Gracious Generousity

Worth A Look

Some links worth a look:

Nine Things You Should Know About the Hobbit

The Dark Side of Christian Celebrity

When Apologetics Does More Harm Than Good

The Controversy Over the Hymn "In Christ Alone"

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus

The Gift of Christmas Generosity

Emboldend by Grace

"Because Jesus has already earned God's full approval and affection and acceptance for us, we no longer require any of that from anyone else. The gospel alone empowers and emboldens us to press on and strain forward with no anxiety over gaining other people's sanction or good opinion - even God's! All the care and love and value we most crave - full and final approval - we already have in Jesus.

The same is true for the meaning and purpose and validation and direction and freedom and security that all of us long for. His sacrifice for us has earned all this for us directly from God.  With these idols no longer burdening our lives, we're suddenly freed and empowered to live a life of outrageous generosity, unrestrained sacrifice, uncommon boldness, and unbounded nerve."

   -Tullian Tchvidjian, Jesus + Nothing = Everything, page 91

Generous and Content

How the Gospel Makes Us Generous and Content with Our Money - A good article by Zach Nielsen based on 1 Timothy 6:6-10: and 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

"...Rather than debating between “radical” living for God and the dangers of “poverty theology,” we learn from 1 Timothy 6 that contentment and generosity should be our emphasis in light of the gospel.

God has already provided all that we will ever need (Rom. 8:32). He cares for grass (Matt. 6:28-30) and birds (Matt. 10:29), so we can be content with or without stuff. God has been infinitely generous with us in Christ so, rich or poor, we can be joyfully generous in a way that makes our neighbors scratch their heads and say, “Who are these people?”

Generosity is not a poverty theology. Contentment with thankfulness is not a prosperity theology. The gospel motivates us to be generous and gives us ultimate contentment."

From The Gospel Coalition Blog

The Generosity Dilemma

“If you are not generous, you’ve never really experienced the Gospel. If you feel guilty about how little generosity you show, you don’t understand the Gospel.”

-  The Generosity Dilemma -J.D Greear

God Is Never Outdone In Generosity

More good advice and wise words from The Anchoress - In Hard Times, “Give More”

Sometimes I get emails from people who are anticipating a bad result of a biopsy, or have put themselves into a terrible state of fretfulness and worry for some other reason, and they ask me to pray for them. And I do, because I am always happy to pray for someone; it is my privilege.

But sometimes I’ll also give them a little job to do in exchange: I’ll ask them, in all their anxiety, to pray for someone else who desperately needs prayers.

I’ll give them a very specific case to pray for, usually by name: a little girl with leukemia, a soldier who is gravely wounded, a family facing joblessness. I tell them that praying for others will help them to use up the anxious energy, and regain some perspective, and that’s true, but I also ask them to do it because I know the prayers they say for others will help them in their own lives.

Invariably, every single time I have asked worried people to pray for someone else, they have written back to say that the utterly selfless act of praying for a stranger’s concerns had lightened their own burden and brought peace to their souls and a broader, more positive perspective to their outlook.

She goes on to say:

But since I heard it first from Mother - who was very generous, some would say foolishly so - I’ll credit her. “God is never outdone in generosity,” she would say, “so when you’re down on your luck, don’t worry about giving to others who are also struggling, and don’t even think twice about it.”