2 Corinthians 9:6–8 (ESV) – 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Every time I read this I have to ask myself some serious questions. The answers are not always comforting.

In 2 Cor. 9, Paul is not addressing the issue of the tithe. You don’t have to decide “how much to tithe.” A tithe is 10%. That’s what the word means. Look it up. In this second letter to the Corinthian church, he is speaking of a special offering that was separate from their normal practice of tithing. This was a “collection” for the suffering brethren in Judea.

In the process of talking about that one specific collection, however, Paul expands his comments to talk about generosity in general. God is faithful to provide what we need. In fact, he is extravagantly generous with us. (I have always loved Dave Ramsey’s response to the question, “How are you doing?” He says, “Better than I deserve.”) We deserve judgment. We receive extravagant grace; not just a ticket to heaven, but grace that affects every aspect of our lives. And, as Jesus said, “Freely you have received. Freely give.” And in another place, “To give is better than to receive.”

I think the principle Paul is expressing applies to us all the time, everywhere. It should not take something out-of-the-ordinary (starving people, a tsunami disaster or the soon arrival of a great Apostle) to motivate us to be generous. It should be a lifestyle.

So why do I struggle with wanting to hang onto what I receive instead of seeing it as seed to sow? Will I give cheerfully to the cause of Christ, whether it is to feed the hungry, fund missions or re-pave the parking lot? Do I eat the seed or joyfully plant it for a harvest that honors the Giver? What IS the condition of my heart?

BTW: About all those endless discussions about whether or not the tithe is a legalistic, empty, religious practice… There are a couple ways to make it so. One way is if you think you are buying something from God when you tithe. But another way is to think, “I’ve given my 10%. Now I’m free to do whatever I please with the 90%.” (Really: Do we actually think that tithing is the price we must pay to never have to consider giving any more?)

In this season of prayer, we can ask (if we dare): How does this apply to me; to Cornerstone? Am I a bountiful sower?

There was a hymn I sang at school as a child:

We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

This is plowing season. This is the time the ground is freshly tilled, the weeds are pulled, the rocks are removed. This is both internal and external, as we are prepared for new seed, and as the field of the city is prepared for the seed of the Gospel.

We must be faithful to scatter the seed, to share our own stories of how we came from darkness into light, from death into life, and we must pray and trust God to provide all the conditions necessary for the seed to take root and grow into good fruit.

We are seed scatterers called to make more seed scatterers, disciples who disciple. Whatever our needs are today, we can rest assured that our good Father knows, cares and provides.

Also, today is Mother’s Day and this first particular article is for you mom’s out there. It includes the quote, ‘How do I smile at the future when my daughter informs me that she doesn’t ever need to brush her teeth again because she “has mints”?’ Click here for the rest.

Whilst we’re in parenting mode, David Murray is swift becoming a hero of mine. Here’s his conclusion to a tragedy involving baby chicks. If you want to start at the beginning, here’s the prelude to the piece.

And one more involving parenting, but good for anyone facing the sanctifying work of trials and tests.

Are you an introvert? Or do you know an introvert? Then this post probably knocks it out the park for you. Everyone else, read it and understand the struggles some people face. Just so you know, there are some ways I consider myself to be an introvert. I know I can stand in front of a bunch of people and speak, but that’s not the defining factor of an extrovert. Just saying…

I wondered: In what way is my life being fragrant?

What characteristics of a person’s walk with God could be portrayed as fragrant in this way? Does it require a certain aptitude, attitude, pulchritude? It seems to be both passive and active at once. As we do the following, He does the leading, and the fragrance comes through us.

Paul goes on to say we are not sufficient for these things–no one is! (We don’t muster this kind of witness up on our own–it is a deeper work of the Holy Spirit in us!) Paul contends that, as believers and true witnesses of God’s Glory in Christ, we are more than peddlers of a truth that coerces favor toward us (our aptitude, attitude, pulchritude.) That, rather, we are living epistles of His Truth! Written by the Spirit of the Living God out of flesh and blood.

I do not know what the analogy implies my life should smell like. I do not know how my epistle-flesh is supposed to read. But I am hopeful that these are some of the works that the Holy Spirit is setting Himself to work out in me to the benefit/blessing of Cornerstone and to Nampa.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

I have such great memories of singing an upbeat, cheerful chorus based upon the first part of this Psalm. We used to sing a lot of what we called “Scripture songs” back in the 70′s. I cannot help but hear those tunes when I come to certain passages.

The song based on this psalm stopped just before the word “Today” in verse 7.

Not many songwriters are able to handle the emotionally jarring transition from cheerful encouragement to somber warning. But, to the psalmist, those two aspects of relationship with God are completely harmonious. His “Big God” perspective enabled him to seamlessly transition from encouraging us to “come into His presence with thanksgiving . . . [and] songs of praise” to warning us to remember that rebellion brought the loss of an entire generation in the wilderness.

How is it possible to embrace both messages? It is only possible by remembering that “He is a great God” who created and owns everything. He is “our Maker” and we are “the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.”

God is good and He is eternally and fiercely committed to His people. When He speaks (i.e., commands), it is both for His glory AND our blessing. A heart that is hard toward His voice – especially after seeing His work (like that lost generation did) – will result in loss.

Another way to say it: God did not create us just so He’d have people to boss around. He created us in love. And He loves to bless us. It is glorious that He pours out blessing on people who, on their own merits, would be totally insignificant and useless to Him. When He speaks and commands it is always in accordance with His plans “to bless and not to harm.” So in love, HE WILL STEP IN to get things back on track for blessing. Even if he has to pass over a generation to do so.

So… as we pray, we must be filled with the Spirit of grace so that we may reject all condemnation from the enemy while simultaneously having soft hearts toward God’s loving correction. For He is a Good Shepherd who gave His life for us. He is worthy of worship and obedience.

Thank you, Lord, for your amazing patience at all those times when we haven’t listened for Your voice and for forgiving us when we disobeyed. And now we pray that You would give us soft hearts and ears to hear Your voice afresh in this new season.

We’re nearly midway through our season of prayer and fasting for Cornerstone and there are some great conversations going on. One of those is around the notion of program. Cornerstone is well known among members as being a “non-programmatic” church. But it would be a real mistake to confuse “non-programmatic” with “anti-program.”

For me, “non-programmatic” means that we believe much, if not most, valid ministry takes place without the direct oversight of the pastors and without relying on, or requiring the use of, the church facility and/or church funds.

Some ministry, by its nature, will require direct pastoral involvement. Some ministry may be more effective when centered in a location like our building. And certainly some ministry endeavors need funds! When that happens, things do need to be handled differently than if a person wanted to start a midweek puzzle group at the local coffee shop. As Daren Lindley pointed out, not every idea is a good idea, not every good idea is a God-given idea, and not every God-given idea is a “now” idea.

Part of the work of the pastors and the Church Council is prayerfully considering the appropriate use of our resources for the most effective spreading of the Gospel and fulfillment of our mission. That means that some ideas may be put on hold, some ideas may be denied, whilst others may be leapt on like bacon-wrapped filet mignon after a three week fast.

But we are most definitely “pro-suggestions!” (Except, perhaps, when the suggestion is, “Pastor, you need to add another responsibility to your schedule by taking the lead on my great idea for a ministry. I can’t wait to give you a hand with your new assignment!”)

When we say we are “non-programmatic”, we mean that we are not interested in locking the church up inside the walls of a building seven nights a week to feed itself. We believe that the body is equipped in worship and through the Word as we gather on Sunday mornings and have times of fellowship and prayer in our homes together. But we also believe the church must be engaging with the community in order to be effective in its mission – to make disciples who love God and love people. And that engagement can happen inside the walls of the building we meet in on Sundays, but must not be limited to occurring there. Most ministry will happen outside of those walls.

We are not against programs – activities that are carried out by Cornerstone people and that follow a regular schedule or utilize the church property.  In fact, we encourage our members to be creative and we desire to release people to do valid ministry and outreach even when the pastors are not leading.

What we want is for people who feel called by God to be empowered and released by the church to pursue Jesus into the work set before them, without fear of failing. We’ll all try some things that won’t work out. I’ve done plenty of that myself, and am thankful for the grace extended to me! If we are safe to experiment and see if we’ve heard Jesus’ calling, then we will be more adventurous, more courageous and, ultimately, more effective. We will continue this conversation together some time, but consider these questions for now:

So what are the ideas you think Jesus is calling you into? How will you pursue those things and who will you fellowship with to get them done?

9 Marks has a powerful reminder about the need to celebrate Jesus’ work in churches other than our own.

Tim Challies interview Russell Moore on fiction and literature.

And in keeping with Piper’s warning to care for our physical bodies as well as our spiritual health, David Murray highlighted an infographic on ways to avoid burnout.

Psalm 84 (on today’s LifeNotes reading) immediately got my attention because of the first part of verse 4: “Blessed are those who dwell in your house…”

I am writing from the lovely home in which we have lived for the past 14 years; the home that is lovely because of all the love that has happened here. It is lovely because of all the love that Lynn put into it – with very little expense, she created a cheerfully warm and welcoming environment where we raised our children and “spoiled” our grandchildren.

Tonight we will sleep in our temporary housing at the church office.

Church property. “Blessed are those who dwell in your house…”

Hopefully, people know me well enough that they would never think that I confuse God’s house with a building. It is God’s church – His people – that “are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Eph 2:22) Yet there is something special about “place.” The fact that the church gathers together to worship at that property somehow sanctifies it and makes it special. It doesn’t matter if it is a house, a motel conference room, a storefront, or a steepled & stained-glass “church” building. The place is, in fact made special by how it is used. Or should be.

And so it is wonderfully “special” that Lynn and I get to live on the property of the church.

Temporarily.

Psalm 84:5–7 (ESV) – ⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. ⁶ As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. ⁷ They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

The blessing isn’t for just anyone. It is only for people who’s strength is in the Lord. And in their heart are the highways to Zion.

The words “to Zion” are not in the original text. They are supplied by most translators to bring clarity. But I love the NKJV translation of verse 5: “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” Not just pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem’s temple for a special meeting. Pilgrimage.

It is said of those faithful ones of Hebrews 11, that they saw the promises of God ”and greeted them from afar, …  having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” They seek “a city not built with hands.”

“This world is not my home. I’m just a’ passing through.” BUT, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE: On our pilgrimage through what is sometimes a dry and dreary land, we can make it “a place of springs.” We, because God is our strength, can bring refreshing and life as we pass through our temporary dwelling places. And every place is temporary until our pilgrimage is over and we arrive at our permanent home in the new heavens and earth.

As we pray with fasting, I’m asking for a deeper and more permanent sense of the temporariness of all our earthly homes. May our faith then free us to bring blessing to those around us rather than falling into the pointless pursuit our own, temporary blessing.

And it is this faith that will help us get past the very human sense of sadness and loss as we say goodbye to things now.

I wanted to take the opportunity today to share what my fast looks like and why I believe Jesus has called me to this particular way of fasting. Traditionally, fasting has been the deliberate restriction of food, either in entirety or in part. This denial of certain consumptions is not to twist God’s arm, or to benefit Him, but to discipline ourselves for the purpose of seeking to know Him and His will on a matter more clearly.

Skip through to modern-day America and whilst food consumption is high up there still, media consumption is just as pervasive, and in many cases more time absorbing. For this season of fasting, I’m giving up television shows and movies. It’s not like Sarah and I are spending 6 hours a night staring at the television, but I am aware of my capacity to assimilate ideas and themes. Stories speak to me, and, for the most part, I engage with storylines in visual media.

As I prayed this morning, I spent some time considering why I am fasting from visual media specifically, and it became apparent that, for me, this season is about seeing and embracing God’s storyline for Cornerstone. In order to do that, I need to simplify what I receive as input in order to clarify what I am hearing. Whilst I can see redemptive themes in the shows I choose to consume, they would act at present as noise and worldly filters. Instead, I need to focus on hearing God’s voice in His Word, through His Spirit, and all in a posture of prayer.

Be encouraged today, however you are participating in this fasting and prayer. God is with us, He is speaking and revealing, and as we follow Him we will see that His steadfast love endures forever!