Wednesday, September 30, 2009

More Blessed to Give Than to Receive

A very interesting news story was featured today on local channel 5 St Louis, both on the morning and noon news. It seems to fall into the category of “It is more blessed to give than receive.”

The congregation had been told they would be given $10,000., broken up into varying dollar amounts to the individual members present. The members were given sealed envelopes of $20, $50, $100, and all were to be opened at the same time. They were told to give the money to a person or organization, outside their congregation, and were asked to write an account of how they had used the money, which would be posted on the church’s web page.

I would have liked to read the follow-ups, but I didn’t find a link to the church’s web site in the KSDK article, or by searching. Not sure why. I found the church and its address, but couldn’t come up with the web site. Perhaps will find it later.

This was very refreshing to hear and to read. I have seen so much recently of the angry, strident Christian, I have at times wondered if the Church has forgotten its mission. Why is so much anger spilling out of so many IF they profess to be Christians?

Is not the Love of God for man the dominant factor of the gospel message of Christianity? The by-product being man’s love of God and for his fellow man?

Is there not a better way to achieve a desired result? Or could it be that the shouting, rebellious Christian just gets more exposure.

This was a heart-warming story. I commend the pastor and the church. I look forward to seeing the results of their efforts to involve the membership in following in the Master’s footsteps.

1 comment:

  1. I agree. I think Christians make a mistake when they only seem to be critical and harsh. We would all do well to read the book of Daniel again. In it Daniel is described as a man respected by all kings and leaders. Think about the kings in Daniel's day. They certainly were not Christian by word or by deed. Yet, Daniel, who lived by God's laws knew how to live respectfully with others. I think we need a lot more Daniel's in our Christian community today.

    ReplyDelete

"Be ca'am, be as ca'am as you can. And, if you can't be ca'am, be as ca'am as you can." Reputedly, advice from an old New Englander on staying cool, calm and collected.