I’ve been driving past Glad Tidings Church for years, but it wasn’t until yesterday that God spoke to me. Glad Tithings… Wouldn’t that be a grand name for a church with parishioners following suit!
We profess to be Christians, but often follow a worldly outlook. Whether the root is greed, materialism, or we’re convinced that “a fool and his money are soon parted”, when the collection plate is passed, we go into the “what’s mine is mine” mode.
So what are people doing with the 10% Micah identifies as being given to the Lord? It actually only took me a moment to figure that one out for at the bottom of the hill was Gifford’s Ice Cream. Rather than buying ice cream at a grocery store, we pile everyone into a van and spend about $3.00 per cone. We’re really saving money though, for after all we’re carpooling!
And then there’s fuel costs. They’ve sky rocketed and we shudder just thinking about winter. Of course, we don’t want to plunge the local economy into further debt, so to support our local businesses, we buy snowmobiles and passes to ski resorts. We have to be loyal, right?
And how can we blemish the reputation of McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants? After all, we need to do our part to help them serve billions of burgers. It spreads our paycheck a little thin, but being able to provide kids with happiness through greasy food is part of the American Dream!
Besides, if we gather our family for a BBQ and ice cream, and not race down the highway, what in the world will we talk about? With so many kids only seeing the back of their parents’ heads, perhaps it’s time to look at each other, play together, and let God’s love shine through. If you want to experience a blessing, look into the eyes of a child receiving quality attention.
