Totally off subject!

I was surfing some of my favorite blogs today when I ran across a WONDERFUL, convicting post. I wanted to share it with all of you.

I don't know about you but I have made big plans for my government stimulus check; new tile, a swing set for Sam, possibly medical bills, lots of ideas come to mind. God changed those plans today! It amazes me at how my life has changed in the past 5 years. After getting married, buying a house and having children, it seems that my responsabilities have dictated the outflow of my pocketbook. Money has not flowed as freely from my pocket as it once did for Kingdom works. For this I am ashamed and ultimately the one who has suffered. I know from experience that I put much less value on material things when I am freely giving it away. I have found that the more I give, the less I want. Is this not the essence of our BACKWARD Christianity? Thank you Jesus for knowing how to make things work for all those involved!

This post reminded me of the old me. I am convicted and moved to do something worthy of His praise with this money. I am praying that we would each be convicted to use all or some of this money to change the world around us for Christ!



Economic Stimulus Payment & Christ April 28, 2008 By: John Piper



For a moment, forget the political puzzle of getting money back when the country is nine trillion dollars in debt. The more immediate question is: How will you make much of Christ with your "economic stimulus payment"? The president says it will be in the mail in time for Cinco de Mayo.


Clue: Nobody in the world will see you spend your money on yourself and conclude that Christ is your treasure. They will assume you are just like them, no matter how loudly you thank God for this boon. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend it on yourself (the way we do with most of what we earn). Not everything we do can look different from the world—eat, pay utilities, fill up the car, wear clothes (even thrift-store clothes). And yes, we hope (somehow) that spending on ourselves in some way contributes to our being more Christ-exalting people.


But do we really need this money? Very few do. We would have gotten on fine without it. If we didn’t know it was coming, we wouldn’t even be feeling the desires we are feeling right now.
May I encourage you to be radically creative and hedonistic. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). And those crazy Macedonians in a “severe test of affliction” and in “extreme poverty” had an “abundance of joy” that overflowed in a “wealth of generosity.” They even begged Paul “for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:2-4). They really believed what Jesus said. Really.


Before the check comes dream of some person or ministry which might make much of Christ because you treasured him above your next home project.


The reason God created money and enabled us to earn it is so that we could show by the way we use it that money is not our treasure, Christ is. That’s why the checks are coming. So we can make Christ look great.


“Be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

And I leave you with another question posed by Piper, "Is His reputation a happy burden to us?"