The Righteous Give Without Sparing

I am reading through the book of Proverbs again, and today a short little phrase jumped out at me that is right in line with what we have been talking about lately in church regarding generosity. The phrase is found in the last part of Proverbs 21:26: "The righteous give without sparing."

It is sad but true that some of the stingiest people I know are Christians, but it’s not supposed to be that way. As we discussed yesterday, Christians are supposed to EXCEL in the grace of giving. And I have also found that many Christians are stingy in ways that some would call “prudent,” but that really demonstrate stinginess and even dishonesty. Here’s a few examples:

• Misuse of the Boss’s Time: This would include things like loafing or not making the best use of your time while you are on the clock. This is called stealing. The generous person gives to his/her employer without sparing.

• Stingy with Tips at Restaurants: This is a pet-peeve of mine. My younger brother used to be a waiter at Red Lobster, and he said the no one wanted to work the Sunday afternoon shift because they all knew that the after-church crowd were the worst tippers! I hate that! The after-church crowd should be excel everyone else in their generous tips.

• Abuse of Coupons, Deals, and Contracts: Have you ever seen one of those coupons that says, “One per family?” In other words, you can’t clip two of the same coupon and get in on the deal twice. But the way a lot of families get around this is to use the coupons on different days. Joyce Meyer said that she used to get around those kinds of deals by having her daughter go to one checkout line while she was in another. And then one day when she was cheating the grocery store on a chicken coupon, God said to her, “I hope you enjoy your chicken, because you are sacrificing My blessing and favor for the sake of that chicken.” This same standard would also apply to how you do your taxes, resisting the temptation to download music without paying for it, downloading software that you haven't paid for, etc. There are several areas where Christians forfeit God’s favor and blessing for the sake of a few bucks because at heart they are really stingy (greedy). You could be tithing and giving well enough, but these are areas where you could be short-circuiting the blessing process from your tithing.

• Being constant a constant taker: This simply means that you are always looking for freebies. There’s certainly nothing wrong with taking advantage of a freebie when it is being offered, but all too often people are known by their “vulture” mentality. In other words, they are always quickly on the scene whenever there is a freebie being offered, but they are strangely absent whenever there are opportunities to give. I know people who truly love God, but they are takers and not givers. They will not miss any opportunity to sponge off someone else because there is constant scarcity in their lives because they have never excelled in the grace of giving. They do not realize that they could break the cycle of scarcity by being generous on every occasion and reversing the sowing and reaping process that is currently working against them.

• The “Little Foxes.” The scriptures say that it is the little foxes that spoil the vine. Sometimes your financial breakthrough can be blocked by seemingly the most insignificant things. For example, one thing that God has brought to my attention recently is an extension cord. That’s right. I have an extension cord in my possession that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the hotel where our church is currently meeting, and it got packed away by accident along with my other cords. One evening we needed an extension cord for something, and I grabbed that one and have been using it. I have had every intention of returning it, but it seems like such a small thing that I haven’t yet taken the time. But guess what? While that’s only about a ten dollar cord and the hotel would never notice that it’s missing, that ten dollar cord can block my blessings because it doesn’t belong to me. Likewise, YOU must be sensitive to similar areas where you have been lax about seemingly insignificant things. Take care of them NOW! Your future blessings could depend on it.


These are just a few areas where people often do not realize that they are takers and not givers. The bottom line is that we need to learn to be generous on EVERY occasion, and begin to develop the mentality of liberal giving and generosity. I know it’s difficult to turn loose of that poverty mentality, which makes you feel as if you have to pinch every penny until the buffalo squeals. Some people call that prudent, but God calls it stingy.

I am not against saving and budgeting and being wise with your money. But that can be taken to an unbiblical extreme. When your saving and budgeting takes precedence over generosity, it has just become a god to you, and God is not obligated to bless your idolatry.

There is a money makeover program out there that teaches wise spending and budgeting. For the most part I totally agree with the concepts taught in this program. Where I tend to disagree with it is how it teaches people to be subservient to money by pinching every penny with maniacal madness, and taking on a second job so that you can get out of debt faster. Generosity is nowhere to be found in this program, and so there is a subtle undercurrent of idolatry being taught.

Again, I am very much for saving and budgeting and being financially prudent, but God didn’t say that He would make you rich in every way by you clutching every dollar for dear life. He said he would make you rich in every way THROUGH YOUR GENEROSITY so that you can continue to be generous on every occasion (see 2 Corinthians 9:6-11).

So in closing, I just want to challenge you. If you are not yet experiencing abundance in your finances, then perhaps you need to do a gut check. Are there areas where you are being stingy, or perhaps even dishonest? If the Biblical Laws of prosperity are not working for you yet, it’s not God’s fault. You are blowing it somewhere, and you need to find out where so that you can remove that barrier and proceed to prosper. So many people limp along just hoping that at some point something is going to be different, but they don’t change anything. Maybe you are a giver, but you have not seen the kind of breakthrough that you have hoped for. Well, then there’s something somewhere that is blocking your blessings, and chances are it is something you can change that you are currently not doing right. When you find out what it is and repent, the dam will break and the blessings will begin to flow.

Preaching the Covenant

This past Sunday my older brother, Gary, visited Blessed Life Fellowship. Gary is 55, and has lived most of his life avoiding church and disliking most of what he has seen from Christianity American-style. His impression of Christianity all his life has been that God was a tight-fisted tyrant who only wanted to judge him and condemn him for his sins. And Gary ran from that god, as anyone would.

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Gary at length about what God is really like, that God wants to bless him and give him hope and a good future (Jeremiah 29:11). Apparently he had never heard anything like that! And it excited him. Like many people, if there's anything Gary needs right now it's hope. Because of circumstances in his life that were brought about both by his own bad choices and also because of things outside his control, Gary has lived without much peace or fulfillment in his life for many years now. He was ready to hear about hope.

So he decided he would come to church to hear more. In the context of my sermon, I taught more on the covenant and how we get to exchange ourselves for all that God has to offer. And then over lunch I asked him if he was ready to walk in covenant with God, and he instantly answered yes.

It's amazing how easy evangelism can be sometimes when we teach people about the benefits of covenant.

Some may say that this is an illegitimate way to evangelize because it causes people to approach God for selfish reasons. But I must ask, how does anyone come to Christ? Don't we call come for selfish reasons? We want to avoid hell and go to heaven -- that's the bottom line. Why is it any more selfish to come to God in order to receive the benefits that He is already offering?

The fact is, when I cornered Gary about counting the cost and let him know that following Christ often means persecution and self-denial, he was still on board. Why? Well, here's his little brother who he's known all his life explaining to him how God has radically changed my life. And he knows that first hand. He's been there and watched me through the years when I was, in his words, "a sorry S.O.B." And I was. But he has also seen a dramatic transformation take place before his eyes, and has stood by and watched as God caused my life to blossom, flourish, and prosper more than any of our other five siblings. He knew that only God could bring this about. And he wanted to be a part of it.

One of the reasons it's so important for you and me to walk in covenant with God and learn how to tap into His covenant blessings is because of the other lives that it effects. People are looking for hope, and sometimes it's hard to find it in the world these days. God wants to bless you in order to establish His covenant in the earth (Deut. 8:18), which partly means that He is going to use you to make HImself look good in the earth.

So you enjoying the covenant blessings of God will help people find God and enter the Kingdom! And that's exactly what it's done for my brother, Gary. Praise God!

You are Who You Believe You Are

As a follow-up to this past Sunday's teaching, I feel it is important to stop and meditate on the truth of Psalm 23:7. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." (KJV)

Did you know that your life is where it is right now because of your mindset, what you believe about yourself? Some people have trouble getting to the next level in their lives, careers, finances, etc, because even though they might believe in and embrace the Biblical principles of prosperity, they still can't see themselves with abundance and operating in leadership positions. That stifles their potential, because a person can never go higher in life than where his/her expectations will take him/her.

What are you being held back by? Perhaps it would be a good exercise to stop and contemplate that for a few minutes. What mental barriers prevent you from being all that God created you to be, doing all that God created you to do, and having all that God created you to have? If you can answer that, then you have taken a very important first step in beginning the process of busting down that self-imposed barrier just like the Germans busted down the Berlin Wall so many years ago.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has the God-given ability within them to succeed and live an extraordinary life. Why is it, then, that so many people don't? It's because of their belief, primarily, and because of their tenacity (or lack therof) secondly. Successful people believe in themselves and in their destinies, and they don't give up when things look like they are not going their way. They tenaciously go after their dream like a parent will tenaciously go after a child in a burning building. There is nothing that can stop them.

I encourage you to discover your self-imposed barriers and smash through those walls that have been holding you back. And then go after your destiny with tenacity.

Going to the Next Level

This past Sunday we had the privilege of pastor Gregg Jackson being with us and ministering powerfully. Pastor Gregg is known for his acutely accurate prophetic anointing, and while that part of his ministry was great, I was very blessed by his teaching.


It was obvious that God was at work, because I had asked pastor Gregg to teach on a completely different topic, and he emailed me a few days before and asked if he could teach on something else. He felt like God was leading him in a different direction, and when he explained to me what he wanted to teach, I knew it was definitely divinely inspired, because it was right in line with what God has been speaking to us as a church for the last few weeks.


You’ll recall that a few weeks ago Kyle Brooks brought an inspired teaching about working together and being single-minded in order to accomplish much greater things than we could accomplish on our own. He used the people who were building the Tower of Babel as an example of the impossible becoming possible if enough people unite and have their minds set on the same vision.


The next week I followed up Kyle’s session with a teaching on developing a mission mindset for your life. I explained that we were made to accomplish something significant for the Kingdom in this life. Our lives are not accidents. We were designed with purpose in mind. Thus, we MUST be about our Father’s business and be occupying until He comes. And pastor Gregg’s teaching was the perfect follow-up.
Pastor Gregg talked about breaking out of the old and launching out into the territory where God desires to take us. That’s a romantic concept if we left it right there, but the reality is, which pastor Gregg elaborated on, is that taking the new territory requires being able to leave what is familiar and comfortable. We will never experience what God has in mind for us as individuals, families, and as a church unless we are willing to leave the familiarity of Egypt and launch out and cross the unknowns of the wilderness in order to eventually reach the Promised Land.


Okay, so what does that look like?


Glad you asked.


For starters, it takes being willing to be inconvenienced at times and set your personal agenda aside sometimes.


I can’t help but to consider the incredible sacrifices that the disciple Peter made when Jesus called him. Remember when Peter and his crew had fished all night and caught nothing? While they were cleaning their nets, Jesus wanted to borrow one of their boats so he could teach just off shore. That probably inconvenienced Peter enough, but then Jesus had the audacity to tell Peter to launch back out again after they had been busy cleaning their nets from a failed night of fishing. At first Peter expressed his exasperation with the request. But there must have been something about Jesus that compelled him. After a split second, he then said, “But at your command, we’ll launch back out.” The results? They caught a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish that was so immense that Peter knew he was in the presence of the divine. Amazingly, Peter left what surely was an incredible financial windfall in order to follow Jesus. He just up and left everything…all that he had worked for all his life. He made a dramatic change, and as a result he made history.


What about you? Are you willing to be inconvenienced – to have set your own personal agenda aside at times in order to follow Jesus wherever he may lead? Hold on! Before you answer, check your heart. Are you willing to lay down your life for the sake of the gospel, because that’s what Jesus said He requires of you. That may not mean that you have to literally die a martyr’s death, but it will often mean that you have to take up your cross and follow Jesus by refusing to give into the American "me-first" mindset. It will mean giving up your own identity to identify with Christ in a mission larger than yourself.


What that looks like in terms of your specific life calling, I can’t say. But one thing I can say is that God desires His people to unite into a move of humanity that makes history.


It’s exciting to me that God has begun a work with Blessed Life Fellowship that is brand new. We didn’t come into a church that already existed to make changes. We started something BRAND NEW THAT NEVER EXISTED BEFORE! While it’s hard work to start something from the ground up, it’s exciting at the same time, because we are on our way to impacting our culture in a new way.


Here’s something to chew on as I close this post: Columbus has become known as a very stodgy, religious community that is bound by tradition. Isn’t it great that God has called us to begin something that is non-traditional, new, and fresh? We are offering a message that is sorely needed in this very time, that God wants to bless His people, to give us hope and a future! THAT’S GOOD NEWS THAT THE WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR NOW MORE THAN EVER, AND GOD IS USING US TO MAKE THAT GOOD NEWS KNOWN TO OUR COMMUNITY!


And as a last point, let me also say that one of the largest churches in the Midwest, Southwest Church, in Louisville, Kentucky -- a church boasting 20,000 people, was started out of someone’s living room! So let’s not think small. As Kyle likes to say, God can save by few or by many! Anything is possible as we join hands in a divinely inspired mission!


Here we go!

Occupy Until He Comes

As an addendum to yesterday's message on creating a mission mindset for your life, I wanted to add some additional thoughts here that I did not have time to cover in the teaching.

As you know, the interpretations of end times prophecy are all over the map. There is pre-tribulation theology, mid-trib, and post-trib, and there is a group of people, including famous theologian R.C. Sproul, who believe that most of the prophecies in Daniel, Revelations, Matthew 24, and Mark 13, to name just a few, refer to events that have already taken place (i.e. Jesus' figurative return in the judgment of Israel when Rome sacked Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and completely destroyed the Temple, where not one stone was left upon another).

The reason I bring this up is because many modern Christians' views of end times events have crippled our ability to advance the Kingdom in our present age because of an escapist mentality. In other words, many Christians are waiting for Jesus to return and rescue them from an evil age instead of occupying the territory and doing the work of the Kingdom until He comes.

To 'occupy' is a military term meaning to advance against the enemy, take territory previously occupied by the enemy, and take up residency there where a new rule is set up. That's what we are supposed to be doing, NOT sitting aroud waiting for Jesus to rescue us.

Here's a sobering thought: While these are troubling times to be sure, there is no gaurantee that Jesus is coming back in our lifetime. So we had better be busy doing the work of the Kingdom while we are here. When we stand before the Great Bema Seat Judgment someday, it will not be an acceptable excuse for not using our time better to say, "I thought you were coming back any day."

Friends, if Jesus does come back in our lifetime, HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD WE BE ABOUT THE WORK OF OUR MASTER BEFORE HE RETURNS!

It's time to get busy getting before the Lord and asking Him to help you develop a vision and mission for your life, and then do something everyday toward that mission. It doesn't have to be grandiose; it just has to be Kingdom focused.

Practical Insights on Health and Healing, Part 2

In continuing our subject on health and healing, we are focusing on the practical steps a person can take in caring for his/her temple in order to live long and live strong. In doing so, I thought I would borrow a few pages from a great new book.


In the book by Dan Buettner entitled, Blue Zones: Lessons from Living Longer from People Who've Lived the Longest, author Dan Buettner highligts the most common denominator's of culture's where people are living longer and healthier - areas now being referred to as Blue Zones. Interestingly, one of only four Blue Zone's globally is right here in the United States, in Loma Linda, California, in a close-knit Seventh Day Adventist community.


Here is a list of Blue Zone characteristics:


High Level of Daily Activity

Daily "thoughtless" activity and exercise is key to good health and longevity. Thoughtless activity is the kind one does without necessarily thinking about it, such as raking the yard, mowing the grass with a push mower, walking to your destinations if possible, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc. With some forethought, there are countless ways to get exercise without putting in time at the gym. If you enjoy gym workouts, however, or must use gym equipment because of an otherwise busy lifestyle, then occupying the mind with stimuli not focused on the exercise while you are at work is a great alternative. In most gyms these days, you can find a "cardio theatre," where television sets are positioned in front of the cardio equipment. This outside stimuli really does help in keeping your mind focused on something other than the discomfort you may be feeling during a grueling and/or boring workout.


Cut Calories

Another characteristic of Blue Zone living is calorie restriction. An easy way to do this is simply eat more slowly, because by eating fast you put food into the stomach faster than what the satiety chemicals like CCK can respond to. By the time CCK kicks in makes you start feeling full, you've already eaten significantly more than you would have otherwise. Also, eating smaller amounts more often is also a way to keep hunger pangs at bay but controlling your caloric intake at the same time.


This principle may be the most important one in light of what modern science is telling us about disease factors. According to modern medical science, being overweight is a better predictor of disease then smoking cigarettes and abusing alcohol. Did you get that? Excess bodyweight exponentially increases the chances of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and a host of other maladies, even more so than some of the nasty habits Christians so often condemn.


Cut Down on Meat and Prepared Foods

I'm not advocating a vegetarian diet necessarily. But eliminating animal protein at least one meal per day can reap benefits. It really does not take much meat to provide all the protein that the average person needs to stay healthy, and the saturated fat that is characteristic of beef and pork doesn't help. Eating leaner meats like poultry, fish, and eggs is a great way to get high quality protein without as much saturated fat.


Also, eliminating or at least cutting way back on fried foods in favor of broiling and baking is a huge plus, and choosing plant-based whole foods over refined, processed, packaged foods is the high road.


Red Wine in Moderation

All Blue Zones are known by their intake of red wine in moderation. The phytochemicals in red wine are potent, life-giving antioxidants. Of course, I have often questioned whether or not it's the phytochemicals in red wine alone that provide the benefit, or if there is also something beneficial about the alcohol itself. I think most would be prone to say the former, but there is a scripture in the book of Psalms that I find interesting. It says wine is a gift from God given to "make glad the heart of man." It appears that the relaxing effects of the alcohol may have benefit, as long as it is not abused. No more than one small glass per day is the upper level of consumption that seems to show benefit. More than that and wine can have the reverse effect.


For those who do not enjoy wine, there are, of course, non-alcholic alternatives. Organic grape juice, or better yet, supplementing with nutriceuticals that provide phytochemicals either in a broad spectrum product, or in a high potency product are great alternatives. Some great choices would be phytochemical products that include, but not limited to, resveratrol from grapes, green tea catechins, lycopene from tomatoes, and limonene from citrus fruit. These are powerful phytochemicals that can help prevent disease and slow, to some degree, the aging process.


Stay tuned for Part 2 where I will highlight the next 6 Blue Zone characteristics.

Practical Insights on Health and Healing

Years ago on one episode of Believer's Voice of Victory, Kenneth Copeland was discussing an aspect of health and healing often neglected in "Word of Faith" circles. He began by explaining that he had struggled with nagging joint pain on and off for quite some time. Being a great man of faith, he would pray and believe for healing and the pain would go away. But it would inevitably come back. After several episodes of this he finally decided that he'd had enough, and he traveled to his mountain cabin to fast and pray until he could get a breakthrough. And while on his fast, he made sure to bring his coffee thermos, because he didn't go anywhere without his coffee.

When Kenneth began praying, it didn't take too long for him to sense that God was speaking to him about his excessive coffee consumption. "Lord," he protested. "I'm here to seek You about this joint pain, not to talk about coffee." And then he proceeded praying again. But again he sensed that God wanted to talk about coffee. After a moment or two of protest, it finally dawned on him tha God was telling Kenneth that the source of his joint pain was his excessive consumption of coffee. So he reduced his coffee consumption down to a reasonable amount, and his joint pain went away and never came back.

It's great to develop great faith for healing and be able to see God move in extraordinary ways, but it's even better to be enjoying abundant health day-to-day and not have to rely on a miracle. Just as God is eager to show His faithfulness in giving us miracles when we need them, He is just as eager -- perhaps more so -- for us to develop wisdom in our daily lives so as to not require a miracle to get ourselves out of trouble.

People understand this concept when it comes to finances, but for the most part we don't seem to understand it where caring for the temples we call our bodies. We pretty much treat our bodies like rental cars, as if we're only using them for a short time but not really that interested in taking care of them for the long haul.

The scriptures say in Hosea 4:6 that God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Indeed, God's people suffer all kinds of sickness and disease not only because of ignorance of the articles of their Covenant, which includes healing, but they also suffer because they abuse themselves. They literally treat their cars, which are replaceable, better than their bodies, which are not replaceable.

So in the next couple of posts or so, I am going to provide some practical and do-able tips in caring for your Temple so that you can -- as Gloria Copeland says -- live long, and live strong.

Stay tuned.