In part three of my rant I am going to go off on a world that I am actually involved in- ministry.

I don't watch a lot of Christian television. I can't stand it. All the crap, the pink hair, the thrones the fakeness. It makes me want to barf. But there is one Christian television station that I enjoy. It's the Daystar network. I think I've mentioned it before. It's only available by satalite so you have to have Directv or Dish Network or something like that to get it. But, it's actually relevant, not cookey and they have some pretty awesome preachers on there. There are a couple times of the year when I can't stomach to watch it though, that's when they are having the "sharathon." Times when you call in and pledge money to keep the network on the air. I know that people do have to give money to keep the station running. I also know that it takes a ton of money to keep it running. I also know that Daystar is very generous and has given a ton of money away to some awesome ministries that are very deserving. But, I just can't watch it. I hate it.

Last week they were having their fall sharathon. Usually, they have other pastors, speakers, etc. come on air and do the fund raising for them. When I happened to tune in I saw Paula White. Now, if you like Paula White and her ministries then just stop reading now and come back tomorrow for a different post. This woman and her husband have a large church here in the area where we live now. I've seen her many times on television preaching. Only once have I ever seen her not preaching about giving money to her ministry. That one time she was talking about colonic health and helping a Dr. sell some of his stuff. If she was asking for money every once in a while, I would understand, but this is out of hand.

It's not just the fact that she is asking for money, its the way she's doing it. She tells us that by giving every last penny we have to her ministry, we will be unlocking some hidden door in heaven full unspeakable riches that will pour out on us making us all wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. What's worse, she makes it seem as though if you have something like cancer, or you know someone who has some MAJOR problem and it doesn't seem as though their prayers are being answered, then the solution is to give all of your money to her ministry and God will finally give you what you need because you've finally found the secret button to success in life. She cleverly disguises it by calling it, "giving your best gift."

She's not the only one. Rod Parsley, a pastor at a church in Ohio does the same thing every year at Easter time. He says that Jesus gave his all at the cross by giving his life and we should do the same by giving our all financially to his church every year at Easter time. Just send in your check for every last dime you have, along with your most desperately needed prayer requests to his church and you will get your miracle.

At the church where we worked in Indiana, Marilyn Hickey came to speak. Previously to this, I had a great deal of respect for this woman and her ministry. When she got up to talk she began to speak about how she'd discovered how to get all of your prayers answered. She wrote a book about it and she gave everyone in the church a free copy of the book. I thought, "now this is ministry, if you know something about God that other people need to know, you just tell them, you don't make them pay for it, buy your book, etc." My opinion of her grew. When I got home, I started to look at the book she had given to everyone in our church. As it turns out, the key to getting all of your prayers answered is to give all of your money to her ministry.

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!!!!!!

Let me just remind everyone that my husband is a full time pastor. Right now, we are in the middle of a church plant. Which means that we are starting a new church. Which means that we're not working for a church that can pay us a salary right now. Which means that we live off of what people give to us as support for starting this church. We are extremely grateful for this. We also believe in tithing and giving offerings to the church. These kinds of things make it so that Pastors can devote their lives to ministry, not have to take second jobs. It also pays for things like, electricity in churches and all the ministry things that churches do. I also must say that the Bible says that when you give to the Lord, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a great blessing to you.

I also know that the Bible says that it's more difficult for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. So, I'm sure that by giving all of your money to these ministries you are not opening some magic, hidden door to untold riches, health, and prosperity. Blessings come in all shapes and sizes. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that God wants us to prosper and live well, we aren't the kind of Pastors that subscribe to the vow of poverty. But enough is enough.

Did God give us his best gift by giving us the life of His Son? Absolutely. But He gave the life of His Son to us, not to the local tabernacle. I think there can be great rewards for truly giving your best to God. But how about doing something he asked us to do, like giving to the poor, taking care of the widows, bearing one another's burdens. Giving things to our neighbors and not expecting anything in return. 

For example, a few Christmas' ago, we were in downtown Chicago visiting the museums. We had a certain dollar amount saved for the day for food, shopping, etc. Right before we left the museums, I hit the restrooms. Inside was a homeless woman washing her armpits in the sink and loading her backpack with paper towels. She was asking people for money. I didn't bring anything into the restroom with me so when I was finished, I walked out of the restroom, like everyone else, giving her nothing. I couldn't just leave her there. I asked my husband for his wallet, took out all the money ( a little over $100) and walked back into the restroom, handing her all the money. As I gave her the money, I silently prayed and told the Lord that I was giving this money to Him, by giving to her.  I walked out of that restroom without saying a word to her and our family moved along heading toward the door. Right before we got to the door, she walked by, turned around and shouted at me, "thank you, thank you so much! God Bless you!!" and practically skipped out of the museum. So then we had to have fast food for dinner instead of a nice downtown restaurant. But, it was worth it. I can't stop myself from giving because she might buy drugs or booze with it. That's not my concern. Somehow, I don't see Jesus telling people, "we'll you've made poor choices in your life to get yourself that way so, I'm gonna hold out on you this time."  His love is unconditional.

We don't always have $100 to give away. Sometimes we give our best in other ways. When a friend needs us, we are always there. When a neighbor has surgery, we make them a meal, watch their kids, or order them a pizza. When a friends car breaks down, you can share yours or give them rides. When you know that someone is going to be alone on the holidays, invite them to celebrate with you, even if you family is crazy and you like things just the way they are, without strangers at your Thanksgiving table. What about buying a box of diapers for that new single mom on welfare- not the generic ones either- the kind you would put on your own kids butts.That's how you give your best. That's the kind of giving that gets God's attention.  Not by sending your last $200 to a multi-million dollar ministry so that the Pastor's wife can have another face lift. 

Our Pastor here is big on doing little things to "show God's love in a practical way." Like, paying for the person behind you or in front of you in line at Starbucks. He says that "small things done with great love can change the world." Something I've been doing lately is buying two when I only need one of something for my kids classes. For example, in Luke's class, everyone was supposed to bring in an orange t-shirt to decorate. I looked all over and could not find any in the sizes of preschool kids. When I finally found one there were only 2 left. They were on sale for $4 dollars each. I bought them both and sent them to school. That way, if someone forgot, or couldn't find one, there was an extra. The same thing happened with Ben's class. They were supposed to bring in an apple to make applesauce. How much are apples? Less than a dollar right? So I brought in 2- incase anyone forgot. It's the little things you can do to give to God's children to show Him you love him. After all, as a mom, what means more to you, when someone is kind to you, or to your kids? Of course it means much more when someone is genuinely kind to your kids. God feels the same way when we are kind and giving to our fellow man.

And that's my rant for today.