September 2010

Gifts or Givers

Last week I met a former chief development officer of a seminary in the USA who has recently launched his own ministry to encourage generosity among philanthropists and effective fund raising in Christian ministries. The key “take away” from our conversation was differentiating two words: gifts from givers.
As a leader of a Christian non-profit organization, it made me pause…are we developing gifts from donors or spiritually forming givers to Kingdom causes? There is a huge difference between the two…ones is transactional and the other is transformational.
We sent our quarterly appeal out to our donors and potential donors the week before this meeting…I had to go back and review what we had sent. How much of my letter was about our need for a gift and how much was it directed toward the giver? I hope it was about both…the spiritual vitality of the one who gives and the Kingdom impact pursued by the ministry in receipt of the gift – namely LTi.
The next time you receive one of those (or ours for that matter!) appeal letters ask yourself, “Does this ministry only care about the gift they hope to receive from me, or do they truly care about the giver’s heart for building up the Kingdom?”
Worthy of a prayerful pause, don’t you think?

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Ever feel like a P.S.?

Ever feel like a P.S.? As an after thought, add on, or in addition to? Either in a social setting or a ministry context? I had that feeling just yesterday…I made a public announcement about one of our ministry resources on the heels of a powerful message by a well-known preacher. When the message was done, the final song sung, and the benediction pronounced, those assembled in the audience were asked to sit down for “an announcement” and then I was introduced. I rarely feel this way, but yesterday I felt more like a “P.S.” than a central part of the message. I did the best I could to integrate my “announcement” into the message we had just heard, but still felt like it was more like “and now a word from our sponsor” – yuk! I was pleased to be present at the event and affirm its importance, but what kept running through my mind was, “How do I redeem this moment with something that ties into the meeting and not be simply a P.S. that has no connection to the main event?”
In the Kingdom of God, the gospel is central and Jesus is Lord…when we try too hard to put ourselves in the center, we are really misplaced – there’s no way to displace Christ from His throne. It’s not all about us, it’s all about Jesus…but then again it really is all about us, because His heart is continually about us! We certainly aren’t post scripts to the salvation story…we are central to the heart of God where He considers us His top priority.
The next time you feel like a “P.S.” just remember…you matter more to God than you’ll ever ask, dream or imagine. Never an after thought or add-on in the heart of God…you are a beloved child of the King!
P.S. He loves you with endless, extravagant affection!

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