Charitable giving: how much? what?

Ever wanted to know. . .

• how many German, French or Italians have to give to equal what the average American gives to charity?
• how much Americans give to charity? how much Americans spend at Walmart? which is more?  how much Walmart gives to charity?
• the #1 reason the wealthiest people say they don’t give more?
• how much of your dollar really gets to the people that need it most?
• what kinds of organizations people are giving to?

Very interesting and eye-catching graphic here!

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Extreme makeover: home and heaven editions

This Sunday night Extreme Makeover, the very popular TV show, will feature a house that was completely “made over” in Erie, PA.  At least one member of our congregation was involved in the process and she was very excited about it. Lots of people working together for a common cause to give someone a new home.

I thought that it would be appropriate then to post Stephen Altrogge’s recent analogy between what happens in the show and what will happen in heaven one day to the people of God!

I love the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I’m not an emotional guy, but I always get choked up when I watch the show. I just can’t help it.

One of the reasons that I love the show is because it’s a faint echo of what each Christian will experience when he or she comes face to face with Christ in heaven. For example:

Wrong Made Right

The show revolves around wrongs being righted. A family loses its house in a fire or a mom contracts leukemia and can’t live in her old, mildew-ridden house. By the end of the show however, everything is made right, and is even better than before. The homeless family receives a luxurious mansion tailored for their special needs. The family sheds tears of relief, because their hardship has been transformed into beauty.

Heaven is going to be the same way, but infinitely greater. Every injustice made right. Every tear wiped away. Perfect safety and peace in the presence of our Savior. Everything that has been twisted and torn by sin will be made right on the final day. Ty Pennington and his crew can make some things right. Jesus will make all things right.

Extravagant Generosity

The folks on the Extreme Makeover team take creative generosity to a new level. They build a house for a ravaged family and then pay the mortgage in full. They create a special bedroom for each person that reflects that person’s passions and desires. They raise money for the family and send kids to college. They bring in celebrities and do food drives.

The result? The end of every show is one “Oh my goodness” after another. The family is blown out of the water by the unmerited generosity they’ve received.

We’re going to experience the same feeling when we stand before Christ and are rewarded for our obedience. We’re going to exclaim, “You’re going to reward me? For that little act of service that was stained by sin? Oh my goodness. I don’t deserve this.” And then, as we’re overwhelmed by gratitude, we’ll cast our crowns back at the feet of the Savior.

The Loud Crowd

The family is always welcomed to their new home by a crowd that is going absolutely bananas. The people want to communicate their affection to the family and they want to see the family’s reaction to the new house. And so the crowd is screaming and giving high-fives and yelling, “Move that bus!”

We’re going to be embraced by a crowd in heaven. A multitude of saints awaits us, cheering us on even now, urging us to the finish line. When we arrive in heaven, we’ll hear their thunderous applause and shouts of, “You made it! I’m so glad you’re here! Isn’t God good?” Then we’ll hear the words we’ve always longed to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Finally Home

Every show concludes with Ty Pennington saying, “Welcome home family, welcome home.” The exiled family finally has a place to call home, a place for peace and rest.

We are exiles as well. As Randy Alcorn says, we were made for a person and a place. That person is Jesus, that place is heaven. When we arrive in heaven, we’ll immediately sense, this is the home I was always longing for. We’ll be with Jesus in the place we were made for. We’ll finally be home.

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Listening well every Sunday

Do you want to encourage your pastor this Sunday?  One way to do so is to actively and diligently listen to the message.  Tim Challies begins an article worth every Christian’s time this way:

“We set high expectations for our pastors, and rightly so, I think. Ministers of the Word have a high calling before God to be his mouthpiece, to bring his Word to his people. We expect that every Sunday we will sit under the pastor’s teaching and learn sacred truths from his mouth. We expect that he will spend his week studying Scripture and digging deeply into God’s Word so that he can teach us something on Sunday that will change our lives. We expect him to be true to Scripture, to make a good presentation of it and to keep us engaged all the while. It is a difficult and often thankless task.

What we consider less often, I think, is that while a pastor bears great responsibility in preparing for and delivering the Word of God each Sunday, the listener shares in the responsibility. The church has no place for an audience. We are all to be involved in the preaching, even as listeners. We may drive home on Sunday muttering about the pastor’s lack of preparation after a less-than-engaging sermon, but how often do we drive away reflecting on our own lack of preparation? How often should we trace our lack of learning or our lack of engagement right back to our own lack of preparation?”

Tim addresses how to prepare before a sermon with weekly, physical, personal, and spiritual preparation.  He then discusses paying attention during the message as well as how to interact with the message after it is over.

Read the rest of the article and then ask, “How can I prepare to be a better listener of God’s Word this Sunday?”

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The means of justification: redemption

The means by which God justifies us is “through the redemption that is Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).  Redemption speaks of deliverance through the payment of a ransom, i.e. the blood of Christ.

“even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (Matthew 20:28).

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Ephesians 1:7).

“Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15).

“. . .you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,  but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” (Revelation 5:9).

Have you been justified by the blood of Jesus Christ?  Are you resting in Christ alone or Christ plus something to be right with God?

I spoke more about this truth in this week’s message (audio and manuscript)

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