How to Drop a Love Bomb

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We announced Sunday that for this year's |giv| project, we'll be dropping Love Bombs on the city of Columbia. Since the idea of Love Bombs may be new to some people (on the count of it's a made-up thing), we thought some explanation was in order.

The goal of Love Bombs is to extravagantly bless the people in our city. Ultimately we want LifeGroups to be aware of the real needs around them and then graciously respond to those needs by sacrificially giving time and money to meet people in their pain and brokenness.

Projects should be:

  • Personal. Your |giv| project should be personal to the group either birthed out of an existing relationship/connection or out of some personal passion or calling. Does anyone in the group have any specific connection to a particular person or group of people in need? Is anyone in your group already serving/working people a person in need? Are their any specific passions or causes that people in your group are drawn towards?
  • Relational. Your |giv| project should focus on building relationships with people by serving them and meeting real needs. How can your |giv| project focus on serving people and making disciples (helping people to take the next step toward Jesus)? Is there a way to build relationships with the person(s) you are serving and invite them into your group and our church family?
  • Sacrificial – |giv| projects should be costly to all of the members of the group. What are the personal cost that our group will experience by taking on this |GIV| project? Where will you be going? How much time will it take you? How often will you serve them? What are the financial costs?

Love Bomb Examples:

In addition, here are a few real examples of |giv| projects that LifeGroups in our church are already participating in.

A Ministry to Ministries

"Together, my LifeGroup has formed a ministry, "The Helping Hand Ministry" to support Keepin It Real Ministries. Keepin It Real Ministries is a homeless outreach program that supports and encourages men and women with the gospel. Part of their ministry involves a transition home, which aids the men in getting off the street and being encouraged during their life struggles with community and the gospel. We attend their weekly bible studies and spend time with them throughout the week.

Our Love Bomb is to host a benefit concert for Keepin It Real Ministries at the Devine Street Campus and to raise awareness for the ministry and funding to support their efforts in our city."

Kickball in Earlewood

One random evening this past summer one of our LifeGroup members was eating dinner outside with some neighbors. He heard the sound of a rock hitting a window, and peaked over the fence to find a boy trying to break into an abandoned house. As it turns out, there were some younger kids in our neighborhood who were breaking into houses and said they had been taught how to break into the houses by older kids they knew.

After talking to the kids' parents, we thought it'd be a good idea to start playing kickball with the kids in Earlewood park, which gives us an opportunity to build relationships with them, and talk to them about life.

For our |giv| project, we're going to choose from one or more of the following:

  • Buy the kids some food to take home to their parents. Buy them some winter clothes.
  •  Setup a Santa shop in the park for kids to have their picture taken him this Christmas.
  •  Buy the kids some sports equipment for them to get active.

Partying at Epworth

Our Love Bomb is to hosting a Christmas party for one of the Epworth cottages.  A couple of the girls have connections to the home and we're excited to get to bring Christmas to them this year.

[button label="Ready to give it a shot? Visit lovebombcolumbia.com" link="http://lovebombcolumbia.com" shape="default"]

|giv| 2013

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Giving something means taking what is yours and giving it to others, free of charge. Christmas is the celebration of how God gave his one and only son so that we could be forgiven, free of charge. So each year for Christmas, we rally together to respond to what God has given us:

  • by |giv|ing shoes to people without them
  • by |giv|ing money to church planters in India
  • by |giv|ing hoodies to people in the cold in Columbia
  • by |giv|ing Christmas presents to kids in the Yucatan peninsula
  • by |giv|ing safe houses to children rescued out of sex slavery
  • much, much more.

Because He gave, we |giv|. It's that simple.

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Why Our Pastors are Excited about Baptism Party

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With our Baptism Party coming up on November 17, we asked each of our pastors what they were most excited about.

Take a look:

Jay Hendricks:

I'm so pumped for this fall's Baptism Party! This year we're trying something a little different and I think it's going to be an amazing time of hearing stories of Jesus's grace, celebrating through song/laughter/dance/food/clapping, and in the end worshipping King Jesus for all He is!

Our goal for this gathering is to join together as one family proclaiming that we are - reconciled to Christ, reconciled to each other, and forever His by His blood! Hope you will join us for this celebration!

Allen Tipping:

I am stoked about the upcoming Baptism gathering on November 17, because I get to sing, shout and celebrate with my church family. We get rowdy and I love it. We scream, shout and clap every time someone comes up out of the water because it’s a beautiful picture of the Gospel. Baptism is a visual picture of the stories each person is telling; how they were dead in their sins and are now raised with Christ; how they were rescued by Jesus and are now being transformed into His likeness. It’s beautiful.

This Baptism Gathering has the potential to be even better than most because the celebration concludes with a breakfast feast. The 10 a.m. gathering will be followed by Brunch and the 6 p.m. will be followed by Brinner.

 Can you say, “bacon”?

 I am already thanking Jesus for an awesome day of feasting and celebrating His goodness.

Jon Ludovina:

I love the few times a year that we get together as a big family to party. I love the excitement. I love celebrating Jesus’ grace and proclaiming the gospel. I love eating and feasting and joy. It’s a little bit of heaven practice.

 Specifically this year I’m pretty stoked about eating breakfast all day long. The only thing better than eating breakfast at breakfast time is eating it at lunch time and calling it brunch. The only thing better than brunch is eating breakfast again for dinner and calling it brinner. No offense to the other meals of the day, but they are far inferior to breakfast.

 And I’m not talking about your fancy, frou-frou brunch with tea at the country club. I’m talking about bacon. And sausage. And cinnamon rolls. And casserole. And more bacon. And syrup all over all of it.

 Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot.

 Then again… eating breakfast all day with your church family while celebrating Jesus giving people the good life. I stand corrected. Life can get better.

Kent Bateman:

One of my favorite things about Baptism Gathering is hearing how the gospel sets all different types of people free from sin and rescues them into God's family. God started the process of saving me through a Baptism Gathering, so I'm excited every year to get to see and celebrate the stories of more people he's done that for.

Adam Gibson:

As our church family has grown over the years, the times where we can be together at once have gotten fewer and fewer. With something like 900 people in LifeGroups right now, there just aren't many opportunities to be in the same place at once...especially when our Devine Street building only holds about 290.

This all makes me really look forward to the chances we have to get some time with all of us in the same place, such as the Baptism Party coming up. I love hearing Jesus stories. I love getting to welcome new folks and let them hear what Jesus has done in people's lives. I am so excited to for a chance to sing, celebrate, enjoy God's work among us, and eat bacon with my (church) family. 

Brandon Clements:

Every week at the Gathering we preach the gospel from stage. A pastor gets up and expounds on how Jesus is good news for us and what it means to follow Him in everyday life.

One of my favorite things about baptism gatherings is that it is our people do the preaching through their stories. Seeing people open up and transparently share how Jesus has done for them what they could not do for themselves never grows old. The excitement, the screams and applause for those being baptized, a symbol that Christ has raised them to spiritual life--it all gives me chill bumps.

Baptism is telling the truth about us and about Jesus, and that truth makes Him look really good. 

 Michael Bailey:

I'm pumped for the Baptism Party because each one is like that rest stop with a cool overlook when you're driving through the mountains. You park your car, get out, and look at the magnificent view of the land you've just driven through. For me, the Baptism Party is a chance to pause and appreciate the magnificence of where God has brought us over this past season. It's chance for me to sit back and soak in the great view his faithfulness to seek and save us. 

Get Your Potluck On

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Our Baptism Party is coming up quickly on November 17 at the Devine Street Campus. As part of the celebration we are throwing a potluck-style brunch (after the 10:00am Gathering) and brinner (after the 6:00pm Gathering). Eating together is a great way to show that Jesus has made us a big family, and a great way to welcome our guests to let them see what family is like.

Li'l Help Please

This is where we need your help. We are asking people to bring food to help with brunch and/or brinner. To help us coordinate, we have created a quick form to fill out. We'd love for there to be more than enough food there for us and our guests, and if we all chip in to bring our award-winning dishes, it'll be a great time with bacon and pancakes for all.

Take a second now to fill out the form, and we'll contact you soon with more details.

[button label="Let us know what you're bringing" link="https://midtowncolumbia.ccbchurch.com/w_form_response.php?form_id=362" shape="default"]

Who Should I Invite to Baptism Party?

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With our Baptism Party coming up on November 17, we wanted to help our family think through who to invite to the event. We usually don't make a huge deal out of inviting people to attend Gatherings, just because in a lot of cases inviting them to experience community in the context of a LifeGroup, is just as helpful if not more.

But because of the way we do our Baptism Gatherings, we want as many people as possible to hear the message of the gospel proclaimed through lives that God has changed. In light of that, we want you to invite as many people as possible to the Baptism Party.

Here's a few people we'd recommend inviting:

  1. Friends & Family. People close to you are the most likely to accept an invitation because they want to know what it is in Columbia that you're so excited about, so let 'em know.
  2. People who have intellectual/philosophical/personal problems with Christianity. Sometimes the most powerful way to help people see past their objections and doubts is to let them hear about lives that Jesus is actively working in and changing. During each Gathering, we'll get to watch around 15 stories from different people who have been set free by the gospel of Jesus. In a lot of ways, that's better than any convincing philosophy or apologetics book.
  3. People who think they're Christians. Because of where we live, many people consider themselves Christians without an understanding of the gospel, conviction of sin, or repentance. Witnessing the stories of people who were in similar places can be a powerful way to reframe what being a Christian means to people who aren't sure.
  4. Anyone who loves celebrating. The goal for the Baptism Party is simple: we want it to be one big Jesus celebration. So if you know somebody who loves celebrating, they're likely to enjoy the Baptism Gathering.
  5. Anyone who loves bacon. Since we're serving brunch and brinner after the 10:00am & 6:00pm respectively, there will most definitely be bacon involved. Tell someone you're taking them to a meal, and bring them to the Baptism Party (okay, don't actually do that since that would be lying, but you can tell them food will be included!)

[button label="Find out more about the Baptism Party" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/baptismparty" shape="default"]

Launching The Good Life | A Photo Essay

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This Sunday we began our series on Ecclesiastes called 

The Good Life

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We welcomed over 800 church family and guests as we unpacked our new series.

Below are some photos from the Gathering:

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And as a bonus, here's an animated .gif of our 9:00am Gathering:

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Pray With Us for The Good Life

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We are very excited about looking at some of the major themes that Solomon touches on throughout The Good Life. Ecclesiastes, when understood properly, contains an ocean’s worth of wisdom to protect us like a moat from the siren calls of materialism, secularism, individualism, idealism, and performancism. These perspectives are the air we breathe in our culture. We are praying that Jesus will use this study to grow our family in loving Him, living in light of eternity with Him and learning to help our neighbors, friends and family see the vanity of living life without Jesus in view.

Please join us in praying for our church family throughout this study:

  • Pray that Jesus will give us deep, honest insight into the underlying emptiness of many of the things we are chasing after to give us the good life.
  • Pray that Jesus will give us more of His perspective from beyond the sun.
  • Pray that we will grow as missionaries who can help discern and help to explain the deep down broken emptiness of life that many of our neighbors and friends are experiencing.
  • Pray that Jesus will help our city see our need for Him in order to live the good life.
  • Pray that Jesus will rescue us from the trap of individualism and help us live heavily intertwined, mutually encouraging lives as a church family.
  • Pray that Jesus will protect us from the temptation of materialism and performancism and help us find our identity is perfectly given to us as a gift in Him.
  • Pray that we will grow in contentment, enjoyment, and experiencing of the good life that is found in Jesus.

A Guide to The Good Life

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This Sunday, we'll begin our new series on the book of Ecclesiastes, The Good Life. To find out more about the series, visit our series page.

To help equip you to study the series with us, we've published a book called A Guide to The Good Life. Included in the book are weekly study guides to accompany each week of the series, LifeGroup guides with discussion questions, 40 daily devotionals, and a family activity guide to help teach your children about Ecclesiastes.

We're making a physical copy of the book available at our Gatherings beginning this Sunday, but we wanted to go ahead and release digital copies for anyone wanting to get a head start on the series.

Below are PDF and EPUB versions of A Guide to the Good Life. Not familiar with EPUBs? Find out more here.

[button label="Get the PDF" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/The-Good-Life_PDF.pdf" shape="default"]

[button label="Get the EPUB" link="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/935194/The%20Good%20Life_EPUB2.epub" shape="default"]

Live out of town and want a physical copy of the book? Buy one for $6.99 on Amazon.

Some Help Reading Ecclesiastes

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To many Christians, Ecclesiastes is a very strange read. Throughout the book, Solomon often sounds depressed, incredibly cynical and at times he seems to say blatantly untrue things or Biblically false ideas. On top of all of that, there are times when he seems to contradict himself.

But hiding behind these initial frustrations and confusions lies a wealth of wisdom, insight and truth waiting for us. When we understand the literary genre and the nature of the task Solomon is accomplishing throughout Ecclesiastes, the light bulbs start to turn on with otherwise very dark passages. Wisdom literature graces us with some of the most helpful, beautiful passages in all of Scripture and simultaneously befuddles us with some of the most confusing passages in all of Scripture.

The reason for Solomon’s apparent pessimism throughout the book of Ecclesiastes originates from the nature of the task that he is accomplishing for us. Throughout the book, Solomon walks in a tension of two views of life:

  1. Life with no view of God.
  2. Life with God in view.

Solomon spends a majority of Ecclesiastes considering view number 1 which is why it tends to be so pessimistic, cynical and strange sounding. In brief moments throughout the book he expands his view to include God and we get breaths of fresh air. Whenever you find yourself stumped by a verse or a passage in Ecclesiastes, immediately ask yourself the question “Is he describing life with no view of God right now?” This is the case almost every time he is depressed sounding or seemingly wrong.

For example in Ecclesiastes 10:19, Solomon writes:

“Money answers everything.”

At first glance that is blatantly wrong. But here he is describing life with no view of God and saying at a practical level, money is an answer to an incredible amount of problems under the sun. It won’t fix the underlying brokenness but it can certain solve a lot of symptomatic issues. It’s a truism presented in a very specific context of life considered with no view of God.

Practical steps to interpreting Ecclesiastes:

  1. Spend time praying and meditating on the tough passages asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate them to you.
  2. Ask yourself the question, “Is he describing life with no view of God right now?”
  3. If you are still stuck, talk to your LifeGroup and see if you can figure it out together.
  4. In a pinch, consult commentaries, your LifeGroup coach or someone you know with more biblical knowledge.

Don’t let a confusing statement here or there and a seemingly pessimistic tone limit you from enjoying all that Jesus has to offer us in this book. When it’s the hardest to understand, rely on Jesus’ strength the most. When it seems too murky to press on, pray for Jesus’ light to illuminate it. And together as a family, let’s learn from Jesus through Solomon how to live The Good Life.

Why Ecclesiastes?

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In some ways, the quality of life in America has never been better. A surprising amount of research is beginning to show that over the last fifty years almost every factor in quality of life has improved. And at the same time, no one seems to be getting happier. We are all chasing the good life and in some ways we are achieving circumstantially the good life at higher rates than ever before. And at the same time, depression and anxiety are up (find out more here and here and here. Happiness is down (even on Twitter).

Enter Ecclesiastes.

No one in human history has lived an affluent, glamorous lifestyle more fully than Solomon. No one has had more cumulative wealth, wisdom, success, power, and rampant access to anything he wanted whenever he wanted it. And somehow his conclusion was that even massive increases in wealth, success and overall quality of life do not translate to actual deep down soul level satisfaction and joy.

Which means Solomon’s got some insight for our culture.

Solomon was chasing everything that we chase thousands of years before us.

And he’s already finished the race so that he can now look back and bless us with his conclusions in hindsight. The entire book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon saying, “Let me tell you what I have already learned is the inevitable end of everything you are chasing right now.”

So as an entire church family, we are going to allow Solomon’s ancient insight and wisdom – wisdom that has stood the test of time – to enlighten us in our modern pursuits of the good life. Throughout the next eight weeks we will sync up our Sunday gatherings, Kidtown lessons, and LifeGroups to study through some of the major themes of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Find out more about the series.

I'm Ready to be Generous...Now What?

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

In the final sermon of our Treasure Hunting series, Adam talked about how the purpose of our money is to help people see Jesus. In addition, throughout the series, we've been praying together as a church that Jesus would help us to be wise and generous as we give more of our riches away.

We've already heard some great stories about how Jesus has used the series to challenge people to more generosity. But in addition, there may be some of us who are thinking: "okay, I'm ready to be generous...who do I give to?"

To help, we wanted to compile a list of organizations (both international and local) that are doing incredible work. This, of course, is nowhere close to a comprehensive list--just some organizations we know about and love.

Local

The following are organizations in and around Columbia:

International

The following are organizations around the globe:

School Supplies for Pinehurst

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One of the communities that our Allen-Benedict church plant is ministering to is collecting school supplies to provide for local inner-city children who may not be able to provide them for themselves.

The local Pinehurst Community Council is trying to collect enough supplies for 150-200 students, and we as a church would love to provide some or all of those. This is an incredible way of helping the church build with the community they're building relationships with, and we want to help them.

Here's the things needed:

  • pencils #2 - lots for all ages
  • erasers
  • glue sticks
  • kleenex
  • hand sanitizers
  • wide ruled loose leaf paper
  • college ruled loose leaf paper
  • rulers
  • crayons
  • markers
  • highlighters
  • 3 ring binders 1 inch
  • folders with pockets
  • math kits
  • calculators
  • pens black and blue ink
  • book bags
  • composition books
  • 3x5 index cards (for middle school)

If you're interested in helping out to provide these supplies, purchase the items and bring them to the Gathering on July 28.

Money Health Diagnostic

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

In a bacon-and-egg breakfast, what's the difference between the chicken and the pig?

The chicken is involved, but the pig is really committed.

To help you really commit and faithfully take next steps in light of what Jesus has been teaching us throughout this series, we are giving you a money health diagnostic tool. The goal with this tool is to use it as a personal inventory of your heart when it comes to money.

For most people in our culture, money is often seen as a massively private issue.  The problem with that is that left in the darkness of isolated secrecy, money problems do not tend to fix themselves. Similarly, left in the darkness of isolated secrecy, our hearts do not tend to fix themselves or repent very well.

So when Jesus calls us to walk in the light because He has made us children of the light (Ephesians 5:8-14), He’s not cursing us. He’s inviting us into His blessing. He’s inviting us into His freedom and His peace. The best, most biblically faithful way for real spiritual growth to happen in the area of our finances is for us to honestly deal with our finances in the context of community.

So use the Money Health Diagnostic as a personal tool and use it as a discussion guide to help talk about your finances in your LifeGroup. Use it as a tool to help keep your cash clear and help you grow in being rich towards God.

[button label="Get the Money Health Diagnostic" link="http://midtowncolumbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Money-Health-Diagnostic.pdf" shape="default"]

This post was contributed by pastor Jon Ludovina. Jon serves by overseeing our teaching and preaching. Follow Jon on Twitter at @j_luda. Find out more about our leadership on our leadership page.

A Little Help From Our Friends

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

Each of the following men have been influential in helping our staff honor Jesus in our financial management and grow in generosity to send our wealth ahead by investing in Jesus’ kingdom and mission. Check out their resources for further study, or give them some love for helping us lead and teach you.

Dave Ramsey @DaveRamsey www.daveramsey.com It’s been funny throughout this series how many people have come up to me and asked me, “Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey?! He teaches a lot of the same stuff y'all are teaching in this series!” The simple answer is yes. Although I haven’t been actively listening to or learning a lot from Dave, he was absolutely instrumental in helping me learn a lot of basics of personal finance when I was in college. From nationally syndicated radio shows, to regional classes and online tools, Dave is a great resource to help you start living on a budget and be more wise and generous in giving more of your riches away.

Ronald Blue @KingdomAdvisors www.ronblue.com www.kingdomadvisors.org Ronald Blue provides clients with biblically sound wisdom on planning, investing and maximizing generosity (i.e. the longest term investment). He has worked for and started multiple successful financial businesses, including Ronald Blue & Co. (personal financial advisors) and Kingdom Advisors (training for biblical financially-minded people to assist others). He also provided the bucket illustration that we gladly stole and adapted for our sermon Wise, Wicked or Lazy. Thanks Ron!

Randy Alcorn @RandyAlcorn Randy is an author who has written many books including two that were particularly helpful for our treasure hunting series. If you’d like to read more to continue growing in your faithful, biblical financial management in light of eternity, read his book Money, Possessions & Eternity, or if you have less time to spare, the shorter version Treasure Principle.

Steve Von Fange Steve is a relatively new missionary member to the Midtown family, and his gracious generosity and wisdom have already been very helpful.  He is about to start leading a LifeGroup, provided a free day of financial training for our staff, is father to one of our resident interns and graciously offered to teach a Personal Finance Seminar for our church family in conjunction with our Treasure Hunting Series. Steve, thanks for graciously giving yourself to our family and being in on Jesus’ mission for our city!

This post was contributed by pastor Jon Ludovina. Jon serves by overseeing our teaching and preaching. Follow Jon on Twitter at @j_luda. Find out more about our leadership on our leadership page.

Next Steps for Faithful Money Management

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

This past Sunday we looked at practical, biblical, faithful ways to manage the money that Jesus has entrusted to us. Different people are in different situations when it comes to financial management; therefore, faithful repentance and growth looks different for each of us. The question to ask is: what is the next step that I need to take to faithfully manage Jesus’ money?

Step #1: Make a budget. If you currently have no budget, start here. Tell your money where to go. If you don’t tell your money where to go, you will wonder where it went. If you don’t tell your money where to go, too much of your money will always drift towards your lifestyle. Without a plan, it is highly unlikely that you will accidentally invest your money in Jesus’ kingdom and mission.

If this is you and you would like some help, talk to your LifeGroup and sign up for our Personal Finance Seminar.

Step #1b: Get out of consumer debt. This step is so important that I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I call it step 2. If you are racked with debt, the scriptures say that you are in slavery. Proverbs says that “the borrower is slave to the lender.” It doesn’t say that you are dumb, wicked, immoral or wasteful. It says you’re stuck. Chained and enslaved. Unable to freely send your money where you want it to go.

If this is you and you would like some help, talk to your LifeGroup and sign up for our Personal Finance Seminar. We have been praying for you. Our hope for you is that you'd take the first steps in walking out of slavery and into financial freedom.

Step #3: Enjoy some, save some and invest some. Enjoy some: According to 1 Timothy 6:17, “[God] richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” God loves His kids; His financial account managers. It is not wrong or immoral to enjoy some of all that God has given to you. Order the steak sometimes. Thank Jesus for His gracious provision in your life. Celebrate Him.

Save some: According to Proverbs 21:20, “Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling,
 but a foolish man devours it.” It’s wise to save some for a rainy day. We save with an open hand where we are ready to protect ourselves and our family when an emergency comes AND we are ready to protect someone else when their emergency comes.

Invest some: According to the entire parable in Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus expects us to make His money grow. Different people have different biblical convictions about investing, but here are some overall basics. Don’t be a gambler. Don’t go for get rich quick schemes. Don’t be a cheater. Don’t take advantage of others. But do take some reasonable risks in order to invest some of your savings wisely. Investing allows your money to grow which helps you...

Step #4: Maximize your giving. Overwhelmingly, the Bible speaks the loudest about giving and generosity when it talks about money. It’s because our hearts were designed to give. We look like Jesus when we are giving our stuff away to serve others. We reflect His generosity. We send our treasure ahead to heaven. We get personally invested in what He’s doing here on planet earth. When Jesus comes to settle accounts we will never regret a single dime we gave toward His kingdom and mission.

Depending on your current financial situation, any or all of these steps may be the right next step for you, but the key is to take the next faithful step that Jesus is calling you to take right now.

This post was contributed by pastor Jon Ludovina. Jon serves by overseeing our teaching and preaching. Follow Jon on Twitter at @j_luda. Find out more about our leadership on our leadership page.

Fear & Money

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

This past Sunday we hit on four major money management principles. But we also tagged a fifth money management principle that I wanted to address here on the blog.

Fear is a massively pervasive response to money and money management in our culture. Many of us are crippled by a mentality that sounds something like this: “I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t know what’s going to happen and I’m scared that I’m going to mess it up.”

Honestly, for much of my life I was paralyzed by fear when it came to money. I had seen family members chase after money but never gain any real happiness.  I had seen other family members get into serious trouble with debt. I didn’t want that! I didn’t want to mess it up. So I did nothing. I didn’t look at it. I didn’t pay attention to it. I didn’t study or try to learn how to grow in managing money.

In other words, I grabbed a shovel and buried my money in the ground.

Because you know, if you can’t see a problem…then it’s not there anymore!  (Warning: the previous statement is chalk full of self-deprecating sarcasm.)

And then slowly, faithfully, and graciously Jesus started changing my heart. And now after a number of years of seeing His faithfulness and His ability to grow me in this area, this is what I’ve come to understand:

Money Management Principle #5: If I fear money, it’s because I don’t understand how much God loves me. (Matthew 25:25, 1 John 4:18, Luke 12:32, Romans 8:15) Fear reveals ways that my heart still doesn’t understand the gospel. God of the universe loves me so much that He sent His son Jesus to die in the cross for me so I could be set free from sin and shame and guilt and condemnation and punishment and judgment and FEAR! And anywhere that I allow my fear to cripple or paralyze me, is a place that I’m not resting in the gospel.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

“There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

The good news of the gospel is that in Jesus we don’t need to be crippled by fear.  We can faithfully step out, take a risk, get some help and trust that our Father is pleased to help us grow.  Let Jesus’ perfect love cast fear out of your heart and you will show dividends in your bank account, in your ability to save, and in your freedom to give.

This post was contributed by pastor Jon Ludovina. Jon serves by overseeing our teaching and preaching. Follow Jon on Twitter at @j_luda. Find out more about our leadership on our leadership page.

Money Management Principles

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

In Sunday's sermon, we looked at four money management principles taken from a parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 25:14-30 (he tells another version of this parable in Luke 19:11-27). These four money management principles are a tiny portion of the hundreds of biblical wisdom principles for how we handle our finances. But they are also some of the most foundational principles to help us view our money in light eternity and in light of who God is.

Money Management Principle #1: It’s all God’s. (Matthew 25:14-15, Psalm 50:10-12, Haggai 2:8) Everything in all of creation is God’s. There’s nothing He doesn’t rightly look at say, “Mine!” In Psalm 50, He goes as far as to say that if He was hungry (for a delicious steak wrapped in bacon hypothetically), He wouldn’t ask us for food. He has plenty.  The fact that God owns everything means He doesn’t need our money. But it also means, we need to understand that He owns it or we will never learn how to handle it correctly.

Money Management Principle #2: I have a job to do. (Matthew 25:14-15, Proverbs 27:23-24, Proverbs 6:6-11) Because everything is God’s, whatever He has given us is a trust that we are called to manage faithfully. What God has given us includes every opportunity, every relationship, every talent, every bit of leadership ability...and it also includes every dollar. We are Jesus’ account managers charged with the task of bringing a return on his investment in our lives.

Money Management Principle #3: It’s not about how much I get; it’s about being faithful. (Matthew 25:15-18, 1 Corinthians 4:2) People get different amounts; different amounts of intellect, different amounts of opportunity, different amounts of ability, different amounts and quality of parenting. And people get different amounts of money. The question isn’t 'how much did you get?' The question isn’t 'why didn’t you get more or why did so-and-so get so much?' The question is 'were you faithful with what you were given?'

Stop believing that if you got more, then you would start working hard, planning well and giving sacrificially and faithfully. Money is a heart issue, not a salary issue. If you won’t give now, if you won’t be faithful now with a little, then getting more money will not magically change your heart to want to work hard, be faithful or give more.

Money Management Principle #4: My money reveals my heart. (Matthew 25:19-30, Matthew 6:21, Luke 12:34) Every financial decision I make is a spiritual decision. Every financial decision I make reveals my heart. Every financial decision reveals what I value on planet earth. If I don’t value God’s kingdom, then my money will not flow towards God’s kingdom. Money is an objective truth teller that reveals what my heart truly treasures.

So what is your money saying about your heart? Are you listening to what your wallet is preaching about you?  How loudly is your money proclaiming to the world that Jesus is what you treasure most?

This post was contributed by pastor Jon Ludovina. Jon serves by overseeing our teaching and preaching. Follow Jon on Twitter at @j_luda. Find out more about our leadership on our leadership page.

When Work Became Toil

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

From Genesis chapter two to chapter three, work became toil. The beautiful, refreshing cultivation and keeping of the garden that God invites Adam into in chapter two becomes pain, thorns, thistles and sweat in chapter three. Instead of blessing, serving and giving life through order and pruning, Adam’s work became drudgery. Instead of the receiving the satisfaction of a job well done, the garden began to war against his efforts. All of us have felt these effects of the curse in different ways at our jobs. We’ve felt surface level frustration and drudgery; but toil goes much deeper into our hearts’ approach to work:

  • Toil means work will regularly feel meaningless, purposeless, rote and repetitive. (No matter how rewarding it is.)
  • Toil means work will be a place where people will try to find their identity instead of finding it in Jesus. In our culture we frequently define ourselves by what we do in an unhealthy and sinful way called performancism.
  • Toil means work will be a place where people try to find security instead of finding their security in Jesus. Job security is more than good standing with your boss.
  • Toil means work will be a place where people try to find approval instead of finding their approval in Jesus. Bosses and co-workers can become a primary source of adult peer pressure.
  • Toil means work is a place where people will try to find power, a sense of victory, status and success instead of finding power and victory in Jesus’ conquering of sin and death on the cross.
    • This means work I will be frequently disrespected and not valued appropriately as others try to “win” at work.
    • This also means I will be frequently tempted to disrespect and not value others as I try to “win” at work.
    • This means people (including myself) will be tempted to make cheap products and take shortcuts to “win” at the bottom line.
    • This means people (including myself) will be tempted to run their business in unethical ways to “win” at the bottom line.
  • Toil means no matter how hard I work, I will never make enough, accomplish enough or have enough to find true contentment and satisfaction in my job.
  • Toil means work is hard. The more I focus on complaining about how hard my work is, the more I am reveling in the curse and ignoring Jesus’ redemption of all things through His blood.

Jesus is the answer to sin and all of its effects on our work. Jesus restores our relationships with God so that we can find true love, status, purpose and security in Him. Jesus invites us into His mission and opens our hearts to offer loving service to our bosses and co-workers instead of competing with them for power and approval. Jesus restores us to the garden design for work. As we continue to see Jesus’ work done for us in the cross, we get freed up to see our work as a gracious provision from God for His glory and for our joy.

This post was contributed by Jon Ludovina. Jon serves by overseeing our teaching and preaching. Follow Jon on Twitter at @j_luda, or find out more about Midtown's leadership on our leadership page.

10 Money Principles

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The following post is part of our Treasure Hunting series. Find out more about our Treasure Hunting series here.

To help you in your biblical understanding of money and possessions, we've outlined 10 money principles (that are more about your heart than your money). Each principle comes complete with scripture references to study.

  1. Jesus gives status, comfort, and security--money does not. Money is fool's gold that utterly fails to meet those deepest needs. (Ecclesiastes 5:10; Matt. 6:25; Luke 12:15)
  2. Nothing I have is truly mine. Everything belongs to God. Everything I possess has been given to me by God for me to manage. When I use God's resources inappropriately, I am embezzling (1 Chron. 29:11-12, 16; Deut. 8:17-18; Psalm 89:11)
  3. My money reveals what my heart loves. My budget is a fool-proof sign for what I value most in life. (Matt. 6:19-21; Luke 12:33-34)
  4. I can’t take it with me. Neither money nor possessions will matter after death--I am just traveling through earth on my way to heaven. (Matt. 6:19-21; Luke 12:13-21)
  5. My budget starts with being rich towards God. That is my first expense, before I determine what else I will do. (Prov. 3:9-10; Neh. 10:35; Matt. 6:33)
  6. Tithing & generosity are natural responses to grace. Though tithing is not a specific New Testament command (other than a reference by Jesus), God's people after Jesus should be more generous than God's people before Jesus. 10% is the minimum generosity level for a New Testament believer (apart from special circumstances). Midtown members commit to supporting God's mission in our church family through tithing. (Psalm 112:5; Mal. 3:8-10; Matt. 23:23; 1 John 3:17)
  7. If I am unable to be generous without going into debt, I need to rearrange my life and budget. Except for seasons of unusual need, generosity should be incorporated into my normal budget (Prov. 11:24; Prov. 21:26; Luke 6:38; 1 Timothy 6:17-19)
  8. God wants me to enjoy the gifts He gives me. Like a good father, He is pleased when I enjoy His gifts and worship Him as the giver. (Matt. 7:11; Rom 1:21; 1 Tim. 6:17; James 1:17)
  9. It is wise to save for expenses that will come up later. Thinking ahead and saving for purchases is wiser than going into debt for purchases. (Gen. 21:25-27; Prov. 6:6-8; Prov. 13:16; Prov. 21:20; Prov. 22:7; Psalm 37:21)
  10. In Christ I have all the riches I'll ever need. Contentment is what Jesus produces in me--not the desire for more. (Phil. 4:11-13; Heb. 13:5; 1 Tim. 6:9-11; Matt. 6:25-34; 1 Tim. 6:8)

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