Day 8 - Money: A Paradigm Shift, Tebow Shines For The Lord (from Jan. 8th)

Wow, the weekend has gone by so fast.  Tomorrow my fledgling trainees will be pushed out of the nest and will move to their own desks, I will be back to doing what I do, and I will hopefully have another great week back at the Red and Black.  As for today, though, we did our usual Sunday ritual which isn't really ritualistic - but anyway I digress.  We went to Church.  Solid Rock Church is a great place to be on Sunday and as I like to tell people:  "Go to Church. Don't let the hearse take you."  We arrived early (late by my standards) at 830ish for Praise Band practice.  We had a good practice and then we got a chance to get some Biblical teaching in.  The question was asked, "What is faith." Faith for me is a belief in a Savior who died on a cross for the sins I committed AND trusting that what God says in his Word is true.  Now this is Christian faith and as I explained in my answer, atheists have a faith as well.  They have a belief that there is no God which to me is a much harder concept to grasp considering the infinite amount of examples there are of God's existence.  Where the atheist says that every thing came together by some miraculous accident I believe that it takes much more faith to believe in that idea that it does to believe in a true, and living God.  They truly must convince themselves of this.  Our faith tells us (as well as historical records) that Christ was alive. There were many witnesses that saw him ascend into heaven.  There is no tomb containing his bones just a hollowed out piece of rock.  When you look under a microscope and see life, when you look at a DNA helix,  when you look at snowflakes and realize that no two are alike it is simple to believe in an all powerful God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  "The fool says in his heart: There is no God."  It was an interesting lesson to say the least and what I got from it was probably much more than was intended since it got my mind to thinking about all these things.

In addition to the Sunday School lesson we had a great worship service and we started a new series today called: "The Generosity Ladder." The Generosity Ladder is a book by Nelson Searcy the lead Pastor of the Journey Church of The City with campuses in New York and Florida.  I must confess that when it comes to financial things in the Church I have become extremely skeptical lately.  Why?  Well, when I see the likes of  TV preachers caught in scandal (or not) who have used the Church as a springboard for lavish lifestyles, unfettered personal wealth, with a constant barrage of advertisements requesting that, ". . . .your tax deductible donations be sent to P.O Box BLAH BLAH BLAH" you get the picture.  When I hear televangelists talk about their Jaguars, and I see some of their homes, and I see stables with stallions in them I cringe a bit.  Is this God's desire for these men and women?  Yes, women too.  Of course women only use their money for plastic surgery including boob jobs and face lifts.  My skepticism is well founded I believe.  With that firmly implanted I must also say that my local church is very, very careful with the use of money.  My pastor doesn't live a lavish lifestyle and worked many years as a teacher outside of his Church vocation.  I don't have a problem with giving at this level because I've met the people the money goes to.  I've seen the programs that have been blessed.  I have also seen where my pastor lives.  I know what he drives.  He is a true steward in the purest sense of the word and a person that I could learn a lot from when it comes to finances.  Albeit skeptical, I listened to what was preached this morning intently.  Then I went home and I read the entire book they gave us at Church and I must say it struck a chord.  The Biblical precepts given were sound.  The writer didn't ask me to send my donations to him.  The book was given to us free of charge and the fact is that I have seen teachings like this in a few places and I think that God is trying to tell me something and that something is that I need to be a better steward of his money.  Not my money. His money.  Chew on that for a bit.  God owns it all.  Everything.  Chew on that some more. Wow. Tastes good don't it?    My clothes, my home, my vehicles, my musical instruments, the books I have, the fake Christmas tree, my stamp collection, my broken down lawn mower, and the ribs in the oven all belong to God.  This is where a lot of people have missed the boat entirely. They believe that everything they have is a result of their own hard work and that God had nothing to do with it when in fact he had EVERYTHING to do with it.  This book challenged me despite my initial skepticism and I'm going to read it again and do all I can to put its precepts into practice.  I think that starting out the year with this kind of teaching is a great idea and I applaud my pastor Jehu Hernandez for having the guts to do it.  I'm ready for a change.  If you are too check out our Church's website:/http://www.solidrocksa.org/


On another note:  Bill Maher,  Tim Tebow is praying for you.  I guess miracles still happen.  Denver beat the Steelers.  On top of that, this constant demeaning of people of faith (uh, Christian faith) such as Tebow has left a bad taste in my mouth.  What can Bill Maher say today after it went into overtime and Tebow made it happen?  Nothing.  Of course, when Tebow loses again Maher will make it a point to say something idiotic and mean again that is really uncalled for.  Does God want us to win all the time?  I don't think so.  I think we learn from loss and from challenges and Tebow is being tested by God in many ways.  Will losses diminish Tebow's faith in God?  I don't think so, either.  Just because we as Christians trust in God doesn't mean that he will always make sure we win every time.  There are more important things than football in life and to be honest I'm inspired by Tebow's stands for the unborn and for his faith.  His win today caps a day in which faith by many was put into practice and I for one am happy for him.  I pray that as he has served God in private that he would be raised up publicly.  I wish for all the success in the world for him not because of the Broncos but because he is a great example for our young people.  Respectful, hardworking, kind, and inspiring (because of his faith and his football skills), Tebow is a much better role model for our youth than a Tom Brady or a Ben Rothlisberger.  All you need do is go out and read all the stories about their escapades to understand why I prefer Tim Tebow to them.  Tim Tebow let your light shine, brother.  Let it shine.