Notes Toward A True Gospel Of Prosperity

I haven't decided yet whether to make this an essay, a book, a video, or an outline for a discussion group. But while I'm figuring that out, fell free to rattle these bones:

1. God is infinite. 
2. God is generous.
3. God created the material world to reflect His infinitude through abundance.
4. God gave humans the capacity, and the mandate, to manage abundance for greater abundance.
5. Sin has made everything harder, but there is still enough of everything we need for everyone.
6. When the Holy Spirit quickens faith in Jesus Christ, humans receive the life of God in all its fullness.
7. God really, really wants to use His people to show off.
8. Christians in particular should manifest the wisdom of God in cultivating the abundance of creation, and the generosity of God in distributing that abundance.
9. Christians are to provide for themselves, their households, their extended families, fellow members of the ecclesia and the poor generally.

That's my view. What's yours?

Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond

My mini-bio at the right ends with the slogan, "Christ, commerce, community." Those three words distill so much of my life and so much of what I want to do that my thinking about my priorities for 2014 has come down to three categories of action, related to those three words.

Given my beliefs, abilities, interests, position and location, it seems that as of now, the best uses of Elwin Green in Homewood will be:

• Encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ,
• Growing businesses, and
• Redeveloping Race Street

Christ, commerce, community.

Theoretically, I could do an infinitude of other things - or at least, try to, venturing limitlessly into other areas. But those three are enough to occupy me, perhaps for the rest of my life (indeed, I intend to have the first two occupy me for the rest of my life, wherever I am. I expect some variation of the third to do so also, as I expect to remain on Race Street for the rest of my life; but that is less certain than the first two).

Christ, commerce, community.

Why write a blog post about this, rather than just noting it in my journal? Because all three of those priorities will require considerable involvement by other people, and because for all I know someone reading this may want to be involved.

Over the next week or so, I will outline specific projects and processes related to each category of action. So come back tomorrow if you'd like to learn how I plan to encourage the Body of Christ in Homewood in 2014.

Christ, commerce, community.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

*******************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

What he said...

It's about 1 a.m. I have had a full day, morning and evening, and I am tired. And my mind is still teeming with things I need to do. And I was going to write something about the tendency, which I have written about before, to keep pushing to do more when it is time to sleep. I wanted to use the quote from Carl Jung about busyness (or "hurry," depending upon the source) being the Devil. In looking for that, I came across this:

http://anthonyebass.blogspot.com/2012/02/im-so-busy.html

What he said - but I would add that the Sabbath of God, the experiencing of Christ himself as our Sabbath, ought to be daily, not weekly. The invitation is always before us.

On that note, good night.