Posts Tagged "generosity"

I’ll be frank: I am pretty sick of the way most teaching about “the tithe” (giving 10% of your income to God) is presented.  Anyone else? It’s usually talked about in one of two ways, and perhaps if you’ve spend any time in church you’ve heard one or both of these: WAY ONE: “God expects you to tithe, so you’d better do it.” WAY TWO: “God  promises that if you give Him 10%, He’s going to bless you way more.” Now don’t get me wrong, Biblically both of these are true, but is that the only way we can understand the tithe?  Really?  My motivation to give to God is either duty or self-interest?  Are those the only two options? It’s because of this frustration that I was so excited...

Jesus fed the multitude by having His disciples pass out the food. Don’t miss this.  If you know the story in Matthew 14 (also in Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6) you probably know it as the story of how “Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand”.  Think about this, though. Yes, Jesus took the food and blessed it, yes, Jesus caused the miraculous multiplication, but who was it that actually brought the food to the people who needed it?  Who actually did the feeding part? It was the disciples. Now, don’t get lost here or distracted from the point.  The point is not to in any way take away the miraculous nature of the event, or “steal the spotlight” from Jesus because yes, HE is the one from whom the food came.  The point I hope you’ll...

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” – Luke 6:38 She was NOT a happy camper. As I sat at the diner-style counter eating my eggs, it was obvious from her comments that this poor server had gone to clean her last table, only to find the prior patrons had stiffed her.  No gratitude, no thank-you, no tip.  I heard her frustrated queries to fellow servers, “Did you clean off table 17?”, “Did the people say anything?” and shared her sinking feeling as she realized her efforts give her customers an enjoyable meal had amounted to nothing. I checked my wallet: $13.  I estimated my bill: $8.50ish, plus a couple...