In This Issue: Make the Most of Your Summer
- READERS WRITE – Your Financial Insights
- SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION – Seize the Summer Slump
- EVENTS – Meet Muslims in Michigan, Metrics for Missions, and More
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.
READERS WRITE – Your Financial Insights
Last month I asked you about money. Right, like it’s any of my business. At least I didn’t ask you for money! Perhaps I should have.
My request for comments led to many readers sharing their thoughts on wealth and giving. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks about this stuff. Here are some of the most insightful responses.
Do We Have a Consumer Worldview?
Mobilization hall-of-famer David Mays offers this nugget:
“I recently read Skye Jethani’s book The Divine Commodity, in which he says we Christians have a “consumer” worldview. In a phone interview he said Christians are distinguished from non-Christians by what they buy, but our mindset is the same!”
Where Do We Get Our Habits?
Vicki, a family physician, shared her insight on generosity and contentment.
“I think it starts in childhood, with encouragement to generosity. For me, the starting place is a tithe, always has been since I picked strawberries for a nickel a quart at age seven. Working to give to those in need (as well as to supply one’s own need) is very satisfying.
“Interestingly, I have never been in dire need, although I have been flat broke. Whatever my situation, God has supplied what I needed through his mysterious ways. Sometimes it’s been a boring, repetitive job. Sometimes it’s been a family loan. Sometimes it’s been an outright gift from an unexpected source. And often, it’s been far and away more than I could ask or think.”
Summing up her perspective on earning and spending money, Vicki continues,
“These are rubber-meets-the-road kind of questions, and I ask them frequently. I think that is a good thing. I don’t mean that I am obsessed with them, or tortured by second-guessing decisions. But I think that every Christian needs to decide in advance the lifestyle that God would have him or her to pursue, and then, do it to the glory of God.” Well said.
Are We Willing to Try New Things?
Matt, who’s raised his personal support longer than some of us have been alive, says, “I still have lots of questions and not a whole lot of answers.”
“I’ve been learning about the Moravians, and wondering: Is it time we mobilizers and missionaries enter in to business opportunities to fund the projects we are passionate about? Should we wholeheartedly enter into business-as-missions opportunities to fund both our own support as well as glocal [global and local] missions?
“This summer I plan to ‘cast my bread upon the waters’ with a small endeavor. Any week now, I should be getting a patent on a lamp project I have been working on for years. I plan to build a few lamps in my garage, hit some of the local flea markets and see what doors might open.”
Are We Generous Givers?
Luke asked an interesting question, “Are we Christians generous or are we cheap? The jury is still out. I was convicted when I knew a brother in the Lord who had been a restaurant manager. He said the worst tippers in the world are Christians and military members. I was a Christian in the military and didn’t tip generously.” Ouch. I need to keep that in mind.
Do We Know What to Do with Non-Cash Resources?
Luke also wondered about innovative giving possibilities. He asks, “I have lots of non-cash resources that I can give to missions, but are they wanted?” Certainly cash is the easiest to receipt and account for, but could other things also be used?”
I don’t know what Luke is thinking about, maybe a car, airline miles, stock? Is there a way for people to give things like this? Can they get a tax receipt? If you have knowledge or opinions, fire them off to me. (If you want Luke’s email address, forget it!)
Do We Keep Our Eyes on the Source?
Same story for David who gives us a good wrap-up to our money discussion:
“The point is GOD OWNS IT ALL. We just use it while we’re here. So why not put the money where God wants it? I have a long way to go to get there, but one of the biggest joys in my life is giving God’s money away. My dream is to run out of money when I run out of life, and that any remaining wealth will be set up so I’m giving here while living in Heaven.
“Now that’s a cool gig! He seems to keep putting more money in my life to give away. But hey, God himself said, test me on the subject of tithing (to me, giving of any kind). You can’t out-give God!”
SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION – Seize the Summer Slump
Source: Shane Bennett
So you go to church, right? But you’re different from a lot of churchgoers in two key ways: 1. You’re always thinking about how the gospel might go where it hasn’t yet, and 2. You go to church even when it’s summer!
It’s summer in my hemisphere now, and in my church everything is slowing down. For example, while our bulletin might have three to four inserts in an average week (We suffer from severe bulletin-itis!), this time of year there may be none.
So my scheming, little mind begins to creak, grind, and lurch into motion. “Why don’t I propose an insert that highlights an unreached people group or maybe one or two of the cross-cultural workers we support?”
I am smart enough to know that it would sound lame to hear at staff meeting that there are no inserts and then immediately pipe up, “Hey, I can make one really fast!” No, I need to have them ready, maybe even ask ahead of time for a slot in the weeks that I expect will be slow.
It’s not just bulletins: People go on vacation in the summer. What if we offered to cover some of their slots in the nursery, Sunday school classrooms, or maybe even in the pulpit!
Your mind has probably already arrived at this key question: If church slows down in the summer and fewer people show up, just who are those people? Are they the only ones who have no friends? The ones who don’t know anyone who has a boat or a cabin? Maybe. In which case, go ahead and bless them. They’ll be thankful.
On the other hand, maybe the ones who are still around are dedicated. They’re hungry. They’re sticking around not because they lack fun options, but because they need something from God. And maybe that something is a new sense of his purposes and their part in them.
Seize the slump! If not this year, plan for the next; it will be here before you know it.
EVENTS – Michigan Manarah Program, Metrics for Missions, and More
Source: Missions Catalyst Events Calendar
Here’s one more opportunity focused on ministry to Muslims, in addition to those we mentioned in last week’s edition:
July 4-26 – FirstSTOP “Manarah” Program (Detroit, MI, USA). Three-week intensive equipping program by Christar. Learn about Islam and build relationships in Detroit’s Muslim community.
And another conference for mission leaders:
September 21-23 – The Mission Exchange (formerly EFMA) Annual Conference & Executive Retreat (St. Louis, MO, USA). Topic: Metrics for Mission – Rethinking the Issues of Faithfulness and Fruitfulness. This year, you can also attend virtually.
And one on tentmaking:
October 21-25 – GO Equipped TENTmaking Course (Pasadena, CA, USA). 4.5-day course, 30 sessions, two-week curriculum for new, current, and former tentmakers.
>> For more events, see the Missions Catalyst events calendar.
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