DECEMBER 2012 Letter - LIVING WELL

Most of us approach Christmas with the strange paradox of excitement and dread, of joy and anxiety. We love the season - the good cheer, the time with family, the music, the celebrations. We dread the shopping, the attempt to keep the reason for the season, the family tensions, the crowds, the money we spend on gifts, deciding what to buy…..

How did we ever get caught up in the frenzy of buying gifts and spending so much money?

Most people believe that the idea of buying gifts may have started in reference to the gifts the Magi brought to the baby Jesus as recorded in Matthew 2:11, ... they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Accounts of St. Nicolas giving money to the poor in the 4th century shaped the beginnings of the Santa Claus tradition.

The examples of giving were 1)as worship and 2)to the those in need.

What would happen if we used those examples as our criteria for giving?

Would our children suffer? Would our dads still have enough ties?

Perhaps this season we might re-evaluate how we spend our time and money to celebrate Christmas. We could look at the messages that we convey about what we value.

When thinking of the investment of prayers and donations of many during the past year, you can rejoice and praise the Lord with us in remembering how they have touched many lives. 

Some of these people include:

• 160 poor, young children in Zambia who can continue to attend school.
• A young boy named Albert who was overjoyed at hearing about Jesus and John who prayed with him in that Zambian slum.
• The marriage of a young couple was restored after almost losing it because of pornography addiction.
• A couple now has sound finances and a marriage that is stronger than ever after being overwhelmed with debt which caused intense marital strife.
• A young girl was able to unload her burden of despair from losing her parents and being mistreated by her caretakers, after hearing Karen share her own story of hardship.
• A couple can now communicate and resolve conflict for the first time after years of hurt feelings and pain in their marriage.
• A woman carrying the burden of years of abuse and pain who can now be a healthy, Christian wife and mother.

The end of the year is often a time when people consider their giving to the Lord in a special way. We are very thankful for the people who support this ministry. These end-of-the-year donations are a vital part of our budget. Please pray for God to supply our needs at this time of the year. [to donate]

You are a valuable part of our ministry! We love and appreciate you and your support of what God is doing at Living Well!

Donna and Ed Edwards
P.S. Please pray for the Lord to provide the remaining $8700 for our mission to Zambia in January.

Giving and Generosity

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I’m afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare….if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, and amusement, is up to the standard common of those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little.   C.S. Lewis

This quotation from C.S. Lewis challenges our ideas about giving and generosity.

We see people who live much beyond their income for many years, then it catches up with them. They are strapped with debt, unwilling to follow God’s will in spending or in giving. They end up in bondage (not enjoying what they have) or in bankruptcy (enjoying what they have at someone else’s expense).

We see others who live within their means but spend most of their money on themselves and their family. They spend money on vacations, entertainment, their house, or new cars, but rarely give to God’s work.

We don’t give to get, but we firmly believe that you cannot “out give” God. We have experienced it ourselves and seen others that continue to give more and more but God still meets all of their needs.

Generosity is a “readiness or liberality in giving.”

What stands in our way from generous giving?

Generosity is a condition of the heart. When we are unwilling to give, we may not have a heart for God’s work. We may not have compassion for the poor or disadvantaged. Or we may have such a fear of the future, that we are unwilling to turn loose of our money.

God is trustworthy. He has told us that when we follow Him and His principles that He will meet our needs. The question is whether we are trustworthy. As defined in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), God wants us to acknowledge that He has given us everything that we have and that we are to follow His guidance on where and how we are to spend His money.

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.        (Deuteronomy 15:10)

The place to begin …..

A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver. Thomas A. Kempis

Generosity begins with giving of ourselves in time, emotions, and money. 

The majority of Christians are not willing to give even a tithe. A recent survey shows that among born-again Christians, only 9% tithe. One cannot be generous if he does not give.

The place to begin generosity is the basic principle of giving. We only give to God’s work and according to His will if we truly love Him above all else. Once we truly love Him, we must believe that He is trustworthy.

Do I trust Him enough to follow Him, ....
even if His direction seems "irrational" to me?

Reason says that you don’t give if you aren’t paying all of your bills.

God’s Word says "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty. (Malachi 3:10)

Our personal testimony is that we began tithing at the point in our financial lives that we had the lowest income and could least “afford” it. But God was faithful. We never missed a meal and all bills got paid. We pray about how He wants us to spend the 100%, not just 10%. It all belongs to Him.

Read testimony of a young couple and giving ....
Read about generosity in marriage and with others....

May 2012 Letter - LIVING WELL

“When I heard Ed and Donna say that you can pay cash for a car, I didn’t believe it. I will never be able to do that.”

That statement came from a young man who attended one of our financial seminars 15 years ago. He recently shared his testimony of faith in the financial area of his life.

He didn’t come from a wealthy family. One summer while he was in college, he had an internship in another city, a couple of hours from home. He was so broke that he didn’t have any money to put down on a deposit where he was going to live. He had saved a large jar of coins through the years. He emptied it all out and took the quarters. He lived on that money the first week. The next week he took out the nickels and dimes to live on until he got his first paycheck.

Shortly after graduating from college and getting married, this couple came to the class that we taught for newly married couples. A few months later, he attended a one-day financial seminar we taught. He and his wife had about $25,000 in debt, mainly from student loans, plus they owed about $14,000 on car loans.

They began paying off debt. They were faithful to follow what God showed them on how to spend all of their money, not just what they gave to Him. They learned that they can pay cash for their cars! They have paid cash for three and paid off two within six months. They sought wise counsel as they took steps in their journey of faith with Him. They pray about all of the money that He has entrusted to them. They both have a generous heart and a love for the Lord. They are quick to respond to a need to demonstrate His love. God has blessed their hearts, their work, and family.

God designed us to give to others and to Him. When we live according to His design, we are the happiest, we have the greatest joy. Giving is never about whether we can afford it. We often hear people say that they can’t afford to give to a need or to God’s work. Giving is about our heart towards Him and our trust in Him. Jesus showed us the example of the widow who gave all she had to live on (Mark 12:43-444). He commended her above the wealthy who gave more money.

Giving is a response of love and gratitude to God. We give to His work and to others out of our love for Him and our love for others - not to get something in return. “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” (Romans 11:35) “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. (1 Chronicles 29:14).

Because of the generosity of people who support God’s work through Living Well ministry, we have learned, grown, and taught others. Those that we have taught have given and taught others. Generosity is multiplied into many lives. [read about generosity - marriage and others here]

We are in the final phases of preparing to go to Zambia for our mission trip. We will multiply God’s Word into the lives of 160 poor children and 50 pastor couples. We shipped study Bibles for the pastors and children’s Bibles for the children of Wisdom Community School. They have all arrived!

Because of the generosity of many, we were able to have the school covered with a cement plaster and is now ready for our team to paint it, inside and outside.

We are responsible to raise the funds for the school project, for both the physical work and for the Bibles and other materials, as well as funds for the pastors conference, and our own transportation, lodging, food, etc. Our team has their passports and shots. They are diligently planning and praying.

Please pray with us for this mission - for the planning, preparation, people, and for the funding.

Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

P.S. Pray that the Lord will provide the $6,000 that we still need for the mission trip to Zambia. [to donate]

Living the Good Life

We’re often asked how we came up with our name, Living Well.

We love that question because it gives us the opportunity to share what living well really means. Anytime you ask someone if they would live to live well, they will almost always answer “yes.” Any other answer might just be foolish. But, many don’t really know how to live well or what living well actually means.

We recently read a piece by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California, which relates to this thought of living well. His topic was “Living the Good Life.” Rick says that although “living the good life” is a well-worn phrase, many people don’t really know how to define the “good life.”

He states that some people confuse the good life with “looking good.” Our society certainly idolizes beauty and we spend billions every year on beauty products, plastic surgery, dieting, hair styling, the latest styles in clothing, and the list goes on…. Many are preoccupied with appearance – as if that is all that really matters in life.

Others equate the good life with “feeling good.” Their goal is the minimize pain and maximize pleasure. And, they will use whatever it takes to achieve it: amusements, virtual realities, drugs, alcohol, entertainment, pornography, and again the list goes on……

Did you know that the pleasure and entertainment industry is now the largest industry in America? Pastor Warren says that the old 60’s phrase, “if it feels good, do it” still is in effect today!

For many, the “good life” is confused with “having the goods.”

Their main goal in life is to obtain as many goods and goodies as possible. They make as much money as they can and then spend it, sometimes even faster than they make it! There’s an old bumper sticker that says, “The one with the most toys wins.” That pretty much sums up their view of the “good life.”

Warren concludes that none of these three lifestyles actually result in the “good life.” No matter what we do, we can’t stop the aging process. Pleasure should be a by-product of the “good life,” not the goal. And, the greatest things in life are not things!

What is the "good life?"

You are God’s workmanship, created….to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do. Ephesians 2:10

Living the “good life” is discovering and becoming exactly what God created you to be.

When you use your life to help others – “to do good” – and know and trust God, you will feel good.

Jesus said, “but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14) The presence of Christ (The Living Well) in your life allows goodness to overflow from your life.

That’s why we say “living well” is not a lifestyle ....
it’s a life source – Jesus Christ!”

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill

Someone once described the contrast between a good life and a godly life as the difference between the top of the ocean and the bottom. On top, sometimes it's like glass -- serene and calm -- and other times it's raging and stormy.

But hundreds of fathoms below, it is beautiful and consistent, always calm, always peaceful.

Bill McCartney

The Getting of Givng

To love as God loves takes a sacrificial attitude. We sacrifice our own desires for the sake of others.

Jesus said the attitude of giving brings the real blessings in life. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)
We do not need scientific research to validate what God says in His Word, but it is great fun to watch the rest of the world discover what we already know.

Scott Stanley and others have researched the topic of sacrifice in relationships. Some of what they have found:

"When defined in healthy ways, there are a number of studies that show that sacrifice for one’s partner and relationship is associated with all sorts of good things in a relationship—especially in marriage."

“Giving is a good sign in a potential partner because it is connected to things that build a strong foundation in relationships. Our take on some of the findings in our research and that of others is that sacrifice is one of the ways that partners send signals to each other about the nature of the commitment between the partners.”

Jesus said that it is better to give than to get because we derive greater joy from it .... one of those great paradoxes of life! We spend most of our life trying to get satisfaction, fulfillment, fun, and materials "things," so that we can be happy. But the feeling never lasts. But when we spend our time giving from what God has given us, we have a joy that will last.

John Piper says, "The biblical mandate to husbands and wives is to seek your own joy in the joy of your spouse."