Sowing and Reaping
Looks like they have milkshakes in Bulgaria!
Sowing and Reaping
2 Corinthians 9
"Now I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver," verses 6,7.
The topic of giving for us Christians carries with it a measure of guilt. We just can't help it. I struggle with it from time to time as you probably do as well. Am I giving enough and am I giving to the right people, the right ministries or causes? Do I need to give to my church fully first before other ministries or needs? Am I giving too much to one cause and not enough to another? Is this person really in 'need' and will they use the funds for what they say they will use it? Am I spending too much on my own pleasures and comfort? Maybe I give a significant amount (relatively speaking) but am I really sacrificing? Am I using money for myself that God actually wants me to give? Does God consider me a faithful steward or a poor steward? Where do I rank?Read more
Heart-felt Giving
Meet my cousin Tony. Tony grew up in Bogota, Columbia. We met and played together when we were about 10 years old but didn't see each other again until about ten years ago. He now lives overseas but this is a recent picture of us in Houston.
Heart-felt Giving
2 Corinthians 8, part two
“Now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,” 8:1-3.
When it comes to Christian giving, we can't say ‘I checked the box for this year’ and now I can turn my brain off to giving. It’s not about hitting an annual amount or giving a set percentage. Paul gives the correct way to think about giving in verse 3ff. Read more
Get Back to It
I'm not good at fixing things or making things. Brooke got her love for tools from her mom :)
Get Back to It
2 Corinthians 8, part one
Undoubtedly, Paul taught the Corinthians from the beginning to GIVE, be ready to GIVE and to GIVE with joy. But the indication here in verse 10 is that they stopped their giving about a year ago.
"...for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago to do this (to give), but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also...so there may be completion of it by your ability."
This is a little confusing but basically Paul is saying ‘you began giving a year ago but you have wavered. Get back to it.’ He urges them to finish what they started. Paul had always taught his churches to be keenly aware of the needs of poverty-stricken believers among them and also of those in Jerusalem. He set up a system whereby the gifts would be transported by honorable men from the outer regions (where Paul planted churches) to meet the acute needs of the church of Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem was especially poor. The Corinthians, it seems, embraced this service of grace-giving initially, but in the last year had abandoned it. WHY? Read more
DON’T Tithe!
First day of school! Sofia, Bulgaria. Ryker, Kindergarten and Nate, 3rd grade
DON’T Tithe!
2 Corinthians 8 & 9
These two chapter are about giving. Please, do not miss my comments on this section of scripture. Not because they are my comments but because of the content of this portion of scripture.
Keep it simple
The content of these two chapters builds toward the simple summary principle in 9:7,
"Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Read more
Psalms 143
Blowing Rock, North Caralina
For today, let's take a break from 2 Corinthians and consider a Psalm
Psalms 143
"Hear my prayer, O Lord; Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
Bringing accountability into my life to have daily time with God has been so good for me. However, I could say sometimes I love it and other times, well, I don’t. When I encounter times when I don't "feel" close to God and the Words of scripture are flat and my prayers seem distant, the daily accountability doesn't allow me to do what I used to do. Avoid God and start the day by listening to the news or reading emails. I used to avoid God until I "felt" closer to Him.
I encourage you to make a note somewhere that says, "if spiritually discouraged, read Psalms 143." Here is the "state of mind" David is in: Read more
It was Real
My grandson, Ryker
It was Real
I Corinthians 7, part four
"For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything, you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in this matter," verse 11
Lest it seem I'm belaboring this chapter, indulge me to spend one more morning here. There's one more important point that Paul is making here that I don't want to miss.
Something quite amazing happened to these wandering, indulgent, divisive Christians in Corinth when Paul sent his scathing, severe letter to them. They had a COMPLETE change of heart. Most Pastors would have given up but for some reason, Paul had a love for them that transcended reason. Not only were they prone to wander into sin and immorality, easily influenced by the debauchery of the city, but they were also easily influenced by false teachers. Even to the point that many of them rejected Paul in person when he visited, choosing instead to side with the false teachers. Now that hurt Paul and hurt him deeply. Read more
Sorrow upon Sorrow
Enjoying a stroll in Sofia, Bulgaria
Sorrow upon Sorrow
I Corinthians 7, part three
Paul had written a severe letter calling the Corinthians to repent and to remove the false teachers whom they had previously welcomed. Paul had great joy when he heard that the church had responded with repentance. Verse 9ff says,
"I now rejoice, not that you were made more sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance, for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death."
This is very interesting to me. There are two types of sorrows contrasted. One sorrow is according to God’s will. A sorrow that has God as its source. On the other hand, there is a sorrow of the world that doesn’t end well. One sorrow that produces repentance leading to life and another sorrow, a worldly sorrow, leads to death. Read more
He’s a Hot Mess
This is a view from the roof of Trump tower in Chicago where I attended a business dinner last week.
He’s a Hot Mess
2 Corinthians 7, part two
“Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one,” verse 2.
This chapter is not readily familiar to most but it has a couple of piercing and compelling themes. Paul is going deeper into a topic he referred to in 2:13; the severe letter. As a reminder, Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians in between 1 and 2 Corinthians. It is a lost letter to us now but is often referred to as the "severe letter." I Corinthians was fairly severe in its own right with Paul confronting divisions, divorce, immorality, etc. But this one, ‘the severe letter,’ we surmise, was really severe. Read more
Grace or works?
My daughter Beri in their new city of residence, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Grace or works?
2 Corinthians 7, part one
Chapter 6 closes with Paul quoting some OT promises.
"I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty."
These are words of grace, inheritance, intimacy, adoption and kinship. Then, immediately after these words, Paul writes,
"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 7:1.
This brings up an interesting question. Is the Christian life the receiving of grace or the pursuit of holiness? Read more