In James Emery White’s book Christ AmongThe Dragons he is attempting to explain the direction that Christians are taking the cultural challenges. I so often hear of how corrupt and immoral that our nation is becoming and far away it is moving from the Christian base that our founding fathers intended. As Christians we are very quick to place blame on the outside world, such as liberals, atheist, politicians, etc. We can bring this nation to a higher moral road by sharing and showing the love of Christ. I believe it is truly the fault of the Christians for not following God’s commandments – We are to be witnesses; we are to make disciples; we are to do justice, love mercy, feed the hungry, and care for the widow and orphans. We must take the responsibility of the immoral path in which our nation is going down. The culture in America has changed but it is due to how lax Christians have become in our padded pews and comfortable, luxurious buildings. Because of this more people are dying and going to Hell and we will have to answer for this on judgment day.
In White’s book he describes it this way: ……. Martin Niemoller, a German Lutheran bishop was called on to negotiate with Adolf Hitler during World War II in the attempt to save the church of Germany from being closed down by the Nazi dictator. Toward the end of his life Niemoller had a recurring dream in which he saw Hitler standing before Jesus on Judgment Day. Jesus got off His throne, put His arm around Hitler and asked, “Adolf! Why did you do the ugly, evil things, you did? Why were you so cruel?” Hitler, with his head bent low, simply answered, “Because nobody ever told me how much you loved me.” - At this point, Niemoller would wake up in a cold sweat remembering the countless meetings he had with Hitler – face to face – and never once said, “By the way, Fuhrer, Jesus loves you! He loves you more than you’ll even know. He loved you so much that He died for you. Do you know that?
For Niemoller, this was a nightmare. For us, it is the heart of our challenge
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Should a Christian save for retirement?
Over the last couple years my thoughts on retirement have changed a bit. A few years ago, my goal was to retire early and live the easy life. As I have grown in my walk with God, I have found that (my old self-indulgent idea of) retirement doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the Bible. That doesn’t mean we should be chopping logs 10 hours a day when we are 85, but that God has us down here for a purpose and a specific amount of time.
The truth is that God’s plan for us will keep us busy until we die. I don’t think that necessarily means employment until our last breath, but for some it very well could. If His plan is being fulfilled in our lives via our occupation, who are we to say when we are finished?
To save or not to save for retirement
Even though my mind has changed about retirement, I have not stopped saving in my retirement accounts. Regardless of whether or not I am employed full time when I am 70, why not be prepared financially? To me it seems like a much better idea to have cash in the bank, so that I can be free to do whatever God has for me to do.
The worst case scenario is that I have a big chunk of cash that has been earning interest for decades that I can give away to bless someone. To me, saving for retirement seems like a no-brainer.
Bible verses about retirement and resting
While the Bible doesn’t seem to have specific verses referring to retirement, it does point out the importance of rest. God, our creator, understands the value of rest and relaxation. That, of course, is why He created Sundays! To add to that…
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Mark 6:31
As far as my previous plans for retirement – the below passage from Luke pretty well summed up my plans. Needless to say, I am glad God showed me the error of my ways…
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
The thing I have come to realize is that God created us to be in motion. You can use our muscles as an example. If they are not getting pushed, they become weaker. They grow only when they are stretched beyond comfort. Our brains function the same way. They need to be pushed in order to grow and when all pressure is eliminated they begin to atrophy.
This is why work is so beneficial for us. While it is difficult, it makes rest that much more pleasurable.
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. Eccl 5:12
It all comes back to stewardship
The bottom line with the whole retirement savings question is that as stewards we have a responsibility to do the best with what we have been given. Saving with retirement accounts like 401ks or IRAs is a great way to multiply the talents that we have been given. But, it is not the only way. Every person is going to have to give an account of their stewardship to God, so whatever that means for you individually is what you need to do.
- Author unknown
Over the last couple years my thoughts on retirement have changed a bit. A few years ago, my goal was to retire early and live the easy life. As I have grown in my walk with God, I have found that (my old self-indulgent idea of) retirement doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the Bible. That doesn’t mean we should be chopping logs 10 hours a day when we are 85, but that God has us down here for a purpose and a specific amount of time.
The truth is that God’s plan for us will keep us busy until we die. I don’t think that necessarily means employment until our last breath, but for some it very well could. If His plan is being fulfilled in our lives via our occupation, who are we to say when we are finished?
To save or not to save for retirement
Even though my mind has changed about retirement, I have not stopped saving in my retirement accounts. Regardless of whether or not I am employed full time when I am 70, why not be prepared financially? To me it seems like a much better idea to have cash in the bank, so that I can be free to do whatever God has for me to do.
The worst case scenario is that I have a big chunk of cash that has been earning interest for decades that I can give away to bless someone. To me, saving for retirement seems like a no-brainer.
Bible verses about retirement and resting
While the Bible doesn’t seem to have specific verses referring to retirement, it does point out the importance of rest. God, our creator, understands the value of rest and relaxation. That, of course, is why He created Sundays! To add to that…
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Mark 6:31
As far as my previous plans for retirement – the below passage from Luke pretty well summed up my plans. Needless to say, I am glad God showed me the error of my ways…
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
The thing I have come to realize is that God created us to be in motion. You can use our muscles as an example. If they are not getting pushed, they become weaker. They grow only when they are stretched beyond comfort. Our brains function the same way. They need to be pushed in order to grow and when all pressure is eliminated they begin to atrophy.
This is why work is so beneficial for us. While it is difficult, it makes rest that much more pleasurable.
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. Eccl 5:12
It all comes back to stewardship
The bottom line with the whole retirement savings question is that as stewards we have a responsibility to do the best with what we have been given. Saving with retirement accounts like 401ks or IRAs is a great way to multiply the talents that we have been given. But, it is not the only way. Every person is going to have to give an account of their stewardship to God, so whatever that means for you individually is what you need to do.
- Author unknown
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Statistics on Christians
Unevangelized: In 2007, 1.9 billion people worldwide (28% of the population) had yet to hear the message of the gospel.10
Lost: Two-thirds of people alive today do not know the Savior of mankind. This includes 1.35 billion Muslims, 888 million Hindus, 388 million Chinese folk-religionists, 386 million Buddhists, 262 million ethnoreligionists, 106 million New-Religionists, 26 million Sikhs, 15 million Jews, and 154 million atheists.11
Unchurched: The population of un-churched Americans is nearing 100 million.12
Church Attendance: 20 percent of Americans attend weekly religious services. 25.4 percent of conservative Protestants attend a weekly service.13
Poverty: More than 1 billion people live in absolute poverty. This includes 700 million people living in slums, 500 million people on the verge of starvation, 93 million beggars, and 200 million children exploited for labor.14
Christian Wealth and World Poverty: On average, American Christians enjoy an annual household income of $42,409, while 1.2 billion of the world's poorest people must survive on $1 a day.15
The Top Half: In the year 2000, net assets of $2,160 was sufficient to place a household in the top half of the world's wealth distribution.16
Hungry: More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day.17
Sick: 1.5 billion of the world's people have no access to medical care.19
Homeless: 55 million of the world's people live in caves.20
Uneducated: 121 million children around the world are totally outside of the educational system.21
Oppressed: Oppressive governments deny religious freedom to 2.2 billion people worldwide.22
Enslaved: More than 27 million of the world's people are slaves.23
- source: www.generousgiving.org
Lost: Two-thirds of people alive today do not know the Savior of mankind. This includes 1.35 billion Muslims, 888 million Hindus, 388 million Chinese folk-religionists, 386 million Buddhists, 262 million ethnoreligionists, 106 million New-Religionists, 26 million Sikhs, 15 million Jews, and 154 million atheists.11
Unchurched: The population of un-churched Americans is nearing 100 million.12
Church Attendance: 20 percent of Americans attend weekly religious services. 25.4 percent of conservative Protestants attend a weekly service.13
Poverty: More than 1 billion people live in absolute poverty. This includes 700 million people living in slums, 500 million people on the verge of starvation, 93 million beggars, and 200 million children exploited for labor.14
Christian Wealth and World Poverty: On average, American Christians enjoy an annual household income of $42,409, while 1.2 billion of the world's poorest people must survive on $1 a day.15
The Top Half: In the year 2000, net assets of $2,160 was sufficient to place a household in the top half of the world's wealth distribution.16
Hungry: More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day.17
Sick: 1.5 billion of the world's people have no access to medical care.19
Homeless: 55 million of the world's people live in caves.20
Uneducated: 121 million children around the world are totally outside of the educational system.21
Oppressed: Oppressive governments deny religious freedom to 2.2 billion people worldwide.22
Enslaved: More than 27 million of the world's people are slaves.23
- source: www.generousgiving.org
Monday, May 31, 2010
Why Should Christians Give?
Why Give?
1. Obedience -
On the first day of the week let each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crop; then you barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10)
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need (Ephesians 4:28)
2. Rewards
Give it and it shall be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38)
Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! (Matthew 25:23)
3. Recognition of God’s Ownership
Yours, Oh Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on the earth is yours, Oh Lord, and this is your Kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Riches and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is at your discretion that you that people are made great and given strength. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalms 24:1)
4. To Gain an Eternal Perspective
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and dispraise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Luke 16:11-13)
Command them to do good, to rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves and a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:18-19)
5. Love
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthian 8:9)
But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17)
1. Obedience -
On the first day of the week let each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crop; then you barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10)
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need (Ephesians 4:28)
2. Rewards
Give it and it shall be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38)
Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! (Matthew 25:23)
3. Recognition of God’s Ownership
Yours, Oh Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on the earth is yours, Oh Lord, and this is your Kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Riches and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is at your discretion that you that people are made great and given strength. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalms 24:1)
4. To Gain an Eternal Perspective
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and dispraise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Luke 16:11-13)
Command them to do good, to rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves and a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:18-19)
5. Love
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthian 8:9)
But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17)
Monday, May 3, 2010
Profiles of Christians Who Rob God
Bill and Donna
The Situation: Bill and Dona are in their mid-thirties. Bill has steady work as a salesman, but there always seems to be too much month left at the end of their money. Bill and Donna sincerely intend to put in the offering box whatever’s left at the end of the month. But, between house payments and bills and occasionally socking a little money into savings, there’s just never anything left. They fell bad, but what can you to when you are out of money?
The Problem: Bill and Donna don’t understand “first fruits.” They should give to the Lord off the top, not out of “what’s left” of no left. They don’t realize that the tithe belongs to God, and that there’s a word for taking money and that doesn’t belong to you – stealing.
Bob and Elaine
The Situation: Bob is in his early fifties. His wife Elaine says, “for years we frittered away our income on all kinds of luxuries. Now we’re twelve years from retirement and we don’t have anything saved. On top of that, we’ve still got two kids in college that need our help. “we’d like to give to the church,” Bob explains. “But Scripture says we’ve got to provide for our family first. After we get our kids through school and maybe get a nest egg started, then we’ll start giving.
The Problem: Bob and Elaine are keeping what belongs to God in order to compensate for their poor planning and lack of discipline in the past. Their first debt is not to their children’s college education. Their first debt is to God. If it wasn’t tuition cost, it would be something else. Since they have no true conviction about giving and no standard of giving to start wit, they’ll always find a reason not to give.
The Situation: Bill and Dona are in their mid-thirties. Bill has steady work as a salesman, but there always seems to be too much month left at the end of their money. Bill and Donna sincerely intend to put in the offering box whatever’s left at the end of the month. But, between house payments and bills and occasionally socking a little money into savings, there’s just never anything left. They fell bad, but what can you to when you are out of money?
The Problem: Bill and Donna don’t understand “first fruits.” They should give to the Lord off the top, not out of “what’s left” of no left. They don’t realize that the tithe belongs to God, and that there’s a word for taking money and that doesn’t belong to you – stealing.
Bob and Elaine
The Situation: Bob is in his early fifties. His wife Elaine says, “for years we frittered away our income on all kinds of luxuries. Now we’re twelve years from retirement and we don’t have anything saved. On top of that, we’ve still got two kids in college that need our help. “we’d like to give to the church,” Bob explains. “But Scripture says we’ve got to provide for our family first. After we get our kids through school and maybe get a nest egg started, then we’ll start giving.
The Problem: Bob and Elaine are keeping what belongs to God in order to compensate for their poor planning and lack of discipline in the past. Their first debt is not to their children’s college education. Their first debt is to God. If it wasn’t tuition cost, it would be something else. Since they have no true conviction about giving and no standard of giving to start wit, they’ll always find a reason not to give.
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