I hope you get an ECHO by the end of the year. Perhaps you\u2019ve already had one. I had one Saturday.<\/p>\n
ECHO is a term I invented this morning. Yes, I\u2019m breaking new ground in vanity by making up my own terms, and I\u2019d be quite proud of that if not for the fact that pride is a sin. OK, yes, vanity is too, but you\u2019re getting us off topic.<\/p>\n
ECHO stands for Extravagant Christmas Opportunity. This weekend I took part in one of those at our church here in Sanford. We held a Christmas store for the families of 101 teens who could not afford to give them Christmas themselves.<\/p>\n
And let me tell you, it was extravagant. And that\u2019s a good thing. Today\u2019s teens can be expensive to shop for, and the folks at our church took that to heart and provided abundantly, as we should have. You see, it\u2019s not really about what the teens or their families need, or whether they deserve it or not. It\u2019s not really about what we should do for those less fortunate, or what we feel we can do.<\/p>\n
Like everything relating to Christmas, it\u2019s about God.<\/p>\n
God isn\u2019t stingy. I once read somewhere that God gives over and above what you and I can even think of. So if we\u2019re going to be His ambassadors, we ought to give that way, too. The way God\u2019s people often practice charity can create dependency and can be demeaning. But extravagance breaks down those barriers and gives people a glimpse of God.<\/p>\n
It was extravagant, and it was Christmas. It was about giving, not receiving. Sure, I and others who helped came away feeling great. But that\u2019s a side-effect. Sometimes folks who come to the store decide to check out the church. But that\u2019s a side-effect.<\/p>\n
God gave His Son. In return, He got you and I as followers. I got the better end of that arrangement, by far. And I think you did too, right? I think we need to model the way God gives a whole lot more, especially around Christmas.<\/p>\n
It was extravagant, it was Christmas, and it was an opportunity.<\/p>\n
This is the time of the year, for me, when the calendar fills up and the bank account empties out. When more stuff comes up, it\u2019s easy for me to look at things like a Christmas store as a burden or a hassle, instead of as an opportunity. I\u2019ve learned not to let that happen. How?<\/p>\n
The first step in viewing all the stuff of the Christmas season as opportunities is to treat them all as opportunities. You see, if it\u2019s really an opportunity, I have no obligations until I decide to say yes. I don\u2019t need to do anything. I don\u2019t need to go, I don\u2019t need to give, and I don\u2019t feel guilty about it.<\/p>\n
You know that verse where it talks about a cheerful giver? 2 Corinthians 9:7: \u201cEach man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.\u201d I think that\u2019s saying a cheerful giver is someone who decides what he or she is going to give to, and gives because they want to, not because they have to.<\/p>\n
So before God, following biblical principles, I decide what I am giving to. Then I can feel free to say no to other opportunities \u2013 or to decide to say yes, freely.<\/p>\n
The same is true of my calendar (and I can because usually when the Bible talks about money, God is really talking about our lives, but we pay more attention when He talks about money). Using biblical principles, I can decide before God how I am using my time, and then feel free to say no to other opportunities \u2013 or to decide to say yes, freely.<\/p>\n
I had the opportunity to take part in the Christmas store, and I chose to, and I think that made it that much more enjoyable. I had an extravagant Christmas opportunity.<\/p>\n
This Christmas season, choose to be part of things that ECHO for eternity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I hope you get an ECHO by the end of the year. Perhaps you\u2019ve already had one. I had one Saturday. ECHO is a term I invented this morning. Yes, I\u2019m breaking new ground in vanity by making up my own terms, and I\u2019d be quite proud of that if not for the fact that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[46,1499],"class_list":{"0":"post-4044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ministry","7":"tag-choices","8":"tag-opportunities","9":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}