In the Zone

We make a lot of promises. We promise to get our work done by the end of the day.  We promise to keep our houses cleaner. We promise ourselves that we will eat healthier and exercise and lose a few pounds.  We even promise our kids that their life will be better than ours. Yet, how often do we keep those promises?  We may have good intentions, but we simply can't keep all the promises we make.  We are human. But God does. In Malachi 3:16-4:3, God makes a promise to his faithful followers.  For three chapters in Malachi, God has been dealing with whining and complaining Jewish people who believe God has abandoned them.  For three chapters, they accused him of being unjust, unloving and unavailable.  All the while, they continued to violate the standards he set for the relationship. In Malachi 3:16, God starts addressing those who defended God.  While he rebukes the whiners, to his followers, he made a promise.  When the day of judg...

What's in it for me? Isn't that what we hear to often in our society?  People aren't willing to help unless they receive some kind of financial or personal benefit from participating.  We hear it in the political process, the church, the office and the school. We all want something in return for our service. But that's not the way God designed service.  He intends for us to serve without an expectation of a reward.  Service, particularly service for the kingdom of God, is not about being rewarded, but honoring Jesus Christ.  We don't serve to earn a reward.  We serve to honor Jesus. In Malachi 3:13-15, the post-exilic Jewish people are once again complaining to the Lord, through the prophet Malachi.  They claim that serving God is a waste.  They serve God, and even mourn sin, but they get nothing in return.  Meanwhile, the wicked people of other foreign nations, prosper.  The insinuation is that it's better to be evil and prosper...

I remember a few years ago, I sat in a staff meeting at church and heard these scary words:  "Don't spend any more money this year or we will not be able to meet payroll." You could hear a pin drop when the pastor said those words.  All the assistant pastors and support staff just sat there and someone finally asked the question:  "How bad is it?" We had enough money to keep the lights on, buy the last bit of Sunday School curriculum we needed and meet payroll for the rest of the year but not much else.  There would be no raises or Christmas bonuses.  All other spending had to be approved by the financial team. Thankfully, we were close to the end of the year.  As the pastor uttered these words, we were a few days away from Thanksgiving.  Six weeks of no spending and we would be OK because certain accounts opened up in January.  It was one of the few times in ministry I got scared that the church might just shut down. What precipitated t...