Tag Archives: finances

Our Toyota Story – Part Two

Well, we got the Matrix to Minnesota as planned  (read Part One of this story here).

We set out on Friday at 6:55 am – five minutes ahead of schedule, which is almost unheard of in the annals of the Hartgerink family.  This momentous feat was only achieved by telling each other that we should really aim to leave by 6:30 am.  So, although we were 25 minutes behind our official target time, we were 5 minutes ahead of our real target time.

Our goal was to be at the facilities of Stonewell Auto Importers and Exporters in Port Huron, Michigan by by 3:30 pm.  To accomplish this, we had to reach the Bluewater Bridge (Sarnia/Port Huron) without any major delays along the road, get through US Customs hassle-free, and then find Stonewell’s facility in an unfamiliar city.  After doing our business with them, we planned to drive another 4-5 hours to Hammond, Indiana (just east of Chicago) where we had a hotel reservation for the night.

I was a bit keyed-up about the whole process.  There had been a lot of paperwork in order to get the Matrix ready for import, and I wanted to be sure that I hadn’t missed anything.  This would be our first time crossing the border not as private citizens but as agents of a commercial vehicle importer.  I was very conscious that everything needed to be in order.  At the same time, we had received many confirmations that this whole undertaking was in God’s will, so although I was keyed up I was also confident.  And indeed God was with us at every step.  Our voyage went amazing smoothly, with many signs of God’s favour along the way.  Every time we needed something, we prayed for guidance and/or provision, and the Lord always answered us.  Sometimes we didn’t even have to pray, because He answered before we asked.

I had my Blackberry with me, and I had a phone number for Chris, the agent from Stonewell who was supposed to meet us at their facility at 3:30 pm.  On three separate occasions along the way, I was thinking “It would probably be good to get in touch with Chris right about now”.  Each time, he called just a couple of moments after I had this thought.  And even though I did well over half the driving on this trip, whenever Chris called, it “just happened” that Marion was driving, and I was able to concentrate fully on his call.  The first time, he called to say he had a job interview in another city that morning, so he might not be able to meet us at the agreed-upon time.  This was not what we wanted to hear!   So, we thanked God for giving Chris a job interview, and asked Him to enable Chris to get back in time to help us finish the import process.  We also asked Him to give Chris favour in his interview.  The second time, Chris called back to say that the interview had gone so well that they had hired him on the spot, and he wouldn’t be able to meet us but he would arrange for someone else.  This wasn’t what we had expected, but it sounded like God’s provision.  The third time (by now I was getting a bit antsy because we were getting close to the border and I still hadn’t heard back from him) Chris called to confirm that he had arranged for someone to meet us.  All we had to do was make a phone call from the bridge after clearing Customs, and his Dad (Jeff) would meet us at the Stonewell shop, photograph our car to show that it had indeed entered the country, photograph the speedometer to show that it registered miles per hour as well as kilometers per hour, and affix a label to our car stating that it had been imported into the USA.

Things were looking pretty good!  Every time we had a concern, it was being met.  Thus far, the Lord had helped us.

We got to the bridge ahead of schedule, which was good.  But this was a critical moment.  We had been told to go through Customs in the commercial lane.  Did this mean we should follow the sign that said “Trucks”?  We decided that this was what we ought to do.  It felt a bit weird to leave the car lane, drive our little Matrix across the bridge in the truck lane, and go whizzing by all the other cars that were lined up in the car lane, waiting to clear Customs.  Then we got close to the Customs gate, and it was our turn to line up, with the other commercial vehicles that were waiting to clear Customs – our little Matrix sandwiched between two massive semi-trailers.  “Are you commercial?” asked a bridge attendant.  “Yes, we’re commercial”.  Weird! Us?  Commercial shippers?  We’re just a Mom and Dad, bringing our Matrix to our son and his wife so they can have a good car for their family!  But to good ol’ Uncle Sam, we were commercial shippers, and our goods were potentially subject to inspection.  Not that they’d find anything … my Mom’s dentures had been cleaned out of the car three years previously, when we received the car from my parents’ estate  🙂

Suddenly the whole process, which had been going so smoothly until now, seemed to slow to a crawl.  There were about six trucks ahead of us, and each truck appeared to be taking between 5-10 minutes to clear Customs.  We were almost out of gas, having decided to wait until we were in the USA to gas up, so we kept our engine turned off except when someone cleared Customs and the line moved.  Would we get there on time?  Would we run out of gas? Would Uncle Sam show kindness to us and let our Matrix into the country?  Would we be able to contact Chris after crossing the bridge?  Would Jeff be able to come and meet us?  It’s easy to trust when all the questions have easy answers.  Real trust is all about unanswered questions.  Real trust is when, after you’ve done everything you know to do, you realize that you still can’t control the outcome, and you choose to rely on the Lord’s promise “It’ll be OK because I’ll be with you”.

Finally we got to the Customs window.  Our car hadn’t run out of gas – yet.  It was our turn.  This was the moment of truth.

The Customs agent looked down on us from what seemed like a great height, as his window was positioned to enable him to talk to semi-trailer drivers who sit about 10 feet off the ground.  After driving up to the window, I could no longer see him at all, but I heard a disembodied voice calling down to me : “Can I help you?”  I shouted back : “I can’t hear you very well!”.   “Get out of the car, then!” the voice called back.  The man seemed helpful enough.  Probably our visit was an amusement – a bit of variety in what must surely be a somewhat tedious job.  (“Guess who I checked through Customs today, dear?”).  Eventually we managed to communicate why we were there, and he scanned our paperwork and told us to go ahead, after a few words about parents who were still giving their kids handouts.  I thought to myself, maybe he doesn’t fully understand God’s generosity – but God did use him to show us His favour!  He didn’t even charge us the usual fee.  Praise the Lord.

Next challenge : get gas and get hold of Chris.  Gas – no problem.  Trying to contact Chris – call failed.  Since my Blackberry doesn’t seem to be working at the moment, try to find a pay phone.  None to be found.  What to do? Pray, of course!  Answer to prayer: “Go to Stonewell’s shop and you’ll know what to do next”.    We got there – almost exactly at our original target time – and someone was already there, waiting for us!  Whew!  Thank you, Lord.  Jeff – a middle-aged guy like me, filling in on a job that he evidently had not done for a while – had a bit of trouble printing the label that had to be affixed to our Matrix to show that it had been legally imported into the USA.  Between Chris (by phone) and myself (in person), we helped him figure it out.  He talked about how hard it had been for his son to find a job, and how grateful he was to be able to help his son out.  I understood how he felt.

The rest was easy.  Long, tiring, but easy.  We got to our hotel – a bit strung out, and desperate for sleep.  We left very early the next morning, and got through (or around) Chicago with no problems, thanks to excellent directions from Keith (Heather’s father).   We had an opportunity to help a fellow traveller who had run out of money at a gas station, and later had a great breakfast at a country diner in a historic village called Cherry Valley, Illinois, where we were quite obviously the only guests from out of town.  We drove for hours through many miles of early fall beauty – fields ready for harvest, interspersed with forests and the occasional city.  We got to Bloomington, got the car cleaned up and ready for its new owners, and had a delightful – if brief – visit with Simeon and Heather.  After a few moments of uncertainty, little Sophie remembered us (“Gamma ! Gampa!”)  and it was a joy to see her again.   The next day, we flew back to Ottawa where Reuben and Jess met us at the airport, took us home and fed us comfort food – just what we needed after a long journey.

So, I am at the end of my tale.  But why, you may well ask, did I bother to recount this particular narrative?

First, it was a great joy to be able to bless my children with this car.  They had not yet been able to obtain a really good family vehicle, and Marion and I had an opportunity to provide them with one.  The rest was simple – just do it!  We are made to give.  Even though my Dad was somewhat of a skeptic in matters of faith, one of the Kingdom values that he modelled very well was the value of generosity.  Many times my parents had helped us out when our children were young and our budget was tight.   To be in a position to do the same for my children – in different forms for each child – is a delight.  To be able to pass on a vehicle from grandparent to parent to child is probably quite unusual, but for me this was a source of deep satisfaction especially because I know it will meet their need so well.

Second, our children give back to us more than they know.  Simeon and Heather’s obvious affection and gratitude, little Sophie’s hugs, playful smiles and games of peekaboo, and Reuben and Jess’ care for us upon our return – these things fill our hearts with contentment.  We are blessed beyond deserving.

Third, as already mentioned, I saw so many evidences of God’s grace along the way.  This visit reaffirmed for me that we are made to give, and if are faithful to give out what God has so freely entrusted to us, He will always bless us.  It also reaffirmed for me that if we are seeking to obey the Lord, He will never leave us high and dry.  It’s easy to believe this about other people – especially those who do great deeds.  It may not be as easy for us to believe it about ourselves, but the Lord desires to show us His trustworthiness in smaller adventures like this one, so that we can rely on Him for the grace needed to take on bigger challenges with joy and courage when He calls us to them.

Every time we step out in faith and rediscover God’s faithfulness, our hearts are being prepared for the next adventure.  I have just learned that our missionary friend Gola has seen a door open for him to travel to India (from his current base in Indonesia) to preach the good news of Jesus, the Saving and Healing One.  Will God provide for him?  Of course.  Will we help him?  Of course.  What else would we do?

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Our Toyota Story

For some men, it would seem, life is really all about their toys.  And high on the list of toys is their muscle car.  Or their motorbike.  Or their truck.

Of course, not all men feel this way about cars.  I know guys who couldn’t care less about cars except as a practical conveyance, but who are in love with musicians’ gear – or Apple iProducts – or cameras – or other gadgets.

But lots of guys are nuts about things that go VRRROOOOM, can go really fast and leave everyone else in the dust.  It helps if the car (or bike or truck) is bright and shiny with lots of chrome, because then other men (and maybe some women) will notice them and be impressed – and of course that’s what it’s all about, right?

That’s never been my style.  I’ve always seen a vehicle as primarily a means of transportation.  When it came to buying cars, practicality, affordability and efficiency were – pardon the pun – the driving values.  Marion and I have always agreed completely on this.   When our Taurus met an untimely end in 1998, and we needed a vehicle that would transport a family of six, what did we do?  No SUV or minivan for us, even though that was what everybody was crazy about back then.  Due to life circumstances (living in the country, three drivers in the household) we needed two vehicles, and a van was beyond our budget unless it was our only vehicle, so we leased a Hyundai Accent and bought a used Ford Escort.  A little counter-intuitive for a family of six, no?  But it worked for us.

So when Marion and I began looking for an SUV recently – after three of our four had left the nest, and long after the SUV craze of the 90’s had levelled out – we got a bit of gentle ribbing from our kids (well, a couple of of them at least).  Our motivation for this purchase, however, had nothing to do with style or image, and everything to do with real value.  Having decided to order a camping trailer in honour of our upcoming 35th anniversary (read the story here) – a decision that was prompted largely by the value we place on facilitating special family times with our children and grandchildren – we needed something with a bit more towing power than our 2005 Toyota Matrix, and we needed luggage room more than seating space.  A mid-size SUV seemed like the solution – and the Lord (yes, I do believe it was His amazingly gracious provision) led us to an excellent deal on a beautifully-maintained 2002 Toyota Highlander.  A shout-out here to the folks at our wonderful neighbourhood garage, who provided us with much valuable help in this process.   Thanks, Russ and Bruce !

The really cool thing for me, though, was what we were able to do with our Matrix, a vehicle that we had inherited from my Dad when he died in 2007.  For the past 3½ years the Matrix has been a reliable, trouble-free, economical and practical vehicle for us – the best car we’ve ever owned, hands-down.  Simeon and Heather, meanwhile, have lived with a succession of used vehicles of uncertain history and dubious quality.  Simeon had told me that Heather really liked driving our Matrix when they were visiting last summer, so when I started looking for something with a little more towing capacity for our trailer, with Marion’s agreement I decided to look into the process for exporting a vehicle to the U.S.A.  My thinking was that if possible, rather than trading in the Matrix, I’d like to be able to give it to Simeon and Heather as a gift.

The export/import process proved to be much less complicated than I had anticipated.  There were some details to work through, but it was all doable.  We received a final settlement on my mother’s estate at just the right time, allowing us to buy the Highlander without the trade-in value of the Matrix.  The details came together quite quickly in the end, leading to a flurry of fairly intense activity – the upshot being that we now have our Highlander and later this week, we will be bringing the Matrix through U.S. customs and then delivering it to its new owners in Minnesota.

I suppose in a sense you could call this our Toyota story.  After several embarrassing recalls the past couple of years, Toyota has been trying to rebuild its former image of reliability with an advertising campaign in which long-time Toyota owners tell their Toyota stories.  Marion and I have only been Toyota owners for a few years, but our experience with Toyota products has been nothing but positive.  We LOVED our Matrix, and are looking forward to many years of reliable service from our new (to us) Highlander.

In a truer sense, though, this is a God story, and my real goal with this post is not to promote Toyota but to testify to God’s amazing grace.  I have been overwhelmed with gratitude – and deeply humbled – at God’s undeserved kindness to us throughout this process.

Have cars suddenly become important to me?  No, not really – not in themselves.  They are only a means to an end.  But this particular series of events has brought me great satisfaction because, by God’s surprising and wonderful provision, Marion and I have been able to give one of our children a gift that was ideally suited to his needs, desires and circumstances.   This will be an excellent car for a young family – practical, reliable, economical – and to be able to give it to Simeon and Heather no strings attached is a great blessing.  What is even more of a delight is that they realize they are being blessed – they recognize the value of the gift.

This has prompted some reflection on the giving of gifts to our children.  Like all parents, Marion and I have had numerous opportunities to do things for our children over the years.  Years ago, when we were young parents on a very limited budget, we tried to be as equitable as possible in the gifts we gave to our children.  In this and other ways, we wanted them to see that we were treating them fairly.  Our goal was that all of our children would know themselves to be equally favoured by their parents (and, we hoped, by God).

As the years have gone by, we have not totally given up this goal, but we have also come to see that completely equal treatment is impossible to achieve, and would probably not even be a good thing.  We have continued to do our best to be good to each of our children, and to be as good to each one as we have been to the others – but I can’t truthfully say that we have treated them all exactly the same way.  Partly, no doubt, this is because we are very imperfect parents.  But even if we were perfect parents, we would not and could not treat our children in exactly the same way.  Although we love them all equally, the specific ways in which we deal with each child are different, because each one has a distinctive makeup and needs, carries a particular calling, and is walking through unique circumstances and life experiences.

Isn’t that just how God deals with His children, too?  Legal justice would mean that everyone gets treated identically.  God, however, goes beyond legal justice by showing us mercy, and then goes beyond showing mercy to pouring out grace – undeserved favour and kindness.  By design, and not by mistake, His grace takes different forms in different circumstances and for different people.  The Enemy of our souls tries hard to blind our eyes to God’s kindness, and presents to our minds multiple reasons to complain and find fault with God.   He works hard to convince us – as he did first with Eve – that God does not really have our best interests at heart, but is withholding something from us.

Satan, of course, is the original orphan, and continues to rage at God’s supposedly unjust treatment of him.  As long as we believe His assessment of God’s character, we will always be able to find reasons to feel that we were unfairly treated in some circumstance or other.   It’s true enough that in a fallen world, we can be deeply hurt by the actions of others, and can be the victims of terrible injustices.  Yet in the midst of all this, God is ready to redeem and restore every wrong, turn us from bitterness to blessing, and make us abundantly fruitful.  He has already made a way for our forgiveness and restoration through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and He has special and unique forms of grace stored up for every one of us – but His best blessings are available to us only after our eyes are opened, and we turn away from our self-preoccupation, yield control of our lives to His sovereign purposes, and begin to live like sons and daughters rather than orphans.  Then, and only then, can we truly taste and see that He is good.

So what’s all this got to do with our Toyota story?  Marion and I have always sought to teach our children that if they trusted the Lord with their lives and sought to serve Him faithfully, He would provide for them and bless them.  Simeon and Heather took a step of faith in moving to Minnesota almost three years ago without any promise of employment, believing that God had called them there.  Since then, they have sought to walk before God in faith and obedience in a community of believers on the Bethany campus.  The Lord has been faithful to them and has blessed them in many ways, but so far they have had trouble with cars.  Now the Lord has made a way for us to supply this need, and I am overwhelmed with His kindness in enabling us to give them this special gift to encourage them.  I may never give a car to any of my other children, but I am equally motivated to show them God’s kindness in ways that will encourage them to trust Him and move forward towards His vision and purpose for their lives.  My goal for each of my children is that their lives will be so strongly imprinted by God’s grace that they, too will be givers – people of faith who are full of confidence in God’s kindness, and who live their lives with open hands, testifying by their lives that God is worthy to be praised, served and worshipped, and that He is infinitely good to those who trust Him.

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Jesus’ investment advice

It was the spring of 1998, and I was 45 years old.  After having spent almost 20 years of my life either pastoring or planting churches, my life had recently taken a radical shift.  I was fresh out of school again, a rookie in my new line of work as an Oracle application developer (see Life in the Hallway).  I was also a new homeowner, after having spent most of my adult life in either church-owned or rented properties.  Marion and I had recently moved with our four children from the city to the country, at the invitation of a couple from our church, to partner with them in planting a cell-based church in the village where they lived.  So I had a new job and new house, was living in a new community, adjusting to a new lifestyle, developing new relationships, attempting to walk in a new model of ministry, and learning to think in new ways.

I hadn’t been finding the transition an easy one.  I was on a steep learning curve at work.  Marion and I were missing our friends from our church in the city.  The adjustment to country living had its challenging moments.  To top it all off, we were stretched financially.  Although having a real job had meant a significant increase in income, buying a house in the country and commuting to work in the city meant our expenses had also increased significantly.  We were home-schooling, so there wasn’t a second income.  We weren’t in debt apart from our mortgage, and we were pretty good about staying within our budget, but our car was ageing and there were many things that needed doing around our house.   We always had money for groceries and the bills always got paid, but things were tight.

As a young pastor, I had been somewhat conflicted about money.  I knew that money had its uses, and enjoyed the generosity of the more prosperous among our church members.  At the same time, I saw the prosperity gospel as a front for American materialism, and believed that to be a rich Christian had to be some kind of contradiction.  After all, hadn’t Jesus said that we should avoid storing up treasures on earth?  From 1991-1997 our family had lived on a very low income, first as church planters and then during my year at business college, and we had been content.  Why couldn’t others be like us?  To be honest, I think I felt very virtuous in my insistence that money really wasn’t all that important to me.  This, of course, was pride – but I wasn’t ready to admit this to myself just yet.  Other people might be self-righteous, proud and hypocritical, but not me.  I was much too spiritual for that.

But some cracks were starting to form in the fortress of my beliefs about money.  I had been getting some teaching on finances from my new friend Brian Sauder, who was giving apostolic oversight to our church-planting efforts.  He was teaching that God wanted his people to prosper, both because He is good and also so that we could have the necessary tools to do the work of the Kingdom.  I was starting to see a bigger picture and was beginning to think that maybe I hadn’t been right about everything after all.

Brian didn’t fit my stereotype of a prosperity preacher.  He didn’t wear a gold Rolex, an expensive Italian suit or crocodile shoes.  He didn’t have his own TV show, and he didn’t send out letters promising answers to prayer if we purchased his special anointing oil or prayer cloths.  He didn’t promote his own ministry, and he wasn’t out to sell me anything.  Instead he spent time in our home, got to know my wife and kids, gave us practical encouragement, shared Biblical wisdom honed in the school of experience, and genuinely cared about how we were doing.  He was a very down-to-earth, believable guy – a man of integrity.

More than that, his teaching on the topic of finances was having an impact.  I liked what I was hearing!  Still, I had some concerns to work through.  One beautiful spring day, I was on a break at work and I went for a walk to clear my head.  My office was on a military base that had recently been shut down, so there was lots of open space and it was easy to be alone.  While I was walking, I was crying out to God for his help with the various pressures I was experiencing, and I heard the voice of the Lord speaking to my spirit.  I say “heard” because I really did hear very distinct words, although not with my physical ears.  I was pretty sure this message had to be from God.  Not only was it consistent with Biblical truth, I also recognized that it could not have arisen from my own mind because it was totally contrary to my feelings, my expectations and my natural mindset and ways of thinking.

The words that I heard in my spirit were these :
        I intend to prosper you, first in the natural and then in the spiritual.

This message had the unmistakeable ring of truth.  I knew Jesus’ promise that His sheep could recognize the difference between His voice and the voice of a stranger.  From years of listening to the Lord I did not think I had been hearing the voice of a stranger.  Still, I needed to test this.  Was I deceiving myself?  Was this wishful thinking?  I asked Father if this was really His voice that I was hearing.  Didn’t Jesus say that it was hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God?  What about that?  Well, He assured me, it is hard but not impossible.  It’s hard, not because wealth is evil, but because our hearts are prone to fall into the deception that we don’t need God, and wealth makes this illusion easier to maintain – at least for a time.

As I continued to dialogue with the Lord, I sensed Him telling me that because Marion and I had made his Kingdom the goal of our lives, He could trust us with financial prosperity.  This, I recognized, was consistent with Jesus’ words of assurance to his disciples, as recorded in the gospel of Matthew and beautifully paraphrased by Eugene Peterson:

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.  (Matthew 6:30-33 MSG)

That day, a big chink came out of the wall of the fortress of poverty thinking.  I knew that I was being changed.  My whole outlook on finances – indeed, on life – was in the process of being transformed.

I still recognize that our hearts can be deceived by wealth, as they can by any addictive substance.  I take Jesus’ warnings seriously, but I now realize that the real issue is not wealth or poverty, but Lordship.  If my allegiance is to Jesus, and I have learned to value and walk in the freedom that He promises to the children of God, then I can handle prosperity without being corrupted by it, and I can use it to bless many and to do the works of the Kingdom of God.  One of the ways of testing ourselves on this point is to ask ourselves whether there is anything that we couldn’t let go if Jesus asked us to.  He always gives back more than He asks of us!

So what about the title of this post?  Does Jesus give investment advice?

Yes he does.  It’s very simple.  Sow your seed boldly and courageously! Everything that is in your hands has been entrusted to you by the King.  It’s his, not yours – you are a steward, not an owner.  The owner, however, is generous and will reward those who are faithful.  Don’t let fear drive you to dig a hole and bury your wealth – natural or spiritual – in case something goes wrong.  Because you know His character, don’t hesitate to invest everything you have in His enterprises, and expect Him to bring an increase.  Be willing to take risks for the sake of the King, trusting that He wants to bless you.  (See the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14-30)

That doesn’t mean I ought to take stupid, uncalculated risks.  Jesus also told his disciples not to build on sand, and to count the cost before embarking on any enterprise.  Although he applied these lessons to the Kingdom of God, he knew their natural meaning.  Stupidity doesn’t make us better disciples; planning wisely can be an expression of God-honouring faith.  Having said all that, I have come to see that my Father wants confident, bold sons and daughters who are not paralyzed by fear, but are willing to take risks – even if some of those risks don’t work out exactly as we expect.  This mindset is a key to Kingdom living, and is as true in the financial area as in other areas of life.

On that spring morning in 1998, I desperately needed to hear the voice of the Lord telling me to prosper, because up til then, even though I had stepped out in faith many times, I had also often been dogged by a nagging fear of failure, and deep down I found it hard to believe that God really wanted to bless me.  Since then, many things have changed in my life.  God has indeed prospered me financially and spiritually. More than anything else, it is my view of God that has changed.  I now realize that since I am a child of God, forgiven and cleansed because of the shed blood of Jesus, my Father delights to bless me and wants to see me succeed.  He delights to fill me with His Spirit so that I can do the works of God.  Why would he not also give me all good things – including financial prosperity?  At the same time, prosperity, like healing or any other form of blessing, is a secondary goal, not a primary one.  So, my focus is not to be on these secondary blessings but on the Giver of all good gifts.  This is the battle that I need to fight daily : to keep my gaze fixed on God, His goodness and His priorities, and to boldly invest and cheerfully give out what He has freely supplied.  If I do that, He promises to richly supply me over and above what I need for every good work.

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Money – blessing or curse?

Someone once asked John D. Rockefeller, a multi-millionaire industrialist of a past generation, how much wealth was enough.  His famous reply? “Just a little bit more.” In his day, Rockefeller was one of the richest men on earth. He was also one of the most generous, believing strongly that he had a responsibility to use wealth to improve the lives of others.

By contrast, I recently read a news piece about Karl Rabeder, an Austrian millionaire who is currently in the process of giving away most of his fortune.  He plans to use the proceeds to finance a microcredit charity (see Leaving an Imprint – January 6).  He has taken this radical step after coming to the realization that money could not make him happy.  Having grown up in a poor family, and having spent most of his lifetime striving for wealth, Rabeder says he is now finding peace and genuine satisfaction through giving away his wealth to others, living very simply and renouncing luxury.

Rockefeller was a Christian and his views on wealth and its proper uses were motivated by Christian convictions. I have no idea whether Rabeder is a Christian, but his decision to renounce wealth and give most of his substance to the poor is consistent with some interpretations of Christian obedience. Taken together, the actions and viewpoints of these two wealthy men highlight an issue that has always posed a dilemma for those who seek to follow Jesus.  What is the proper attitude of the Christ follower towards wealth and property? Should we seek wealth, as Rockefeller did, or renounce it as Rabeder has done and is doing?

Attitudes towards money vary widely. Sadly, like the man in Jesus’ parable who built bigger and bigger barns but was not rich toward God, many make the pursuit of financial security the major goal of their lives. Others, reacting to the evils caused by greed, conclude that money and the pursuit of wealth are inherently evil. Ironically, however, it is often wealth gained through business that ends up being used to finance works of charity – as in the case of both Rockefeller’s and Rabeder’s fortunes.

There is no Biblical support for the claim that money in itself is impure or evil, or that the wealthy are wicked by definition – nor did Rabeder make any such claim when he decided to give up his fortune. What the Bible actually teaches on this subject is not that money is evil, or a source of evil, but that the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. This observation is not actually a statement about money at all, but rather about the human heart. The Bible speaks in very positive terms of those who walk uprightly, gain their wealth honestly and use it to bless others, and in very negative terms about those who gain wealth by oppression or unrighteousness or who place their ultimate hope in their riches.

One of the ironies of life is that you can be in financial bondage whether you are rich or poor. Some are in slavery to poverty, some in slavery to wealth. Some reject all wealth as evil, others are addicted to it.  Some fear poverty because they are afraid for their own survival and that of their children; others fear prosperity because they are afraid it will corrupt them.  Strange as it may seem, both these maladies stem from the same root.  They are the work of a spiritual power that feeds our minds with lies,  tempting us to assign ultimate power to a created thing rather than to God, thereby diverting us from walking in faith and love.

When I was a young man I had a very one-sided view of this issue.  I knew the words of Jesus about not serving two masters, and was famliar with his instruction to the rich young man to give away all his possessions to the poor.  I saw the dangers of materialism, and saw the church of my upbringing as hypocritical, filled with middle class people who from my perspective had given their lives to the pursuit of Mammon.  I did not yet see how judgmental I was, or how dependent on the generosity of those who were more prosperous than I.  More recently I have come to see that prosperity can be used in the service of the Kingdom of God, and that while Jesus warned against the dangers of pursuing wealth as a primary goal in life, he was quite willing to accept financial support from those who worked for wealthy people.  The key to a right understanding of wealth, I now see, is a Biblical view of stewardship.  If God has entrusted wealth to me, I am not the owner but the steward, and I am accountable to Him for what I do with whatever He has entrusted to me. Wealth is a tool which can be used to accomplish much good – but only if we first settle the issue of Lordship and decide who will have our primary allegiance.  In Jesus’ words, No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.  In other words, you can only have one Lord, not two – or three or four.

When we believe the lie that our lives are controlled by money, or wealth, we make money into a god, and submit to the control of the principality, or spiritual power, that Jesus called Mammon.  If you think this doesn’t apply to you, consider how many times you have said that you would do thus-and-so if only you had the money. Consider also how much of your energy goes to getting more wealth than you have, and how much of your hope is fixed on things that money can buy. Yes, God can use financial plenty and financial lack to open and close doors, but often we live as though our primary allegiance is to Mammon, and the true God has to get Mammon’s approval before we can step out in faith – rather than the other way around. Jesus, on the other hand, lived in a culture where needs were great and wealth was comparitively more scarce than it is in North America today, yet he never acted or spoke as though provision were lacking for any undertaking that his Father had ordained. To use a phrase that I first learned from my friend Brian Sauder, Jesus had a prosperous soul – he believed that Father’s provision for him would always be more than enough, and he lived in confident expectation of that provision. This is Biblical prosperity – staying in the center of Father’s will, and living our lives as though His provision will always be more than enough.

There is nothing wrong with having an abundance.  There is also no sin in being poor. The key to staying blessed in both sets of circumstances is to recognize the Lordship of Jesus – to recognize that God is the owner, everything comes to us from His hand and we are his stewards. The only way to freedom is to give control of our finances to the One who is the only rightful Lord of everything in our lives, including our finances, place our trust in His goodness, and let His word renew our minds with regard to wealth and finances. This act of surrender may or may not result in a change in our financial circumstances, but it will certainly result in a change in our attitude towards wealth and property. In the early church in the Book of Acts, no-one said that anything he had belonged to him.  This is a key insight.  Jesus said that if we seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, everything else we need will be provided for us. He also told us to be content and to give generously. Giving control to Jesus means learning to live our lives by the values of the Kingdom, not the values of the world system.

I have learned to fear neither prosperity nor poverty. Due to a ministry commitment, for several years when our children were young Marion and I lived in relative poverty (at least by Canadian standards) and we found that these were good years in the life of our family – years when we grew in faith and experienced much blessing. We have now come into a much greater level of financial abundance, and have discovered that it is a tremendous blessing to be able to do for others what many did for us during the years when our income was more limited. I have also discovered that no matter how prosperous we may be, we always tend to make commitments in accordance with our wealth – so a wealthy man is just as dependent on a constant flow of provision as a poor man. This posture of dependency and humility coupled with confident expectation is a good posture for a believer – it is a posture that allows us to walk in freedom, faith and joy with regard to finances.

My church is currently in a financial crisis. I believe this financial crisis is the result of a crisis of vision, and that God is dealing with us sovereignly to bring us back to where He wants us to be. There is no lack with God. If we respond to him in faith and obedience, there will always be more than enough to do what He wants to do in and through us. Consequently I am not worried about this crisis. Of course this circumstance has created some pressure, but pressure is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be one of God’s choice instruments to purify our hearts and bring us to a place of greater surrender, greater obedience and greater faith. Yes, God is capable of providing in abundance, but there are conditions on receiving and walking in that abundance. Increasingly, when it comes to finances, my own prayer is for wisdom to steward well what God has entrusted to me, and a faithful heart that will rightly discern and respond to what He wants to do with what He has placed in my hands.  In the end, nothing else brings any lasting satisfaction.

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Leaving an imprint

A few days ago, on the last weekend of the Christmas holidays, my sister Judy and her husband Jamie hosted a family dinner at their home in Westboro for all the Hartgerinks who were within driving range.   As usually happens at such gatherings, the conversation was lively and stimulating.  My family is populated by people who hold strong convictions and express them freely, so animated discussions are the norm.

One noteworthy event of the evening was that Jamie introduced me to Kiva, one of his latest passions.  Kiva is an innovative enterprise offering an internet-based mechanism through which individuals can invest directly in microfinance loans to entrepreneurs in the Third World.  Microfinance is a great concept, and I might blog about it in more depth sometime soon.  Enabling small entrepreneurs to be successful is one of the most effective ways of ending the cycle of poverty.  It’s a concept that an increasing number of Christian agencies and enterprises have been implementing to great effect in recent years (Kiva itself, although not an explicitly Christian enterprise, was founded by Christians as a direct expression of Biblically-based convictions – for more background, click here).

But that’s a topic for another day.  Today, I want to look at the themes of impact and influence.  Prompted by the discussion last Saturday evening, as well as other recent events and conversations, I’ve been thinking about the power we have to influence others.   I have come to the conclusion that many of us underestimate the impact that we can have on those around us.

Of course, we have probably all known at least one or two of those seemingly self-assured individuals who simply blaze a trail and expect others to follow, not wasting any time wondering if they have impact.  They have a true gift of leadership, and people follow them naturally.

But this post isn’t for the natural leaders.  It’s for the rest of you – those of you who don’t think of yourselves as leaders.  I myself am a fairly quiet person.  I was a middle child – the third in a family of four (I mention this because birth order has a significant impact on how we perceive ourselves).  I don’t really see myself as a natural leader – I am more comfortable working alongside leaders, supporting them and helping them succeed.  However, I do want my life to count for something – and I am often surprised at the impact people say I have had on them.

Let me relate one snippet of our dinner conversation that illustrates my point.   At some point during the meal, my nephew Adam (age 18) was holding forth on some topic or other when he used a word that few people of his generation use, let alone even know.  It got my attention because this was a word that my father – Adam’s Opa – used often.  Although English was not his first language, Dad used it very well – better than many native English-speakers.  He and Mom also spent a lot of time with their grandchildren over the years, especially the Cameron children (Simon, Adam and Sarah) who lived very close to them.   As a result, many of their habits, convictions, passions and humourous foibles rubbed off on their grandchildren.   We see this not only in more significant matters such as character and convictions, but even in small personal habits – mannerisms, turns of phrase, and even vocabulary.

My siblings and I are different in many ways, but we and our children also have many attributes in common, one of which is a very lively sense of social responsibility.  Why does our family care about such things?  At least in part, because concern for the poor and downtrodden was modelled for us by my parents, both of whom were people of integrity and compassion who were active in several social causes.  My parents left an imprint on their children and grandchildren.

This post isn’t really about my parents, or Kiva, or Adam.   It is about influence.  All of us have the potential to leave a significant imprint on the people around us.  We may not all be leaders in the public sense of that word but we can all be influencers – each using our own gifts and abilities, which differ from person to person.  If even secular people realize this, believers in Jesus ought to realize it even more.   One major stumbling block is the common tendency to compare ourselves to others whom we may see as more gifted, more articulate, more capable than us.  A helpful observation by author and Bible teacher Craig Hill is that Satan wants you to focus on what you don’t have and what you can’t do, whereas God wants you to focus on what you do have and what you can do.

Jesus, whom I call Lord, told his followers to let our light shine before people, that all might see our good works and praise our Father in heaven.   We are to draw attention not to ourselves, but to Him, so that his light might shine through us.  We aren’t all the same, and we don’t all have the same gifts, but we can all influence the world around us.  We don’t even have to try hard to do this.  All we have to do is get our focus off of ourselves onto God, and pay attention to the opportunities that He puts in front of us, trusting Him to lead us.  If we believe that Jesus is alive and that He lives in us, nothing could be more natural than to let His life flow out through us to touch the people around us – people He loves, people He died for, people he wants to see included in His Kingdom that is coming.

I want my life to count for something; I want to leave an imprint – the imprint of Jesus.  How about you?

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NOTE to City Church small group leaders – I’ve included this post in the Small Groups category because it could function as a useful discussion topic in small groups.   Representing the character of Jesus to others is a key small group value.

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Freedom 55?

A lot of the people I work with have bought into the “Freedom 55” concept as a goal for their lives.  Most of my colleagues are in their mid to late 40s and they are looking forward to being able to retire with some financial security so they can do what they have always wanted to do.  Then, you see, they will be free to live the good life.  Or so the theory goes.

But what exactly is the good life?  Is it really based on achieving financial freedom at 55?  In that case, I guess I missed the boat, because I’m 56 and still working.

The tragedy is that most of the people who want financial freedom have bought into a lie.  The lie has nothing to do with financial planning.   It has to do with the idea that you am truly free when you get to do exactly what you want to do, whatever will make you happy, whatever floats your boat – whether it’s a beautiful cottage by the lake, trips to the Rockies, a condo in Belize, or whatever your personal dream may be.   Simply put, the lie is that it’s all about you (or me).

Don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against financial freedom.  I have a financial planner – two, in fact – and a financial plan (sort of).   I would love to be financially free and I have taken some steps towards that goal.  I have received some sound business advice for which I am grateful.  But I also recognize that no matter how well I plan, I’m not really in control.   First of all, as the Apostle James pointed out years ago (James 4:13-17) my plan may not work exactly as I hope.  Secondly, even if it does, what ultimate satisfaction will it bring me?

There’s nothing wrong with dreams – we need them.  God put the capacity for desires and longings into our hearts.  But the Devil’s lie from the beginning is that you can only be happy when you are your own God, when you get to call the shots, to make the choices, to have it all your way (Genesis 3:1-7)  The irony is that if we live this way, we may have enjoyment for a short time but in the end it will all be dust and ashes (Luke 12:13-34).  It’s good to enjoy the pleasures of life.  But you can only truly appreciate these pleasures when you realize that your life is not your own, that you belong to God, that you were created to bring Him joy, and that all these pleasures are gifts from His hands.

I have desires and longings too.   I love to ride my bike, to play my guitar, to spend quality time with my wife, my children and my granddaughter.  I enjoy time at the cottage, travelling, camping.  But in the end, if I fill my life with these things in the absence of God, they leave me empty.  That’s because I’ve learned that what I was made for is to seek God’s face, to live in the light of His presence, to sense His nearness, to be involved in seeing people respond to God’s love and come alive in Him, to make an eternal difference in someone else’s life, to see His Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Freedom 55?  Why not freedom 25 – or 35 – or 95?  True freedom has nothing to do with an age, and not even much to do with finances.  Yes, I want to be financially free because I’d love to have more time to invest in activities that build the Kingdom – but I also recognize that even if I was a multi-millionaire, I wouldn’t necessarily be any more free than I am today.  I am free when I am fully assured of God’s forgiveness and acceptance, fully confident in God’s goodness, fully surrendered to His purposes, fully engaged in His calling on my life.  That’s the kind of freedom I want to seek.

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What I believe

This post will be a bit different.  I decided to list some of the core beliefs that motivate my life.  Feel free to comment or ask questions.

I believe :

  • Jesus is coming back to earth to reign as King.
  • His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom.
  • My life has an eternal purpose.
  • My sins have been forgiven.
  • When Jesus returns, I want the reward that is laid up for those whom he finds faithful.
  • My marriage and my children are worth investing in.  I need to place high value on those God has entrusted to me.
  • Purity is worth it.
  • Integrity is its own reward.
  • I need mercy every day – so do you.
  • The Devil will gladly give me reasons to judge others or be offended with them, but in reality I can’t afford to waste time and energy on judgements and offenses.   Judgements poison our hearts and drive out the grace of God. Injustices and wrongs will happen, to me and to others – but I intend to choose daily to let Jesus look after my interests, and place my focus on His priorities.   That’s the only way to stay in His flow of blessing – which is where I want to be.
  • I am not the centre of the universe.  Neither are you.
  • Jesus is the rightful King, and I can only find true blessing by surrendering forever my supposed right to have my own way.
  • Money is neither evil nor good.  It is only a tool.  The love of money is the root of much evil, but money itself can be used for good or for evil.
  • I don’t love money but neither do I fear it or hate it.
  • Prosperity is a blessing, but contentment is a higher blessing.
  • The conscious practice of generosity, out of  gratitude to God, has power to free us from fear of poverty and addiction to wealth.
  • When it comes to money, the key issue is always Lordship.  Have I submitted my finances to God?  Am I living for the Kingdom?  Then I can confidently call on Him for provision.
  • The same thing applies to time.  Have I submitted the hours of each day to God?  He will give me all the time and energy to do what He has called me to do.  He’ll do the same for you if you make Him Lord over your time.
  • I want to be a lover of God and his Kingdom.
  • The best way that I can use the energy and time that God has entrusted to me is to love God – to spend time worshipping, listening to His voice, feeding on His Word.  I have other tasks as well, but every other good use of time flows from this one.
  • Each person around me is valuable to God, and I need to honour the image of God in each person.
  • For the Body of Christ to work well, I need to learn to place high value on many other God-lovers who are quite different from me – different personality, different gifts, different preferences.
  • Not every need around me is my responsibility.  There are things God has called me to do and things he hasn’t.  But if I understand His grace and kindness, I won’t harden my heart to those around me even if I am not personally called to meet that particular need.
  • Whatever God has called me to do, He will also give me the ability to do.  This is a form of His grace.  God doesn’t contradict himself.
  • God is sovereign, but not everything that happens to you or me is his direct choice for our lives.   We have a personal enemy, who hates God’s people and God’s purposes, and he will try to stop me from fulfilling God’s purposes.
  • I choose neither to ignore the Devil nor to give him too much credence.  Jesus is Lord – but it’s up to me whether his Lordship is reflected in my life day by day.  Despite the Enemy’s attacks, as a child of God I expect to be blessed.
  • I still have a lot to learn – I am not finished growing.
  • By the grace of God, I want to be more fully alive to God tomorrow than I am today.
  • As a disciple of Jesus I’m not immune from troubles and challenges – Jesus told us to expect them – but I have the huge advantage of knowing my God.  I know that God is not out to get me, I know that He loves me and that He has a glorious destiny for me, and I know that how I respond to each challenge will affect my future and the lives of those around me.  All of this motivates me to seek to live by faith, hope and love.
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Reflections from Minnesota – Day 5

Today we went to the Mall of America to shop.  It is the second-largest mall in the world, surpassed in size only by the West Edmonton Mall.  You can get pretty much anything here.  The whole point of the mall is consumption – buying, selling, getting, spending.  So we did our bit to stimulate the economy.

I don’t seem to to be able to go through life without reflecting on my experiences.  It’s just the way I’m wired.  I’ve heard it said that the unexamined life is not worth living.  I believe that if we are truly disciples of Jesus, every aspect of life should be under His Lordship.  So today I was reflecting on the experience of shopping, and whether our shopping choices are significant to God.

This may seem like  a weird question.  Does God care if you buy a particular shirt or pair of shoes or electronic gadget or tasty treat?  Aren’t those trivial matters – not that important?

Actually, it’s the stuff of everyday living that reveals to what extent Jesus is really Lord of our lives.   Going to the mall of America may be a real spiritual test for someone who is inclined to be self-indulgent.  The Holy Spirit may be giving you an opportunity to recognize and resist temptation.  If you were to listen to that inner voice before buying, you might get a gentle nudge to say “No” to your most recent whim – both to lead you into the freedom of self-control, and so that you have more left to give to others.

On the other hand, if you are someone who feels guilty about spending, there could be a different kind of challenge.  The Holy Spirit may want to teach you something about God’s desire to bless you.  Or He may want you set you free to give a generous gift to someone you love.

One thing is for sure – from reading the Gospels it is very clear to me that if we want to live as Kingdom people, every detail of our lives matters.  How we handle finances is a reflection of the condition of our hearts, and that matters a great deal to God.

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Marion and I have also been spending quite a bit of time this week at fairly close quarters with our son Simeon and daughter-in-law Heather and their new baby, who have graciously opened up their apartment to us for the week.  Add in our daughter Bethany and son Joe (who came with us), plus various members of Heather’s family who live next door and are frequently in and out of their apartment, and you are looking at a fairly constant stream of family interactions.

As wonderful as family is, living at close quarters like this can be a strain at times, especially for new parents like Simeon and Heather who are dealing with an adorable but sometimes-fussy baby, and new grandparents like Marion and myself who are still learning how to operate with grace in our new role.  So we have had to work a few things out over the past couple of days.  This is not always easy, and our human weaknesses – mine, anyway – sometimes come to the surface.  This is humbling, but also good for us.   Little conflicts give us an opportunity to grow in grace.  I’m learning that the secret to healthy and redemptive relationships is not avoiding all conflict, but handling it with grace.  The effort to understand one another is well worth the cost.  I am so grateful for the Lord’s mercy and grace.  God, teach me to place my heart and my tongue under your control daily.

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