God Is Not A Vending Machine - Ouch!
I have spent the last twenty years telling groups of people that God is NOT a vending machine, that committing oneself to be a follower of Jesus Christ does not guarantee that person a life void of struggles. Our hope, I tell people, is in the God who never leaves us despite our hardships, not a God who snaps his fingers and makes life a cakewalk.
It's much easier telling other people that God is not a vending machine than having to face that realization myself. Not only are my kidneys rapidly deteriorating, my income from GCM is falling faster than the stock market. Donations are way down from last year, so much so that I've only earned about $7500 for the first six months of this year. The bad news doesn't stop there. I received a phone call yesterday from one of our largest donors who informed me that he was just laid off from his job and is now unemployed. Yesterday wasn't the best of days for me.
I have often thought it would be much easier if I believed in prosperity theology. I could tell people who are having financial difficulty that sending GCM a check might just be the key to unlocking their financial future. Problem is: I don't believe it! The rain falls on the just and the unjust, and right now, i'm out in a thunderstorm without an umbrella.
I know that I'm not the only facing uncertain times in thin tumuituous economy. So what do we do? There's only one thing to do and that's to keep returning to the cross. As bad as things are, and as bad as things become, hope can only be found by aligning ourselves with the man from Galilee.
We are searching for additional supporters, like minded people who realize that God is not a vending machine, bad things do happen to good people, and that God's grace is indeed sufficient in our weakness. Donations can be made at the GCM website.
I'm also making my book God Is Not A Vending Machine, available for purchase at God Is Not A Vending Machine.
Also, pray for us. It's one thing to believe that God's grace is sufficient in our weakness. It's another thing to have that belief put to the test,
It's much easier telling other people that God is not a vending machine than having to face that realization myself. Not only are my kidneys rapidly deteriorating, my income from GCM is falling faster than the stock market. Donations are way down from last year, so much so that I've only earned about $7500 for the first six months of this year. The bad news doesn't stop there. I received a phone call yesterday from one of our largest donors who informed me that he was just laid off from his job and is now unemployed. Yesterday wasn't the best of days for me.
I have often thought it would be much easier if I believed in prosperity theology. I could tell people who are having financial difficulty that sending GCM a check might just be the key to unlocking their financial future. Problem is: I don't believe it! The rain falls on the just and the unjust, and right now, i'm out in a thunderstorm without an umbrella.
I know that I'm not the only facing uncertain times in thin tumuituous economy. So what do we do? There's only one thing to do and that's to keep returning to the cross. As bad as things are, and as bad as things become, hope can only be found by aligning ourselves with the man from Galilee.
We are searching for additional supporters, like minded people who realize that God is not a vending machine, bad things do happen to good people, and that God's grace is indeed sufficient in our weakness. Donations can be made at the GCM website.
I'm also making my book God Is Not A Vending Machine, available for purchase at God Is Not A Vending Machine.
Also, pray for us. It's one thing to believe that God's grace is sufficient in our weakness. It's another thing to have that belief put to the test,
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