Radical Generosity - Part 3

The third and final reality I see in Luke 16 is this: Money promises what only God can deliver. Luke 16:13 says "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."I know that no one sets out to literally worship money, but the fact is that if you organize your whole life around acquiring it and pursuing it - you are serving it! The truth is that it owns you, not the other way around.Somewhere along the line we begin believing that if we just have enough of it, we'll be not only happy, but we'll have peace, contentment, fulfillment, joy, stability, security, and hope. All things that we should be finding in our relationship with God. This is why some of the happiest,...

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Radical Generosity - Part 2

There's a lesson I learned several years ago that was game changing for how I think about my finances. That is this: I'm a manager, not an owner. Everything I have belongs to God. Everything. My money, my house, my car, and all of my stuff. It's all His. Luke 16:12 says "If you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?"Psalm 24:1 says "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."Imagine what it would be like if you and I lived as if this were true. We would spend money differently. We would treat stuff differently. And if we are serious about having a radical impact on those around us, then suddenly radical generosity becomes much easier. After all, it's not ours. It belongs to God. So giving it away,...

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I fired my wife

It just wasn't working out. I know she was doing the best she could, but the fact is that there was just too much on her plate. One of the hardest lessons I've been learning in the church planting process is how to balance my ministry and my family. And part of that balancing act is making sure my wife isn't trying to do more than she should do either. Yesterday it became pretty clear that her desire to help me and take some things off of my plate was resulting in nothing but stress and feelings of being overwhelmed. So I fired her. I fired her from kids ministry. I fired her from feeling the need to pick things up that don't need to be picked up, and from trying to do everything all at the same time. Maybe being fired is a bit harsh, but she thanked me in the end. As a leader one of the most...

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Radical Generosity

Radical generosity leads to radical impact. I believe that more than almost anything. Generosity opens the doors to allow us to impact, influence, and ultimately shape our culture and the people around us. I was studying Luke 16:10-13 recently and came across three realities that I think shape us in how we think about our finances. Over the next couple of days I'll unpack them here.Luke 16:10 says "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"Reality #1 - Money is a test for what matters most.A lot of times we hear people say things like "If I had their money, I'd be a lot more generous." It's...

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Community

This week marks six months since we launched Story Church. I'm thrilled at where we find ourselves today. In many ways, it's completely different than I thought it would be, but I couldn't be happier with our progress. Yesterday I had the opportunity to reflect with our church on what God has done these first six months, and to begin to dream about the kind of community we can still become.In just six months, we've seen incredible impact on people's lives. Many of the people in our church were completely detached from God just six months ago. Today they find themselves not only regularly attending our services, but more importantly they are finding a community where they belong. They are connecting relationally with others who are seeking to live like Jesus. Together, we've been able to serve...

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