“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Matthew 19:14
"Then Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Mark 9:37
"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes.” Matthew 18:1-6
I participated in the recent Summit Against Abuse and Assault in Charlevoix and I was overwhelmed. It is time for all of us to take a stand against the ravages of abuse, especially the abuse of children.
How prevalent is child abuse?
- 1 million children per year confirmed (does not include all the unreported incidents)
- 2,000 children die every year because of child abuse
- 1/5 girls and 1/7 boys by age 18 will be abused
- 1.1 million runaway/throwaway children in the U.S. – often runaway because of abuse
- 241,000 children are prostituted in the United States each year
- The rate of child abuse is 10x greater than the rate of cancer
- U.S. government spends 10x more on cancer prevention than child abuse prevention
- 94 billion dollars are spend every year on aftercare for child abuse
What about the sexual exploitation of children?
- 20% of children ages 10-17 have been solicited sexually online
- 100,000 – 300,000 children are exploited sexually every year
- average child prostitute sees 4-10 customers a day
that’s 1,460 – 3,650 sexual victimizations per year, per child
- avg age of sexually exploited child is 14
- 18.5 million pornographic images/videos of children produced each year
- If a child runs away or is thrown out of their home, and they spend more than 30 days on the street, it is almost a guarantee they will end up in the sex trade industry and become a sexually exploited child.
- 70% of victimizations come at the hands of someone the child knows and trusts
Child abuse is a sin.
Child sexual abuse is a sin.
It is the work of the Enemy who is seeking to destroy children.
“. . . it would be better for you to have a millstone tied around your neck . . .”
All forms of child abuse do exactly what Jesus warns us about. They keep children from God.
“How could God let this happen?”
“Where was God when my own dad was sexually abusing me week after week, year after year?”
“Why did the church provide more support to the offender than to the victim?”
“Why did the church condemn the victim and show mercy to the offender?”
“Why did the church start avoiding me and my family when I reported the abuse?”
“How could the church let this happen in their own building?”
“Why do I feel like I did something wrong by telling the truth?”
“Why doesn’t the church believe me?”
One of the devastating consequences of being a victim of abuse is the temptation to reject God and the church.
It may not be an easy topic to talk about, but it must be addressed. We cannot claim to love our children and the children in this community without acknowledging the reality of this evil that as one person described “is the playground of Satan.” There is nothing that he wants more than to destroy the weak and innocent ones among us. A prime target is children. Our silence only furthers his cause.
A few suggestions:
- Parents must talk with their kids about this reality. Help them understand that no one should touch their private parts and if anyone does, they need to tell someone until they are heard.
- Parents need to help children understand the difference between sinning and being a victim of someone else’s sin.
- Many offenders tell children it is their fault and that they are just as guilty as the perpetrator for participating in this activity.
- Parents need to help children understand that secrets can be very bad especially when they are asked to keep secrets from one or both of their parents.
- Parents need to help their children understand and avoid the dangers of the internet.
Would you allow a stranger to come into your child’s room and close the door and spend time alone with your child? Of course not, but many parents allow this behavior to take place on the internet.
In a loving and helpful way, ask your church, school system, law enforcement, etc. what they are doing to prevent child abuse. Become an advocate for kids and help these organizations do everything they can to protect the children in our community.
Check out the following websites for helpful information:
Grace – www.netgrace.org
Halos – www.charlestonhalos.org
Faith Trust Institute – www.faithtrustinstitute.org
Google the “Darkness2Light” training curriculum
Watch the DVD “Hear Their Cries”
National Child Protection Training Center – www.ncptc.org
Great web site for those in law enforcement/judicial system
Pray for children in our community – for those abused and in the midst of abuse.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Giving Money Away
The following are excerpts from Randy Alcorn’s book, Money, Possessions & Eternity.
If Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, then he is not our Lord. (5)
Can we put Christ before all, deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him (Matthew 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 14:27), with no apparent effect on what we do with our money and possessions? (9)
The more America has gained wealth, the less the Church has addressed the subject of giving. Perhaps that’s why the percentage of income Christians give away has been declining for thirty years. In fact, dollar for dollar, the average American gave more during the Great Depression than today. (174)
The meaning of the word tithe is “a tenth part.” Today the term tithing is often erroneously used of all giving. People talk about “tithing” fifty dollars, when they make two thousand dollars a month (a tithe of which is two hundred dollars, not fifty). You can donate 2 percent or 4 percent or 6 percent of your income, but you cannot tithe it . . . (174)
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops. Proverbs 3:9
Tithe denoted the amount of the offering, firstfruits the nature of the offering. . . The first 10 percent of God’s provision was returned to the Lord. God was regarded as the provider of the harvest. The firstfruits reminded people of God’s ownership. They saw God as the source of all life and blessing. Parents hoped their children, by witnessing this regular, systematic giving of wealth to the Lord, would grow up understanding their infinite debt to God, and their need to continuously honor him by their worshipful giving. (175)
The nature of firstfruits requires that it be taken “off the top.” It’s both the best and the first. As soon as it’s harvested or received, it’s to be given to the Lord. It’s not to be stored up, hidden, hoarded, or distributed in any other way. Those who kept the best and gave God the leftovers brought God’s judgment on Israel. Giving back to the Lord what was rightfully his was a thermometer of faith. When Israel slid spiritually, they ceased to give as they should. When they ceased to give as they should, they slid spiritually. (176)
No one ever had to say, “I feel led to tithe,” or ask, “Would you like me to give the firstfruits, Lord?” The answer had already been given in Scripture. Voluntary giving started after the firstfruits. The tithe was never a ceiling for giving, only a floor. It was a beginning point. . . The tithe was a demonstration of obedience. Voluntary offerings were a demonstration of love, joy, and worship. (178)
Tithing’s stated purpose is “that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always” (Deuteronomy 14:23). Tithing is intended to train people to put God first in their lives. Because the giving of the 10 percent represents the other 90 percent, tithing symbolizes the giving of one’s whole life to God.
Tithing gives perspective. It reminds us that all we are and all we have is from God. Tithing is not a tip thrown mindlessly down on a table after a meal, but a meaningful expression of dependence upon God and gratitude to him. (179)
The tithe is God’s historical method to get people on the path of giving. In that sense, it can serve as a gateway to the joy of true “grace giving” today, just as it gave rise to the spontaneous, joyous, freewill giving we see in various Old Testament passages. It’s unhealthy to view tithing as a place to stop with our giving, but it can still be a good place to start. Remember, even under the first covenant, tithing was never a maximum standard – it was merely a starting point. (183)
With his emphasis on sacrificial giving Jesus never once suggested that the “floor” set by the tithe is now invalid, but simply that the ceiling of Christian giving is far above it. When Jesus told the disciples to go the second mile, he assumed they had already gone the first. (184)
Why not tithe?
There are many common arguments against tithing, including the following:
“Tithing is legalism.”
Any legitimate practice can be done with a legalistic attitude. In such cases, the fault lies with the attitude of our heart, not with the practice itself. . . Legalism can be a convenient label to cover our unwillingness to obey God.
“I must pay off my debts rather than tithe.”
Why am I in debt in the first place? Is God responsible for my unwise or greedy decisions that may have put me there? And even if I’ve come into debt legitimately, isn’t my first debt to God? Isn’t the tithe a debt to God since he says that it belongs to him and not to me? If we obey God and make good our financial debt to him, he’ll help us as we seek to pay off our debts to others. But I must not rob God to pay men.
“If I’m going to tithe eventually, I’ll need to move toward it slowly.”
I’m often asked, “If I haven’t been giving at all, won’t God understand if I move toward it gradually, starting at 3 percent or 5 percent?” What if I told you I’ve had this habit of robbing convenience stores, knocking off about a dozen a year. But then I say to you “This year I’m only going to rob a half-dozen!” Is that better? Well, yes. But what would you advise me to do? The solution to robbing God is not to start robbing him less, it’s to stop robbing him at all.
“I just can’t afford to tithe.”
If tithing is God’s will and he promises to provide for those who trust and obey him, won’t he allow me to get by on 90 percent rather than 100 percent? In fact, aren’t I a lot safer living on less inside God’s will than living on more outside of it?
If my tithe seems to be a lot of money, I should praise God! It proves how abundantly he has provided. When people tell me, “I can’t afford to tithe,” I often ask, “If your income were reduced by 10 percent, would you die?” They always admit they wouldn’t. Somehow, they would manage to get by. That’s proof that they really can tithe. The truth is simply that they don’t want to. (188-189)
If Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, then he is not our Lord. (5)
Can we put Christ before all, deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him (Matthew 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 14:27), with no apparent effect on what we do with our money and possessions? (9)
The more America has gained wealth, the less the Church has addressed the subject of giving. Perhaps that’s why the percentage of income Christians give away has been declining for thirty years. In fact, dollar for dollar, the average American gave more during the Great Depression than today. (174)
The meaning of the word tithe is “a tenth part.” Today the term tithing is often erroneously used of all giving. People talk about “tithing” fifty dollars, when they make two thousand dollars a month (a tithe of which is two hundred dollars, not fifty). You can donate 2 percent or 4 percent or 6 percent of your income, but you cannot tithe it . . . (174)
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops. Proverbs 3:9
Tithe denoted the amount of the offering, firstfruits the nature of the offering. . . The first 10 percent of God’s provision was returned to the Lord. God was regarded as the provider of the harvest. The firstfruits reminded people of God’s ownership. They saw God as the source of all life and blessing. Parents hoped their children, by witnessing this regular, systematic giving of wealth to the Lord, would grow up understanding their infinite debt to God, and their need to continuously honor him by their worshipful giving. (175)
The nature of firstfruits requires that it be taken “off the top.” It’s both the best and the first. As soon as it’s harvested or received, it’s to be given to the Lord. It’s not to be stored up, hidden, hoarded, or distributed in any other way. Those who kept the best and gave God the leftovers brought God’s judgment on Israel. Giving back to the Lord what was rightfully his was a thermometer of faith. When Israel slid spiritually, they ceased to give as they should. When they ceased to give as they should, they slid spiritually. (176)
No one ever had to say, “I feel led to tithe,” or ask, “Would you like me to give the firstfruits, Lord?” The answer had already been given in Scripture. Voluntary giving started after the firstfruits. The tithe was never a ceiling for giving, only a floor. It was a beginning point. . . The tithe was a demonstration of obedience. Voluntary offerings were a demonstration of love, joy, and worship. (178)
Tithing’s stated purpose is “that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always” (Deuteronomy 14:23). Tithing is intended to train people to put God first in their lives. Because the giving of the 10 percent represents the other 90 percent, tithing symbolizes the giving of one’s whole life to God.
Tithing gives perspective. It reminds us that all we are and all we have is from God. Tithing is not a tip thrown mindlessly down on a table after a meal, but a meaningful expression of dependence upon God and gratitude to him. (179)
The tithe is God’s historical method to get people on the path of giving. In that sense, it can serve as a gateway to the joy of true “grace giving” today, just as it gave rise to the spontaneous, joyous, freewill giving we see in various Old Testament passages. It’s unhealthy to view tithing as a place to stop with our giving, but it can still be a good place to start. Remember, even under the first covenant, tithing was never a maximum standard – it was merely a starting point. (183)
With his emphasis on sacrificial giving Jesus never once suggested that the “floor” set by the tithe is now invalid, but simply that the ceiling of Christian giving is far above it. When Jesus told the disciples to go the second mile, he assumed they had already gone the first. (184)
Why not tithe?
There are many common arguments against tithing, including the following:
“Tithing is legalism.”
Any legitimate practice can be done with a legalistic attitude. In such cases, the fault lies with the attitude of our heart, not with the practice itself. . . Legalism can be a convenient label to cover our unwillingness to obey God.
“I must pay off my debts rather than tithe.”
Why am I in debt in the first place? Is God responsible for my unwise or greedy decisions that may have put me there? And even if I’ve come into debt legitimately, isn’t my first debt to God? Isn’t the tithe a debt to God since he says that it belongs to him and not to me? If we obey God and make good our financial debt to him, he’ll help us as we seek to pay off our debts to others. But I must not rob God to pay men.
“If I’m going to tithe eventually, I’ll need to move toward it slowly.”
I’m often asked, “If I haven’t been giving at all, won’t God understand if I move toward it gradually, starting at 3 percent or 5 percent?” What if I told you I’ve had this habit of robbing convenience stores, knocking off about a dozen a year. But then I say to you “This year I’m only going to rob a half-dozen!” Is that better? Well, yes. But what would you advise me to do? The solution to robbing God is not to start robbing him less, it’s to stop robbing him at all.
“I just can’t afford to tithe.”
If tithing is God’s will and he promises to provide for those who trust and obey him, won’t he allow me to get by on 90 percent rather than 100 percent? In fact, aren’t I a lot safer living on less inside God’s will than living on more outside of it?
If my tithe seems to be a lot of money, I should praise God! It proves how abundantly he has provided. When people tell me, “I can’t afford to tithe,” I often ask, “If your income were reduced by 10 percent, would you die?” They always admit they wouldn’t. Somehow, they would manage to get by. That’s proof that they really can tithe. The truth is simply that they don’t want to. (188-189)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Incompletions
Full disclosure: This article is not about football, however I am going to use a football illustration. If you don’t like football, please keep reading. If you do like football, I hope you are willing to read an article that isn’t just about football.
An incompletion in football is when a quarterback attempts to throw a pass but that pass is not caught by a receiver on the quarterback’s team. So a quarterback may be 12/16 in passes for the game meaning that the quarterback threw 16 passes, 12 were completed, and 4 were incomplete.
The incompletion I want to talk about today has nothing to do with throwing a football. An incompletion is an integrity gap. An incompletion takes place when I don’t keep my word and even becomes worse when I don’t honor my word. An incompletion is a mess (small or big – still a mess) that a person makes because of a lack of integrity.
As we think about the plans God has for Community Reformed Church, we have to think about the incompletions in the life of Community Reformed Church. The incompletions at CRC are the sum total of all the integrity gaps that exist within the lives of those who are a part of CRC. It is nearly impossible for Community Reformed Church to live into God’s preferred future for us while ignoring the incompletions that exist within our church body. These incompletions often include places of unforgiveness, promises we have not kept, brokenness in relationships within the church body, things we’ve said about who we’ll be as a church but not lived out, etc.
God will not ignore our incompletions and neither can we if we desire to live into God’s preferred future. BECAUSE God’s preferred future involves growth in each of us, and so often the growth that needs to happen will happen as we seek to close our gaps in integrity. By seeking to honor our word by cleaning up the messes we’ve made, we put ourselves in places where we grow. Cleaning up a mess is some of the most difficult work we ever do. It means admitting fault, saying we’re sorry, and asking for forgiveness. But yet it also means, being forgiven, being set free from guilt, and no longer feeling separated from someone else in the church.
God’s preferred future for us is not simply about changing what we do, but instead it’s about changing/growing who we are.
Like any quarterback, none of us are perfect. We will all occasionally throw completions. We will all have gaps in our integrity. The goal is definitely perfection, but none of us will be perfect. The challenge comes in how we respond when our errant pass (integrity gap) affects another. Will we blame them? Will we act like nothing happened? Will we take responsibility for our mistake and grow through our willingness to live in restored relationships?
One direct result of working through our integrity gaps is that we grow in hope. Brokenness that has seemed insurmountable is seen to be surmountable. Feelings of separation begin to diminish and even disappear. Hope comes and grows.
Think about that truth as you consider God’s preferred future for Community Reformed Church. Do you have hope about what He has in store for you? Do you know it means growth in you? Will you do your part in addressing the incompletions in your life? Will you work to close the integrity gaps that you’ve created? You can be a means by which hope grows, not only in you, but in the people of CRC, and believe it or not, that hope will impact people far beyond our church body.
An incompletion in football is when a quarterback attempts to throw a pass but that pass is not caught by a receiver on the quarterback’s team. So a quarterback may be 12/16 in passes for the game meaning that the quarterback threw 16 passes, 12 were completed, and 4 were incomplete.
The incompletion I want to talk about today has nothing to do with throwing a football. An incompletion is an integrity gap. An incompletion takes place when I don’t keep my word and even becomes worse when I don’t honor my word. An incompletion is a mess (small or big – still a mess) that a person makes because of a lack of integrity.
As we think about the plans God has for Community Reformed Church, we have to think about the incompletions in the life of Community Reformed Church. The incompletions at CRC are the sum total of all the integrity gaps that exist within the lives of those who are a part of CRC. It is nearly impossible for Community Reformed Church to live into God’s preferred future for us while ignoring the incompletions that exist within our church body. These incompletions often include places of unforgiveness, promises we have not kept, brokenness in relationships within the church body, things we’ve said about who we’ll be as a church but not lived out, etc.
God will not ignore our incompletions and neither can we if we desire to live into God’s preferred future. BECAUSE God’s preferred future involves growth in each of us, and so often the growth that needs to happen will happen as we seek to close our gaps in integrity. By seeking to honor our word by cleaning up the messes we’ve made, we put ourselves in places where we grow. Cleaning up a mess is some of the most difficult work we ever do. It means admitting fault, saying we’re sorry, and asking for forgiveness. But yet it also means, being forgiven, being set free from guilt, and no longer feeling separated from someone else in the church.
God’s preferred future for us is not simply about changing what we do, but instead it’s about changing/growing who we are.
Like any quarterback, none of us are perfect. We will all occasionally throw completions. We will all have gaps in our integrity. The goal is definitely perfection, but none of us will be perfect. The challenge comes in how we respond when our errant pass (integrity gap) affects another. Will we blame them? Will we act like nothing happened? Will we take responsibility for our mistake and grow through our willingness to live in restored relationships?
One direct result of working through our integrity gaps is that we grow in hope. Brokenness that has seemed insurmountable is seen to be surmountable. Feelings of separation begin to diminish and even disappear. Hope comes and grows.
Think about that truth as you consider God’s preferred future for Community Reformed Church. Do you have hope about what He has in store for you? Do you know it means growth in you? Will you do your part in addressing the incompletions in your life? Will you work to close the integrity gaps that you’ve created? You can be a means by which hope grows, not only in you, but in the people of CRC, and believe it or not, that hope will impact people far beyond our church body.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Church and Money
I hope seeing the word ‘church’ and ‘money’ in the title doesn’t keep you from reading this article. My guess is you already have reservations about reading it because of those two terms in the title.
We are currently budgeting for 2010. The consistory has reviewed a rough draft budget for 2010 and we briefly discussed it at our October consistory meeting. It was an interesting conversation and brought to the surface a couple things I want to address.
1. The church is not out to get your money. One of the most common perceptions of people on the street is that the church exists to get their money. Sadly, churches have at times promoted this perspective by begging, pleading and even guilting people into giving more. There is no desire on the part of the leadership to do this. We believe it contradicts Scripture and our understanding of why we give. It is not primarily for the church to function but instead to reflect our trust in God and our faithfulness to Him.
2. We seek to operate on a needs-based not wants-based budget. We really encourage those making requests for next year’s budget to do so based on their needs not wants. It is the church’s responsibility to make good stewardship decisions regarding the use of the resources given.
3. We wrestle with the balance between basing decisions simply on what happened last year and faith. Is the decision about budgets simply a common sense, logical decision that is easily made by seeing what our income and expenses were last year? How does God fit into the conversation? What part does faith and prayer and seeking after His direction play in this decision? Obviously, it is important we consider the facts and we then work out of our faith. But what does that mean in considering a budget for 2010?
4. Giving is an act of obedience to God not the church. Your giving is a spiritual issue between you and God. Giving reflects a trust in God to provide, a recognition of God being the source of our resources, and a commitment to offer our first fruits, not our table scraps, to Him.
5. We desire to give more away as a church. One of our vision statements says, “to love and serve those outside the church as much as those within.” We believe this means the stewardship of our time and money. We are not yet there, but we hope over time, CRC grows in being a church that can say with integrity that we are living into this vision. This means in a very simple way, that 50% of our budget ought to go to help those outside the church. We are currently between 15-20% of our budget going to those outside the church.
6. Giving more away will happen if we give more not as we cut more in the church budget. Because our budget is needs-based, we don’t have a lot of room to decrease. Yes, there is always some room, but that goes back to the issue of faith and not just math in making these decisions. But even if we focused on cutting, we could only increase our percentage of giving 10-15% on a very bare bones budget for the church. However, if giving is the means to give more away, there is no limit to how our giving can grow. The typical percentage of income a church-goer gives in the United States is 2.6%. During the Depression that number was 3.3%. We have a giving problem in the church in North America, and it’s so much more than a church budget issue, it is a spiritual issue.
7. Giving always includes money. Recognizing that times are very tight for many, giving is still always about money. You can give your time and you can rationalize that as your tithe, but that is not how God views giving. It always includes money. The baseline is 10%, but God desires that through our willingness to let go of our material possessions, we can better grab a hold of Him and see Him (and not ourselves and our bottom line) as the source of our security and hope in this world.
Many churches in this difficult economic time are forced to make difficult decisions about how they use the resources they do have. Numerous churches are choosing to cut their givings. They are sacrificing what they give away because they see it as the only way to keep their staff and their lights on. In no way am I making a judgment statement. It is just true. Churches are having difficult, even heart-wrenching conversations about what they can and can’t do.
2010 Budgets will be made available after the November consistory meeting. I hope you’ll look carefully at this document. I hope you’ll consider prayerfully what this says about who we are as a church. Pray for the leadership as they seek God’s direction regarding these decisions.
Giving does include a commitment to the church, but so much more than that it is a commitment to God. As you consider your own financial decisions, please seek after God’s direction. That has to mean seeking after His direction in Scripture. Please don’t simply give to the church because you perceive a need; give to Him and if you are not sure what this means, ask Him. Giving is an act of obedience not benevolence.
We are currently budgeting for 2010. The consistory has reviewed a rough draft budget for 2010 and we briefly discussed it at our October consistory meeting. It was an interesting conversation and brought to the surface a couple things I want to address.
1. The church is not out to get your money. One of the most common perceptions of people on the street is that the church exists to get their money. Sadly, churches have at times promoted this perspective by begging, pleading and even guilting people into giving more. There is no desire on the part of the leadership to do this. We believe it contradicts Scripture and our understanding of why we give. It is not primarily for the church to function but instead to reflect our trust in God and our faithfulness to Him.
2. We seek to operate on a needs-based not wants-based budget. We really encourage those making requests for next year’s budget to do so based on their needs not wants. It is the church’s responsibility to make good stewardship decisions regarding the use of the resources given.
3. We wrestle with the balance between basing decisions simply on what happened last year and faith. Is the decision about budgets simply a common sense, logical decision that is easily made by seeing what our income and expenses were last year? How does God fit into the conversation? What part does faith and prayer and seeking after His direction play in this decision? Obviously, it is important we consider the facts and we then work out of our faith. But what does that mean in considering a budget for 2010?
4. Giving is an act of obedience to God not the church. Your giving is a spiritual issue between you and God. Giving reflects a trust in God to provide, a recognition of God being the source of our resources, and a commitment to offer our first fruits, not our table scraps, to Him.
5. We desire to give more away as a church. One of our vision statements says, “to love and serve those outside the church as much as those within.” We believe this means the stewardship of our time and money. We are not yet there, but we hope over time, CRC grows in being a church that can say with integrity that we are living into this vision. This means in a very simple way, that 50% of our budget ought to go to help those outside the church. We are currently between 15-20% of our budget going to those outside the church.
6. Giving more away will happen if we give more not as we cut more in the church budget. Because our budget is needs-based, we don’t have a lot of room to decrease. Yes, there is always some room, but that goes back to the issue of faith and not just math in making these decisions. But even if we focused on cutting, we could only increase our percentage of giving 10-15% on a very bare bones budget for the church. However, if giving is the means to give more away, there is no limit to how our giving can grow. The typical percentage of income a church-goer gives in the United States is 2.6%. During the Depression that number was 3.3%. We have a giving problem in the church in North America, and it’s so much more than a church budget issue, it is a spiritual issue.
7. Giving always includes money. Recognizing that times are very tight for many, giving is still always about money. You can give your time and you can rationalize that as your tithe, but that is not how God views giving. It always includes money. The baseline is 10%, but God desires that through our willingness to let go of our material possessions, we can better grab a hold of Him and see Him (and not ourselves and our bottom line) as the source of our security and hope in this world.
Many churches in this difficult economic time are forced to make difficult decisions about how they use the resources they do have. Numerous churches are choosing to cut their givings. They are sacrificing what they give away because they see it as the only way to keep their staff and their lights on. In no way am I making a judgment statement. It is just true. Churches are having difficult, even heart-wrenching conversations about what they can and can’t do.
2010 Budgets will be made available after the November consistory meeting. I hope you’ll look carefully at this document. I hope you’ll consider prayerfully what this says about who we are as a church. Pray for the leadership as they seek God’s direction regarding these decisions.
Giving does include a commitment to the church, but so much more than that it is a commitment to God. As you consider your own financial decisions, please seek after God’s direction. That has to mean seeking after His direction in Scripture. Please don’t simply give to the church because you perceive a need; give to Him and if you are not sure what this means, ask Him. Giving is an act of obedience not benevolence.
Monday, October 5, 2009
"Daddy, let's cuddle."
“Daddy, let’s cuddle.”
It was getting late. It was close to the time John (our 6 year old son) needed to start getting ready for bed. His routine is about a half an hour process before he actually is lying in bed with the lights off. And he is good at every stall tactic imaginable.
My son is good at making requests in the final moments before it is time for bed. “Can I have a snack?” “Can we play a short game?” “Can I watch AFV (America’s Funniest Videos)?” He is a little man who always has hope that he’ll get to do ONE MORE THING before he’s off to bed.
I had just sat down with my feet up on the bed. I had my laptop in my lap and I was excited to check the scores and highlights of all the sporting activities (especially Twins) that had been taking place that day.
“Daddy, let’s cuddle.”
“Not right now, John.”
“Awwwwwwwwww,” groans my son.
And then the voice of my conscience spoke audibly. (Her name is Alisa by the way and she is my wife.) I hear her say from a distant room, “You’re not going to snuggle with your son? It won’t be long and he won’t want to do this anymore.”
I don’t always like what my conscience has to say, but she was right – again. So I hopped in bed with John. He just sat right next to me and was playing with one of his toys. No talking, just touching – being together.
Cuddling and 40 year old men who are into sports is an interesting connection. But John needs it, and I believe his Dad does too. There is something good about being together, being silent, and being close. It is interesting because what is communicated is powerful and it has no need of words. What is said is, “I love you. I love being with you. I need to be with you.”
One of the other things I’ve noticed about cuddling (being the expert I am) is that it is often in these times that the words that are spoken are the most meaningful. It is when John and I are close that he asks some of the deeper questions. “Is God here, Daddy?” “Why are some kids mean to me?” “Why do you have to go to work so much, Daddy?”
The depth of communication changes – for the good – both in being present and silent – but also in the meaningful conversations that sometimes result.
John, once again, has found a way to help me to grow. John, once again, has taught me some things about life and relationships because he is much more willing to express his needs.
Here is a critical one for me: I have to disconnect. I am amazed by the draw of connection which now affects me. Whether it is the TV or internet, I am discouraged by how much I desire to be connected. In fact, I would say it another way. I am distracted. I like being distracted. I like having my attention drawn to these things, but I am distracted from much better things.
The other part that stands out is my need to be with my Father.
Ecclesiastes says it this way,
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil. Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. (5:1-2)
It is not a question of whether we should draw near to God; it is a question of how. We need to come, but we need to come as one of the created before the Creator, as a finite human being before an infinite God, as a child before his or her Father. We need to come and honor, respect, and LISTEN to Him. So it will always mean we come and be silent. Silence has to be a part of coming into the presence of God. We need to hear what he has to say far more than we need to speak. He has the words of life, encouragement, direction, hope. We don’t.
And like John, we just need to be in the presence of our Dad. We may have trouble using the word “cuddle” but we need to be next to Him. We need to remember He’s there and with us. And we need to hear him say, “I love you. I love being with you. You need to be with me.”
If silence has no place in your life, that needs to change. If your relationship with God consists of talking at him, that needs to change. Please don’t hear this challenge as an attempt to guilt you into acting, but instead here this challenge as an invitation from Him. He is inviting you to spend time with him, to be still and know He is God, and to bring you to the place where you will be filled.
It’s time to disconnect. It’s time to stop being distracted. It is time to make Him the focus of your attention.
It was getting late. It was close to the time John (our 6 year old son) needed to start getting ready for bed. His routine is about a half an hour process before he actually is lying in bed with the lights off. And he is good at every stall tactic imaginable.
My son is good at making requests in the final moments before it is time for bed. “Can I have a snack?” “Can we play a short game?” “Can I watch AFV (America’s Funniest Videos)?” He is a little man who always has hope that he’ll get to do ONE MORE THING before he’s off to bed.
I had just sat down with my feet up on the bed. I had my laptop in my lap and I was excited to check the scores and highlights of all the sporting activities (especially Twins) that had been taking place that day.
“Daddy, let’s cuddle.”
“Not right now, John.”
“Awwwwwwwwww,” groans my son.
And then the voice of my conscience spoke audibly. (Her name is Alisa by the way and she is my wife.) I hear her say from a distant room, “You’re not going to snuggle with your son? It won’t be long and he won’t want to do this anymore.”
I don’t always like what my conscience has to say, but she was right – again. So I hopped in bed with John. He just sat right next to me and was playing with one of his toys. No talking, just touching – being together.
Cuddling and 40 year old men who are into sports is an interesting connection. But John needs it, and I believe his Dad does too. There is something good about being together, being silent, and being close. It is interesting because what is communicated is powerful and it has no need of words. What is said is, “I love you. I love being with you. I need to be with you.”
One of the other things I’ve noticed about cuddling (being the expert I am) is that it is often in these times that the words that are spoken are the most meaningful. It is when John and I are close that he asks some of the deeper questions. “Is God here, Daddy?” “Why are some kids mean to me?” “Why do you have to go to work so much, Daddy?”
The depth of communication changes – for the good – both in being present and silent – but also in the meaningful conversations that sometimes result.
John, once again, has found a way to help me to grow. John, once again, has taught me some things about life and relationships because he is much more willing to express his needs.
Here is a critical one for me: I have to disconnect. I am amazed by the draw of connection which now affects me. Whether it is the TV or internet, I am discouraged by how much I desire to be connected. In fact, I would say it another way. I am distracted. I like being distracted. I like having my attention drawn to these things, but I am distracted from much better things.
The other part that stands out is my need to be with my Father.
Ecclesiastes says it this way,
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil. Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. (5:1-2)
It is not a question of whether we should draw near to God; it is a question of how. We need to come, but we need to come as one of the created before the Creator, as a finite human being before an infinite God, as a child before his or her Father. We need to come and honor, respect, and LISTEN to Him. So it will always mean we come and be silent. Silence has to be a part of coming into the presence of God. We need to hear what he has to say far more than we need to speak. He has the words of life, encouragement, direction, hope. We don’t.
And like John, we just need to be in the presence of our Dad. We may have trouble using the word “cuddle” but we need to be next to Him. We need to remember He’s there and with us. And we need to hear him say, “I love you. I love being with you. You need to be with me.”
If silence has no place in your life, that needs to change. If your relationship with God consists of talking at him, that needs to change. Please don’t hear this challenge as an attempt to guilt you into acting, but instead here this challenge as an invitation from Him. He is inviting you to spend time with him, to be still and know He is God, and to bring you to the place where you will be filled.
It’s time to disconnect. It’s time to stop being distracted. It is time to make Him the focus of your attention.
Monday, September 28, 2009
God's Chisel by skitguys
If you haven't seen this video, it's powerful. Watch God's Chisel and share it with others.
More Thoughts on Worship
From Fredrick Buechner’s book, Secrets in the Dark, chapter 20 – The Church.
. . . Jesus made his church out of human beings with more or less the same mixture in them of cowardice and guts, of intelligence and stupidity, of selfishness and generosity, of openness of heart and sheer cussedness as you would be apt to find in any of us. The reason he made his church out of human beings is that human beings were all there was to make it out of. In fact, as far as I know, human beings are all there is to make it out of still. It’s a point worth remembering.
It is also a point worth remembering that even after Jesus made these human beings into a church, they seem to have gone right on being human beings. They actually knew Jesus as their friend. They sat at his feet and listened to him speak; they ate with him and tramped the countryside with him; they witnessed his miracles; but not even all of that turned them into heroes. They kept on being as human as they’d always been with most of the same strengths and most of the same weaknesses.
And finally when it comes to remembering things, we do well to keep in mind that the idea of becoming the church wasn’t their idea. It was Jesus’s idea. It was Jesus who made them a church. They didn’t come together the way like-minded people come together to make a club. They didn’t come together the way a group of men might come together to form a baseball team or the way a group of women might come together to lobby for higher teachers’ salaries. They came together because Jesus called them to come together. That is what the Greek word ekklesia means, from which we get our word “church.” It means those who have been called out, the way the original twelve were called out of fishing or tax collecting or running a kosher restaurant or a Laundromat or whatever else they happened to be involved in at the time.
. . . One way or another Christ called them. That’s how it happened. They saw the marvel of him arch across the grayness of things – the grayness of their own lives perhaps, of life itself. They heard his voice calling their names. And they went.
They seem to have gone right on working at pretty much whatever they’d been working at before, which means that he didn’t so much call them out of their ordinary lives as he called them out of believing that ordinary life is ordinary. He called them to see that no matter how ordinary it may seem to us as we live it, life is extraordinary. “The Kingdom of God is at hand” is the way he put it to them, and the way he told them to put it to others. Life even at its most monotonous and backbreaking and heart-numbing has the Kingdom buried in it the way a field has treasure buried in it, he said. The Kingdom of God is as close to us as some precious keepsake we’ve been looking for for years, which is lying just in the next room under the rug all but crying out for us to come find it. If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we didn’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it. (147-149)
From C.S. Lewis’s book, The Weight of Glory, p. 25-26
If you asked twenty good men to-day what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
From Fredrick Buechner’s book, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, p. 97-98
To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for him that he needs to have done – run errands for him, carry messages for him, fight on his side, feed his lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for him that you need to do – sing songs for him, create beautiful things for him, give things up for him, tell him what’s on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in him and make a fool of yourself for him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love.
From John Piper’s sermon, Worship: The Feast of Christian Hedonism from Psalm 63:5-6 found at www.desiringgod.org.
Therefore, if you feel no delight in the wealth of God's glory, nor feel any longing to see and know God better, nor feel any sorrow that your longing and delight are so meager, then you are not worshipping. Isn't it clear, then, that the person who thinks of virtue as overcoming self-interest and who thinks of vice as seeking our own pleasure, will scarcely be able to worship. For worship is the most hedonistic affair of life and must not be ruined by the least thought of disinterestedness. The great hindrance to worship is not that we are pleasure-seeking people, but that we are willing to settle for such pitiful pleasures.
Jeremiah put it like this:
My people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11–13)
The great barrier to worship among God's people is not that we are always seeking our own satisfaction, but that our seeking is so weak and half-hearted that we settle for little sips at broken cisterns when the fountain of life is just over the next hill.
. . . Jesus made his church out of human beings with more or less the same mixture in them of cowardice and guts, of intelligence and stupidity, of selfishness and generosity, of openness of heart and sheer cussedness as you would be apt to find in any of us. The reason he made his church out of human beings is that human beings were all there was to make it out of. In fact, as far as I know, human beings are all there is to make it out of still. It’s a point worth remembering.
It is also a point worth remembering that even after Jesus made these human beings into a church, they seem to have gone right on being human beings. They actually knew Jesus as their friend. They sat at his feet and listened to him speak; they ate with him and tramped the countryside with him; they witnessed his miracles; but not even all of that turned them into heroes. They kept on being as human as they’d always been with most of the same strengths and most of the same weaknesses.
And finally when it comes to remembering things, we do well to keep in mind that the idea of becoming the church wasn’t their idea. It was Jesus’s idea. It was Jesus who made them a church. They didn’t come together the way like-minded people come together to make a club. They didn’t come together the way a group of men might come together to form a baseball team or the way a group of women might come together to lobby for higher teachers’ salaries. They came together because Jesus called them to come together. That is what the Greek word ekklesia means, from which we get our word “church.” It means those who have been called out, the way the original twelve were called out of fishing or tax collecting or running a kosher restaurant or a Laundromat or whatever else they happened to be involved in at the time.
. . . One way or another Christ called them. That’s how it happened. They saw the marvel of him arch across the grayness of things – the grayness of their own lives perhaps, of life itself. They heard his voice calling their names. And they went.
They seem to have gone right on working at pretty much whatever they’d been working at before, which means that he didn’t so much call them out of their ordinary lives as he called them out of believing that ordinary life is ordinary. He called them to see that no matter how ordinary it may seem to us as we live it, life is extraordinary. “The Kingdom of God is at hand” is the way he put it to them, and the way he told them to put it to others. Life even at its most monotonous and backbreaking and heart-numbing has the Kingdom buried in it the way a field has treasure buried in it, he said. The Kingdom of God is as close to us as some precious keepsake we’ve been looking for for years, which is lying just in the next room under the rug all but crying out for us to come find it. If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we didn’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it. (147-149)
From C.S. Lewis’s book, The Weight of Glory, p. 25-26
If you asked twenty good men to-day what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
From Fredrick Buechner’s book, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, p. 97-98
To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for him that he needs to have done – run errands for him, carry messages for him, fight on his side, feed his lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for him that you need to do – sing songs for him, create beautiful things for him, give things up for him, tell him what’s on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in him and make a fool of yourself for him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love.
From John Piper’s sermon, Worship: The Feast of Christian Hedonism from Psalm 63:5-6 found at www.desiringgod.org.
Therefore, if you feel no delight in the wealth of God's glory, nor feel any longing to see and know God better, nor feel any sorrow that your longing and delight are so meager, then you are not worshipping. Isn't it clear, then, that the person who thinks of virtue as overcoming self-interest and who thinks of vice as seeking our own pleasure, will scarcely be able to worship. For worship is the most hedonistic affair of life and must not be ruined by the least thought of disinterestedness. The great hindrance to worship is not that we are pleasure-seeking people, but that we are willing to settle for such pitiful pleasures.
Jeremiah put it like this:
My people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11–13)
The great barrier to worship among God's people is not that we are always seeking our own satisfaction, but that our seeking is so weak and half-hearted that we settle for little sips at broken cisterns when the fountain of life is just over the next hill.
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