I am beyond excited about ALL-IN, our new series that starts this Sunday. It's only going to be three weeks, but it will lead right into another three-week series called PAY IT FORWARD. Put simply, ALL-IN is about GIVING, regardless of the hand you've been dealt. PAY IT FORWARD is about SERVING, regardless of who the recipient of your service is.
I have been on this journey of following Christ (and often running down rabbit trails claiming to be following Him) for 20 years. Maybe because I came to faith late in life (at 29), with a great hunger for life-change, I wasted no time, listening intently to what people told me and taught me, read my Bible, and did what I thought I was supposed to do. That can come at some cost, if the listening you are doing outpaces the growth of your understanding.
In other words, if you form OPINIONS about what is TRUE before you have read and studied for yourself and grown in understanding of what is ACTUAL Biblical truth, it is possible for you to spend many years BELIEVING something to be TRUE...that actually has little or no Scriptural foundation. In fact, if we are being honest, much of what you and I believe as followers of Christ (through little fault of our own) is rooted in religious, or church tradition. Not saying all tradition is bad, because it ISN'T, I'm just saying we need to recognize the difference between TRUTH an TRADITION.
Along those lines, I am going to pose a VERY PROVOCATIVE QUESTION Sunday morning, and proffer a principle that may challenge everything you believe about GIVING, and will challenge much of what you and I have been taught about TITHING. To what end? What purpose can possibly be gained from such an examination?? Only this: to GROW in the knowledge of what God truly wants FOR us, and what God truly wants FROM us. It's time for us to push all our chips to the center of the table and boldly declare, "I'm, ALL-IN!"
See you Sunday, it's gonna be one for the books! (And don't forget to set your clocks back, yo!)
