Rejoice!

ENOUGH!

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… but store up for yourself treasures in heaven… for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6:21-22)

So, if it is true that orienting our lives on the pursuit of gathering earthly treasures is unwise, and orienting our lives on the pursuit of heavenly treasures is compellingly wise; of Jesus words are true, if He was the greatest teacher and philosopher of all time, then why are so many people living contrary to them?

Why do the world’s most energetic, creative, excited, and successful people seem to be throwing their lives away in the pursuit of wrong treasures?  Can all those smart people be wrong?  The answer is, “Yes!”

I was invited by a very successful businessman to lunch at an exclusive restaurant.  During that luncheon, person after person came by to say hello to my friend and then was introduced to me.  I met more multi-millionaires in one setting that most people will meet in a lifetime.  And in that environment it seems to me that it would be the height of arrogance for me, half their age, a quarter of their IQ, a microscopic portion of their net worth, to stand up in front of them and say, “Excuse me, but you’re doing life all wrong!”

Put yourself in my shoes and ask yourself if you would have said something or would you have asked for a job or loan?

And still, the words of Jesus ring through my mind.  He once said, “What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”  What Jesus is saying is that if a person gets on the average 70 years of life on this earth, what is 70 years compared to eternity?   And Jesus went on to teach that the decisions you make in that short period of time has dramatic and sometimes consequential impact on your “forever.”

So Jesus would say to us to make right choices.  Make wise choices!  No matter how hard the right choices are.  No matter how they may appear to your friends at work!  No matter how much they cost you.  No matter how they may make you look to your family!  If they position you favorably for eternity, make those choices wisely.  Because you will enjoy the payoff of those decisions “forever.”

“What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”  Bad choice!  As one good old boy preacher once said so well, “Ron, you’re going to be dead a whole lot longer then you’ll ever be alive.” (A little backwards I know!)

The month of January will be a special series of messages and workbook that we will all use together to move our lives back to God’s financial plan.

You are about to embark one new chapter in your life that holds the potential to change you, your family, and your finances in ways you may not have felt were possible.  This is the day you join many in saying, ENOUGH!”

To help make this journey more meaningful, I invite you to open your Bibles and open a special workbook prepared by myself for the people of Lincoln Christian.  After reading God’s word and using the workbook, you will be asked, “What just went on between me and God?” And trust me, something is going to happen.

I’m thrilled to welcome you to the day of new discoveries.  Welcome to the day of living financially wise.  Welcome to the day you stopped orienting your life on the pursuits of wrong treasures.  Welcome to: “ENOUGH!”

Ron Otto, preaching minister, Lincoln Christian Church

The Christmas Envelope

One of my favorite Christmas stories is the story of a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of a Christmas tree.  It has peeked through the branches of the tree in that home for the past 15 years or so.

It all began because Mike hated Christmas—oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercialism and overspending; the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and bubble bath for Grandma; the gifts given in desperation because you could not think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, his wife decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth.  She reached for something special just for Mike.  The inspiration came in an unusual way.  Their young son Kevin was wrestling for the school he attended.  Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly African-American kids.  These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that the shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presenting a sharp contrast to Kevin’s team in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, Kevin’s folks were alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears.  It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.  Well, the better-equipped team ended up walloping their poorer opponents in every weight class.

Mike shook his head sadly and said to his wife, “I wish just one of them could have won.  Losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”

Mike loved kids – all kids.  He had coached just about every sport for kids.  That is when the idea for his present came.  That afternoon, Mike’s wife went to the local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, she placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what had been done and that this was his gift from her.  First there were tears.  Then the biggest smile Mike had ever worn.  Every year at Christmas Mike’s wife followed the tradition – one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a family whose home had burned to the ground, and on and on.  The envelope became the highlight of their Christmas.  It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and the children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.  As the children grew, the envelope never lost its allure.  But there’s still more to the story.

You see, they lost Mike a couple of years ago – cancer.  When Christmas rolled around, his wife was still so wrapped in grief that she barely got the tree up.  But Christmas Eve found her placing on envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.  Each of their sons, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad.  The tradition has grown as now grandchildren with wide-eyed anticipation watch as their fathers take down the envelope.

 “This is pure undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27)