September Word from the Pastor

Sept 5 ~ Tony Campolo on the Power Delusion:

Too many times women are made to feel that they should apologize for being mothers and housewives. In reality, such roles can be noble callings. When I was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, there were gatherings from time to time to which faculty members brought their spouses. Inevitably, some woman lawyer or sociologist would confront my wife with the question, "And what is it that you do, my dear?"

My wife, who is one of the most brilliantly articulate individuals I know, had a great response: "I am socializing two homo sapiens in the dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition in order that they might be instruments for the transformation of the social order into the teleologically prescribed utopia inherent in the eschaton." When she followed that with, "And what is it that you do?" the other person’s "A lawyer" just wasn’t that overpowering.

Sept 12 ~ Why do I give?

The first thing that popped into my head was that I don’t want to be a free loader. I know that it costs money to run a church. On average it takes 40 square foot of building space per person that attends church. Multiply that times $100.00 to $150.00 a foot to build and it doesn’t take me long to figure out that someone had to pay $16,000.00 to $20,000.00 just to provide a place for my family to worship today. The church pays commercial rates for utilities and high interest on our building loans. Literature costs money, landscaping costs money, salaries cost money--everything costs money. I’m just not the kind of person that wants to get something for nothing. I want to pay my way.

Sept 19 ~ Time Equals Money?

In his 1970 book "The Harried Leisure Class," Staffan Linder challenged the notion that time equals money. More money, he said, means more shopping and therefore less time. More recently, Juliet Schor argued in "The Overworked American" that the American workweek has been getting longer since the 1950’s-- that we are a harried working class...

Whether harried from working or from shopping, we buy our homes in the suburbs to "get away from it all," which increases our commute. As a reward for the long hours at work, we build homes that are on average twice as large as those built fifty years ago, only to find they require double the cleaning and yard work. We buy labor-saving appliances and then feel the need to enroll in the local fitness club. The cycle of consumption leaves us rich in things but poor in time.

SOURCE: Karl E. Johnson. "Six Days Thou Shalt Labor, More or Less: Busyness and the Business of Heaven”.

Sept 26 ~ Sacrificial Giving

A preacher said to his congregation, “I have good news and bad news to tell you. The good news is we have enough money to pay off our building debt. The bad news is the money to do it is in your checking accounts.”

When we let go of money, we are letting go of part of ourselves and part of our security. But this is precisely why it is important to do it. It is one way to obey Jesus’ command to deny ourselves.… When we give money, we are releasing a little more of our egocentric selves and a little more of our false security.… Giving frees us to care. It produces an air of expectancy as we anticipate what God will lead us to give. It makes life with God an adventure in the world, and that is worth living for and giving for.