How Much?

I wonder how much this costs (from Savannah's mega-church).

House Church - Giving

God is the Creator of all things. He therefore owns everything. God has graciously given us all things we need to live. We are to be good stewards of these things. This includes our time, talents, and resources. Every Christian I know agrees with these things.

The disagreement among Christ-followers comes in the forms of what/how much to give and who to give it to (sorry for the grammatical mess in this sentence).

The New Testament model shows Christians freely giving of their resources as they are lead by the Spirit.  There is no compulsion.  There is no guilt. There is no tithe. Rather, we are to be governed by this principle:

"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." II Cor. 9:6-7

On Mall Worship

I had to get up a little early this morning to take our daughter to work at Chick-fil-A. The only problem is that this particular restaurant happens to be located in a mall here in Savannah. Arrrgh. We arrived at the mall at about 6:15. The parking lot was already full. My two goals were to drop Caroline off safely and to escape without a fender-bender. Mission accomplished.

Out of morbid curiosity I left that mall and drove the five minutes to Savannah's other mall. This is sort of like stopping to smell rotting milk on a hot day. Anyway, the other mall's parking lot was, predictably, already full as well. So was Best Buy. So was Home Depot. Etc.

We know that America's real god is materialism. This is another way of saying that America's god is self. This false god is alive and well - at least if the parking lots are any evidence of this.

This "Black Friday" phenomenon that increasingly grips our nation each year is a form of worship. People excitedly flock - at all hours of the day - to stores to spend money they probably can't afford on things that most people don't need.

It doesn't shock me when lost people do this. After all, they are slaves to cultural norms. It would be stunning if they did anything else.

Also, I'm sure there are many solid Christians who are shopping this morning. They may be trying to save money by taking advantage of some of the sales today. If you are one of these folks, please don't leave me an angry comment.

This is what concerns me: Many people who claim Christ as Lord never stop to even question "Black Friday." They never step back to ask whether or not we should be involved in this materialistic, gluttonous worship-fest. On a bigger level, they don't seem to ask larger questions about how we spend the money over which God has made us stewards. Simply put, on this issue at least they act just like unbelievers.

Our country is a dangerous place to be a Christian. The reason is that so many people still think and act as if this is a "Christian nation" (whatever that is). They fall into the trap of God-plus-culture. They don't question many cultural norms, but instead accept them as valid because, after all, we live in America!

All I ask is that Christians question all cultural values. If a non-Christian culture pushes hard for us to embrace certain practices like "Black Friday," then we should ask whether or not we should be involved in it. When I look at Christ's teachings on money and wealth, and then I look at what is occurring right now at the malls, I can't see any similarity at all.

The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

You cannot serve God and money.

We should think about these truths if we are tempted to run past old ladies and pregnant women to grab the last plasma T.V. at Target.

39.5

A few hours ago I looked at the date and realized that I am officially 39.5 years old - today.

That may sound like some sort of joke, for we know that a good number of people claim to be 39.5 when they are, in fact, much more age-challenged (or whatever we call it these days) than that.

Being 39.5 is a little odd. I can still look back and my teen years don't seem that far away. I can look ahead and realize that the typical challenges that accompany aging aren't that far into the future. I really do feel like I am in the middle with the odd experience of seeing things both behind and before me with some clarity.

I don't feel like I am looking over some sort of precipice, as if 40 is the end of the world. I know some people feel that way, but that is usually just because they are living for the things of the world instead of having more of an eternal perspective. I always feel bad when I see people who are trying to look younger than they are. What is the point? Just go with the age God has you at right now.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post is that we really don't have that many years to live for Christ here on earth. If I live to 79 years of age, which is a fairly normal age to die, then I'm already half way there. I have mixed emotions about that. On the one hand I am thrilled because I want to go home to see Jesus. On the other hand, that isn't much time to honor Him here through living out a Christian witness in a lost world.

Thinking about being 39.5 has reminded me today that we are stewards of the time God has given us.

I need to make better use of this time.