Giving

Yesterday Pastor Lon preached on a topic that is avoided by some churches, over emphasised by others, and appropriately addressed in others still.  As part of a message dealing with greed, charitable giving, and storing up treasures in heaven Lon touched on an area that had been on my mind for the past few years.

 

For years I have had semi-strong feelings about giving to non-religious charity organizations.  I have had a terrible time internally justifying my thoughts as more than just personal opinions and so had not discussed this with more than a small handful of people close to me while I waited on the Lord to make Himself known in this area to me.  It had long been a point of confusion for me why one, as a Believer, would chose to donate to an organization that was not faith-based over one with a similar mission that was also faith-based or why one would choose to serve in a volunteer organization like AmeriCorps or Greenpeace rather than on a missions team, but that was where it ended, a point of confusion.  After yesterday I feel like my internal struggle has been lifted.  Obviously, this is not a deal-breaker situation by any means and supporting non-faith-based initiatives can still be meaningful (and full of tax advantages...the CPA in me would be remiss to add), but I will no longer feel guilty when making the choice to support a faith-based organization over a non-faith-based one.

 

Obviously there is much more to this issue, way more than I care to touch on after it being dealt with so well yesterday.  I have no desire to regurgitate.  You can watch Lon's sermon for yourself by clicking on this link (non-video versions are also available on the website as well).

 

Just know that it's cool to have not even been thinking about an issue that I had once been so caught up with, and out of the blue receive instruction and guidance in a manner you never expected.  Our God is cool like that, He doesn't forget what's on our minds, even when it is not longer in the forefront.  If there is a lesson we are to learn, we will learn it in His perfect timing.