Last night Marty and I gave away two vehicles to two incredibly deserving single moms for Christmas. I know! Can you believe it? "Where'd you get the money," you ask? "How'd you do that," you ask? It's a simple principle called the New Testament principle found in Acts 2:44 - 47.

You see, we went to a singles Bible Study (shh...don't tell anyone, we snuck in, for those of you who don't know, Marty and I are married.) called 7:22 last night for the last sermon in a series called "Treasure" which was basically about how we should honor God with our wealth and about how most Americans have this mindset that they are poor even though the majority of us live better and have more money than the majority of the world. Louie talked about the American culture's mindset of "WHEN we get, THEN we give" and how that's backwards from God's standard of giving so that you get so that you then give. He also had this chart up that ranked everyone as to how "poor" or not so poor they really are in the world's standards. It was all pretty cool.

Then he hit on this really neat thing about how the New Testament church pooled their resources. Then, you know what we did? We pooled our resources. We took up an offering to raise money to help buy two single mothers cars (one had a car that had 212,000 miles on it and the other rode Public transport everyday) for their families (each mother had children between the ages of 12 and 18). So, last night, I put $20 in the offering plate and walked out of a Bible study having bought two moms cars! How cool is that? Of course, it wasn't just me. That's the power of God working through a community of believers to bring forth His will. That's even cooler! I love the way God works. He makes you a part of something just so that you can see how He works and so that you can be a part of it.

I love it!

I hope you get the opportunity this Christmas to buy a single mom a car, or an orphan a shirt, or a foster kid a present, or a needy family some groceries. Not because it makes you feel good (even though it will) but because God has invited you to be a part of something bigger than yourself and it's called His will for the world! That's peace on earth.

Grace and Justice,
Joy