Ministerial Compensation; March 16, 2021

Posted on March 18, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Corinthians 9:14, 16 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

The matter of “ministerial compensation” is an issue even today. News media (which in general tends to be anti-Christian) loves to pick up on preachers who get huge salaries, and “TV preachers” who spend half their air time begging for money have certainly fed into that. Fortunately, they are actually the exception. Far more common is the pastor of the small church who barely receives enough to get by. Sadly, too many churches seem to think it’s their duty to “keep their preacher poor and humble.” On top of that, there are missionaries who serve among people who cannot support them financially, and have to take time and emotional energy trying to get people in their affluent sending country to supply the funds they need to live and minister. God is certainly our ultimate supply, but we all need to be open to being used as channels for His supply. At the same time, Paul himself was famously an exception to the very thing he is expounding here as normative. He took pride in supporting himself, and even those working with him, by making tents, and he must have been pretty good at it to have been able to do so. However, the Lord later dealt with that pride by having him in prison where he couldn’t work, and his only supply was what others provided. His commission to proclaim the Gospel had nothing to do with how he was compensated on this earth.

I have a lot of empathy with Paul in a number of ways. I am considered a missionary by many, but I have no human sending agency. Indeed, when we were struggling with one such agency before we came to Omura, my wife very wisely told them, “We’d rather be Lord sent than board sent.” We are in our 40th year in Omura now, and in that time have never received as much financially from our ministry as we have given to it in offerings. The Lord has blessed us with abilities that are in demand and are well compensated, but when I have let that be my focus, the ministry has suffered. Right now we receive both some American Social Security and a Japanese government pension which is the practical equivalent. Neither would be sufficient to live on by itself by any means, but receiving both is a big help. The big thing is that there is no forced age ceiling to my teaching medical English, so that income is still there. The corona virus situation put a real damper on my income from doing weddings at a local “wedding palace,” but thankfully that is picking up again now. All of that is to say that like Paul I cannot boast about my ministry, because as he wrote, Christ’s love compels me. (2 Corinthians 5:14) I will be preaching for as long as I am physically able. The Lord has been saying some things recently about moving me into a different sort of ministry, but there is no hint of stopping! I am to keep my eyes on Him and do whatever He says. As a refrigerator magnet says (in line with the Bible but not quoting any passage I’m aware of) “Where God guides, He provides.”

Father, thank You for Your supply, and for the privilege of proclaiming Your Word without thought of compensation. Help me be a good steward of all You provide, material and otherwise, so that my faithfulness may be a testimony drawing others to You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sin and Grace; March 15, 2021

Posted on March 18, 2021 by jgarrott

Romans 6:15, 23 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verse 23 is rightly quoted a great deal, but sadly we still struggle with the issue expressed in verse 15. Frankly, we don’t understand grace very well. The devil does his utmost to convince us that if our sins can be forgiven, they don’t matter. That, as always with what the devil says, is a lie. We by nature like to indulge our every impulse, but as the section between these two verses makes clear, that makes us slaves to sin. Our appetites in themselves aren’t bad, but uncontrolled they quickly become distorted and lead to destruction. Even something as basic as our appetite for food, if uncontrolled, leads to obesity and death. Right now over half the population of the US is overweight, and obesity is the prime “co-morbidity” in deaths from the current corona virus pandemic. Rigid legalism is certainly a trap, and one that Paul rightly railed against, particularly in writing to the Galatians, but the solution isn’t license, the feeling that “anything goes.” That’s what Paul is writing about here. Jesus didn’t die just to save us from the penalty for sin, He died to save us from the power of sin, since sin is fundamentally destructive, just as verse 23 says. We do still slip up at times, which is why we look forward to heaven, where we will be saved from the presence of sin. The more and better we walk free of sin in this life, the more we enjoy the blessings of heaven even before we get there!

This is something I teach others, but I don’t walk in perfectly myself. The fleshly nature is a stubborn thing! That means that as a pastor I can have empathy and compassion for those to whom I minister, but I must never close my eyes to my own vulnerability. Of all people, I am to “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) I have tasted the blessings of walking in step with the Holy Spirit, (Galatians 5:25) and must be vigilant against anything that would get me out of step with Him. I do indeed look forward to heaven, but as long as I am in this life I am to seek to bring as many people as possible with me on the the road to heaven.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Nothing could be more basic. Help me indeed share the Good News of salvation more and more effectively, while walking in it more and more fully myself, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Saints; March 14, 2021

Posted on March 17, 2021 by jgarrott

Romans 1:7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

We get such strange ideas when we hear the word, saints. We imagine someone walking around with a perpetual halo over their head, or maybe not even a person, but a statue! The Catholic Church, with its complicated and rather rigid procedures for granting sainthood status, has contributed a great deal to that. However, a quick search of all the uses of “saint” in the New Testament, and for that matter, even the Old, will show you that anyone who is in Christ is a saint; they are holy. In other words, we are saints! Too often we fail to act like it, but that doesn’t change our fundamental nature. Actually, understanding that can make us much stronger against temptation, because we can see that yielding to temptation has become unnatural to us, instead of being natural. The devil tries to convince us that we are no more than animals, so yielding to fleshly desires is how we are and what we should be, but as usual, he is a liar. We are children of God, inhabiting physical bodies and prone to weakness, yet loved by God and capable of being filled and used by His Spirit. In that capacity, the grace and peace Paul mentions here are available in unlimited measure. We tend to act in accordance with our self image, so seeing ourselves as saints puts us ahead of the game when it comes to spiritual warfare. That’s not at all to say that we are to be proud, much less conceited, because we have this status only by the grace of God, but recognizing our own weakness should not blind us to the power of God, and He has called us to be saints.

This certainly applies to me. There are moments when I am sharply aware of my own weaknesses, and there are also moments when I am aware that I am being used and carried along by the Spirit of God. Like everyone else, I am in the “now but not yet” mode, eagerly looking forward to the day when I will stand before the Throne with everything unworthy stripped away. The point is to keep the eyes of my heart fixed on Jesus to that I may step free of the sin that is so quick to entangle. (Hebrews 12:1-2) I too need to live like what God says I am, instead of what the devil says I am. On the one hand I am indeed “Only a sinner, saved by grace,” as the hymn says, but on the other hand I am a saint of God. As a pastor, I need not only to remember that I myself am a saint, I need to help other believers understand that they too are saints. If I will do that, we will rise up, a holy army, to crush the works of the devil and proclaim the kingdom of God. (1 John 3:8)

Father, thank You for this powerful Word. You have been saying some exciting things to me recently. Help me not try to make anything happen in my own strength, but rather cooperate fully with You in full, joyful submission. May Your name be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Luke; March 13, 2021

Posted on March 17, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 16:10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Luke has got to be one of the most humble, obedient people recorded in the Bible. We know from Colossians 4:14 that he was a doctor, which has been a respected occupation throughout history, one requiring intelligence and diligence and usually garnering a good income. However, even though he wrote two of the longer books of the New Testament, Luke never put his own name forward. We know nothing of his personal background and family, but his commitment to Christ was complete and his loyalty to Paul remarkable. This verse is the first place he uses the first person plural, including himself in Paul’s group, so that would indicate he was from Troas. Whether he was from somewhere else and just happened to encounter Paul there remains a possibility, but the fact is, we just don’t know. However, that actually seems likely to me, because if he had been an established part of society in Troas it would have been very difficult for him suddenly to pick up and go to Macedonia with Paul. He may have been a widower, traveling to try to ease the pain of his loss. I have known doctors who were devastated to lose their wives, in one case to a disease that was part of their own specialty. The self-accusations can be extreme in such cases. However he happened to be in Troas, Luke obviously received the Gospel with conviction and committed himself to its spread, and the whole world has benefited. His Gospel, probably written while Paul was in prison in Caesarea, (Acts 23-26) is obviously carefully researched, giving us most of what we consider “the Christmas story.” And of course, his is the only deliberate record we have of the early years of the Church. Every believer today is deeply in his debt, yet he never put himself forward, but simply did what he felt God was asking of Him.

I couldn’t ask for a better example to follow, but then, there are quite a few of those recorded in the Bible! He is one of the “great cloud of witnesses,” (Hebrews 12:1) testifying to the faithfulness of God and the glory of knowing and following Him. The specific area I would like to emulate is that of submitting intellectual and academic achievement to the cause of the kingdom of God. Actually that is something of a tradition in my family, since all four of my grandparents were college graduates and my father and both grandfathers had advanced degrees, but all loved God before and above everything else. Actually, advanced degrees are littered through my family tree, but not all of those have been as committed to the Lord as Luke and my immediate ancestors were. Like Luke, I need to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) before any thought of personal pride, acclamation, or achievement. Like him I need to be willing to leave everything behind in a moment, if God makes it clear to me to do so. Like him I need to use the gifts God has placed in me in word and action, to serve God’s children and draw others to Him.

Father, Thank You for pointing this out to me so clearly. Help me indeed be totally committed to You in every area so that Your purposes may be fulfilled in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Genuine Faith; March 12, 2021

Posted on March 13, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

Over the years I have become more and more impressed with the faith the early believers had in the Lord they proclaimed. We depend on seminaries and committees and organizations, when Paul and Bar­nabas depended very simply on the Lord. Frankly, we also don’t often go to prayer and fasting when it comes to decisions. We’re more likely to have a pot-luck dinner! It’s almost like we’re not really serious about what we say we believe. The current atmosphere of hostility to genuine Christian faith in various parts of American society may turn out to be a very good thing, because it will force believers to get serious about their faith. Is it real, or is it just a social convenience? Up until now there were few risks if any to being a Christian in the US, in stark contrast to how it is in, say, North Korea. There are of course exceptions, like gang members who face getting killed by their own gang if they genuinely commit to Jesus Christ as Lord, but in general, being a devout Christian has been seen as an admirable thing. Just in the past few years, that has turned around to the point that standing up for Biblical morality will get you labeled as a bigot at least, and can cost you your job and your livelihood. At the time of the American Revolution we had the expression, “sunshine patriot and summer soldier.” Today, we have Christians who cave to social pressure and online insults, becoming silent if not actually withdrawing. We need to learn from our brothers and sisters in places where openly saying Jesus is Lord can get you killed. We need to commit ourselves on every level to the Lord in whom we say we believe, just as Paul and Barnabas did, doing a bit of fasting to let our flesh know it’s not in command, to clear our hearts and minds to listen obediently to whatever our Lord would say to us.

I’m preaching to myself here! I don’t think I’ve encountered any real downsides to being a Christian. I’ve been excluded from some social circles, but they weren’t ones that would have really benefited me in the first place. However, I’ve made lots of decisions, even about this church, without getting really serious about asking God what He wanted. Right now I’m genuinely seeking the next person to lead this congregation, but I haven’t done much fasting in connection with that. I have watched pastoral succession in other churches and seen that it can have a massive impact in various ways. I want the next pastor of this church to take it far beyond where I have brought it, and I know that in Christ that is entirely possible. I need to be focused, fixated, on my Lord, seeking Him and listening to Him and obeying Him, so that His purposes may be accomplished in and through me on His schedule for His glory.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Help me not just say, “oh that’s nice,” and then fail to follow through. Help me listen obediently to You no less than Paul and Barnabas did, so that I will not get in the way of what You desire for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Evangelism: March 11, 2021

Posted on March 13, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

This is in some ways a difficult passage. We don’t like the idea of God deciding who will believe and who won’t, who will be saved and who won’t. It’s all part of the mystery of God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. In verse 46 we find Paul telling the Jews of that town, “Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.” Human choice is always involved. I have encountered a “hyper Calvinist” pastor who said that we have no responsibility to evangelize because “God will save those He wants to.” After over a year of association with me, he changed his mind! At the same time, anyone ministering in Japan is going to wonder why more people don’t accept the Gospel and receive salvation. There are mysteries we cannot know. That said, if we don’t present the Gospel they will have no chance to believe and be saved. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14) We cannot force anyone to repent and believe, but we can present the opportunity for them to do so. It is as the Lord told Ezekiel: “When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.” (Ezekiel 3:18-19) We cannot save anyone, but God can and does use people in His plan of salvation.

This is something I have struggled with for a long time. The clear evidence that God had been true to His Word and baptized me in His Holy Spirit was when I started sharing Christ with a total stranger on a train. I had never seen him before and to my knowledge have never seen him since, but he heard the Gospel from me! I am an introvert by temperament, and I had never done that sort of thing before in my life. That’s another reason I’m convinced that when I am fully submitted to God, I will share the Gospel and not just keep it to myself. At the same time, the rate of return for effort in Japan is statistically the lowest of anywhere in the world. That said, I’m never to give up, but keep presenting the good news of salvation in word and deed. One of the biggest problems is that the average Japanese is a nice person who goes by the rules, as they understand them, and they don’t consider themselves “lost.” At the same time, as I’ve mentioned recently, Buddhism lacks even the concept of “salvation,” instead teaching that “nirvana” is an “emptying of self.” The ultimate goal is nothingness! I’ve got to demonstrate that it is possible to have a personal relationship with our Creator, and that such a relationship is eternal life. At the same time, I’ve got to convince people that such a relationship is possible for them, and not just for a weird Caucasian. The situation is challenging indeed, but nothing is impossible for God.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder of the task at hand. Today we’ll be seeing a 95-year-old friend, who likes us very much but can’t seem to bring herself to believe Your salvation is for her. I ask for a direct intervention of Your Holy Spirit to shatter the lies that have her bound, so that she may receive Your salvation while there is time, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Division of Labor; March 10, 2021

Posted on March 12, 2021 by jgarrott

John 4:38 “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

There are certainly many different functions in the Body of Christ and the kingdom of God. Paul talks about this several times, probably most famously in 1 Corinthians, both chapter 3 and chapter 12. We aren’t supposed to be doing the same things! At the same time, we aren’t to be dismissive of things that we don’t necessarily consider “our job.” Paul told Timothy to “Do the work of an evangelist,” (2 Timothy 4:5) even though that was apparently not his gifting. Perhaps the most striking example of that is Moses, who was tasked with leading the entire people-group of the Israelites when he was obviously not gifted in administration. The whole point is to be submitted to God and do whatever He assigns to us. Harvest work is joyful, as the Bible mentions many times, but we should also find joy and satisfaction in planting and watering, and for that matter, in tilling and preparing the soil. The problem is, we often don’t see things that way, and get envious of those with high-profile jobs and grumble about our own “grunt work.” When that happens, we have lost sight of the reality that the high-profile stuff couldn’t happen without the “grunt work” having been done! Actually, none of us work in isolation, regardless of how isolated we might feel. Our work is connected to those who have gone before us, and will in turn connect to those who come after. We need to remember that God is the Lord of the harvest, (Luke 10:2) and trust Him to know what needs to be done by whom.

Just yesterday I was talking with a close friend, a recently retired Japanese pastor, about this very thing. He brought up the missionary who led him to faith, and how we continue to see fruit from the labors of that man and his wife, though he has retired to the US and his wife is in heaven. Particularly in a field like Japan, tangible results can be hard to come by. Often we feel like quoting Isaiah: “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” (Isaiah 49:4) I need to remember that God sees the whole picture, and that my seemingly fruitless efforts may bear abundant fruit at a time and place I can’t see. I’m not to resent putting in hard work, but neither am I to feel I’m the only one who can do things. My doing too much has been a problem for this church over the years, because I have failed to train people up by entrusting work to them, feeling instead that I could do it better. That has been a major failing on my part, which I didn’t recognize because I was focused on me. Even at this late date I need to learn how to step back and let others fulfill the functions God has for them, before God takes me out of the picture all together and they find themselves untrained and unprepared.

Father, thank You for this strong and timely Word. Thank You for the Word through Michael Cho to be using the messages this month to clarify our understanding of what Your Church, and this church, is supposed to be. I pray that when we come to the business meeting next month that we will all be prepared to hear from You through each other what You want us to be doing, individually and corporately, for the joy and satisfaction of each believer and for the advancement of Your kingdom, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Breadth of God’s Love; March 9, 2021

Posted on March 11, 2021 by jgarrott

Luke 13:29-30 “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

Several Old Testament prophets speak of the scattered Jews being returned to their homeland, but this goes far beyond that. This ties in exactly with the verse I wrote about on March 4th, about many being called and few chosen. (Matthew 22:14) God’s invitation goes out all over the world, with no geographical limitations at all. It’s amazing how much trouble we have getting that through our heads! The average American Christian can hardly imagine that a Kachin or Karen tribesman of Burma might be a better Christian than they are! We go by all sorts of external factors in evaluating people, when the fact that God looks on the heart is one of the fundamental truths of the Bible. (1 Samuel 16:7) It is a statistical fact that there are more “3rd World” Christians today than there are “1st World.” We all tend to have an unconscious bias that people like us are the “good guys,” when our definitions of “like us” and “good guys” are both unreliable! That’s where the last being first, and vice versa, thing comes in. We need to ask God to open our eyes to see people as He does, and then allow Him to do that. It can actually be quite shocking! A recent example played out on the world stage, as someone we would classify as an immoral braggart became president of the US, and then turned around and enacted the most faith-friendly administration in US history. Those who were not faith-friendly couldn’t stand that, and mounted unprecedented opposition. They have had seeming success, but what is really happening is that the veneers with which they covered their activities previously are being peeled back, and their true motives are being exposed. In response, we need to apply genuinely Biblical standards, rather than cultural ones, first to ourselves and then to those around us. We need to be sure to take our own place at the feast in the kingdom of God, and not block others from doing so by our own prejudices.

I certainly didn’t expect to get political when I started, but this issue goes far beyond politics. The devil seeks to divide, and I must not cooperate with that effort. I must remember that we are all in need of repentance, dependent on the grace of God. I’m not to use that to excuse sin, in myself or in others, but I am to remember that the cross of Christ overrides absolutely everything else. I don’t usually pay much attention to the ecclesiastical calendar, but this is Lent. I too need to meditate on how intentional Jesus was in dying for me, and allow that grace to flow over and through me to all who will receive it. I too am a product of human culture, both American and Japanese, and I need to let God remove the blinders created by culture, to see and love people as He does.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. I pray that I would be more and more effective in communicating the glorious reality of redemption and resurrection in this season, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Exposure; March 8, 2021

Posted on March 11, 2021 by jgarrott

Mark 4:22 “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.”

This isn’t the only time Jesus said this sort of thing, and it’s really bad news for a lot of people! As it says in John, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20) Sometimes discovering hidden things is exciting, and sometimes it’s horrifying. Right now the things that are coming out into the open in American government are downright disgusting, as we see the veneer of “compassion” and “public service” coming off of so many politicians. Raw thirst for power and personal advantage are never pretty. That exposure is perhaps the best thing to come out of the current situation, but we need to remember that nothing ever surprises God. The fact that Jesus actually was surprised by such things as the Centurion’s faith (Matthew 8:10) is proof that He really did take on our human limitations, and was acting in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than in His innate power as the Son. We need to remember what it says in Hebrews: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13) That’s the last thing some people want to hear, and if we’re honest, it makes us a little uncomfortable as well! The point is to live with this awareness, asking and trusting God to lead us in ways that will bring blessing to others, honor to us, and glory to Him.

There have been plenty of things in my life that I didn’t want exposed, but at the same time I’ve been aware that they weren’t hidden from God. That’s actually a huge blessing. It helps me live the sort of life that doesn’t need to be hidden. At the same time, I am very aware of what Paul called “the message of knowledge.” (1 Corinthians 12:8) It has happened to me several times, but to Cathy with some frequency, that the Holy Spirit will reveal information that there was no natural way to know. It is closely related to prophecy, which is why the Samaritan woman at the well said, “I can see that you are a prophet” to Jesus when He said things that exposed her personal life. (John 4:19) Actually, people have left this church out of fear of what God would show Cathy about them! Often what God shows us is not to be expressed to anyone, but rather is to be ammunition for prayer, but sometimes it is to be used to call someone to account, to turn them away from the path they are following. Cathy and I have both experienced people thinking they were confessing something that would shock us, but they were the ones shocked when it was clear the Lord had already let us know what was going on. I am to live my life in the awareness that I am completely transparent to my Lord, so that it won’t matter if I am transparent to the people around me.

Father, thank You for all the wonderful discoveries You allow us to make. Keep us from obsessing over the unclean things that get exposed, but rather rest in the assurance of Your omniscient love, having Your wisdom as to how to respond to everything, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Meeting Needs; March 7, 2021

Posted on March 9, 2021 by jgarrott

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

This is a very famous teaching, but it is often ignored and/or misinterpreted. Everyone who reads it wants to put themselves on the side of the sheep, not the goats! There are those who use this as justification for focusing entirely on social welfare ministry, essentially divorcing it from sharing the Gospel. However, various other things Jesus said point up the futility of meeting physical need while ignoring a person’s relationship with their Creator. The flip side of that is those who are so focused on the “spiritual” that they ignore the physical needs of those with whom they interact. They like to pretend this passage isn’t in the Bible! I am reminded of something attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach constantly. When necessary, use words.” We are to be active in communicating the Good News of the kingdom of God, but if our lives aren’t congruent with what we say, it’s essentially meaningless. James was very clear on this point throughout his letter, and he grew up watching Jesus. This is the tragedy of high-profile Christians who succumb to moral failures, or even, short of that, demand honor and privilege because of “who they are.” (Actually, someone who is over impressed with who they are is ripe for moral failure.) This all fits in with what Jesus said was the 2nd greatest commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40) For ourselves, we certainly want eternal life, but we also want our immediate needs met. In priority, the eternal outweighs the temporal, (2 Corinthians 4:17) but it’s hard to focus on God when we’re cold, hungry, or in pain. We are not to ignore those in need any more than we would want to be ignored, but we also need wisdom, because we cannot meet all the needs around us. We need to let God show us how we are to be His instruments, and hold nothing back.

I have always tended to be on the “focus on the eternal” side when it comes to dealing with others, so this story of Jesus is a strong warning to me. I am bombarded with requests for money to support various groups of people, to the point that I tend to tune it all out, which is very wrong. I have long been impressed with Samaritan’s Purse, and their ministry of meeting needs in the name of Jesus, but there are other genuinely worthwhile ministries as well. At the same time, I must not ignore the needs that are right under my nose, so to speak. I tithe faithfully, but I’m not to think that eliminates my responsibility in this area. At the moment I’m feeling the strongest pull toward supporting a specific ministry to persecuted Christians, so I need to discuss it fully with my wife and act in agreement with her and the Holy Spirit. I’m not trying to “earn brownie points” but I do want to be an obedient, faithful steward.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Keep me from letting it slide, but rather help me follow through to do Your will for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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