“You have a role in all this,” Dave told me.
“This” is the church he now serves as pastor, the people he loves daily and weekly, the legacy of faith he is building in this eastern New Mexico town.
Dave went on (this is my paraphrase): “You were there at a time in my life when I thought ministry was over, that I had nothing left to offer, and that nobody wanted me. You helped me see the possibilities of how God could continue to use me. So every time the Lord does something good here, you have a fraction of the action.”
I was humbled and blessed by his insight. But I also know I am not alone. [click to continue…]
A man goes on a long journey, so the story goes. He gives different amounts of money to three managers – amounts ranging in today’s currency from around $300,000 to upwards of $5 million. This ain’t chump change.
One day, the man returns, and asks the three managers a pretty simple question: How much value did you add to what I gave you?
Two of the managers had done similar things with the money. They started making trades. Making the money work for more money. They took some risks, added some work and ideas of their own, and increased the value of the initial stake.
Behind door number three, however, was a guy who buried his stake in the back yard. He did nothing with what he had been given. Assuming that somehow the landowner would be impressed, he beamed with pride as he returned the original stake.
Bad move.
You know this, of course, as a story that Jesus told. But some of the most important words are some of the first: “The kingdom of heaven is like this,” Jesus said.
So, while a lot of us imagine judgment as us standing before God while he counts the cusswords and dirty little thoughts we had, Jesus presents a different idea here. We will give an account to God for how much more value we have added to the gifts He’s given us. This is the LifeVesting principle of Increase:
I will receive an increase on my life choices in proportion to my willingness to invest and wait.
[click to continue…]