Does the Bible tell us the goal of generosity to the poor? It does. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul taught something that is not mentioned enough. One of the subplots of Paul’s missionary journeys is that he was asking the churches across the Roman Empire to give money to help the mother church in Jerusalem. Continue reading “Why and How to be more Generous – John 11:46-12:11, Part 5”
Tag Archives: giving
What Jesus meant when he said, “You will always have the poor among you” – John 11:46-12:11, Part 4
What does extravagant generosity to Jesus look like in our day? In John 12:1-11, Mary dumped $70K worth of perfume on Jesus’ feet. While Jesus doesn’t expect us to do precisely what Mary did, he does expect us to be extravagantly generous. Why doesn’t he expect us to do what Mary did? Mary lived, forContinue reading “What Jesus meant when he said, “You will always have the poor among you” – John 11:46-12:11, Part 4″
How Jesus wants you to be the light of the world – Christmas 2022, Part 5
In this week of Christmas posts, we’ve learned that Jesus shines his light into our lives so that we can be a part of his family. In a previous post this week, I mentioned that one of Jesus’ earliest followers, a guy named Paul, wrote in 2nd Corinthians that people can be deceived so thatContinue reading “How Jesus wants you to be the light of the world – Christmas 2022, Part 5”
God doesn’t want you to tithe – Ezekiel 7, Part 5
We conclude this five-part series studying Ezekiel 7 with the final element of the antidote to economic idolatry, as taught by John Wesley: “Give all you can.” If you are earning, and if you saving, as we learned in the previous post, you will have the ability to give generously. Living simply and practicing generosityContinue reading “God doesn’t want you to tithe – Ezekiel 7, Part 5”
The surprising antidote to economic idolatry – Ezekiel 7, Part 4
What is the antidote to economic idolatry? Sometimes I think to myself, “I hate money.” What I mean is that it can seem like life is one long travail of trying earn money. Do you ever long for financial independence, so that you don’t have to think about whether or not you have enough money?Continue reading “The surprising antidote to economic idolatry – Ezekiel 7, Part 4”
What’s really going on when you sing worship songs (and why it might be making God sad) – Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, Part 3
We Christians give a lot of time in our worship services to singing songs, don’t we? How many songs does your church sing each week? At Faith Church we typically sing four songs, which are a mixture of traditional hymns and modern praise songs. What are we doing when we sing those songs? It mightContinue reading “What’s really going on when you sing worship songs (and why it might be making God sad) – Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, Part 3”
Which is better: giving or receiving? – Acts 20, Part 5
As we come to the conclusion of Paul’s ministry training buffet in Acts 20, verse 32 is a kind of prayer of commissioning in which Paul commits the Ephesian elders: “To God and to the word of his grace.” For a Christian to say to other Christians, “I commit you to God,” is fairly expected.Continue reading “Which is better: giving or receiving? – Acts 20, Part 5”
If you lie, you’ll die? – Acts 5-6:7, Part 3
Do you think the title of this post sounds harsh? I think it sounds very harsh. That’s why I put a question mark at the end of the title. But what does it refer to? If you lie, you die? It refers to the next section of Acts that we’re studying. So far this week,Continue reading “If you lie, you’ll die? – Acts 5-6:7, Part 3”
How the earliest Christians eradicated poverty – Acts 5-6:7, Part 2
Wouldn’t it be amazing if no one was poor? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone had enough? The first Christians found a way to get there! Let’s look at what they did, and perhaps we can make strides to eradicating poverty in our communities. To do that we need to move on to the secondContinue reading “How the earliest Christians eradicated poverty – Acts 5-6:7, Part 2”
False Ideas Christians Believe About…Money
Today, as we continue our series on False Ideas that Christians believe, we are fact-checking statements about money and generosity. You can’t out-give God. Give and you will receive. It’s my money; I worked hard for it. Money is the root of all evil. Let’s start with… On the surface, this one is true. GodContinue reading “False Ideas Christians Believe About…Money”
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