alms

This week the guys focus on Luke/Acts as they continue to look at faith and finances. What's the deal with giving alms? What does it look like to give to the poor if you're short on cash? And what is the relevance of the parable of the dishonest manager to this discussion?

Creation is an act of generosity. Generosity is an act of creation. To create is to gather the resources available to us and shape them into something new and wondrous for others to experience. To be generous is quite literally the same thing.

And yet, how many times do we cheapen and pollute our works of creation by scribbling our name all over it? 

Rather than create for the purpose of inducing wonder, we hastily mix a stew of popular and unhealthy ingredients and tempt others with the result. And our only motive is payback through attention or money.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, wisely explains to us that altruism is creative and permeated with light, while selfishness is destructive and lives in darkness. Generosity is a creative force that moves outward from the self. Selfishness is a destructive force that collapses in on itself. And any attempt at mixing the two so that the self - the ego - gets the credit, only destroys that creation.

Is it any wonder that God's first known words in history are let there be light as he creates all that is, generously giving us all a place to live, and move, and have our being.

Today, we explore DMLK's definition of generosity as creation in contrast to selfishness as destruction, emphasizing Jesus' words when he said, It is more blissful to give than to receive.

Source Scripture

Matthew 6:2-4

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Extras

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On today's new episode of Member Talks! we meet Madeline Lyles and Dana Taylor from After Life Mortuary Service (ALMS). Madeline and Dana joined forces a couple of years back to become the first female-owned, African-American funeral home in Memphis, TN.  ALMS also continues to give to their community by offering a funeral education summer camp for kids in their community to teach them what death care is truly all about. Join in the conversation as we meet these two great women of funeral service. 

It’s been a long time since we sat down with our most returningest guest ever, so we’re psyched to chat with Phra Pandit for our first show of 2020. 

We’ve all seen monks going on their daily alms rounds, walking slowly and stoically as laypeople put food and other items in their บาตร, or alms bowl. But how many of you know the history of giving alms? Phra Pandit gets into the details of the practice and answers a few questions - why only go in the morning? Why do monks look so sombre when they do it? Can you refuse an offering? And what types of items in their bowl makes a monk light up with an (inner) smile? 

Phra Pandit also gives us his impressions of how the desire for ‘the perfect alms photo/video’ can sometimes corrupt the purity of the process (watch the video he mentions here), and tells a story that is, as Greg puts it, “the most metal story about Buddhsim ever.”

As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

We must stop undermining our ability to be generous by overlooking the fact that generosity doesn’t have to be monetary.

In this PODCAST, you will learn one singularly simple concept which, if you take it to heart, will change your life forever.

It is my sense that in contemporary Christian culture in America, we have lost sight of the elegant simplicity spoken of in the New Testament. And consequently, we have lost so much of God’s blessing in the process.

So here’s to simplicity, with the hope that your life overflows with God’s bountiful blessing as we together apply this principle to our lives.

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God bless!