I got to experience a cool thing today at work. A dude and his wife came in and sat in my section. I try to say something different to every single table. I don’t know why, it just makes the night more exciting for me. At this particular table I forgot to introduce myself. So quickly the guy interrupted me and asked my name. He then proceeded to introduce himself and his wife and then shake my hand. It was done very friendly like and not in a creepy overbearing way. It was cool.
They were very talkative and interesting. He’s a computer engineer who on the side is developing a game for the xbox 360. Pretty cool I thought. There whole family plays the Wii together, including the wife and four year old. Pretty cool I thought.
I got the feeling like they were Christians. Sometimes I get this feeling with my tables. Sometimes they get this feeling from me. Is that weird? I don’t think it should be.

A few minutes later they began whispering to me. This doesn’t happen often at a restaurant. They quietly asked if they could buy one of my other tables dinners for them. Secretly. For no reason. I said sure and they said thanks.

When the woman and her daughter asked for their bill I nonchalantly told them that they could leave, someone wanted to pay their bill for them. They were shocked. They didn’t believe me. They even tried to argue with me, but I just told them that they couldn’t pay for dinner and that if they truly wanted to buy dinner with that money they’d need to find a homeless person or something. They were truly grateful and left me a much larger tip than was necessary (they even called back later that night to give me a compliment…odd, ’cause I wasn’t the reason they had a good night)

This has happened before. It’s not horribly rare at our restaurant. But it almost always comes with a catch. It’s usually that they are Christians and in the end ask to pray for you, or invite you to church, or something like that. It’s a cool thing. I don’t think it’s manipulative, I think it’s putting your money where your mouth is. I was expecting a gospel message, but it never came. I even told them about living in Portugal and working with a church, and they still did not give the invitation I expected. I thought about asking if they were Christ followers, but in the end I decided against it. I decided against it not because I was embarrassed to ask. No, I ask lots of stupid questions. Rather I realized that it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because whether they were followers of Jesus or not, what they did honored God. It was a simple and beautiful act of worship. No strings attached. They may not have known the God to which they gave honor, but all good and perfect things come from above. God is the source of goodness.

Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of an exchange like this?

Can I honestly admit that I have absolutely no idea how God works? I know thats obvious, but we just spend so much of our time trying to figure it out, or confirm the fact that we already have.
In the comments on my last post I said that in a few days I’d be writing a follow up. I almost decided against it simply because a change of subject might be best. But since this blog was already resonating in my head I decided to just crank it out and let it fly. Again, please know that this post existed before my dads comment in my previous post. Please know, like always, for better or worse, that I write whats in my head…and…well, this is it…

I know that prayer isn’t about getting God to do stuff. I know that it’s relationship, that it’s conversation, and all that. But there is an aspect to prayer that is supplication, petition, or whatever you want to call it. I like to call it Jabezing it (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t worry about it). There is an aspect to prayer that consists of us asking God for stuff. Healing, provision (our daily bread), direction, etc. I understand that sometimes God says “no”, sometimes he says “not right now”, sometimes it’s “you’re asking for the wrong thing”, and sometimes it’s just “ok, here you go.” But I still don’t understand my prayer. I want to pray big. I mean, I want my supplication to make a difference. The whole reason I pray for House of Hope to receive its funding is because I deeply desire for people to be touched through that ministry. I want my prayers to make a difference in those peoples lives. But I find that the only “yes” answers I receive are the ones for good parking spots or a sale on striped polo shirts. And sometimes I question whether that is God or not…though i do love a good bargain.

Pathetic stat of the day: Did you know that less than 10% of Christ Followers give 10% of their income to God?

Is that pathetic? That means that only one out of ten people who have dedicated their lives to God, who have said “yes, I’m going to live my life for Jesus Christ” actually back up their claims with their wallet?

I should change gears though, ’cause I don’t view this as a bad thing. I mean, it is pathetic. But look at the bright side, look at all the good things Churches are doing, look at all the humanitarian aid and mission work that is being done because of God’s work through his organized community…and yet, that’s all being done despite the unwillingness of His followers to give him his money back. What could God do with a church that was dedicated to being Jesus to the world with their lives and with their monies! I can only imagine.

Here’s my own selfish personal dream: Ten families. Ten average families (or single people or divorced people, or…just ten incomes). Ten families could support one church planter…that is, they could support one church planter full time if they all gave at least ten percent of their income to God’s work through that pastor. Imagine if we started sending out church planters with ten families backing them up financially? Imagine how many churches we could financially support?

And what is ten percent? The government takes more than that. Ten percent is nothing but a starting point. God doesn’t ask for ten percent, he asks for it all.

And what is money? I wish I was holy enough to say that money doesn’t matter. I can honestly say that I don’t worry about money (not right now at least. And only by the grace of God). I could tell stories of God’s provision in our lives but that will be another blog. But money does matter. The number one reason why new churches fail is a lack of money. To me that is stunning.

Malachi 3:10
“Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my
temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I
will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing
until there is no room for it all.”

Is it me or is it the potatoes?
Ok, not counting all you people who put ketchup on everything known in creation, aren’t potato products and the way in which we eat them intriguing?
If you fry a potato into a stick you dip it in ketchup. If you cut it flat and fry it you’d dip it in bean dip. If you fry it in a skillet or saute pan it’s usually served with eggs or sausage. If you bake it it comes with sour cream and chives. If you boil and mash it you put a meat gravy over the top. You wouldn’t think of dipping your fries into bean dip. And neither would you eat eggs with your mashed potatoes. It’s strange isn’t it? Would you ever think of pouring gravy over your Lay’s? I seriously doubt it.
Is it me or is it the potatoes?

Brent, you’re my best friend. You’ve been my best friend since I moved here one snowy February about 15 or so years ago. There’s no denying it…but…even though I love you….you’re just not my type.
Jonathan, Jpapa, this one goes out to you.