blowing everything you make!

As Nike tells us . . . . “JUST DO IT!!!”

Fools

In light of all the recent violence in Egypt, a killing spree in Arizona, a shooting in a school riots in other countries, it’s obvious that people can be very dangerous when they get mad. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even want to be within 50 miles of crazy people like that!!

But Jesus didn’t choose safety. He was a "man's man" who willingly chose to come to the earth. He was ridiculed, rejected, spit on, beaten, humiliated, and crucified. But because of His love for you and me, He gave up His life so we could have a right relationship with God. “Safety” wasn’t in Jesus’ vocabulary.

The Bible also depicts two other men named Paul and Barnabas who chose obedience over safety. Many would consider them "FOOLISH." The Holy Spirit had set them apart for missionary service and off they went (Acts 13:1-3). By this time, the new Christians had already been persecuted, killed, beheaded, and everything else you can think of. Sharing the Gospel wasn’t “safe” but they went anyway.

In Cyprus, they were confronted by a sorcerer. In Pamphylia they were deserted by a close friend. In Antioch of Pisidia they preached the Gospel only to be slandered and ran out of town by an angry mob.

In Iconium they were attacked and stoned. In Lystra they were stoned again, dragged out of the town, and left for dead. Then they left for Derbe where they preached the Good News again. And just think . . . this was only the first of three missionary journeys they took (Acts 13-14).

Something about American Christianity is just too mysteriously “safe.” We avoid danger at all costs. We say things like, “We would go to that country to share the Gospel but things aren’t safe there now.” Just yesterday I talked with a man who told me, “You know, I can’t really talk about God when I’m on the job because I could get fired.”  We often tell ourselves, “I might offend them if I tell them about Jesus.”

But really? Is it just too easy to be a Christian here in “Jesus-Land”?? I just can’t believe that God has called us to safety. Regardless of our job or calling in life, God has called believers to share the Gospel (Rom. 1:16). Paul said, “Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools . . .” (1 Cor. 4:10). Let’s be “FOOLS” for Jesus. Let’s share the Good News of Jesus no matter what the danger. True safety is found only in the center of God’s will.