Gain All You Can, Save All You Can, Give All You Can

Here is the podcast for the third and final message in the series "Managing His Money".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Gain All You Can, Save All You Can, Give All You Can (Length 19:44)

Message
Most of us are good at gaining all we can, some are even good at saving all we can, but few of us are as good at giving all we can. As people who follow a generous God "who gave his only son" we find our example from and are called to such radical generosity for the sake of Christ's mission in the world.

Series
This message is from the series "Managing His Money" where we learn that all that we have is God's and it is on loan to us to use for his glory. God is a God that desires that all his children know financial freedom where they gain all they can, save all they can, and give all they can.

Slow Dance on the Inside

We did some teaching about Lent this past weekend and its meaning in the church. I came across this article in Relevant Magazine by Daniel So.

So reminds us that Lent is a time to slow down and recognize the rhythms in our lives when it comes to following Christ . Here is a quote:

"There is also a rhythm in our lives with God. Too often, in our desire to be passionate lovers of Christ, the rhythm of our lives sounds something like the over-adrenalized stomping of Riverdance. We busy ourselves making history, winning the campus for Christ, overturning tables and the like. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for this non-stop commotion to come to a grinding halt."

Read this great article here.

Lessons from the Creation about Money

Here is the podcast for the second message in the series "Managing His Money".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Lessons from the Creation About Money (Length 23:07)

Message
God has wired us as human beings to create more than we consume. It is when we are producing more than we are consuming that we reflect the image of God in which we were created and can come to know the financial freedom that God wants all his children to know.

Series
This message is from the series "Managing His Money" where we learn that all that we have is God's and it is on loan to us to use for his glory. God is a God that desires that all his children know financial freedom where they gain all they can, save all they can, and give all they can.

Irresistible Evangelism

A few weeks ago I finished Irresistible Evangelism Natural Ways to Open Others to Jesus, by Steve Sjogren, Dave Ping, and Doug Pollock. This book continues to show that it is through relationship that persons come to know Christ. Through kindness, genuine love, and compassion the Holy Spirit can move in powerful ways to bring a person to faith. Sjogren is the person responsible for the popularity of servant evangelism as a method for reaching those far from God. Below are a few of the things that were especially striking in the book.

The main idea of the book is summed up in the concept of spiritual gardening:

Spiritual gardening- just as the right combination of sunlight, soil, and water causes seeds to grow, the proper combination of God's Spirit, with simple, consistent, loving actions will cause hearts to open for Jesus.

On the need to get the hell out of the church they write:

We must reshape our churches so they are no longer passive places where people Come and see. Instead we need active communities that equip and mobilize to go and be living examples of God's kindness.

When it comes to the important work of helping people far from God be connected with Christ we must use all the tools God has given us.

Need multi-pronged evangelism approach- servant evangelism is a great tool for accomplishing an essential part of evangelism that has been ignored for far too long.
It works well in combination with other tools- from Billy Graham's mission to Evangelism Explosion and the Alpha Course.

On the need to be persistent...

It takes between twelve and twenty Gospel touches for people to move from the beginning of the scale into genuine relationship with Christ.

An advantage to kindness is...

Genuine acts of kindness work no matter where people are in relationship to God, so they are always a great way to start the ball rolling.

The power of being good news in conjunction with proclaiming good news.

People might remember the words the words you say for a few hours, but they are likely to remember your acts of generosity for months, years, and in many cases, the rest of their lives.

A warning about talking heads.

Before we start preaching to pre-Christians heads, we must encounter people at the heart level.

Making Disciples not Members

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ called his followers in the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations."

Unfortunately, it has come to pass that the church has become preoccupied with making members more than disciples. There is a difference between church membership and discipleship and it is the task of the local church to cooperate with the power of the Holy Spirit to facilitate this process of becoming and growing as a disciples in Jesus Christ. This was the topic of concern at a seminar I attended this past Tuesday put on by Four Seasons Ministry under the direction of D. Glen Langston and Franklin Gillis, Jr.

It was pointed out that the purpose of the church is not membership recruitment but introducing Christ to the seeker and equipping the faithful to be servant leaders so they can respond to Christ's call to meet human needs.

The challenge for the church is to help disciples identify their passion, connect those passions to a purpose, and turn that purpose into a ministry. As disciples grow they learn that they are to produce more than they consume and that is costs something to be committed to Christ. 1 Sam 24:24.

It seems that in order to fulfill Christ's Commission we need to make this paradigm shift or might we say recover this principle that are main business is making disciples not members. Maybe instead of reporting members in end of year reports we might report disciples which would be a more accurate indicator of vital ministry.

TVs in Mini-Vans

You have probably seen these TVs that fold down out of the ceiling in these mini-vans (and SUVs) that kids watch as their mom or dad dutifully drives them to soccer practice, ballet, or kids night at McDonald's.

I want to say first that I pledged a long time ago never to own a mini-van (the modern equivalent of the wood paneled station wagon with a backward seat in the rear!). Sorry to all you mini-van owners. I must admit to using the drop down dvd player on a recent trip to Massachusetts this past Christmas. We had rented an SUV for the ten hour trip that had one of those things. And I have to tell you there is nothing that can be prescribed that is more powerful than "Elmo the Wonder Drug"!

However, for me, I would not personally allow my child to watch one of those things just driving to the cleaners or across town. (I can hear the words of my mother in my ear- stop watching so much TV). But to each their own.

What all this does demonstrate is how much we have become such a visual culture. Sixty to ninety minutes of linear worship with one talking head up front is not creative enough for the greatest message God ever gave to humankind- the good news of Jesus Christ..