God is not all we need

Here's a popular fictitious story that has a great lesson for fundraisers:

Late one stormy night a small voice was heard from the bedroom across the hall. "Mommy, I’m scared!" Mom responds sympathetically "Honey, don’t be afraid, I’m right across the hall." After a short time, with thunder snapping in the distance, the little voice says again, "I’m still scared!" Mom replies, "You don’t need to be afraid. Close your eyes and pray. And remember that Jesus is always with you." The next time the pause is longer, but the voice returns along with a little child standing next to her bed, "Mommy, can I get in bed with you and Daddy?" As Mom is just about to lose her patience, her little boy catches her eyes and says, "Mommy, I know that Jesus is always with me, but right now I need Jesus with skin on."

That little boy knows something that we fundraisers often forget: God is not all we need.

Now before you tear your clothing and start throwing stones, let's see what the Scriptures say.

In the perfect garden of Eden when a perfect Adam was enjoying the perfect fellowship of a perfect God, do you know what that perfect God said? "It is not good that the man should be alone." (Genesis 2:18 ESV) We can thus conclude that either (a) God got His theology wrong or (b) God thought it important that man have non-God companionship.

Yes, God is with us. We particularly celebrate Immanuel, "God with us", during the Christmas season. But we were never intended to claim, "All I need is Jesus!" Jesus is the supreme food (John 6:51), but you still need to eat. Jesus is the supreme rest (Heb 3-4), but you still need to sleep. Jesus is the supreme friend (John 15:15), but you still need fellowship.

When I did my initial fundraising I had several people in my life that I regularly spent time with:

• My mentor: When I started fundraising I was graciously assigned a mentor by my missions organization. I reaped a lot of benefit from talking to my mentor at least weekly in order to process how I was doing spiritually and what fundraising opportunities were emerging. He also encouraged me in many of the truths that later inspired this blog.
• A prayer partner: Within a couple months of fundraising I ran into a Christian guy about my age who lived nearby. We grabbed dinner and quickly became friends. Even though he was a school teacher, we'd often go out late (usually after I got back from an appointment or a night of making calls) to drive on local back roads, share our lives and pray together. His honesty, faith and friendship taught me much about the glory of the gospel during that next year of fundraising.
• My pastor: Though we didn't get together often, my pastor was always an advocate and friend, encouraging me and challenging me several times, particularly in the "dark times" of fundraising.

When you are fundraising, it is essential that you get regular time with the Lord through His Word and in prayer. Jesus died so that you have access to these things! But don't stop there: ask, plead and bribe if you must in order to get time with other believers regularly. The glorious truths of our crucified and risen Savior will become all the sweeter as you do.

Angel worship

Courtesy of HeartLight

Some of my favorite worship songs are the ones where the lead vocalist sings a verse or two, and then suddenly a whole choir breaks out into song behind him. I love it! There’s something so powerful about a multitude of voices crying out together.

What kind of event, do you suppose, would inspire angels to cry out in the same way?

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
      "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!"

(Luke 2:8-14 ESV)

These angels praised God because, at long last, God had come to be with man in a way He hadn't since the Garden. God was now with us. And because this baby would later go to a cross to die for our sins, God would never leave us again.

Tomorrow is Christmas. Lay your normal fundraising routine aside for the day, and instead meditate on our God-become-flesh, Immanuel. Rest knowing that the same unimaginable, limitless grace that brought Jesus into the world is the same grace that will bring in every dollar you need in your fundraising.

After all, those gifts of men are just small reminders of the greatest Gift the world has ever known.

Merry Christmas!

Chosen

Tomorrow will determine whether America will spend the next four years under the leadership of President Barack Obama or President Mitt Romney (or, as my Libertarian friends often remind me, President Gary Johnson.) Regardless of who wins, consider the following phone call you might receive on Wednesday:

You: "Hello?"
President: "Hello, friend. This is the President of the United States of America calling."
You: "Mr. President? Are you sure you have the right number?"
President: "Absolutely. You're just the person I want to talk to. I have a special task for you."
You: "Me? There are over 300 million people in America, many of whom are far more capable than myself. Surely you..."
President: "On the contrary, there is only one person in the world that I'd want for this mission. You."

How would you feel at that point? Whether you like him or not, wouldn't you feel honored? Wouldn't you joyfully and likely fearfully accept the mission?

If so, consider how much greater an honor, how much greater a calling, how greater a mission you have from the God of the universe, your Creator, Redeemer and sovereign King? If you would feel incapable in being chosen by the President, how much more in your selection by the self-existent I AM?

Jeremiah had an encounter with God along those very lines:

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." But the LORD said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a youth';
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 1:4-8 ESV)

Like Jeremiah, you need not be afraid. God is with you, and He has specifically chosen you - not from among a mere 300 million people, but from all people throughout all the world throughout all time.

He could have chosen anyone. He's chosen you.

He could have sent you anywhere. He's chosen your mission field.

He could have chosen any time to send you. He's chosen now.

As part of that mission, He has called you to raise funds. He could have dropped a boatload of money in your lap at the same time He called you. Most likely, He didn't. So He has something better in mind.

He wants you to build up a support team so that they too might be blessed in your mission. He wants you to learn some valuable lessons in preparation for your mission. He wants you to know and treasure your Savior, Jesus Christ, as He shows you the unsearchable riches of His grace in this season of ministry.

Tomorrow it may seem that the whole world has changed. Your God - and the mission He's chosen you for - have not. Go, therefore, and raise those funds!

You are not alone

Since the beginning, Satan has used a devastating two-prong approach to cripple his enemies.

He begins by putting an arm around your shoulder while seductively whispering, "You are alone." He goes on to tell you that you're not special. God doesn't care. Does God really love you and want what is best for you? Sadly, no. Just look around... is this what a loving, attentive God would do? You poor, sad creature... you are truly, completely alone...

Once that seed of doubt is planted, he goes on to lure you to a false "cure". As the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:1-2), Satan commands the world to welcome you. So the world obediently retracts its fangs, puts on a smile, throws its arms around you and says, "Welcome, friend, to a place where you need never be alone!"

This is a one-two punch that sends me reeling time after time, especially during fundraising. Though I know that I shouldn't listen to the lies, they feel so very true. Perhaps you can relate.

But don't believe it. Not for a second.

You are not alone. You were created by a loving, doting Father who watches you with keen interest day by day, moment by moment. He utterly delights in you, sovereignly setting up every situation so that you'll know His goodness and love for you. (Acts 17:26-27)

You are not alone. Your Creator has existed always in community. Being alone is completely foreign to the nature of the Trinity. You were created in the image of that Trinitarian God (Gen 1:26-27) and baptized into that Trinitarian God. (Matt 28:19)

You are not alone. It was God Himself who said, "it is not good for the man to be alone." (Genesis 2:18a). Then God Himself worked to fix it: "I will make him a helper fit for him." (Genesis 2:18b)

You are not alone. God is with us wherever we go, even in the darkest places (Ps 139:1-18). Jesus is called Immanuel, "God with us." (Matt 1:23). When Jesus commissioned us to missions work, He said, "I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt 28:20). When Jesus returned to the Father, He went even further to assure us that we weren't alone by sending the Holy Spirit: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever." (John 14:16, cf 14:26).

You are not alone. Satan desperately wants you to think that you are, because he hates that you will never be alone, now or in eternity:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7:9-10)

Satan hates that. He hates that this future is sealed for you. He hates that you are fundraising so that still more will be added to that multitude. So he will tell you phone call after phone call and appointment after appointment that you are alone.

But don't believe it. Not for a second.

You are not alone.