Although it may seem self-serving for me to publish a post on giving while Nicole and I are in this season of raising a financial team of partners, my aim here is not to talk anyone into giving to our ministry. My aim has very little to do with our ministry at all, except I hope to encourage those who have joined our team and worship God by giving to Him through our ministry. I also hope to challenge everyone (myself included) to continue to worship God by the giving of their money during this and every other season of life. Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis (if there is anyone) know that we post links and thoughts on all different topics, and I would hate to not share a beneficial resource simply because of our current season in life.

The passage of Scripture that Pastor Curt ’expositopically’ preached from was 2 Corinthians 9:6-9. The theme of his message was:

Because giving of our means results in huge blessing to us as givers, we should aim to excel in the grace of giving to the Lord’s work as followers of Jesus Christ.

 For those of you who fear this was a message derived from a prosperity gospel ideology, it was far from it!

Four Components of Gracious Giving
Pastor Curt highlighted four components of the kind of giving that hugely blesses the giver:

1. There is a principle to recall universally. (verse 6)
2. There is a purpose to resolve voluntarily. (verse 7)
3. There is a power to reckon confidently. (verse 8 )
4. There is a praise to receive eternally. (verse 9)

I love alliteration!

The link to the sermon is not yet on the web. I’ll post it once it becomes available. Definitely check back in a few days! Then, come here on Sunday at 10:45 am!

—– UPDATED —–

The sermon is up on the web. You can find it here! Thanks, John!

The man is an atheist. He does not believe in God. He believes he will rot when he dies, and that’s about it. He believes that government should help fund abortions. He believes that unless a child is developed enough to be born ‘viable’ (capable of surviving successfully), that child is not a human being. He believes that people should not ‘force’ their religious beliefs about abortion onto others by creating legislature that prohibits abortion. I attempted to gain understanding as to why this man believed what he did, what his background was. He was offended that I was standing for what I know to be true. He was even more offended when I attempted to explain who Jesus was, and why he came to die. 

It was a very interesting conversation.

What really broke my heart for this man was as he was leaving, he said, “Don’t pray for me. Please don’t waste your time.”

How unloving would I have to be toward this man to not let him know of the love that has been poured out for him on the Cross of Christ? How unloving would I have to be to not pray for him after he left? 

Penn Jillette, the comedian, illusionist, and ardent atheist, even gets this:

If you believe that there is a Heaven and a Hell, and you believe that people could be going to Hell…and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…uh, how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that? If I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, there is a certain point when I tackle you. And this is more important than that.

You can watch that here.

So after the man left, I prayed for him. I will pray for him tonight. And I hope that God would reveal the truth of the gospel to this man, and in His mercy, save him.

Sanctification here at The Village begins by answering two questions. What stirs your affections for Jesus Christ? And what robs you of those affections? Many of the things that stifle growth are morally neutral. They’re not bad things. Facebook is not bad. Television and movies are not bad. I enjoy TV, but it doesn’t take long for me to begin to find humorous on TV what the Lord finds heartbreaking.

The same goes for following sports. It’s not wrong, but if I start watching sports, I begin to care too much. I get stupid. If 19-year-old boys are ruining your day because of what they do with a ball, that’s a problem. These things rob my affections for Christ. I want to fill my life with things that stir my affections for him. . . .

We want our people to think beyond simply what’s right and wrong. We want them to fill their lives with things that stir their affections for Jesus Christ and, as best as they can, to walk away from things that rob those affections—even when they’re not immoral.

Read the whole interview here.

As we talked and reflected upon this past year, we also dreamed about our future. We had a great time.

We just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been involved in our life and marriage. We realize our marriage would not be what it is without the great examples that we are surrounded with. Thank you for praying for us and this blessed union! 

God’s power to heal is not limited to the physical. In fact, his power to heal the physical pales in comparison with his power to heal the spiritual. Since these bodies are temporary and our souls are eternal, how much greater is the work that heals the sickness of our souls? 

John Piper recently delivered a message titled, Healing for the Sake of Holiness. I recommend it to you. There are some excellent principles found within. Specifically, there are two principles which I want to show here. 

Jesus Heals to Make us Holy
The first is that Jesus heals to make us holy. In the fifth chapter of John, Jesus heals a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. We must take notice of Jesus’ motive behind healing this man. “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you” (John 5:14). The ultimate reason that Jesus heals the man is not for his physical health, it’s for his spiritual health. Piper puts it this way:

The issue is holiness mainly, not health. “I have healed you to make you holy.”

Do you see this? “Sin no more. Stop sinning. My aim in healing your body is the healing of your soul. I have given you a gift. It’s free. It came first, before my command. You didn’t earn it. You weren’t good enough for it. I chose you freely. And I healed you. Now, live in this power. Let the gift of healing, the gift of my free grace, be a means to your holiness.”

And yes, he warns him that, if he turns away, and mocks this gift, or makes an idol out of his health, and embraces sin as his way of life, he will perish. I take that—final judgment—to be the “worse thing” (in verse 14) that will happen because there aren’t many natural things worse than the 38 years this man endured, and because in verses 28-29, Jesus says, “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

In other words: “I have healed you that you may be holy, that you may stop doing evil, and that you may not rise to the resurrection of judgment, but to the resurrection of life. I have pointed you to myself as a life-giver. I heal in more ways than one. Don’t turn from me to a life of sin.”

Gracyn DenBestin received a new heart nearly five months after she realized her old heart would not last. Praise God for it! But don’t stop there. See the gospel in it. I received a new heart after fifteen years of living with a heart of stone. I was dead for the first fifteen years of my life before God awakened faith in me. I was a hell-bound hater of God. And while I was a hater of God, he saved me. After fifteen years of ‘astonishing the heavens’ by drinking from broken wells that hold no water, God opened my eyes to see and drink from the gushing Fountain of living water. O that we would see the healing that has occurred in our souls, and rejoice with Gracyn that “Nothing is Impossible” with God! We can come and “buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Sinners,we can enjoy fellowship with the perfect God! Do not wait to come to God until you have cleaned up your life. If you wait until everything is straightened up in your life, you’ll never come! He meets us right where we are, as paralytics unable to heal ourselves. 

Healing is the Exception, Not the Rule (for now)
Secondly, it is also important to see that although God has the power to, he does not always heal our physical ailments. To quote Piper, healing is the exception, not the rule. In John 5, we see Jesus heal one man among a multitude of invalids. 

Most people who suffer from disabilities in this life will have them to the day they die. And all of us, till Jesus comes again, will die of something. Here and there, some are healed. We believe in miracles. But even though Jesus had all the power to heal, he did not usher in the final day of perfect wholeness. His ministry points to that day. But while this age of groaning lasts (Romans 8:23), healing is the exception, not the rule. And that is not because we are weak in faith. – John Piper

God heals. He healed Curt Heffelfinger’s head and neck cancer. But physical healing does not always occur here on earth. But there is a day in which all sickness, disease, and disability will be fully healed for all of God’s children. I think of Scott Alexander. His physical illness did not lead to death because of the wellness of his soul. Scott is in the care of Jesus, dancing on two tumor-free legs! Scott’s 8-year battle with lymphoma is followed by his everlasting perfect health, paid for by the love of Christ on the cross. 

Although I can’t even begin to say that I know God as a healer the way Gracyn can, I have experienced healing in many areas of my life because of the love of God poured out for me. Spiritually, I was in need of a heart transplant, and God provided me with a new one.

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:26

Although God sometimes chooses not to heal, or seems slow in calming the waters of our lives, that does not change the fact that God is most-loving and filled with compassion. [Read my post from earlier today on this.]

Do you know the Great Healer? How has He healed you? What are the areas in your life that need healing? If you don’t know of this Healer, don’t put Him off. I promise there is hope and life in the arms of Christ that can’t be found anywhere else in this world.

This illness does not lead to death. – John 11:4

From our Lord’s words we learn that there is a limit to illness. Here is a “lead to” within which its ultimate end is restrained and beyond which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not to be the conclusion of his illness. In all illness the Lord says to the waves of pain,”You may go so far, but no further.” His fixed purpose is not the destruction but the instruction of His people. Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth and regulates the heat.

1. The limit is encouragingly comprehensive.
The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestined, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of Him who numbers the hairs of our head.

2. This limit is wisely adjusted.
This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the purpose designed, and to the grace apportioned. Affliction is not haphazard — the weight of ever stroke of the rod is accurately measured. He who made no mistakes in balancing the clouds and stretching out the heavens commits no errors in measuring out the ingredients that compose the medicine of souls. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved too late.

3. The limit is tenderly appointed.
The knife of the heavenly Surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary. “He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.” A mother’s heart cries, “Spare my child”; but no mother is more compassionate than our gracious God. When we consider how hard-mouthed we are, it is a wonder that we are not driven with a sharper bit. The thought is full of comfort that He who has established the boundary lines of our lives has also determined the boundaries of our tribulation.

Today we were supposed to give birth to a baby boy or baby girl. We had imagined that we would hold our baby in our arms for the first time today. We anticipated who he or she would look like. But today was very different than we had imagined back in January. Today, we do not hold our baby in our arms, but rather Jesus does. Yes, we miss our baby. We would have loved to have shared laughs, tears, joys, and sorrows with Jesse. But we know that God works all things together for our good. And so we “praise God from whom all blessings flow.” Today, it is well with our soul. Today, we trust in the Lord, and lean not on our own understanding. He gives, and he takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. God gave us a gift, and he took our gift from us for our good. O how sweet the grace that was poured out on the cross for our baby Jesse. And how great it must be for our Jesse to see in full what we only see in part. We have eyes of faith, Jesse has eyes of sight.

O the privilege you have, Jesse, of rising before us; of seeing Jesus face to face. But we miss you everyday. We can’t wait to meet you in Heaven, and greet you with a holy kiss. Love, Dad and Mom.