Giving Unleashed: suffering

Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts

Friday, April 6, 2012

3 Ways to Celebrate Easter Through Giving

It's Good Friday, although when I was younger, I often wondered what was so good about Good Friday. Of course, now that I'm in my mid-30s, I clearly understand that The Resurrection could never have happened without being preceded by the death of Jesus Christ. So, in that respect, it has to be good.

But I digress, that has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of my blog post. Because I write a blog that centers on giving, I would like to spend a (very) few minutes talking about how, among other ways, can celebrate Easter through GIVING.

1. Give a little bit more of your TREASURES: Yes, I talk about giving money all the time. Am I obsessed with money? Anyone who looks at my bank balance would know that I don't have enough money to be obsessed with it. But, no matter how much you give back to God on a weekly/biweekly/monthly/quarterly basis, consider giving up a luxury this weekend to give just a bit more this weekend. After all, Jesus gave everything and since He is our model for living, shouldn't we give as much as possible on the weekend where we celebrate His ultimate sacrifice?

2. Give a little bit more of your TIME: Do you have a food bank or soup kitchen in your area that is looking for volunteers? Is there a local charity that you could help out? Does your elderly neighbor need to have their lawn mowed? Jesus gave almost every single second of His ministry helping others. If you truly call Him Lord, is there some way that you can model that sacrifice for others who are in need?

3. Give a little bit more of your TALENTS: Each one of has been given a collection of interests and talents by God. If we aren't seeking out ways to use those for God's greater glory, then we are wasting those gifts. This is just as much an example of poor stewardship as hoarding our money. Over the next few days, find a way that you can take your talents and use them to serve others. Then commit to action and, most importantly, pray and ask God to provide you an opportunity to fulfill that commitment.

That's it. That's all I've got today.

Celebrate His gift to you. Give a gift to others.

Celebrate the sacrifice. Sacrifice for others.

Celebrate your Salvation. Share Jesus with someone else.

CELEBRATE!

Jesse S. Greever is the CEO of 3G Publishing, a digital publisher for Christian authors. If you are a Christian author and have a manuscript that you think is worthy of publication, check out the submission guidelines and follow the directions for manuscript submissions. Greever is also a co-author of the book, Learning to Give in a Getting World, and numerous fiction titles from Untreed Reads publishing.

You can become a fan of 3G Publishing on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/3GPublishing

You can follow 3GPublishing on Twitter (@3GPublishing): https://twitter.com/#!/3GPublishing

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

It is also available to Amazon Prime members as a free eBook download as a part of the Kindle Lending Library. Pastors and church administrators can contact me directly at jesse@accidental-author.com to find out about discounts available for churches that wish to use this for teaching and small group curriculum.

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever

Monday, April 2, 2012

Squabbling Over Percentages

I was at my normal service post (making sure the coffee pots were all full), and one of the members of CrossRidge Church was kind enough to stop by and tell me how much she enjoyed Learning to Give in a Getting World. And we started talking about the tendency people have to start squabbling over 10 percent when it comes to giving back to God. Clearly, as we establish in the book, we are not trying to be legalistic about the tithe, but 10 percent makes a great, easy-to-calculate figure for people to strive for when they are first starting the journey of "giving God's way".

It occurred to me as we were conversing that I'm terribly glad that Jesus did not squabble over percentages when He decided to give everything He had (including His life) to save us all. Now, I realize this is not doctrinally or theologically sound, but for the sake of illustration, imagine a different scenario in the Garden of Gethsamane. (And no, this is not meant to be offensive, nor am I making a mockery of the Passion Week and Jesus's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane).

What if Jesus, after asking for the cup to be taken from Him, he began a negotiation session with His Heavenly Father. What if it went something like this?

"Okay, Father. Listen. I've seen what they do to people on those crosses, and it's brutal. I'm telling you, these people are awful. So, I've been thinking, what if I just suffered a little bit, just enough to cover, say, half of humanity. What do you think about that?"

Silence.

"I mean, seriously. How many of these people are really worth saving anyway? I'd say we're lucky to answer one-in-five. Tell you what. Let's just do the whipping and the torture, and that ought to be enough to cover, oh, 20% of humanity, right?"

More silence.

"And, you know, now that I think about it, it's probably more like one out of twenty people really would happily accept the gift of salvation anyway. So, why don't we just do the arrest, maybe a few whips and some public humiliation, and that ought to cover--what? Five percent?"

Thank God this is not how the scenario played out. Jesus gave up everything and endured torture the likes of which very few people in history ever went through, and did it so that all may have access to the free gift of Salvation.

So, why? Why do we get so bent out of shape over 10%?

Aren't you glad Jesus didn't dicker over your salvation?

You can become a fan of 3G Publishing on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/3GPublishing

You can follow 3GPublishing on Twitter (@3GPublishing): https://twitter.com/#!/3GPublishing

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever

Thursday, March 29, 2012

The Generational Meltdown

My maternal grandfather, Wally, passed away in 2008. He was 93. He was old enough to remember the Great Depression as a teenager in Columbia, Missouri. He would hold my attention adeptly as he spun yarns about his parents playing Pitch with neighbors as a free form of entertainment, neighborhood vegetable gardens and tight-knit communities.

He married a wonderful woman, Opal Mae Teed (for whom my younger daughter is named), and together they bought their first house in Chillicothe, Missouri for a paltry $13,000 (of course, it was not a meager sum in the 1950s). They lived frugal lives, hardly ever borrowing money for anything, and I wouldn't hesitate to say that borrowing money to buy the house probably caused them significant turmoil. You see, they wanted to make sure they lived WELL within their means.

Fast forward one generation to my parents' generation. Certainly a bit more liberal with the use of credit. They would borrow to buy a car, and would likely have one or two credit cards, but most people in my parents' generation were likely to conscientiously pay off the credit card each month, and not go out and buy some extravagant vehicle that they would finance for 8 years.

My generation has taken the leap into the abyss. We finance everything. We finance houses, cars, furniture, dental work, cosmetic surgery, appliances, motorcycles, education, private school tuition, exclusive preschool tuition, fishing boats...heck, we even use credit cards to pay for Taco Bell, gasoline even tithes and offerings.

I'm pretty sure that my grandparents' generation would like to leap forward in time (I'm asking for a reasonable suspension of disbelief) and slap the living daylights out of us.

What has happened to us?

When did the wheels fly off this train?

When did it become okay to live consistently beyond our means?

How have we not been awakened by the current economic crisis?

You see, I think that the economic crisis suffers from the same probably as 9/11. In the days immediately following 9/11, we huddled together in a show of patriotic solidarity against the forces that wanted to see our demise. But after six months (perhaps longer), the Kum-Ba-Yah spirit faded, and we were back to bitter partisan divides, class warfare and the general vitriol that defines our society. Our collective memory sucks.

Likewise, after the financial meltdown, there was a collective belt-tightening that took place. But I don't even think it took six months for Americans to get tired of living with the sacrifices required to climb out of our mess. Agreed, the government could stand to tighten their belts a bit too, but personal responsibility is just that: personal.

We see people suffering around us, and we wish that there is something that we could do for them. But we bemoan our own circumstances as the reason we can't do more.

Are the circumstances self-inflicted? Are we still trying to push our lifestyles over the line of what we can truly afford?

It is my firm belief that if we take a step back and examine all the places our money is going, we might find that there are some financial hemorrhages that could be quickly cauterized to free up resources that would allow us to give more generously.

My fear is that we will continue further down the path of highly-leveraged self-indulgence. If we do, where will that leave our children...and theirs?

You can become a fan of 3G Publishing on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/3GPublishing

You can follow 3GPublishing on Twitter (@3GPublishing): https://twitter.com/#!/3GPublishing

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever

Saturday, March 24, 2012

What & WHAT???

Okay, I realize that may be the dumbest and most meaningless blog post title in the history of the Universe, but I'm sticking with it.

This article deals with "Health & Wealth" doctrine. First, let's define it, then let's take it apart.

My very simple definition for Health & Wealth is the idea that a believer should expect great monetary and materialistic rewards, as well as supernaturally protected health, in return for giving money faithfully to God. Now, I certainly admire the fervor and enthusiasm with which subscribers to this particularly self-centered doctrine give of their resources. I believe that everyone, whether they subscribe to Health & Wealth doctrine or not, should give with such gusto!

But the problem with Health & Wealth is that the excitement for giving is derived from an insidiously wrongheaded idea that fabulous wealth is only a few steps away, as long as the giver "believes strongly enough" that they will receive material blessings in return from God.

I would like to present some of the more incorrect ideas of this false doctrine, and address them one at a time.

1. Treating God like some sort of "high yield investment".

The idea that we can simply give faithfully to God and He will return what we give plus some exorbitant amount over and above sounds, at best, like a pitch for the world's most ridiculous Ponzi Scheme, and at worst, like a pitch from a snake-oil salesman. There are very few instances in the Bible where figures who were faithful to God received tremendous wealth and long life simply because they were faithful. Were there wealthy people in the Bible who were also faithful to God and generous? There is no doubt. Was it caused by their faithfulness in giving? I think you would be incredibly hard-pressed to find evidence for that.

I know people who are incredibly faithful in their giving, who are also wealthy. However, as I often remind people (because it is one of my favorite fallacies of logic), correlation does not equal causation. More often than not, in these cases, these people are gifted (by God) with talents that afford them the ability to have lucrative careers, but to say that their wealth is caused by faithful stewardship is willfully ignoring reality.

There are all sorts of problems with this beyond just the cause/effect fallacy of logic. I know plenty of people who have sacrificed to give generously, and yet wealth beyond their wildest dreams hasn't come knocking at their door. In fact, in some cases, they barely have enough to afford their needs. But, God has promised to provide our needs, so His "end of the bargain" is certainly being held up. Likewise, there are some truly evil people in the world who are hundreds and thousands of times wealthier than some of the most faithful givers in the Christian church. If God rewards His people monetarily for faithful giving, why wouldn't he also devastate those who were unfaithful and downright evil? It doesn't make any sense if you believe God is a God of justice.

2. Treating God like some sort of "health insurance plan".

The simple idea that faithful stewardship guarantees a long life, full of many healthy years is so ludicrous, I hardly want to give it any space on this blog. If this were true, then Billy Graham would be as vibrant as ever. Compassionate, caring and giving Christians commonly find themselves in the turmoil of health issues such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. To say that these afflictions are somehow caused by some form of sin or disobedience is a twisted and dark fantasy. Paul was afflicted with an unknown "thorn in his side", and in spite of pouring his life out in missions, God never saw fit to take it from him. But, if God rewards people who give faithfully with long-life and great health, why would this have been the case?

3. God wants your life to be easy.

Bull! There are too many verses to count that indicate that the Christian life is going to be full of struggle, trials and tribulation. The Christian life is hard! God has NO interest in the comfort of believers, and it is actually not in the best interest of believers to be wealthy. In the story of the "rich young ruler" in Matthew Chapter 19, Jesus makes it very clear that it is easier for a "camel to pass through the eye of a needle" than for someone who is wealthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 19:24). If we are to believe that the words of Jesus are true, then why would God seek to make it more difficult for His children to enter His Kingdom by blessing them with tremendous wealth? Truth be told, I don't think anyone wants it to be more difficult to live a faithful Christian walk, nor do I think that God wishes to make things more difficult for those who are striving to live faithfully.

There are many other things I could say on the topic, but these things have been weighing on my heart and mind today. A good friend of mine, and wonderful Christian minister, was taken to the hospital today for 100% blockage in one of his arteries. He had surgery and is recovering quickly (all glory to God!). And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is faithful in giving generously of his time, talents and treasures. And to subscribed to the idea that his affliction is somehow caused by a lack of faithfulness is absolute stupidity, plain and simple.

Get well soon, John Wolfe!

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $9.99) NEW LOWER PRICE!

Amazon.com (paperback, $9.99; eBook, $5.99) NEW LOWER PRICES!

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever

Monday, March 19, 2012

The Macedonian Throw-Down

Okay, the title does make it sound like some sort of ancient world Ultimate Fighting Competition. I know, I know. I have a tendency to be a bit over-dramatic. But, every time I read through Chapters 8 and 9 of Second Corinthians, I often think of what Paul must have been feeling when he wrote it.

Let's set the scene: Paul was writing this second letter to the believers in the city of Corinth. Apparently, during this period, the church in Jerusalem was in great need, and Paul was working to muster financial support for the "saints in Jerusalem". Prior to the writing of this letter, the Corinthian believers had expressed interest in sending support, but for whatever reason, they had not followed through on their pledge.

Rather than try to browbeat the Corinthian church to "cough up" the money that they had been eager to give before, he decides to use a slightly different tactic: friendly competition. He begins in Chapter 8 by citing the example of the churches in Macedonia. The believers in this region had been living in what Paul describes as "extreme poverty". However, in spite of this turmoil, they had indeed followed through on their commitment to assist the church in Jerusalem.

In fact, Paul was aware of their dire situation, and it is clear that he had at some point tried to persuade them that they were under no obligation to give. In light of their desperate poverty, Paul felt that it must have been better for them to take what little they had and care for themselves. But, the Macedonian churches plead with Paul to allow them to give towards the collection. Paul even indicates that they gave what would have been proportionally appropriate, they gave well beyond that.

In essence, Paul was saying, "Hey guys! We've got these believers in Macedonia who, due to their extreme poverty, really have no business giving generously, and yet they have sacrificed tremendously in order to help the believers in Jerusalem. So, why haven't you all given as you earlier pledged? What gives?"

Maybe we need to ask ourselves the same question: What gives?

In America, even in the midst of some of the most turbulent economic times since the Great Depression, we are still one of the most affluent nations on the planet. And yet, when we hit an economic pothole along the road of our lives, one that makes us tighten our belts a little, what is commonly the first budget item to get dumped? Why, giving, of course.

I'm not saying that everyone sacrifices giving. I know a great many people who have remained faithful in giving, in spite of difficult circumstances, and I'm happy to say that God is still as faithful as ever in making sure their needs are provided. But, it cannot be denied that there is a large segment of the Christian population in America who have forsaken the grace of giving as a means of propping up their monthly budget. Sometimes, the reasoning for doing so is understandable on logical levels. Clearly, if it comes down to buying groceries to feed the family or giving to God, there is logical precedence for caring for the family. I'm not necessarily addressing those types of situations.

What I am addressing are those people who just simply don't want to give up their 24 Mbps high-speed internet in favor of a lower download speed. I'm addressing those people who don't want to cut back on their cable/satellite TV. I'm addressing those people who scramble desperately to hang on to two cars with enormous payments that they have no business trying to keep. I'm addressing those people who simply don't want to put forth the effort to cook a meal for dinner instead of dining out at a restaurant. I'm addressing those people who just can't bring themselves to stop dropping $5 per day off at their favorite coffee shop.

When we resist the Holy-Spirit-Inspired desire to give in exchange for some of these meaningless creature comforts, we are essentially telling God that He is not quite as important as ____________ (fill in the blank with whatever the stronghold is: nice cars, high-speed internet, television, eating out, Starbucks, etc).

Is that really what we want to say to God?

I think if Paul were alive today, every single Christian church in America would be getting a rather lengthy letter postmarked from somewhere in the Middle East. And a few pages in, would be a challenge to give like the Macedonian believers.

Something of a throw-down, I expect.

My curiosity lies in how that message would be received. Would we rise the challenge? Or would we continue to wallow in the mire of our complacency, ready to throw vital ministries in our community under the bus, just so our level of comfort can be maintained?

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever

Sunday, March 18, 2012

What Kind of God...?

Many people who are not believers plant their flag of disbelief in the shaky ground of doubt based on questions like the following:

"What kind of God would say He loves us, and then send us to Hell?"

"What kind of God would tempt Adam and Eve by placing a forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden?"

"What kind of God would allow the atrocities we see every day on the news, if we claim that He is love?"

Now, clearly, these questions have been posed hundreds of thousands of times, sometimes in an effort to truly understand the nature of God, and other times to hide behind a seemingly impossible question to grasp in order to sidestep the issue of faith.

But, now I would like to turn to a question that is equally difficult to wrap our heads around. It goes something like this:

"What kind of God would ask me to give when He knows that I'm struggling just to make ends meet every month?"

Of course, there are several variations on this question, based on a number of different variables (paycheck frequency, how much the person asking the question is struggling, etc). I think, whether vocally or internally, each of us has asked that question at some point in our lives. But at the core of this question is a pervasive issue of selfishness. We have a very distorted view of what God really wants for our lives. Let me try and shed some light on this with some very simple statements:

God is not interested in our happiness; He's interested in our holiness. You see, we seem to think that God clearly wants us to be happy, and if we sacrifice to give, we might end up sacrificing our happiness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Happiness is fleeting. Happiness is an emotional response. God wants something deeper. He wants us to experience the joy of being set apart (holy) for His purposes. And to that end, we need to be willing to sacrifice a little bit (or a lot) of "happiness" in order to promote God's Will in our lives.

God is not interested in our comfort; He's interested in our commitment. Comfort and complacency go hand-in-hand. Nobody said the Christian life would be comfortable. In fact, there are a plethora of verses that indicate the exact opposite of this sentiment (John 16:33, James 1:2, 1 Peter 4:12 are just a few notable examples). The Christian life is not about form, but function. We endure ordeals and trials so that we can grow in our faith, and you can bet that when we successfully endure one trial through the power and strength of Jesus Christ, the next one will be just a bit more difficult. God wants us to be committed to Him, and to serving His purpose for our lives. I would venture to say that He doesn't give a rip about our comfort.

God is not interested in our wealth; He's interested in our worship. How wealthy we are, how prosperous we become and how much prestige we garner are not the least bit important to God. He wants our worship. He wants us to live a life of total submission to His plan for our lives. This does not necessarily include becoming rich. While there certainly are Christ-followers who are wealthy by worldly standards, it is not because they have been faithful Christians. The two have nothing to do with each other. God wants us to worship Him in everything that we do. He wants us to worship when singing our praises. He wants us to worship Him in our quiet times every day. He wants us to worship Him through diligence at work. He wants us to worship Him through our relationship with our spouse and children. He wants us to worship Him through our relationship with our friends and co-workers. And, He wants us to worship Him with our money through the giving of tithes and offerings.

Can giving be scary? Of course it can. When it looks like there isn't enough money in the budget to give to God, it can be absolutely terrifying. But has God ever failed to provide for the needs of someone who is faithful in their giving and generosity? I can't think of even a single example. That's an exceptional track record.

And that's what kind of a God He really is.

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever