Giving

I know I have talked about tithing before, but as I am working through tax returns, it is obvious that I ought to share my findings.

I have heard lots of numbers tossed around about giving in the "church": 1%, 5% 10% or other fractions as to what it is believed that the average Joe Christian gives.

I find that "Average Joe" only gives 1/10 of 1%!  That is one dollar for every 1,000 dollars made.  Let that sink in for a moment.

Yes, we have bills and debts and credit cards and wants.  But, we are supposed to be managers of what God gives us - not pass throughs to the world!

We call wants - needs (anything electric or  new for instance!) and whip out the credit card.  We take out loans to pay for loaded up cards. :(  The cycle is endless, the world system wins, God gets the crumbs.

Hard to imagine the system which worked in Jesus' time: roughly 1/3 of what you brought in covered taxes and temple and the local storage.  I heard we pay about 54% and yet it does not seem to be enough to satisfy our culture ...

Imagine if things were running as they did in Jesus'day - you would have an extra 21% of your income!
Imagine if you could chop up those credit cards, kill the personal debt - the kinds of money you would suddenly have available for God's usage and not your own!

Imagine if I would shut up and walk the talk! - Yeah, that is what I am striving to do, year two!  Just as deep in debt as before but my mindset has changed to be one of no new debt - pay bills as fast as possible!

Of course we live in a car based culture, without it is darn hard to do what you must for a livelihood.  Yeah, my best intentions just got clobbered by a used car.  Oh well, but it will allow me to hopefully earn at a faster rate now this year, than the last two months of last year!

Oh, by the way, a few of my customers have  been ardent atheists.  How much charity do they give?  Not under 10%  Yeah, they give to service organizations and groups which agree with them.  To bad we can not match them dollar for dollar!

As for me monthly:
the church I attend
a starving non-addicted Vet I help monthly
Trans World Radio into Europe
2 Missions working with orphans (India and Mexico)

And as needed:
opportunities God brings my way

That is things like a mother with little kids in the grocery line and she is short on food money.  God will handle it if it is staged for a sucker watching.  Just unexpected, unrehearsed opportunities to be an example of Jesus' love in their life.

Helping people with flat tires for instance, helping a guy with a gas can walking down the road (if it looks safe!), telling the little old lady at the gun counter to get a stun gun and not a .357 magnum!  There are lots of ways to help.

Think about the witness the guys of my church had building me a bridge so I could get in and out of the house!  Cost them almost nothing, yet had a major impact on my ability to live!

And yes, I see what I did to avenge Bernard, as a direct witness to the lives we saved in Bosnia - by removing the Serb snipers!  It sucks from a humanistic standpoint but a great many Christians were able to breathe easier ....

What can you do?

Lots! Just be willing.