It's 11 a.m. Sunday morning.  Bruce is preaching his final sermon for the weekend...which happens to be the final sermon in his series, MONEY MATTER$.  I really appreciated the "be a river not a reservoir" concept.  That is, we are not to store up or horde away our money, but allow it to flow through us to benefit others.  (Goodness knows, money tends to "flow through" my pocket easily enough, but I don't think that's what Bruce had in mind.)

In my early-morning, "horizontal" thoughts today, I was pondering the giving habits of American Christians.  I couldn't help wonder what our giving would really be like if we didn't have the whole "tax deductible contribution" incentive.  How generous would we really be?  That's a pretty sobering thought, because I have to think we'd see a huge reduction in giving to church and charities if that were the case.  I wonder if it would affect my own giving.

Lord, help us not to allow our generosity to be motivated by IRS deductions.