A friend of mine is selling his business for over a million and a half bucks at the end of the year. He was complaining to me the other day that people were “coming out of the woodwork” wanting to help him spend it.
I told him that he was like a person who had a toe ache telling someone whose legs had been chopped off of his problems. Try being interviewed over 1000 times on TV, radio, AOL, MSN, and other Internet outlets, magazines, newspapers, book, and public forums and let the masses know that you just sold a business for $75 million.
The morning the AOL article about my rags to riches odyssey hit, I was getting 3000 e-mails an hour within minutes. They were coming in so fast and furious that my e-mail looked like a crazily spinning gas station pump dial. Then the phone started ringing – Still don’t know how so many people that I never heard of got my personal cell number. My wife and I left the house to get away from it – I didn’t realize that I had so many long lost friends and relatives.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that it’s no fun for people to think you have an unlimited supply of money. Everyone has a cause and wants/needs money. It’s tough to decide which causes are worthy and which ones are ruses, both clever and clumsy.
I consider myself a steward or manager of everything that has been entrusted to me by God. When I die I fully realize that I will take nothing with me, save the things I’ve done in this life, both good and bad; therefore I keep it all in perspective.
Someone else will own Honey Lake and the home that the Lord allows me to live in, others will manage the portfolio that he has entrusted to me, and they will drive the pickup truck I’m using, even the beloved deer rifle, “Ralph” that He lets me use will belong to someone else. (No I don’t know why I named my deer rifle Ralph – please no e-mails – I just like that name.)
I get numerous requests for money every week and it gets tiresome. I have a giving budget and I’ve exceeded it every year since formulating it. I’ve given away a ton of money through the years and wish I had more to give, but realize that there is far more need than I’ll ever be able to accommodate, thus all the more reason to carefully consider my choices.
I look at charitable giving as I would a business investment. I want to get Jesus the most bang for His bucks. Some folks feel led to help old folks; others want to help kids; some are into cancer research, better education, drug and alcohol rehab, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, Make a Wish, Alzheimers, paraplegics, veterans of wars, homeless missions, and other noble causes.
Me, I’m into evangelism. I’ve thought about it and prayed about it – HARD! I really don’t see any investment that pays bigger dividends. I would conservatively estimate that half the world would end up in hell if Jesus came back today.
Did I happen to mention that condition remains for ETERNITY?
I don’t see how anyone who calls themselves a Christian could not be devastated by the mere thought of that worsening, tragic, statistic, especially considering that the Population Reference Bureau’s “2010 World Population Data Sheet” states that 1.8 people die every second, (that’s 156,000 each day).
I hate to ask anyone for money, because I know how it feels to be asked over and again. It’s one of the biggest turnoffs to people attending church. They say, “All they ever do is ask for more and more money.”
Hmmm… Jesus was not shy about telling us to give and He even promised a blessing to those who obey this command, so I suppose it can’t be all that bad to follow His lead. Recently I encouraged folks to contribute to my worldwide ministry which is being formed to evangelize the unsaved all over the world.
I didn’t want to ask anyone for money that would be needed to fund this ministry, but was led by God to do so. I’m not asking for anything on my own behalf and I do not draw a salary or any compensation; it is being done solely on behalf of His ministry, and therefore after thinking about it, I don’t feel so badly after all.
To date several of you have generously given, but we are far from achieving our goal and in particular in having the funds that will be necessary to buy the equipment to televise our ministry and stream it throughout the world.
There is still time before the end of the year to receive a tax credit for giving; I feel sure the charitable giving tax deduction will go away soon after the first of the year as the president and lawmakers scramble to find more money to spend on their wasteful cronyism and government giveaway programs.
Better to give it to the Lord while you can.
I hope you will get on board on the ground floor of this ministry and become an important part of it. There are no guarantees in life, but I will assure you that I will do everything within my power to win tens of thousands, if not millions of souls to Christ through this ministry. I look forward to rejoicing with them in heaven after my work here is done and I hope you will be right there with me.
If you don’t feel led to invest in my ministry, I urge you to find another evangelistic outlet right away. Don’t try to hold on to those nickels too tightly, or perhaps the end will come like a “thief in the night” and you will lose your opportunity with those worthless nickels still tightly clenched between your cold dead fingers.
Luke 16:11
And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?