In Case You Missed It

In case you missed it…

The U.S. budget deficit for 2009 is a record $1.42 trillion.

The deficit rose 212% in just one year and it will get worse if the insane healthcare albatross that is circling around Washington lands as the law of the land.

We now have a $12 trillion national debt and the interest on that debt is about $1 billion a day.

China lent the U.S. $1 trillion to help us pay our bills and they are concerned about our ability to pay it back.

As the reports get worse each day , I learned something.

I can control this mountain of debt about as much as I can control time itself.

In case you missed it...

• We didn’t create Time, we can only exist within it
• We can’t make more Time, because we are not the Creator
• We can’t control Time, we can only determine how to use it

The Apostle Paul offers good advice on Time when he said:

Act like people with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute count. Don't be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do. Ephesians 5:15-17

It's worth saying again:

• These are evil times, so make every minute count.
• Find out what the Lord wants you to do.

No doubt these are evil times that we live in. As such, the Church has a compelling mission to make every minute count AND to make every dollar count. On Sunday, were people asked if they were ready to meet the King? If not this week, was that message proclaimed last week? Is every dollar spent for Kingdom purposes? Or are there funds sitting in money bags waiting?

What does the Lord want you to do to redeem the time? To live out the Gospel in your relationship to others? To serve others sacrificially? Did you know

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you James 1:27

Seems like the Lord wants us to care for the least of these first and then work on shunning the evil things that can pollute our lives, second.

What does the Lord want you to do to care for the 143 million orphans in the world today?

If these orphans stood shoulder to shoulder, they would form a line of children that would go around the 7,600 mile perimeter of U.S. four times. Four times. Children without families in a line that is 30,000 miles long. As it says, find out what the Lord wants you to do.

In case you missed it, He is coming back.

The Cost of an Orange

This week (3) 40’ containers of Kids Against Hunger food finally made it to Matsapha, Swaziland. This represents over 840,000 high protein meals packed over many months by volunteers. The value of the food that went across the Atlantic was over $210,000. The shipping was another $30,000+. Sounds like a lot of food and a lot of money. But is it?

Let’s answer the first part of the question. The mission groups on the ground are feeding 2700 children each day at over 30 care points where orphans and children at risk gather for help. Adventure in Missions (AIM) and Children’s Hope Chest (CHC) do not have enough food for all of the care points they serve. They are turning children away that come for help. 800,000 meals is not very much after all, is it? It will be gone within months and less if they feed more children which they want to do.

Now let’s answer the second part of the question. 67% of the people of Swaziland live on about 45¢ a day – that 45¢ must pay for everything from food, to shelter, to clothes, to healthcare , etc. A few years ago, studies showed that nearly 40% of the population had HIV/AIDs. Because of HIV/AIDs, it is expected that the orphan population will exceed 10% of the total population. Many households are run by teenagers and pre-teens caring for younger siblings.

Orphans have no way to earn money. When parents die, children may be taken by relatives, neighbors and others who may have less than honorable motives. Girls are prized for many reasons. The boys may end up on the street or in a orphanage if one can be found. Young girls will trade their bodies for food. In one story which made their local news, a seven year old girl who was starving gave her body to an older man for one orange and one loaf of bread. Sexual oppression of children is horrific and sadly it happens all the time. Christ is the answer and the Church is the messenger - but does the Church know that?

In my thinking, $240,000 for containers of food is a bargain. It will save some from starvation and it may save some young girls, created in the image of God, from trading themselves for an orange and a loaf of bread just so that they can stay alive.

Many of us believe that we are not actively involved in “oppressing” the poor or the orphan. After all, we care for them, don’t we? Do we? Do I? I really struggle with this. In reality, if I am not part of the solution, than I am part of the problem. If you are not part of the solution, than you my friend are part of the problem as well.

Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors him (Proverbs 14:31)

Begin today to be a part of the solution. Give sacrificially to the work of those in Swaziland (AIM and CHC). Give sacrificially to the work of Kids Against Hunger here so we can send more food quickly. But don't stop there. Take it to the next level.

Bring an orange or a loaf of bread to your elders, your deacons, your missions pastor or your benevolence committee. Tell them that a seven year old girl traded her young body for sex because she was hungry and this is what she got in return. A small amount of food and most likely HIV/AIDs.

Then ask if there are any church funds that have not been spent yet. Any funds at all. Worship funds, mission funds, building funds, vision goals funds, doesn’t matter. Ask them to spend it on saving lives now and not later. Ask them for their commitment to do more this year and in the church budget next year. And then pray with them that the Lord would multiply those funds.

Openhanded

Tim Keller recently published The Gospel and the Poor. On biblical history, it digs deeper than The Hole in Our Gospel (one of my favorite reads). A strong parallel between the two can be seen, however, as Keller stresses the biblical heritage of caring for the poor, the alien and the orphan.

He writes from Jonathan Edwards, ‘bear one another’s burdens’ means that we must not wait until a man is absolutely destitute before we help him. After all, we would not wait until we were destitute to help ourselves, and we must love our neighbor as ourselves. We must not limit our aid to those we know well, for we must receive strangers. We must not limit our aid to only the "deserving" poor, for Christ did not so limit his ministry.

He concludes - God has a special (but not exclusive) concern for the marginalized of the world, and the church must reflect that in the most practical ways. Anyone who has a surplus of goods with which they could help others, but who refuses to do so, calls into question one’s very understanding of and commitment to the gospel.

Interesting point. What is a surplus of goods? Would unspent missions budgets and capital campaigns described as vision funds qualify as a surplus of goods? Here's an idea: re-allocate a percentage of those savings to the orphan, the hungry and the poor. If that is not possible, then use the interest that the funds earn for the orphan, the hungry and the poor. Neither may be easy but I believe it would be the right thing to do.

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. (Deuteronomy 15:11)

We have two close friends and partners in ministry that need help TODAY. They need open hands that will bless them so that they can bless others - and that is all that they do - bless others sacrificially - their hands are always open. They have no reserve funds, capital campaigns, etc. They give it all away. They are on the verge of shutting down for lack of funds.

Mission Harvest America, run by missionaries Dewey & Clara Painter is about to close their doors for lack of funds. One of their core ministries is to ship containers of food, clothing, supplies and relief material all over the world. Will you open your hand and bless them?

Foundation Builders International, run by missionaries Jerry & Tracy Reiner, feed, clothe and serve the needy all over Ohio. They are trying to live on air with their children. Will you open your hand and bless them?

By the way, have you noticed that Deuteronomy 15:11 does not use the word "suggest"?

Are You Ready?

Life remains a struggle for survival in Southern Sudan. Twenty-one years of war, North against South, has left 2 million dead and another 4 million displaced. The mind cannot absorb such staggering dimensions of suffering. Of hunger. Of thirst. What did this mother feel as she carried her lifeless child who just starved to death?

We know of a gifted senior pastor in Conn. that has gone with people from his church to the Sudan, many times. They teach. They give. Over and over. Their rewards are piling up. They were ready when the call came from above.

That picture in the Sudan is repeated around the globe today. To be honest, that gets overwhelming for me sometimes. There are days when I feel like I am just running in place. Spending a lot of energy, time and effort trying to make a difference. But accomplishing little.

Perhaps prophetically, a local pastor has been saying that The King is Coming. Are You Ready To Meet the King? Sobering thought we all need to answer. Ironically, many church goers are convinced that they are ready. Are they really ready? Are you ready?

There is a passage in Luke 3 worth pondering. The Message paraphrase is pretty descriptive of the scene with John the Baptist telling it as it was (and as it is today):

When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded:… Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God's judgment? It's your life that must change…What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire."

The crowd asked him, "Then what are we supposed to do?" "If you have two coats, give one away," he said. "Do the same with your food."

That is troublesome. I struggle with what I have compared to how much I am giving away. I have not given away ½ of my coats nor ½ of my food. I am holding onto retirement funds and other stuff. I justify holding onto what I do have even though I have seen hungry children like the one in the photo. I must remember that the King is coming. When I see Him, I want to ready.

Good works does not earn salvation. Never did. Salvation comes from grace alone. But a lack of good works may be a sign that something is wrong. Limited good works by the saved will limit the rewards that are given to the saved.

Lives that are changed should demonstrate a new life in Christ. That is what John is saying. The evidence should be there.
Clearly. Selflessly. Frequently. Compassionately.

That evidence can be seen in those who go, those who give, those who are ready.

Are you going? Are you giving? Are you ready?

The Hole in Our Leadership

Billy Graham was asked once what he thought was the hardest thing for people to grasp about God.

"The most difficult thing for people to believe is the idea that God is good," he replied. When asked why, he answered: "Because people are in so much pain."

For all of the hurt that exists, how is it believable that God is good? How do Christians make the argument for God's goodness in the face of such pain? What are disciples of Christ called to do? The answer is to read the Book, the entire Book and do what it says. But that is where the problem begins.

The problem is not the Bible. There is no problem in the Old Testament, the New Testament or any of the Gospels. But there is a big problem in church leadership. Perhaps unknowingly, leaders have been teaching from a "special" Bible - one with key passages missing. The holes in the Bible (missing passages) are where the text taught on justice, compassion, the poor, the orphan and the marginalized. If you cutout (avoid) those passages, the Church remains unaware and they will respond accordingly (in ignorant bliss). But ignorant bliss is not the charter of the Church!

The world outside the Church is waiting. Christ is waiting. Where are the followers of Jesus Christ in the midst of perhaps the greatest humanitarian crises of our time? Has the Church been led by pastors of passion or expert expositors of everything but the holes in our Gospel? Have our leaders told and taught their Church that:

• Africa burns with HIV and AIDs
• The orphans of the world could stretch around the United States over 4 times
• Thousands of children die from hunger and thirst daily
• We have more US churches than foster care kids - and these kids do not have homes

Our leaders should have. Some have. Many haven’t. As such, I believe that there are holes in our leadership within the Church. Author Richard Stearns in his book The Hole in Our Gospel levies an indictment upon the leadership of the Church with the sound of a angry judge’s gavel. Surely the Church should have been caring for these “orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). The pulpits across America should have flamed with exhortations to rush to the front lines of compassion. Shouldn’t they be flaming today? Shouldn’t countless churches be reaching out to care for children in such desperate need? How could the great tragedy of these children at risk get drowned out by choruses of praise music in hundreds of thousands of churches across our country without one word being said? How could we be spending more on worship, building expansion and church growth strategies than we do for 40% of the world who live on less than $2 a day? We have because of holes in our leadership.

When was the last time the person at the podium opened up the pocketbook of the church and poured out the dollars and said this is not for us but for them? When did they warn you of the consequences of walking away from the poor here, there and around the world?

Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need. (Proverbs 21:13)

Here is a suggestion. Buy The Hole in Our Gospel for your pastors and elders. Ask them to read it, to perhaps teach from it in the pulpit and then to respond to the great needs described in the book. If they chose not to, then it may be necessary for you and others to do something that will save your church. Change the leadership. If they chose to repair the holes, to fill in the texts and teach the whole Gospel, then thank God. You just saved your church! Better than that, your church will become the Body of Christ that it was intended to be. Watch the following and see