Giving

A lady’s husband had heart surgery, and she received a letter saying her husband inherited one million dollars. She was worried about her husband’s health, so she called their pastor and asked him to tell the good news to her husband. The pastor said to the husband, “Joe, if you were to have one million dollars, what would you do?”

Joe responded, “Why Pastor, I’d give it to you!” The pastor died of a heart attack.

Source: Unknown

A little boy and his father were playing store. The father offered to pay a nickel for a set of binoculars, and the boy said, “Dad we’re playing store, we’re not playing church!”

Source: Unknown

Carl Menninger of the Menninger institute published a report stating that generous people are happy people. He also said that giving is a criteria for mental health!

Source: Unknown

A minister whose heart was aglow with missionary zeal gave notice to his congregation that in the evening an offering would be taken for missions, and he asked for liberal gifts.

A selfish, well-to-do man in the congregation met the preacher before the evening service and said, “You are going to kill the church if you go on saying, ‘Give, give, give.’ No church can stand it. You are going to kill it.”

There is a bumper sticker that says, “Tithe if you love Jesus. Any idiot can honk.” A lot of peole talk about how much they love the Lord, but they do not put their money where their mouth is.

A missionary had been teaching tithing to his church. One morning a young Christian came to the missionary’s door with a fishing pole in one hand and a fish in the other hand. He said, “Here’s my tithe.”

The missionary asked him where the rest of his fish were and the man replied, “Oh, they’re in the river, I just wanted to bring God His first.”

Source: Unknown

The Butterball Turkey Company set up a telephone hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing turkeys. One woman called to inquire about cooking a turkey that had been in the bottom of her freezer for 23 years. The Butterball representative told her the turkey would probably be safe to eat if the freezer had been kept below zero for the entire 23 years. But the Butterball representative warned her that even if the turkey was safe to eat, the flavor would probably have deteriorated to such a degree that she would not recommend eating it.

Fortune magazine reported that the nation’s top twenty-five philanthropists gave away more than $1.5 billion in 1996. The most generous was George Soros, president of Soros Fund Management, who donated $350 million.

Of the top twenty-five philanthropists, only four inherited fortunes. Most attributed their generosity in part to religious backgrounds. And most were donors even before they became wealthy.

Mike listened to a lecture on the importance of showing appreciation to the important people in his life. Mike decided to start with his wife, so after work that night, he went to the shopping mall where he bought a dozen long-stemmed roses, a box of chocolates, and a pair of earrings. He smiled with self-satisfaction as he contemplated surprising his wife and showing her how much he appreciated her.

A rich man was in the habit of giving his wife an expensive piece of jewelry every year on her birthday. One year he might phone the jeweler and say, “Send me your finest pearl necklace, along with your bill.” Or, “Send me your finest diamond pendant, along with your bill.” Or the finest emerald bracelet or ruby ring. Each time, the jeweler did as the rich man asked, dispatching a messenger to the rich man’s mansion to deliver the jewelry piece in a box along with his bill.

A mother gave her little girl a quarter and a dollar before church, “Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. “Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did.”

A young boy sat in church and watched as the offering plate was being passed. Wanting to give something, he reached inside his pocket for something to put in. To his dismay, he had nothing inside. As the plate was passed down the row and came to him, he put the plate on the ground and stepped inside. He had nothing monetary to give, but he gave the most important thing he had—himself.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

A hog and a hen sharing the same barnyard heard about a church’s program to feed the hungry. The hog and the hen discussed how they could help. The hen said, “I’ve got it! We'll provide bacon and eggs for the church to feed the hungry.” The hog thought about the suggestion and said, “There’s one problem with your bacon and eggs solution. For you, it only requires a contribution, but from me, it will mean total commitment!” That’s the cost of true discipleship.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by Gabriel Ruhl

"The happiest people on earth are the people who have discovered the joy of giving."—Unknown