Clever Free Methodist

  There are two powerful statements in both the Old Testament and New Testament on giving and caring for fellow believers and the Church. I am not talking about just passing the offering plates around to raise money or to meet a specific need within the church. I am talking about every single Christian “stepping up to the plate,” digging deep within their hearts, sacrificing and giving all they have for the Kingdom of God.   Exodus 35:20-21 , “So the whole community of Israel left Moses and returned to their tents. All whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved came and brought their sacred offerings to the Lord. They brought all the materials needed for the Tabernacle….”   Exodus 36:6-7 , “So Moses gave the command, and this message was sent throughout the camp: “Men and women, don’t prepare any more gifts for the sanctuary. We have enough!” So the people stopped bringing their sacred offerings. Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project.”

  I was reading in the Gospel of Mark and just happened to come across the conversation that the Pharisees and Teachers were having with Jesus. It caught my attention. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation. There is a lot of tension here. It isn’t good. The religious leaders were challenging Jesus concerning his disciples failing to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.   Jesus answers strongly, yet wisely in Mark 7:6-7 (NLT) , “Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.”   The reality for us is that we can get so preoccupied with attending to religious things, that we become robotic and routine with our “obligations” to our faith and Church. Maybe it is like the saying “You can become so Heavenly minded that you become no earthly good.” We can get so caught up in our routi