Pay to Ceasar

 “A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” – Mark 12:42-44

What I have noticed in life is that the more we have the harder it is to give it away.  There was a time in my career when I would scrape and dig just to find a few quarters or a dollar to put enough gas in the car to get home.  It was at those times, though, I was certain to put a tithe in the offering plate on Sunday morning’s.  This tithe was often times quite small, but fully represented my heart in giving back to God what He had given to me.  As we draw toward the tax day in the U.S., I look at the unjust economic system and cringe as I realize that, even in retirement, my Government is demanding nearly 3X what my God requests from me.  Where should my loyalty rest?

 I have been truly blessed in my life, not by any of my doing.  Certainly, my fingers may have been on the keyboard, and my mind has been at work to shape and mold successful business structures, and models that have helped the companies I have worked for flourish.  But all of that comes from the Lord.  He alone has given me the wisdom, passion, gifts, and strengths to achieve what my employer had asked me to accomplish.  I was able to deliver on projects at work only because the Lord gave me the strength and knowledge at the right time to provide guidance and leadership as necessary.  If it were not for His love for me and His desire to see me move forward in my career, I dare say I would still be digging for quarters in the back seat of my '73 Buick Lesabre.  My philosophy is simple: everything I have is from the Lord – money, material possessions, health, family, love, talents, skills, knowledge, and passions.  For how could I have created a brain cell or a muscle or a tongue or eyes in order to do the things I have done since birth. 

Do not get me wrong, I am certainly aware that my life is an amalgamation of experiences, learnings, wisdom acquired through trial and error, and many mistakes along the way.  Just like you and every other one of the 8 billion people on this planet, I learned that a stove is hot, either by touching it or by listening to my parents.  I’m saying that before that, from the very moment of birth, my brain was already functioning to the point of capability to take in these new experiences.  At birth, only minutes old, you have already learned to breathe, cry, speak audible tones, hear, move your muscles, suckle, and sleep.  Who taught you to do these things?  Where did that knowledge come from?  Your brain started to create knowledge long before you actually began experiencing life. 

There is no denial that something greater than I created myself.  By acknowledging this simple fact, we must then come to realize that this greater force is still working within your mind and soul to survive and succeed in this world.  Nothing you have is without His doing, for at the core of your capability to achieve anything in life is His design, creation, and execution.  You are a result of His creative process, and therefore, He is responsible for all that you have obtained.  Humble yourself to realize that though you are extremely knowledgeable, wise, and capable in this life, only because He designed you to be.

What are you giving back to Him who created you?  Malachi 3:10 we read, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”   Why do we find it so hard to follow this simple guidance from the Lord?  A tithe is 10%.  This means 10% of your time should be focused on expanding God’s Kingdom, 10% of your talent should be given back to serving those in need, and 10% of your treasure.  We pay taxes to our Government because it is legal, but we shouldn’t tithe for the same reason.  We should be tithing because it is our way to demonstrate our faith, love, and thanksgiving for the Lord’s provision in our life.  You may not have a church family to tithe to.  If this is the case, then tithe to a local charity, food bank, shelter, or ministry.  Give back to God what He has given to you, and trust in His promise to bless you.  As my Pastor has said multiple times, “I would much rather have 90% of my income with God’s blessings, than 100% without.”  Seems pretty logical to me.

It’s Not Yours

Make 2014 a year of Sharing

“If you are really eager to give, it isn’t important how much you are able to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you don’t have.”  – 2 Corinthians 8:12

 I took Lisa out to dinner a few weeks ago.  We had just been approved for our build-loan so we decided to treat ourselves.  The food was great, the company was better, but the waitress was incredible that night.  She ensured that we always had full water glasses, brought additional warm rolls and honey butter and spent time with us as if we were the only ones in the restaurant.  She laughed with us, carried on a conversation and made sure that she met all of our needs that night.  As I received the bill, without a second guess I wrote in the tip of 20% on top of the sizable bill.  

Generosity has never been a shortcoming in our household.  It is a love language of both of us, and we have to consistently check each other with a discerning objective counsel to ensure that we aren’t being taken advantage of.  In life we are blessed, not for the purpose of our wasteful spending, but for the purpose of helping God’s children in need.  Tithing 10% of one’s income is the only place in the bible where God specifically tells us to test Him.  Whatever means we have, His request is for us to cheerfully give 10% to the church and live off of 90%.  Certainly God wants us to tithe, not because it’s a monthly bill or legalistic; but because we want to see the expansion of His Kingdom on earth.  If we can tip a waitress 10% for the basic act of serving our food, are we not willing to give the Lord 10% for providing a path of salvation and eternal life?  He asks us to give of our time and our talents to help those who are in need.  As a matter of fact He asks for us to give everything to serve Him. 

What a novel concept.  How many people do you know that have given everything to serve God with 100%?  They’ve given up the luxuries for the simplest of necessities.  They’ve given up their dreams to pursue the dreams of a small child in Haiti.  They’ve given up their college education to ensure that the addict on the street corner makes it into the rehab center to get a fresh start.  They’ve given up the corporate office to spooning up stew and soup at the local food shelter.  When you’re ready to give, it is important to give everything you have.  God has blessed you with so very much, and I’m not talking monetarily.  You have talents, gifts and love to share with all of those around you.  What is stopping you from helping the man or woman on the corner that hasn’t eaten in two or three days?  Is it their appearance, is it their addictions, is it a distrust in what they’ll do with what you give them?  I suggest that you put those thoughts aside the next time and take the action to expand God’s Kingdom by one more person.  Share yourself with another and bring them love, comfort and peace for one night.  Let God show Himself through you, He has placed you in this position for a purpose.  Use what He has given you to it’s fullest potential.  It’s time.

Prayer:
Loving Father,
You have given me everything I have; my wealth, my health, my home and my family.  You have blessed me with abundance, that I might use it to propagate and further Your Kingdom.  Place me in the right place at the right time to ensure that those who need it most are found to be favorable in Your eyes and blessed by what You have given me.  I seek to be Your feet and Your hands on this earth, give me Your eyes for just one moment to understand how You see them and love them.  In Your name we pray – Amen

© Sondove Enterprises, 2014
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The Commodity of Time

Make 2014 a year of Sharing

“And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” – Luke 9:58

Serving others in a manner that brings glory to God has very little to do with your means and/or lack there of.  Your heart, your passion and your love is your strength in this world.  It comes down to your desire and your willingness to execute on the plans, when He places them in your heart and mind.  We are called to love God and love others as He has loved us.  This doesn’t take money, time, vehicles or technology.  It simply requires a servants heart willing to hear God’s call and follow through.

Her purpose was to help others feel the love that God had shared with her.  She had spent the majority of her life as a missionary in South Korea where the Lord had sent her and her family.  Upon returning to the USA she realized that there was as much need here, if not more, for God’s love and word to be taken to the people.  In 1986 she started Mission Arlington, just outside of Dallas, Texas.  Her heart’s desire and passion was to take God’s word to the people who could not or would not come to the church.  It has become one of the largest Missions in the United States and is branching out across the globe.  Here we are 28 years later and Mission Arlington provides food, clothing, medical, dental, vision, legal advice, job placement, spiritual enrichment, training for missionaries, child care, education, transportation, youth and sports camps, and financial assistance to tens of thousands of people every day in and around Arlington.  Her name is Tillie Burgin.

The amazing fact about this Mission is that it doesn’t cost Tillie Burgin or her family anything; other than their time and heart felt sacrifice of serving God.  Everything is donated to them, so they in turn can serve the community.  Every morning they open the door for donations and stand in prayer for the needs of their community.  It is amazing how God answers the exact needs of the people through prayer and donations of clothes, furniture, vehicles and other household items.  Medical doctors, Lawyers, Dentists, Teachers and volunteers show up every day to give of their time to help those in need.  They have worked with local church congregations to expand their reach.  In 2012 they were able to touch over 400,000 people with the word of God and many accepted Christ and are now in turn, helping spread the word even farther.  Tillie, is doing this today, giving everything she has to serve God.  It’s not a story of 100 years ago when life was simpler and times were less stressful.  She is a committed example of what the love of God is able to do with one person’s life if only we are willing to let Him.

This is an amazing story, but it isn’t because of anything Tillie Burgin does.  It is God working through her and her family, coupled with volunteers to impact the world around her.  Any one of us could do the same thing tomorrow if we could put the world behind us and focus on God.  The only limitation to succeeding in spreading God’s word, love and grace is self inflicted.  I believe that many of us have become comfortably complacent in our Christian walk and focused on how it is helping us individually, rather than taking on the servants heart and prioritizing our time around serving and helping the greater community. 

Rich Mullins once wrote a song titled, “Homeless Man”; but was tragically killed in a car accident before he recorded and published it. This home video was recorded just 1 week before he passed away in September 1997.  In the song he sings about the fact that Jesus Christ was a homeless man and each day would find His rest and sleep wherever He was.  He was fed through the love and charity of others and the work of His hands. He trusted His Father completely with every moment of every day as He continuously walked the roads of Israel. 

So what are we dependent on?  Over this week we have taken time to think big for what we can do to serve God in a more fruitful with means and without.
STEP 1: Make a list of the things you can do for God assuming you had no limitations
STEP 2: Evaluate what is keeping you from pursuing those things
STEP 3: Make a list of the things you can do for God with no means, no material possessions, job, family or money,

Now on to STEP 4: Evaluate and prioritize your time.  With or without means we are all given the same 86,400 seconds in a day.  You have to make choices on how you are going to use the linear timeline of each day.  The choices all boil down to one of two things: Serving God or Serving yourself.  You can make every excuse you want to about why you have to do what you have to do, but in the end it is an excuse.  We are called to Serve God with our time, treasure and talents.  The bible talks about giving back 10% to the Lord.  If you gave 10% of your daily calendar to serving God, what would it consist of  (8,640 seconds= 2.4 hours).  Where can you find it?  What will you do with it?  Is it really asking too much to give God just 10% of your life?  I know your day is full of things that have to be done so that you can pay the bills, raise a family, and find rest.  We are all consumed with busyness, but we also allow ourselves to be consumed with distractions: TV, Internet, computers, dining out, entertainment, and so on.  We waste no less than 2 to 3 hours a day doing something for ourselves, yet struggle to find 10 minutes to give back to God.  Perhaps we have prioritized incorrectly        


© Sondove Enterprises, 2014
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Counting Down

Read it, Learn It, Live It, Share It

 “Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath “ – Psalm 39:4-5

My number is greater than 8,241 but still less than 26,491.  That certainly narrows it down now doesn’t it?  This is what it would be like if we had an LED on the bedroom wall and every morning you woke to the daily countdown.  Even the Psalmist (believe to be David) wanted to know how many more days he had left.  There is something about deadlines (literally in this case) that help us plan accordingly.

I’d still be a procrastinator.  It’s in my personality, I work best with a finish line mentality, a conclusion to the hard work.  I think many of us operate this way, intentionally or inadvertently.  Play out the scenario with me though.  At what point in my life clock countdown would I wake up and say, “Okay God, it’s time to live for you now.”  Would I use the traditional value of a tithe at 10%, and keep the other 90% to myself and my fun filled action?  According to the University of Washington research in June 2011, the high mark of life expectancy of an average male is 81 years, that’s 29,565 days.  A tithe would mean dedicating 2,956 complete days to the Lord with zero thought, words or activities not focused 100% on Him.

Let’s say that I spend 1 hour a day focused on God through prayer time, serving others, going to church or reading/studying scriptures.  That 1 hour represents 1/24^th of my day (4.2%).  If I have lived 17,309 days at 4.2% for the Lord, that would total 721 days.  If the countdown on the wall read only 12,256 days left, I would need to dedicate 2,235 of those days to God just to reach my 10%.  That means 18% of every day (4.4 hours) in complete focus on His glory and awesomeness.  All of this assumes that I am average and my countdown clock is on target with the “average” male.

There are 2 take aways from this quick analysis. First, It’s amazing how little time we actually spend worshipping and loving God when you put it on a grander scale like a lifetime.  The bible asks for us to offer 10% of our time, talent and treasure back to His kingdom; and He will in turn bless us abundantly, to the point of overflowing.  Based on the above math, I am significantly lacking in the amount of time I am giving back to God.  Secondly, I am thankful that there is no countdown clock on the wall.  The reality is that we need to be living every day as if it is our last.  Worshiping and praising as an expression of love and adoration of the One who created us.  Seeing a clock on the wall, allows procrastinators, like me, to always put it off until tomorrow.  Tomorrow is not promised to any of us, it is but the next step in our yet to be lived life plan.  Live today for the Lord.  Celebrate in the now and for what He has given you.

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
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