Jack’s Winning Words  1/15/15
“Without money we’d all be rich.”  (Unknown)  Squirrel pelts once served as money in Finland; copper crosses in the Congo; cheese in Italy; knives in China.  Workers in Greece were sometimes paid in salt.  The word, salary, comes from that.  Do you remember the Money song in the musical, Cabaret?  “That clinking, clanking sound makes the world go around.”  The Bible says, “The love of money is the root of evil.”  What is money to you?   ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  We don't have much money today, either.   We have a series of "statements" which indicate whether or not we dare use our credit cards.====JACK:  What do you think about using credit cards for church donations?  ...or by having donations automatically withdrawn from a bank/investment account?  A friend of mine refuses to use a check for his church giving.  He wants to see actual cash going into offering envelope.====JOHN:  I like the discipline of giving every week...and of placing something in the offering box....just who I am....I have no problem with others giving by credit card or whatever.====JACK:  Some churches provide "I Gave" cards to place in the plate, so it doesn't look like they are not giving when the offering is taken. Even Jesus and the disciples noticed what people were putting in the offering. ====JOHN:  For me the key word is "discipline".

FROM TARMART REV:  I remember our first youth pastorate just outside Akron, Ohio . . . one gentleman owned a poultry business and it wasn't unusual to find a bag of chicken breasts and a carton of eggs in our car after a church service . . . another gentleman owned a auto parts store and very seldom charged us for any parts needed for repair of our car . . . one other gentleman owned a pizza, chicken and custard stand and again we were always treated to food without payment during those three years on staff. Truly blessed in so many other ways than strictly receiving money as our reward for service and ministry.====JACK:  Most pastors are pretty well taken care of by parishioners.  When Mary and I were first married the church custodian left a bag of homegrown beets at our back door, along with instructions as how to cook them.

FROM JB IN MICHIGAN:  Money is a tool for me. It allows me to work for (help) others.
There was an old farmer who said money was like cow poop - useless until you spread it around. ====JACK:  You caught me off guard.  I've never heard you call poop "POOP" before.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Money buys us the things we need and the things we want.  God provides the necessities for eternal life..,.priceless!====JACK:  Back in the days of the Great Depression I heard my Uncle John say, "We sang the Depression Song in church today."  He was referring to the hymn, "Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy"....especially the verse....
Come ye needy, come, and welcome,
God's free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.
Without money, without money
Come to Jesus Christ and buy.
====JUDY: === I remember my grandma talking about putting out a hankie or rag to show the guys who needed food to stop by for a meal.====JACK:  Can you imagine that happening today?  Jesus has different disguises.

FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  Having had "just the right amount"of money to achieve in a satisfying , if not excessive, the ascending of Abraham Maslow"s hierarchy of needs and , hopefully, an adequate amount to sustain us/me until we move on. (And contributing along the way to various needful functions.) Money is a means to an end?  There are lots of humorous "Money isn't everything, but..." on Google. The one I like most I found in a cryptogram book....but I can't remember it.====JACK:  Have you heard of the Goldilocks Strategy in picking out books for kids?  It seems as tho you're using that strategy with regard to the amount of money you have.  BTW, I must have been absent the day Maslow was discussed in my psychology class.