Holy Curiosity
We learn new things everyday. Or at least we should learn new things everyday! Learning new things is part of loving God. "Loving God with all your mind means making the most of your mind by learning as much as you can about as much as you can. But the true litmus test of spiritual maturity isn't how much you know. It's knowing how much you don't know." We should be curious enough to want to keep learning, but humble enough to realize that we will never know everything. If you get to the point where you feel like you know all there is to know about God, then you will cease to be filled with wonder. "When you stop learning, you stop loving? Why? Because loving is learning more and more about the one you love. True love is never satisfied. It always wants to know more about the object of its affection." Just the other day on our way to Orlando, Abi says this to me: 'tell me something I don't already know about your childhood.' I stumbled around for awhile, but it began a conversation in which we learned things about each other we never knew before! We've been married for 5 years, and we know each other really well, but there is always something new to learn about the one you love. The more you love someone, the more you want to know about them. "The more you love God, the more curious you become. When it comes to loving God with all your mind, curiosity is both the cause and effect."
We don't often think about learning as a form of worship. But God wants us to love Him with all of our minds! That means "loving God with half your mind isn't good enough. Being half-minded is no better than being half-hearted. God wants to sanctify every part of your mind for His purposes: sanctified logic, sanctified intuition, sanctified imagination, even a sanctified sense of humor." That means that we need to love God "logically and creatively, seriously and humorously, intuitively and thoughtfully." In order to do that, we have to exercise our minds. You've heard the phrase, 'use it or lose it,' and it applies not only to your muscles but to your intellect as well! Did you know that the average college graduate reads two books a year? If you put a book in the bathroom you can read one a month! Come on man! Albert Einstein said this, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity." Sometimes I think we are afraid to ask questions. But let me just say this: God is not intimidated by your questions. "God would much rather entertain a genuine question born out of humility than a disingenuous prayer born out of pride." We shouldn't be satisfied with easy answers! We should feel free to ask dangerous questions that require complex answers!
Albert Einstein also said this: "Science without religion is lame," and conversely, "religion without science is blind." I love that. Too often we try to separate the two and pretend that they don't get along. But if we believe that God is the God of creation, wouldn't we want to know everything we could about His creation? Don't put a limit on your studies, because the more you learn, the more you will see. "What the eye sees is determined by what the brain has learned." Let me explain it this way. As a musician, you hear music differently. You can separate all the parts and hear each instrument as it plays together to create a symphony of sound. People who aren't musicians don't hear music the same way. Why? Because they don't know about it. They don't know how it works. "Simply put: the more you know, the more you appreciate." So we could say, "how much you know may have more to do with how much you love God than you think." It is not enough to worship God, He wants to you to know why you are doing it. We need to be able to answer that question. Why do we sing the songs we sing? You see, "great is love is born out of great knowledge." "Simply put: learn more, worship more." "You cannot truly love what you do not really know. That is called ignorance. So stop and think about the implications. The less you know God, the less you love Him. And the more you know God, the more you love Him. Why? Because to know Him is to love Him. And if you don't love Him, it's because you don't really know Him."
All of that being said, we need to have a dose of critical realism within us. All that means is we have to be able to admit that we don't know everything there is to know. If we would do that, we would have a lot less arguing over things that don't really matter. Stand up for the non-negotiables. Jesus is the Son of God. He lived a sinless life. He died for our sins on the cross and was raised to life on the third day. It is time we learned to let some others things go without losing our minds arguing over things that aren't really that important. "Maybe it's time to admit that we don't know all the answers. But we know the One who does."
We are called to be disciples of Jesus. That literally means "learner." So by definition, we should never stop learning! We are always to be asking and seeking and knocking. "And the quest is never over because the questions never end." "I believe that learning glorifies God when ti's done for the right reasons. And that reason is to know Him ore so that you can love Him more. So go ahead and live as if you'll die tomorrow. But keep learning as if you'll live forever. After all, you will."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Seventy Faces
Have you ever played with a kaleidoscope? They are so cool aren't they? They are great because when you look through them, you never see the same thing twice. It is the same way with God's Word isn't it? You can read a passage 100 different times on 100 different days and it will speak to you in a different way each time. That's because the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writer is speaking to you today, helping you to understand the Bible. He knows everything about us and He knows what we need to hear, that is why the Bible speaks to us differently each time we read it! The Bible is the place where you get to know God. "The Bible is the place where God bears His soul."
"The quest for the lost soul of Christianity always leads us back to the Bible. But rediscovering the wonders of Scripture requires more than reading. That's where the quest begins, but that's not where it ends. Not if you want to get it into your soul. You have to meditate on it. Then you have to live it out. Meditating on it turns one-dimensional knowledge into two-dimensional understanding. Living it out turns two-dimensional understanding into three-dimensional obedience."
A musical trainer was hired to work with a group of opera singers who couldn't hit a certain pitch, even though it fell within their range. He tried everything, but then on a whim he tested their hearing. What he discovered was that they couldn't sing that pitch because they couldn't hear that pitch. The problem wasn't their voice, it was their hearing. "Until you hear the voice of God, you won't be able to sing His song. Why? Because you're out of tune. That's how we get stuck in sinful habits and negative cycles and destructive patterns. But when you open the Bible and really hear the voice of God-His loving voice, His graceful voice, His powerful voice, His convicting voice, His affirming voice, His authoritative voice-you life begins to echo God's. Your live becomes a joyful noise. Your life begins to harmonize with the Holy Spirit." Here is what it comes down to: to love God is to love the Bible.
Mark Batterson talks about a time in his life when he was reading the Bible for little more than sermon prep. As a result, he wasn't reading very much of the Bible, just little sections at a time. It's good to know that other people have the same struggles we do isn't it? The problem with that is we end up reading the Bible for what God wants to say through us rather than reading it to find out what He wants to say to us. Then he read this quote by J.I. Packer that changed him, "Any Christian worth his salt ought to read the Bible from cover-to-cover every year." He says he was convicted by it, and couldn't argue with it, so he set out to do it. As a result, he fell in love with the Bible again. I agree, how can we say we love God but don't spend time reading His word? You can read through the Bible in a year spending 20 minutes a day reading it. If you don't have 20 minutes a day for Bible reading, then your priorities are messed up.
I know it is hard. It was something that I struggled with for a long time. That's because spiritual disciplines are just like physical disciplines. I didn't like going to the gym at 7am every morning when I first started doing it. It was hard! Even though I felt better physically afterward, getting out of bed was so hard! But 6 months later, and Abi can attest to this, I complain more if I don't get to go to the gym than I do if I make it there (even at 7am!)! Why? Because what starts as discipline ends up as desire. The same is true of God's word. The more you read the Bible the more you'll discover that you crave it. "It's an acquired taste."
Do not put the responsibility of getting to know the scriptures on your Pastor. That is your job. Many people across the world leave churches because they say, "I'm not being fed." It is a Pastor's job to prepare the best he can to share the Word of God each week, but let me say this: kids learn to feed themselves when they are toddlers. "If you're not being fed, that's your fault." I love what Mark Batterson says when he says, "Here's a news flash: the Bible was unchained from the pulpit nearly 500 years ago during an era of history called the Middle Ages." "If you are relying on preacher to be fed, I fear for you. Listening to a sermon is acquiring second-hand knowledge."
"We are what we read. But let me take it one step further. Reading without meditating is like eating without digesting. If you want to absorb the nutrients, you can't just read it; you've got to chew on it. Meditation is the way we metabolize scripture. That's how we get it into our soul." I know meditation brings all kinds of images to our minds. But what we are talking about here is filling the mind with the Word of God. "If the goal of reading is to get through the Bible, the goal of meditating is to get the Bible through us."
But reading and meditating aren't enough...we have to obey it too! "Dynamic properties are not revealed in a static state." "Too many of us try to understand truth in the static state. We want to understand it without doing anything about it, but it doesn't work that way. You want to understand it? Then obey it. The way you master a text isn't by studying it. The way you master a text is by submitting to it. You have to let it master you." Too often we judge spiritual maturity by how much of the Bible we know. But that has never been and never will be the litmus test. Most of us know way more of the Bible than we obey. The judge of spiritual maturity isn't how much of the Bible you know, it is how much you obey.
Have you ever audited a class? It's great! You get to hear all the information, but you don't have to do any of the homework or take any of the tests! One problem though, you don't get any credit for the class either. It's the same way with the Bible. "You don't get credit for auditing Scripture. You've got to put it into practice." You don't get credit for knowing what the Bible says about caring for poor people if you don't care for the poor! Oh how our churches would change if we simply put into practice what we say we believe. You say you believe the Bible? Prove it. Put your money...and your time where your mouth is. It will change your life and it will change your church.
Here is what we are called to do regarding the Bible: Read it. Meditate on it. Then live it out.
Enjoy the Journey
Have you ever played with a kaleidoscope? They are so cool aren't they? They are great because when you look through them, you never see the same thing twice. It is the same way with God's Word isn't it? You can read a passage 100 different times on 100 different days and it will speak to you in a different way each time. That's because the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writer is speaking to you today, helping you to understand the Bible. He knows everything about us and He knows what we need to hear, that is why the Bible speaks to us differently each time we read it! The Bible is the place where you get to know God. "The Bible is the place where God bears His soul."
"The quest for the lost soul of Christianity always leads us back to the Bible. But rediscovering the wonders of Scripture requires more than reading. That's where the quest begins, but that's not where it ends. Not if you want to get it into your soul. You have to meditate on it. Then you have to live it out. Meditating on it turns one-dimensional knowledge into two-dimensional understanding. Living it out turns two-dimensional understanding into three-dimensional obedience."
A musical trainer was hired to work with a group of opera singers who couldn't hit a certain pitch, even though it fell within their range. He tried everything, but then on a whim he tested their hearing. What he discovered was that they couldn't sing that pitch because they couldn't hear that pitch. The problem wasn't their voice, it was their hearing. "Until you hear the voice of God, you won't be able to sing His song. Why? Because you're out of tune. That's how we get stuck in sinful habits and negative cycles and destructive patterns. But when you open the Bible and really hear the voice of God-His loving voice, His graceful voice, His powerful voice, His convicting voice, His affirming voice, His authoritative voice-you life begins to echo God's. Your live becomes a joyful noise. Your life begins to harmonize with the Holy Spirit." Here is what it comes down to: to love God is to love the Bible.
Mark Batterson talks about a time in his life when he was reading the Bible for little more than sermon prep. As a result, he wasn't reading very much of the Bible, just little sections at a time. It's good to know that other people have the same struggles we do isn't it? The problem with that is we end up reading the Bible for what God wants to say through us rather than reading it to find out what He wants to say to us. Then he read this quote by J.I. Packer that changed him, "Any Christian worth his salt ought to read the Bible from cover-to-cover every year." He says he was convicted by it, and couldn't argue with it, so he set out to do it. As a result, he fell in love with the Bible again. I agree, how can we say we love God but don't spend time reading His word? You can read through the Bible in a year spending 20 minutes a day reading it. If you don't have 20 minutes a day for Bible reading, then your priorities are messed up.
I know it is hard. It was something that I struggled with for a long time. That's because spiritual disciplines are just like physical disciplines. I didn't like going to the gym at 7am every morning when I first started doing it. It was hard! Even though I felt better physically afterward, getting out of bed was so hard! But 6 months later, and Abi can attest to this, I complain more if I don't get to go to the gym than I do if I make it there (even at 7am!)! Why? Because what starts as discipline ends up as desire. The same is true of God's word. The more you read the Bible the more you'll discover that you crave it. "It's an acquired taste."
Do not put the responsibility of getting to know the scriptures on your Pastor. That is your job. Many people across the world leave churches because they say, "I'm not being fed." It is a Pastor's job to prepare the best he can to share the Word of God each week, but let me say this: kids learn to feed themselves when they are toddlers. "If you're not being fed, that's your fault." I love what Mark Batterson says when he says, "Here's a news flash: the Bible was unchained from the pulpit nearly 500 years ago during an era of history called the Middle Ages." "If you are relying on preacher to be fed, I fear for you. Listening to a sermon is acquiring second-hand knowledge."
"We are what we read. But let me take it one step further. Reading without meditating is like eating without digesting. If you want to absorb the nutrients, you can't just read it; you've got to chew on it. Meditation is the way we metabolize scripture. That's how we get it into our soul." I know meditation brings all kinds of images to our minds. But what we are talking about here is filling the mind with the Word of God. "If the goal of reading is to get through the Bible, the goal of meditating is to get the Bible through us."
But reading and meditating aren't enough...we have to obey it too! "Dynamic properties are not revealed in a static state." "Too many of us try to understand truth in the static state. We want to understand it without doing anything about it, but it doesn't work that way. You want to understand it? Then obey it. The way you master a text isn't by studying it. The way you master a text is by submitting to it. You have to let it master you." Too often we judge spiritual maturity by how much of the Bible we know. But that has never been and never will be the litmus test. Most of us know way more of the Bible than we obey. The judge of spiritual maturity isn't how much of the Bible you know, it is how much you obey.
Have you ever audited a class? It's great! You get to hear all the information, but you don't have to do any of the homework or take any of the tests! One problem though, you don't get any credit for the class either. It's the same way with the Bible. "You don't get credit for auditing Scripture. You've got to put it into practice." You don't get credit for knowing what the Bible says about caring for poor people if you don't care for the poor! Oh how our churches would change if we simply put into practice what we say we believe. You say you believe the Bible? Prove it. Put your money...and your time where your mouth is. It will change your life and it will change your church.
Here is what we are called to do regarding the Bible: Read it. Meditate on it. Then live it out.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The Island of the Colorblind
When was the last time you just sat in awe of God? Odds are it has been awhile. Leonardo da Vinci said that the average person "looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance, and talks without thinking." It sounds like a sad existence doesn't it? You have to feel bad for people who are in such a hurry that they can't appreciate what is going on right in front of their eyes. Do you think that is how God feels about us?
"Is it possible that we've given God a passing glance instead of truly hallowing His name? Is it possible we've settled for a god who fits into the constraints of our logical left brains instead of the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can imagine with our right brains? Is it possible we've studied the God of logic without truly worshiping the God of wonders?"
Last week we said that loving God with our heart means having a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God. Well, loving God with our soul means having "a soul full of wonder, a soul flooded with the glory of God, a soul awed by beauty and mystery, a soul that hallows God above all else."
We have a tendency to come at God from a logical perspective. We want the facts. But the truth is that facts don't awe us. Don't get me wrong, God is factual. But God is more than factual. "He is wonderful. The mind is educated with facts, but the soul is educated with beauty and mystery. And the curriculum is creation."
"In its most primal form, worship is wonder. It is standing in awe of the Creator and His creation. It is giving credit where credit is due; the Creator." When was the last time you marveled at a thunderstorm or went down and applauded as the sun set over the skyline? Elizabeth Barret Browning put it this way: "Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common brush afire with God: But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries."
In other words, open your eyes and look at what God is doing! So many of us are like the people Oliver Sacks writes about in 'The Island of the Colorblind.' He writes of a group of people who live on an island in the South Pacific. After a typhoon came through and ravaged the island, only about 20 people survived, and in the coming years, a peculiar thing started happening. In most places in the world, colorblindness is hardly epidemic, in fact only 1 in 30,000 people are colorblind. But on this island, 1 in 12 was born with this condition. That means that even though they lived on a tropical island, they could not appreciate its true beauty because they could not see any of the lush colors that surrounded them on every side. It's sad, isn't it? But many of us live in the presence of God and don't realize it or give it a second thought. We are surrounded by God's glory, but we can't see it. Why is that?
We are sleepwalking through life. "Our eyes are open, but the vacant look reveals an empty soul. At best we're half awake. And just like the physical condition, we're unaware of our spiritual condition until someone or something wakes us up. We're unaware of the miracles happening all around us all the time. We're unaware of the spiritual warfare that is being waged all around us all the time. We're unaware of what the Spirit of God is doing all around us all the time."
It is time to wake up sleepers. It is time to regain our sense of wonder at who God is and what He is doing. Only then can we be spiritually mature. "Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with circumstances. It has everything to do with consciousness. A relationship with Christ doesn't always change our circumstances, but it does change the way we see ourselves, see others, and see God. Why? Because we see with our souls."
Enjoy the Journey
When was the last time you just sat in awe of God? Odds are it has been awhile. Leonardo da Vinci said that the average person "looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance, and talks without thinking." It sounds like a sad existence doesn't it? You have to feel bad for people who are in such a hurry that they can't appreciate what is going on right in front of their eyes. Do you think that is how God feels about us?
"Is it possible that we've given God a passing glance instead of truly hallowing His name? Is it possible we've settled for a god who fits into the constraints of our logical left brains instead of the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can imagine with our right brains? Is it possible we've studied the God of logic without truly worshiping the God of wonders?"
Last week we said that loving God with our heart means having a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God. Well, loving God with our soul means having "a soul full of wonder, a soul flooded with the glory of God, a soul awed by beauty and mystery, a soul that hallows God above all else."
We have a tendency to come at God from a logical perspective. We want the facts. But the truth is that facts don't awe us. Don't get me wrong, God is factual. But God is more than factual. "He is wonderful. The mind is educated with facts, but the soul is educated with beauty and mystery. And the curriculum is creation."
"In its most primal form, worship is wonder. It is standing in awe of the Creator and His creation. It is giving credit where credit is due; the Creator." When was the last time you marveled at a thunderstorm or went down and applauded as the sun set over the skyline? Elizabeth Barret Browning put it this way: "Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common brush afire with God: But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries."
In other words, open your eyes and look at what God is doing! So many of us are like the people Oliver Sacks writes about in 'The Island of the Colorblind.' He writes of a group of people who live on an island in the South Pacific. After a typhoon came through and ravaged the island, only about 20 people survived, and in the coming years, a peculiar thing started happening. In most places in the world, colorblindness is hardly epidemic, in fact only 1 in 30,000 people are colorblind. But on this island, 1 in 12 was born with this condition. That means that even though they lived on a tropical island, they could not appreciate its true beauty because they could not see any of the lush colors that surrounded them on every side. It's sad, isn't it? But many of us live in the presence of God and don't realize it or give it a second thought. We are surrounded by God's glory, but we can't see it. Why is that?
We are sleepwalking through life. "Our eyes are open, but the vacant look reveals an empty soul. At best we're half awake. And just like the physical condition, we're unaware of our spiritual condition until someone or something wakes us up. We're unaware of the miracles happening all around us all the time. We're unaware of the spiritual warfare that is being waged all around us all the time. We're unaware of what the Spirit of God is doing all around us all the time."
It is time to wake up sleepers. It is time to regain our sense of wonder at who God is and what He is doing. Only then can we be spiritually mature. "Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with circumstances. It has everything to do with consciousness. A relationship with Christ doesn't always change our circumstances, but it does change the way we see ourselves, see others, and see God. Why? Because we see with our souls."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
A Drop in the Bucket
Let me begin by saying that I am about as analytical as they come. Especially when it comes to money. In Dave Ramsey's terms, I am the 'nerd.' I know where every penny we make ends up and on what day it gets where it is going. I am a nerd. So what I am about to share with you hit me pretty hard, and I hope it does you as well. "Sometimes our minds interfere with our hearts. Logical objections get in the way of compassionate acts. It's not my responsibility. I'm not ready. I can't make much of a difference anyway." When it comes to giving, "I'm not saying that you shouldn't count the cost. You should. But if God is speaking to your heart, don't let your mind get in the way of what God wants you to do. Sometimes loving god with all your heart simply means listening to your heart instead of your head."
We've all heard it, 'where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' "The more abstract, the less convicting truth is. So let me get concrete. Faith equals God-ordained risks in the face of fear. Obedience equals God-honoring decision in the face of temptation. And compassion equals Spirit-prompted generosity in the face of greed." I am not saying that we shouldn't be generous with our time and our energies, we should! "But sometimes love is measured in dollars." The truth is this, "you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." God wants to bless you, but He doesn't want to bless you so you can buy more stuff. "The blessings of God are always a means to an end. And the end is blessing others." Our author put it this way, "making money is the way you make a living and giving it away is the way you make a life."
Money has a tendency to master us. But there is a way that we can master it. It is amazingly simple and amazingly difficult at the same time. Create an income ceiling. I have heard this from several places lately and I think it is pretty great. You see, "enough will never be enough unless you determine how much is enough." Create an income ceiling and give everything you make above that away. "What would happen if every Christ follower gave away everything above and beyond their predetermined income ceiling?"
Here are some questions to think about: "Are you focused on what you have or what you don't have? That is the difference between gratitude and greed. Are you focused on this life or the next? That is the difference between stinginess and generosity. Are you focused on your wants or other's needs? That is the difference between selfishness and compassion. It's also the difference between unhappiness and joy."
Pre-decisions are the best decisions. Pre-decisions are decisions you make before a circumstance presents itself in which you have to make a decision. They help because they make it easy for you to make difficult decisions. If you don't make pre-decisions, you'll end up caving into whatever circumstances you are in and make bad decisions over and over. A pre-decision that our family has made it to tithe. That is 10%. That comes off the top before we do the bills, before we figure out anything else, tithes and offerings (things above 10%) come off, and we do everything else with what we have left. I don't say that to brag about how much we give. "The tithe isn't the goal. It's the starting place. It begins with a pre-decision to live off 90%, but it doesn't stop there. The more we grow up spiritually, the more we'll give back to God financially. It's that simple. Why? Because you aren't giving Him your money. You're giving Him your heart."
You can choose not to tithe. You can choose not to give at all. God doesn't need your money. In fact if you are giving it and holding a grudge, God doesn't even want your money! But hear this, "If you hang on to what you have, your heart will become smaller and smaller. And you'll lose your soul in the process. But if you give what you've got, your heart will grow larger and larger for the things of God."
I know Mike has said it a hundred times. God says we should test Him, if we give to Him, He will give us more than we can imagine. You can't outgive God. I believe that. I also believe that if your motivation for giving to God is to get more in return, He won't bless you. God is not a mutual fund. But if you give with the right heart, I can tell you from personal experience that God will bless you with more than you had to start with. That is what happens when you give God control of your finances.
Let's talk about worship for a second. As musicians, we are tasked with leading this congregation in worship. Now to most people that means singing, and singing is definitely part of worship. But for those of you who have been around here for any time at all you know that worship is much more than that. "What if, instead of sound quality or lyrical creativity, our litmus test for worship was a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God? What if we saw compassion as a form of worship? Worship without words. Worship beyond words." May we be a team of people whose compassion is contagious and spreads throughout our congregation in such a way that will shake this city to its core.
"Don't let what you cannot do keep you from doing what you can. Put your money where your heart is. It's not a drop in the bucket. Every act of generosity creates a righteous ripple effect that can change the course of history. It will also change your heart."
Enjoy the Journey
Let me begin by saying that I am about as analytical as they come. Especially when it comes to money. In Dave Ramsey's terms, I am the 'nerd.' I know where every penny we make ends up and on what day it gets where it is going. I am a nerd. So what I am about to share with you hit me pretty hard, and I hope it does you as well. "Sometimes our minds interfere with our hearts. Logical objections get in the way of compassionate acts. It's not my responsibility. I'm not ready. I can't make much of a difference anyway." When it comes to giving, "I'm not saying that you shouldn't count the cost. You should. But if God is speaking to your heart, don't let your mind get in the way of what God wants you to do. Sometimes loving god with all your heart simply means listening to your heart instead of your head."
We've all heard it, 'where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' "The more abstract, the less convicting truth is. So let me get concrete. Faith equals God-ordained risks in the face of fear. Obedience equals God-honoring decision in the face of temptation. And compassion equals Spirit-prompted generosity in the face of greed." I am not saying that we shouldn't be generous with our time and our energies, we should! "But sometimes love is measured in dollars." The truth is this, "you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." God wants to bless you, but He doesn't want to bless you so you can buy more stuff. "The blessings of God are always a means to an end. And the end is blessing others." Our author put it this way, "making money is the way you make a living and giving it away is the way you make a life."
Money has a tendency to master us. But there is a way that we can master it. It is amazingly simple and amazingly difficult at the same time. Create an income ceiling. I have heard this from several places lately and I think it is pretty great. You see, "enough will never be enough unless you determine how much is enough." Create an income ceiling and give everything you make above that away. "What would happen if every Christ follower gave away everything above and beyond their predetermined income ceiling?"
Here are some questions to think about: "Are you focused on what you have or what you don't have? That is the difference between gratitude and greed. Are you focused on this life or the next? That is the difference between stinginess and generosity. Are you focused on your wants or other's needs? That is the difference between selfishness and compassion. It's also the difference between unhappiness and joy."
Pre-decisions are the best decisions. Pre-decisions are decisions you make before a circumstance presents itself in which you have to make a decision. They help because they make it easy for you to make difficult decisions. If you don't make pre-decisions, you'll end up caving into whatever circumstances you are in and make bad decisions over and over. A pre-decision that our family has made it to tithe. That is 10%. That comes off the top before we do the bills, before we figure out anything else, tithes and offerings (things above 10%) come off, and we do everything else with what we have left. I don't say that to brag about how much we give. "The tithe isn't the goal. It's the starting place. It begins with a pre-decision to live off 90%, but it doesn't stop there. The more we grow up spiritually, the more we'll give back to God financially. It's that simple. Why? Because you aren't giving Him your money. You're giving Him your heart."
You can choose not to tithe. You can choose not to give at all. God doesn't need your money. In fact if you are giving it and holding a grudge, God doesn't even want your money! But hear this, "If you hang on to what you have, your heart will become smaller and smaller. And you'll lose your soul in the process. But if you give what you've got, your heart will grow larger and larger for the things of God."
I know Mike has said it a hundred times. God says we should test Him, if we give to Him, He will give us more than we can imagine. You can't outgive God. I believe that. I also believe that if your motivation for giving to God is to get more in return, He won't bless you. God is not a mutual fund. But if you give with the right heart, I can tell you from personal experience that God will bless you with more than you had to start with. That is what happens when you give God control of your finances.
Let's talk about worship for a second. As musicians, we are tasked with leading this congregation in worship. Now to most people that means singing, and singing is definitely part of worship. But for those of you who have been around here for any time at all you know that worship is much more than that. "What if, instead of sound quality or lyrical creativity, our litmus test for worship was a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God? What if we saw compassion as a form of worship? Worship without words. Worship beyond words." May we be a team of people whose compassion is contagious and spreads throughout our congregation in such a way that will shake this city to its core.
"Don't let what you cannot do keep you from doing what you can. Put your money where your heart is. It's not a drop in the bucket. Every act of generosity creates a righteous ripple effect that can change the course of history. It will also change your heart."
Enjoy the Journey
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