Charity vs. Charitable Giving

What a difference a week makes...

Just last week, I finished filing our taxes for 2009, and to be honest, I was very pleased with them when completed. What? How can Vince say that he was pleased with his taxes after completing them? Is he some kind of nut or what? Well, I was pleased for two reasons.

First, we will be getting a refund instead of having to pay. (Actually this is bad news. I really need to make some adjustments to my allowances so that we keep our money throughout the year instead of the government keeping it for us! But, that will have to be the subject of another blog some other day...)

Second, our charitable giving totals were really great! What a blessing to look back on 2009 and calculate just how much money we actually gave away! I will have to admit, however that the deduction we received for our charitable giving was nice, too! :-)

But then, two totally unrelated activities (or were they?) occured that really humbled me and caused me to rethink how pleased I was after completing my taxes.

As God would have it (He's always teaching me through life experiences!), our neighbors down the street who have been struggling for several years financially (and in a lot of other ways - unemployment, poor health, etc.) had to move out of their house on Wednesday. Right on the heels of that, I had lunch on Thursday with a wonderful, godly man from our church and we discussed at length charity and what God calls us to do for the poor in our midst.

Wow. I realized all too quickly that there is a really big difference between charity and charitable giving.

Charity means giving help to those in need who are not related to you. It also means extending the love of God to others in a completely unlimited way. The poor (widows, orphans, the sick and disabled, etc.) are regarded as proper objects for our charity. This means we are to be primarily concerned with providing them with food, water, clothing, and shelter, and tending to them when they are ill. Beyond this, charity can also mean visiting those who are imprisoned or homebound, and/or ransoming those who are captive against their will.

Sadly, like most Americans, I don't think I really understand charity at all.

Rather, it is too easy for me to just practice charitable giving. And then when I have, I all too frequently congratulate myself with what I've done.

So, what exactly is charitable giving? It is giving money to a person or a church or other worthy cause, either directly or by means of a fund or trust. It can frequently just be a religious act or duty. Not that charitable giving is a bad thing. It really isn't. But, at a minimum, it's just not the same as charity.

What a difference a week makes...

Lord, help me to practice true charity in 2010, not just charitable giving. And let me have a heart filled with JOY (not resentment) as I do it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Normally, I have a hard time with "Hallmark holidays." You know - the ones that really are just made-up/invented special days that businesses heavily promote so that they can sell lots of cards, gifts and such for them (or so it seems)? Like "Boss's Day," "Administrative Professionals' Day" (formerly known as Secretarys' Day), and even "Grandparents' Day," etc. Nice ideas, I guess, but really...

Unfortunately, Valentine's Day also falls into the category of being a "Hallmark holiday." But, I like it anyway. I mean, who of us doesn't need/want a day focused on love? Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends, love for your neighbors, etc. We all need love days, right?

So, Happy Valentine's Day to all of you whom I love!

But, where exactly did this "Hallmark holiday" come from anyway? And, how long have we actually been celebrating it? Do any of you even know who Valentine was?

According to Wikipedia (maybe not the most reliable source?), Valentine was an early Christian martyr. There may have actually been several of them over a period of years in the fourth and fifth centuries. Apparently, the martyrdom of these godly men named Valentine led to some pope declaring them qualified for sainthood - and thus Saint Valentine. That was a long, long time ago. Apparently, it wasn't until sometime in the fourteenth century that Saint Valentine became linked to what we all seem to think about St. Valentine's Day today - that is romance.

I have to be honest with you. I sat down to write on this blog today, fully intending to preach about something that I thought needed to be preached! I was loaded for bear, and ready to make some very bold statements about something that I felt needed to be said. But, before I got started preaching, I decided to read my sweet daugher-in-law's blog about one of the first dates she had with my son on Valentine's Day 2006. This completely changed my course. I had tears running down my cheeks as I finished reading what she wrote. Here's a link for you to read it also.

http://lettingyourlightshine.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-day-2006.html

Isn't that just wonderful?

So, you have been spared of my preaching and pontificating for today! What Kristen wrote in her blog about their date on Valentine's Day 2006, and the subsequent sweet, innocent, over-the-top romance she and Peter are still experiencing even to this day as husband and wife is much more important than anything else I could have written about today.

Thanks, Kristen and Peter, for being just who you are, and for demonstrating/living out such a beautiful image/picture of romance for us in 2010.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's easy to start something...

How can it be February 7th already? Wasn't New Year's Day just a week ago or so? Wow. Time sure flies when you're getting as old as I am!

A lot of us probably made New Year's resolutions at the start of 2010. I'm wondering? How are you doing with those resolutions? Have you accomplished any of them? I'm afraid it's easy to start something. But, it is so much harder to stay with it...

Take this blog, for example. I enjoy blogging. I really do! And, I love having a place to post my humble thoughts each week. However, when I sit down to do this (usually on Sundays), I find myself saying as I do, "Why am I still writing on this blog?" and "Is anyone even reading these posts of mine?" and "Should I keep doing this? For how long?" No matter how much you like doing something, you are always going to be faced with those times when you say to yourself, "Why bother?"

Well, I can think of at least three good reasons to continue the discipline of writing on this blog.

First, it really is good therapy for the soul, and a pretty good brain exercise as well. It requires me to think about what I want to say, and then to carefully compose each word so that anyone reading this gets a chance to see into me and find out what all is going on in my life. Kind of scary, but good to do anyway.

Second, it helps keep me somewhat connected with all of you who read it. For the longest time (probably almost 30 years after I moved away from my parents), my wonderful Mom faithfully wrote a letter and mailed it to me each week. Almost like clockwork, she'd write telling me/us about what she and Dad had been doing, what they had been thinking, about current events in the world and/or news about our family (about my siblings, aunts and uncles, etc.). I loved the connection those letters provided. Even if she really didn't have big news to tell, she still wrote her letter. I guess I'm beginning to think that this blog is my version of Mom's "letter writing" (21st century style). Even though this blog is not the personal, hand-written letters I received from Mom, maybe it serves a similar purpose? When I write on this blog, I feel a connectedness to lots of people who tell me they are reading it. And, that's worth a lot to me! My hope is that this blog provides some connectedness to people that I would otherwise not be in touch with as regularly.

Third, I like having a place where I can stand for things I believe in and express my values. It seems to me that a lot of people today are afraid to stand up for what they believe in. It appears as though lots of people just accept things without thinking them through. Some don't even know why they believe what they believe. I think that is terribly unfortunate. What a shame when people just mimic what they've heard from someone else (or read in some unreliable source), not really understanding how to defend truths. I believe that too many of us subscribe to things just because they are "cool," but we can't adequately express our deepest convictions. That's sad.

Finally, this blog was a gift from a very special person (thanks, Andy!). I was taught to be grateful when I was given a gift. It seems only proper to share this gift with others. With this blog I have the wonderful opportunity of thanking the person that gave it to me again and again. In a lot of ways, this has to be one of the best gifts I've ever received!

Lord willing, I'll continue writing here on Sundays for a little while longer. You see, I need the therapy it provides for my soul. I need the brain exercises it gives me. I love the connectedness it gives me with others. And, it has become a place where I can take a stand for what I believe in.

It's easy to start something...

It's much harder to stay with it...