The weekend message (12/1 & 2) is about generosity. It is one of the hard and less traveled roads. When we hear the word generous, we almost always think of giving money or presents. But generosity is way more than giving money. It is giving of ourselves.

For busy Americans, giving of ourselves, or more specifically, giving of our time and effort is much more valuable than our money! Many Americans would rather give a few bucks to the food bank rather than give a few hours in feeding the homeless.

For most of us, it costs more to give up our time and energy volunteering. We live such full lives that there is often little left. Like the title of a very good book suggests, many of us are Running on Empty (by Fil Anderson - Waterbook Press). We feel so empty it is pretty hard to be generous with our time and energy.

That’s one reason why I am so grateful for our hundreds of volunteers who donate their time and effort. It is a generous sacrifice. We have about 50 who work in our youth ministry including those who do the math and science tutoring. We have about 350 who volunteer in our children’s ministry. There are about 45 who serve in our worship teams. And that’s still just a portion of the folks who faithfully, week after week, give of their valued time and energy. These are my heroes of faith. These folks are the Kingdom of God - God presence among us. They give expecting nothing in return for their service.

As we come into our Christmas season, may we find ways to give the most valued gifts to those we love - the gift of ourselves, the gift of time and the gift of attention and care. A physical present wrapped in Christmas paper with a bow will never mean as much as the gifts of personal attention.

That is exactly what God did. He didn’t send stuff. He sent himself in his Son Jesus. He came and lived with us - time and presence. He came and suffered with and for us - real sacrifice. And his greatest gifts today are the promise and reality that He is always with us.

Growing in generosity to make the world different;

Glen

Happy Thanksgiving! It is my absolute favorite holiday. The turkey is great, but it is so much more. We’ve developed some wonderful family traditions around this day. We decorate the house for Christmas in the morning. We celebrate my birthday and our wedding anniversary (28 this year!). We just have a blast together.

But this year, Thanksgiving is even more special. For several weeks now I’ve been preparing for my message this weekend. The message is “Gratitude” and it is part of our Road Less Traveled series.

In preparation for this message I’ve been meditating and reflecting on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. These may be among some of the most difficult verses to obey and practice in the New Testament!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Be joyful always! I find it hard to be joyful when my daughter has been in a car accident and I spend the night in the ER with her. Or joyful when the airlines loose my luggage?

Pray continually! How can I keep a God focus and running conversation with Him all through my day?

Give thanks in all circumstances! Yea, right! It is so much easier to complain. It is far more natural to focus on what’s not right, what I lack and how frustrating things are.

On several occasions in prayer the last few weeks, I’ve focused on nothing but being thankful and grateful. Wow! After the first 10 or 15 minutes of being grateful, I’ve been amazed at HOW MUCH MORE there is to be thankful for. I even found myself being thankful for my old cars that run well and are paid for! I realized how I had taken my good health for granted.

Most of all, I began to realize all the spiritual blessings God had given me that I had taken for granted. On a particularly hard day when it seemed everything was against me, I was able to be thankful that God was for me…period - no ifs, ands or buts.

This Thanksgiving, take time to move from taking things for granted to taking things with gratitude. I’m grateful to serve with a great church.

Glen

High impact leadership roles get the attention in church. There are leaders like Moses and David. What about all the other folks who helped collect the water coming out of the rock that Moses struck or the folks who fed David’s soldiers?

We need high impact leaders. Of course they must be godly leaders. But there is something far more powerful in the Kingdom of God - those who live quiet lives, minding their own business and living the kind of godly life that others deeply respect. They live the kind of life that so reflects Jesus that others are drawn to Jesus. Notice this powerful passage that probably almost always gets over-looked or passed over in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12;

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Notice the emphases:
• Be quiet! Don’t intentionally draw attention to yourself, especially with words. Our daily actions are to speak loudly about our character.
• Let our daily life win the respect of those who are not following Jesus. Our daily life says so much more than our “Sunday go to church meeting life.” How do people in the neighborhood, work and school see us acting?
• Do honest work and don’t expect others to take care of you. Maybe Paul was the original welfare reformer! The emphasis here is about those who are givers versus those who are takers.
• Mind your own business. That sounds so “unChristian!” Are we not supposed to care about others? Yes, but in context it makes sense. We are not to be busy-bodies. We are not to be over-the-top witnesses (Those who cram Jesus down the throat of someone who thinks they are allergic to Jesus).

Jesus said it another way - “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt. 5:16).

Another way this is emphasized is when Paul describes the church as a body. Some parts of the body don’t get much attention, but let your big toe become sore and it really affects the whole body. Paul’s point in 1 Cor. 12 is that we need each other - the “lowly parts” and the parts that get lots of public attention and honor.

Today, more than ever, Jesus needs the quiet ones who live like Jesus and are givers more than takers. May their tribe increase!

Together to quietly make the world different;
Glen

In the wonderful chapter of Isaiah 40 we encounter a God who is far above our ability to comprehend. Verse 13 asks: “Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor?”

Over the last two weeks I’ve introduced our project to eliminate our church mortgage debt of $4.6 million dollars in 4 years and be Free & Clear! I’m asking each of us who are part of Pantano Christian Church to participate in giving above and beyond our normal regular giving. I know some can’t participate now, but we are in this over the next 4 years. Your regular offering (before your Free & Clear gift) helps our church to operate, serve folks who are part of Pantano, reach out to those who are not part of Pantano and support our missionaries.

Why did I title this blog “Illogical?” Right now, we are $126,000 behind budget which was based on anticipated giving. We lowered our budget this year and we are still behind. Frankly, we are doing much worse than last year. I’ll always be honest and upfront with you. We lost quite a few people this summer over a controversy that has passed. Some were mature givers and now give to the churches they are currently attending. Please give generously on a regular basis.

For some, it might seem illogical to try to eliminate our debt when we are not even making budget. Believe me I’ve gone to the Lord many times asking the same thing. I even tried to use it as an excuse not to try and eliminate our church debt. Conventional wisdom would tell us to get caught up on budget before eliminating debt. But God doesn’t always appear to be logical or conventional in our ways of thinking. That’s a “duh!” statement.

The fact is that God is never short on money. If each of us just did the minimum requirement of the Old Testament law (giving the first 10% of our income), we would have not only enough money operationally (for lights, curriculum, salaries, repairs, etc.) but we would pay off our debt in no time. It is interesting to me that Jesus said we were to exceed what the law calls for (Matthew 5:20).

So please, give first and faithfully to God through regular giving to our operational needs. Then if you can, participate in our Free & Clear debt elimination project. Don’t forget to turn in or mail your Free & Clear commitment for this 6 month period.

I believe that God has asked us to tackle this debt elimination project for the very fact that it is not logical or possible from a human standpoint. God wants to grow our faith. God wants to deepen our dependence on him. God will transform us through this challenge. I can’t wait to see what God will do in and through us.

To him be the glory, now and forever;

Glen

I mentioned a few weeks ago I’ve recommitted myself to more time in prayer. Our staff has also engaged in this and it has been such a joy to share this journey together. Our Elders will be leading a time of prayer each month for anyone who wants to join them. The next one will be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving - Nov. 20th at 7pm in the auditorium.

All this has also led me to do more thinking and reflecting about prayer. We often end our prayers with the line “In Jesus’ name.” But we know that when Jesus invited us to pray in his name and promised to answer our prayers in his name that he did NOT mean to just add this magical tag line.

So the question for me has been, “What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?” I asked the staff that question this week. God has been again leading me on a wonderful journey through that question.

First, I looked at the 3 times Jesus spoke of this in the final conversations with his followers right before his arrest and crucifixion. Take a look at those three instances and the context around them. You can find them in John 14:12-14; 15:16 and 16:23 and 24.

Then I happened to catch a simple sentence that one of my favorite author’s wrote (Henri Nouwen from The Way of the Heart). The context was that he was referring to many in ministry who had given up thinking they were not making any difference. Then he says this which so fit me: “Still others have remained active and involved - but have ended up living more in their own name than in the Name of Jesus Christ.”

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve done far too much in my name. I don’t mean for my own recognition, but in my own power. I trust my abilities, my effort and hard work, my … you name it; more than I have trusted God. To pray in the name of Jesus means to ask things that are consistent with his name, character and will. But is also means to really trust him. It means to be fully dependent on him.

That’s the exact context of those three mentions in John chapters 14-16. He told the disciples that his physical time with them is nearing an end. He will not leave them alone and will send the Holy Spirit. He also invites them (and us) to pray in the name of Jesus and he says he will answer. They were thinking; “We can’t make it without Jesus.” They were right! Jesus says to the panic in their hearts that he will hear them and he will be with them.

May we learn to pray moment by moment in the name of Jesus. He’s listening. He’s more than able. Trust him first.

Together to make the world different;
Glen