Good Morning Team – We were powerfully moved and Blessed by events that occurred at church yesterday and feel compelled to share. 1st – 4 brief comments so you know where we’re coming from;<\/p>\n
1. It is our Belief that Tithing is a practical application of your Faith, that it must be to your source of spiritual nourishment, and that we must give without the expectation<\/em> of receiving, knowing that you will receive <\/em>in return an amount greater than you have given.<\/p>\n 2. The Parable of the Talents has many lessons for us regarding being a good steward, that “talents” can be our skills, and that right actions vs just thoughts are richly rewarded. Thinking, talking about, or wanting to do good is not the same as actually DOing good.<\/p>\n 3. The concept of “Pay it Forward” – Rediscovered and made somewhat popular by Benjamin Franklin and super popular in 2000 by the movie with Kevin Spacey & Helen Hunt – means that a “good deed can be repaid to a 3rd party instead”.<\/p>\n 4. The economy has resulted in significantly reduced giving to churches while community needs have increased.<\/p>\n The Pastor delivered a clever & brilliant sermon on the Parable of Talents, and had us do a simple but powerful exercise relating to giving and receiving. Then he performed the boldest<\/strong>, most powerful<\/strong>, most loving<\/strong> practical application of Faith I\/We have ever witnessed at church; a “Reverse Offering”. The offering baskets were passed out full of envelopes, and every man, woman and child was instructed to take an envelope – a total of 11,000 envelopes for the day. And in that envelope was a $5 bill with 3 simple rules for its use;<\/p>\n 1. You can’t spend the money on yourself. Imagine the processional effect of 11,000 people focused on Doing Good for others!<\/p>\n After several hours of great discussions before, during and after dinner with our kids, friends, and their kids – regarding the lessons learned and how to best Make a Difference <\/em>we agreed to Pay It Forward <\/em>by pooling our resources with other church members and have purchased individual bags of VitaMeal on behalf of those Team Members whom we are aware have recently demonstrated the best use of their “talents” in Serving Others in their communities.<\/p>\n I\/we realize that email and blog posts are limited communication tools, lacking emotional and nonverbal cues and yet it is our sincerest desire that readers find our interpretation of yesterday’s events inspiring enough to take action today and Make A Difference in your family and your community. Be Creative. <\/p>\n Peace, Good Morning Team – We were powerfully moved and Blessed by events that occurred at church yesterday and feel compelled to share. 1st – 4 brief comments so you know where we’re coming from; 1. It is our Belief that … Continue reading
\n2. You can’t give it back to the church.
\n3. You have to tell us what you did with the cash.<\/p>\n
\nBill & Julie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"