Pan Dulce

Focus on Spending

I am reading a disturbing book called Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by Dr. David Platt. I have been reflecting on some of the basic principles he teaches. I have found the book to be moving, convicting, and disturbing in a good sense.

Dr. Platt poses a unique question: What do I really need? That is a tough question because those of us living in the USA don’t think about needs as much as we think about wants. Needs are a given so we don’t think about what we need, rather, we think more about what we want. Honestly, I have all my needs met, don’t you? Plenty of food, water, shelter, clothing, transportation, friends, family, job, etc., indicates we have all we need.

If my spending is focused more on my wants, then what does my spending say about me? Here is where Platt makes an interesting comment:

“The mark of a Jesus follower is that his/her heart is focused on Heaven and that is what they spend their resources on.”

If I spend my resources on things that have an eternal impact then my giving will shift. Platt argues: “What if we stopped giving scraps and made the standard of giving surplus?”

What if our giving became sacrificial and more about giving from our surplus rather than what little we have left over after we have spent on our wants?

Your decisions about how you manage and spend your resources are between you and God. My goal here is to encourage you to think about it more and make deliberate decisions about your spending.

I think about this when I think of 143 million orphans in the world today. I think about this when I think about the poor and those living in desperate circumstances. Pray with me that the risen Lord will lead us to focus on eternal impact with the resources he has blessed us with.

Rethinking the 21st Century

I am reading a book entitled Radical: Taking Back your Faith from the American Dream by Dr. David Platt. I have also been trying to think hard about what it would mean to live as we were 1^st century Jesus followers.

A friend and futurist said a few years ago that the 21^st and the 1^st century are twin centuries point to commerce, communication, and travel. The world is so much smaller than it used to be. Technology like the internet and transportation via airlines has shrunk our planet and made commerce much more dynamic. The question my friend is asking today is this: What would it be like to be a Jesus follower in the 1^st century? He points to the simplicity of the “church in your house” that was common in the 1^st century since the early church had no buildings.

So how would we re-think about the deployment of our resources and assets if we were truly living in the 1^st century? Dr. Platt speaks to the same issues by raising some pretty tough questions. He asks:

What do I really need? What would it take for me to sell my excess stuff to give to the needy? What if we stopped giving scraps and started giving surplus?

He also makes some straightforward statements like:

Our ability to give extravagantly rests in our ability to trust God will take care of us. Our perspective on wealth changes when we focus on the needs of those around us. God gives excess to us not so we can have more but so we can give more.

I hope you are challenged with me to think and reflect on these things. What would our lives be like if we lived as though we were in the 1^st century as followers of Jesus? How would we think about our resources? How would we respond to the poor, vulnerable children, orphans, and hurting families?

In the past few weeks I have spoken at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas and found a welcoming campus with students preparing to serve through their life vocations. I spoke to the El Paso Baptist Association Church Planters Conference to encourage them about leadership and serving others. I was with leaders in South Texas to brainstorm about the future of ministry in the context of the 1^st century. I was in New York City for my first meeting as a new board member of the Joint Council on International Children’s Services to consider ways to collaborate for the well being of children around the world. One thing is clear for me as I reflect on Radical and as I listen to the voice of the Spirit. We have the opportunity to re-dream the future in ways that intersect with the work of the Redeemer’s Kingdom. I expect Buckner will lead the way.

Impacting the Border through Direct Church Missions

In the month of March several churches collaborated with Buckner Colonia-Border Staff to impact the lives of hundreds of children and families along the border. Ricardo Brambila, of our Colonia-Border staff, reports the following events:

During Spring Break we broke the record of houses built in a week with 8 houses going up. We held a Ladies Out Day in collaboration with West Oak Baptist Church with over 230 ladies receiving pedicures, manicures, make up, and hair styling. The women watched the Jesus film and 75 prayed to receive Christ. Some of the ladies, with tears in their eyes, said: “Yo no sabia que era bonita,” (I did not know I was pretty).

Overall, we had 570 mission volunteers, 18 vacation bible schools, 8 block parties, 16 mission groups, almost 2,000 people served, 8 houses built, 12 houses repaired, and almost 2,000 volunteer hours contributed.

Missions is about families blessing families! Wesley United Methodist Church family made a direct difference in the life of the Rodriguez family in the Rio Grande Valley. The First Presbyterian Church Family of Midland served the Osto Family in El Paso with a new home. The First Baptist Church of Richardson family built a home for a family in the valley in one week.

Buckner engages churches and volunteers to make a difference in the lives of children and families along the border. We have begun a Community Transformation Center (CTC) near McAllen and have added Becky Ruiz as the first Buckner social worker at the CTC. Our collaboration with churches helps address the physical and spiritual needs of people in the valley.

Buckner is in on the Texas-Mexico Border but our strength for Colonia ministry lies in the churches that we collaborate with during spring break and all year long. I hope you will make plans to join us next year.