Candidates and Giving
He who is generous will be blessed. Proverbs 22:9 (NASB)
I try not to get too much into politics on this blog because that’s not my intent here, but I found this fascinating. Tim Stevens at www.leadingsmart.com blogged the other day about the candidate’s charitable contributions based on the tax returns they had made public. Here are some highlights.
Last year, VP candidate Joe Biden made $320,000. He gave $995 to charity. Over the past ten years Biden’s total giving to charity has been $3,690.
Over past two years Senator Obama has reported income of over $2.6 million and has given away $138,000….a little over 5%. The five years previous to his presidential candidacy his average income was $243,000 and he gave an average of $2154 to charity.
John McCain reported income a bit over $400,000 in 2007. His charitable contributions in 2007 were over 25% of his income. In 2006 he gave 19% of his reported income. Over the past 10 years, McCain has given all of his book royalties to charity, over $1.8 million. To be fair, his wife Cindy is quite wealthy and the McCains personal wealth is estimated between $20-30 million, so they ain’t hurting after their charities.
Governor Palin’s returns haven’t been release yet.
A few questions?
1) Would you be embarrassed if YOUR generocity, or lack thereof, as documented by our friends at the IRS, was made public? Why? Suppose God already knows?
2) Does it matter what the candidates give or don’t give to charity? Why or why not?
Priority
Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” Luke 5:18-20 (NLT)
Turns out Jesus heals this guy, so it all turned out fine, but I find it interesting that the priority with Jesus wasn’t the obvious thing everyone else saw. His buddies did the circus act because they had faith Jesus could heal him physically, which He could, and He did. But Jesus first priority was forgiving the paralyzed guy’s sin, fixing the inside. Most of us think that if we can get the outside problems fixed, that’s what needs to happen. And it does, but it may not be God’s first priority.
When we come to Christ, or take our friends to Him looking for healing from physical sickness, broken relationships, depression, anxiety, addictions, whatever….. we may be surprized that our first priority may not be God’s. Sometimes He may want to deal with the inside, the heart, before He works on the outside. He may even let the externals get worse if that’s what it takes to get to the root issue, the sin that so easily entangles us all. God works, but not always they way we expect. Just thinking out loud…..
Reaction
When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to puch him over the cliff. Luke 4:28-29 (NLT)
This is the crowd reaction to the first time Jesus taught in his hometown. Apparently what He had to say didn’t endear Him to Him homies. The Jesus in the New Testament never bored anyone. Makes me wonder how Satan has managed to make me yawn through the Bible, snooze through a church service, say “Nice sermon, Pastor” on the way out the back door, and think I get brownie points with God because I showed up. And I showed up because it was my duty, even if I was bored and preoccupied the whole time.
I don’t think anyone that ever heard or interacted with Jesus walked away thinking he was a nice enough guy. Nobody wondered whether if He was tip-toeing around an issue to keep from hurting their feelings. He lived mercy, but He spoke truth. I doubt anyone ever told Him, “Nice talk, Jesus.” The reactions to Him ranged from rage to wonder to confusion to worship. When I really approach Jesus it’s the same for me. I am shaken, challenged, moved, convicted….. verbs along those line. If there’s no reaction, I think it’s safe to say we’ve missed Him.
The reaction to Jesus isn’t always the same, but He DOES cause a stir when He shows up.
Introduction to Jesus?
Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. Luke 4:14 (NLT)
Wonder what it would be like to read the story of Jesus for the first time, without all the baggage and preconceptions. This is the introduction in Luke to the beginning of Jesus’ time as a “public person.” As an adult, so far all we know is that He had been baptized by His cousin John and then had spent his next 40 days in the wilderness fasting and facing temptation from the devil himself. This verse is kind of like the calm before the storm.
I told a guy that I’d put in the “seeker” catagory that my best advice to him would be to read the book of Luke and then Romans in either NIV or NLT. My reasoning was that he’d run head-on into Jesus in Luke, and then, in Romans, Paul explains what Jesus actually did for us as he puts everything in context.
So what do you think? Good place to start or bad? What would be better? Why? Talk to me….. Really. Go to “comments” and reply. Need a little conversation going here.
Prayer in a funk
I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.
When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.
I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me.
Then I pray to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.
Psalm 142:1-5 (NLT)
You know how sometimes you just feel alive and excited and enthused about life, like you’re on track and making progress and having an impact? I haven’t been feeling that way lately.
I’ve got friends that have faced death in their families, serious health issues, seriously sick children, divorce, teenagers acting out, hurricanes, addictions, loss of jobs, emotional problems, financial struggles, hard decisions with aging parents, etc., etc. I know that my life is pretty much a piece of cake compared to some of the stuff they’re facing, and that surfaces my self-centeredness….. and makes me feel guilty….because I am.
Yet somehow prayer is usually not my first response, or second, or third. There are times in life where It seems I INTEND to pray, but rarely get around to it. So many other things capture my attention and burn through my time. But today I’m gonna give God backsome of the time He’s given me and talk to Him. I’m not holed up in a cave with an army chasing me or anything, but my prayer will still be along the lines of David’s prayer above in Psalms. I know I need to.
Christian Response to Homosexuality
So this Christian singer I’ve never heard of “came out” recently and sparked some pretty interesting discussion on a couple of the blogs I regularly read. I find when I read this stuff, especially the comments, it’s a lot easier for me to recognize what I consider the wrong response or just bad theology than it is to arrive at the “right” position. If opinions from those who may think differently than you freak you out, don’t even go there….
Test First
Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 1 John 4:1 (NLT)
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my son Chris has moved to college. He’s found what he thinks is a good church nearby that’s in start-up mode and told me about them. I checked out their web site and listed to a few of their messages on podcasts and they sound spot-on to me from that little introduction. I think he’s wise to be prayerful, and thoughtful and careful in choosing the people and churches that influence him.
We must be aware that all is not as it (or they) seem and we have to test people and words and churches and ministries before we follow them. Everyone that claims to speak for God doesn’t speak for God. Many that claim some special relationship, annointing, connection, authority with and from God are NOT from God. Just because someone uses religeous language that reminds you somehow of the Bible doesn’t mean the One True God is behind their words.
Personally, when I see some of the kind of thing noted above, I will RUN, not walk, RUN the other way, and I would advise you to do the same. Remember in Monty Python? “Run away! Run Away!” Here’s how I decide whether to run away.
The Bible is the foundational and authoritative. If a person or church doesn’t acknowledge the Bible as the final word, or suggests that someone or something else has equivalent authority, RUN AWAY!
The Gospel I read points to Jesus Christ first, foremost and always as the incarnate Son of God who died for our sins, rose again, and is coming back to judge the world. If a person or ministry doesn’t believe and teach that, RUN AWAY!
The Jesus in the Gospel condemned the self-satisfied and proud, extended grace, mercy, forgiveness, and healing to people far from God, and told us to do the same as we follow Him. If that is not understood and taught, then the Jesus they claim doesn’t seem to reflect the Jesus in the New Testament, RUN AWAY!
We are reconciled to God by repenting and placing our trust and our lives under Jesus and His loving authority. He accepts us by grace. A relationship with God is a GIFT, not something earned. We obey God’s laws as best we can as the Holy Spirit helps us out of love and gratitude and devotion to God and Jesus, but we don’t earn God’s love. If you’re told you earn your way into God’s good graces, RUN AWAY!
In the end, God will bring righteous judgment and everyone will either get what we all deserve or we’ll be saved from that fate by placing our faith in the person and work of Jesus. If there’s no acknowledgement of final judgement, absolute right and wrong, heaven and hell…RUN AWAY!
Baton Rouge Needs
Been seeing some posts around the web about the damage done to South Louisiana by the recent hurricane. New Orleans was mostly spared and the levees held and there weren’t many good photo opps to run on the nightly news, but looks like the damage was still severe. Couple of the blogs I link to here note a way to help by donating tarps to a church in Baton Rouge, which is cool if you want to check that out.
Laura and I lived there while I was in grad school at LSU in the late 80’s and we went to a church called CHAPEL ON THE CAMPUS. We pulled up their web site and decided to donate through them since they had served us “way back when.” Just thought I’d bring the needs to your attention. A link to their web site and the situation they face is below.
Figs Again
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
” ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ “ Luke 13:6-9 (NIV)
In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up. Matthew 21:18-19 (NLT)
Sorry for the fig tree thing again. I found it fascinating that Luke records Jesus telling a parable about a man with a fig tree in his vineyard who demanded it produce fruit “or else.” The parable records that the tree had been barren for three years, and the landowner was convinced to give it one more year, but there was an end to his patience.
I image Jesus’ disciples put 2 and 2 together and figured out He was telling them that God was patient with people, like the owner of the fig tree was patient, but that there were expectations and a reckoning coming. They probably filed that away as “one of those really cool stories Jesus told us.”
But Matthew records that Jesus almost acted out His own parable, and He wasn’t patient with the tree at all. It’s time was up.
I have this picture of the disciples standing there with their mouths open and their hearts in their throats as they watch Jesus walk pass them after cursing and withering the fig tree…..just like He told them about in the story. Perhaps they saw the Word of God come to life before their very eyes.
Politics
Back to Bible next time. I promise.
I tried to watch the Democratic Convention, at least Obama’s acceptance speech, but I couldn’t take it frankly. I turned him off in the middle of a rant about how he and everyone else had “enough!” of the Bush administration. Lest I point out the obvious, Mr. Obama lives today in the freest, most prosperous country in the history of the world. George W. Bush led this country through the most dangerous days America has faced in my lifetime, and not everyone might like the way he did it, but he’s the guy that had to make some incredibly tough calls in the aftermath of 9-11 while the rest of us played “Monday Morning Quarterback.” I’m sick of hearing our president, who I believe is a decent Christian man, being ridiculed by people who have never faced anything like the the tests he’s faced.
McCain’s chouce of Sarah Palin as his running-mate makes me smile. McCain isn’t a great speaker, but he’s a man with convictions, brains and courage….not a common combination….and I think he was willing to take a calculated risk on someone he saw something special in. Nobody could have scripted a better VP choice for McCain than her if she lives up to the impression she made in her convention speech. Wow, that gal brought it! I think we may actually have a real race on our hands, folks!
