The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Submitted by Pastor Brian Gold, Flin Flon Pentecostal Assembly Giving is a subject that affects each one of us. We understand that when we place a seed in the ground, we will receive a greater return from the end product than the one seed originally sowed. We know that the creation gives us sunshine and rain, things that we do not have any part in making. An interesting fact crossed my desk a few weeks ago. Manitoba topped the Fraser Institute's annual Generosity Index for the fourth consecutive year in 2003. Among Manitoba tax-filers, some 28.7 per cent donated to charity. In contrast, Nunavut tax-filers included only 11.2 per cent that donated to charity. The report went on to say that in 2003 Alberta and Ontario had average donations of $1,294 and $1,189 respectively. Unfortunately there was no word telling what the average Manitoban donated. Yet what a blessing to know that we live among people who are generous, not just those who throw five bucks at some cause every month or so. The report said Quebec ranked last with an average donation of $473, which was less than half of the national average. There are many great causes to donate to. It does feel good to help others, even if you don't always get a charity receipt every time you give. The Scriptures area clear to remind us that God loves a cheerful ("hilarious" in original language) giver. So when you are giving, don't do it begrudgingly, but with a cheerful and happy heart. The Bible tells us that God asked His people, the Jews, to give a tithe or 10 per cent of their income back to Him. He owned it all anyway but wanted us to remember that He gave us the ability to produce wealth. We are not to spend it all on ourselves but to remember those less well off than ourselves, such as a child in a foreign orphanage, heart and stroke researchers, Bible Society distributions, and even local organizations in our own locality, such as the Mitkas-Hunter Hope Foundation or Bible camps, or churches. The greatest act of giving in history occurred at Golgotha's Hill, where Jesus Christ gave His own life's blood for the sins of the world. Now there's generosity! All we have to do is receive this loving act, by telling Jesus that we thank Him for dying for our sins, for coming into our life, and for making us more like Him. (1 John 1:9) Now isn't that generosity in action? God so loved the world that He gave...9/7/04
