Merry CHRISTmas! What a great time of year as we remember the awesome gift that God gave us in the form of His son; and when we in turn get the joy of giving to others.
With that said I hear that giving will be down this year because of the economy. Maybe that is true but I find stores and parking lots to still be quite the challenge. I still see all kinds of kids with cell phones, game systems, mP3’s, etc. For being in a recession we are still living pretty large!
I then hear that ministry/charitable giving is way down. Whether it is pastors I talk to or fellow-missionaries I get the same story, finances are low to non-existent. That concerns me on where our priorities are.
Last week was a good hoops week for ESPN. It was Jimmy V week, in honor of the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research. Most remember Jimmy as the coach of the NC State Wolfpack that had the miracle NCAA championship in 1983. Others know Jimmy based on his fight with cancer in the early 90’s that culminated with his famous speech on the ESPY Awards around a month before his death.
To date the Jimmy V foundation has raised over $80 million. And I love the fact that it all goes to research to help find a cure. It is a great cause and one that probably affects everyone reading this. Whether it be cancer, AIDS, or other diseases I think it is imperative to work toward cures.
Yet as a missionary I have some concerns for the body of Christ and our priorities. We claim to believe that the Gospel is the cure for an eternal malady of separation from God for eternity in Hell; yet we don’t consistently share the “cure’ or financially support it.
Some might argue that over the same time period of the Jimmy V Foundation’s fundraising the church and ministries have received over $80 million. True but how much has gone specifically to sharing the “cure”? We are much more concerned with bigger buildings, better sound systems, stained glass windows, etc. than we are the proclamation of the Gospel.
Why I love the Jimmy V Foundation is because the monies that come in go straight to the cause! As the church I’m not so thrilled. In general we lack a missionary focus (both home and abroad) that truly acts as though we have the “cure.” In general we spend way more on making ourselves comfortable than we do on sharing the “cure.”
Jim Valvano said these things in his 1993 ESPY speech:
“Time is very precious to me. I don’t know how much I have left and I have some things I would like to say.”
“…500,000 people will die this year of cancer. I also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease, and yet somehow we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background. I want to bring it back to the front table. We need your help. I need your help. We need money for research…It may save someone you love.”
I echo these sentiments from Jim:
Time is very precious to me. I don’t know how much I/we have left and I have some things I’d like to say.
Over 56 million people will die this year. That's over 150,000 a day. I would guess that a large majority of these do not know Christ. We need your help. I need your help. It may even save someone you love.
This newsletter/blog is a challenge to you and to me to wake up and prioritize our giving and our service. As individuals and churches we need to make the main thing the main thing! Christ left us marching orders to proclaim the Gospel not just to eat doughnuts in the foyer.
I’ll end this with a great story of a “giving” heart. My 7 yr old daughter recently went before our church to raise money to buy a goat and two chickens through World Vision. As she was on the way to church she looked at my wife and said, “Momma, if I don’t get enough today at church do you think I could leave my bucket out and Santa would give the rest instead of giving me toys?” (Side note: she raised enough for 2 goats and 4 chickens!)
Where are your priorities?
To give to the outreach of InBounds Ministries go to the following link:
http://www.inboundsministries.com/Support.html
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