Challenged

I am deeply challenged by my brothers and sisters at Bethel Hill Baptist concerning their willing and immediate response to send relief to the Iraqi's. Being immersed in my own affairs, I allow opportunities to give and minister for the kingdom to pass by - all the while I am oblivious. The world around me/us is needy both physically and spiritually. The church, the family of God, as a whole must respond to the needs like our King, our Savior  - selflessly and sacrificially giving! The good news that Jesus is King should stir us, His followers, to social action in His name. O that the Father will teach me to be more attentive to the needs here and abroad! Thanks BHBC for your willingness to selflessly and sacrificially give in order to relieve the oppression in Iraq. May God get the glory!

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2:44 PM So how was your church meeting this morning? Like soggy oatmeal? My sympathies if that was the case. As for me, I feel like I just came home from a rollicking banquet and a wedding feast all rolled into one. Joy is serious business at The Hill! And we're all Bible students. I know I can't ever get enough of the teaching of God's word.

Not that anyone is interested, but I sit in the front row along with my iPad open to the Scripture passage, my notebook, and my Greek New Testament.

Jason's teaching from Matthew 9-10 was both deep and simple to follow. Friends, if you want to know more about God, all you have to do is open your Bible. Before Jason spoke I was given permission by the elders to share about the need for the refugees in Iraq and guess what -- $1,340 was given today! This means that our church will send BGR a check tomorrow for $2,680 to prevent kids from dying from dehydration and starvation (someone matched it). I love my church. I love giving whenever I can. Compared to the Bible's standards, my love and self-abnegation seem pretty puny. And then it struck me: this money wasn't mine to give. It all belongs to Him. When you have the potential to do something, just do it. This is the challenge that each of us must face: How will I manage what belongs to God? That's the question that you face every day in a myriad of ways. Giving to charity doesn't make you a Christian any more than climbing a tree makes you a monkey. Really, God doesn't need our money. As head of the church, He owns it all anyway. That said, He wants us to experience the joy of giving. What you can do, do. What you can't do, God will do. Either way, He gets all the glory. As Philippians puts it, the fellowship of the church is a fellowship in contributing to each others' needs (1:5). We remember the poor, no matter what race they are, no matter who they are, no matter where they live. In our hearts there is room for others. Whatever pertains to the advancement of the Gospel and the glory of our Lion-Lamb -- this we will do, and we will do it together!

So I ask: How long? How long before the church in America comes alive to the needs in Iraq? How long do babies have to starve to death before their parents have groaned enough? I'm coming to realize again and again that this is what the church looks like. For a child in Iraq, you and I are the one small hope to hold on to. All we have to do is hold out our hearts.