I was thinking about Acts 2 and how the early church sold possessions and shared things in common with those who had need. That model has been celebrated and admired by many aspiring churches. And, like most of God’s jewels, Satan has attempted to manufacture a synthetic that is almost like the original, but not quite.

In this election cycle, we heard quite a bit about socialism and its partner, communism. I’m not an expert on the matter, but from what I can piece together, communism seems to be a cheap imitation of an original masterpiece. We’ve heard much about “redistributing wealth” for the benefit of all. In communistic countries, the wealth all belongs to the government and wealth is distributed at its will. With the early church, the “redistribution of wealth” was done by the willful generosity of the owners.

These past two weekends, browns mill church was the recipient of some incredible generosity. Dogwood Church, our sending church, collected a special offering each of the past two weekends and the total amount came to just under $15,000! We are stunned by the generosity and humbled by the confidence the people exhibited in our vision and leadership abilities for this new church. For some reason, seeing it come directly from the givers and not simply extracted from the general operating fund of the church brings extra meaning.

It is an incredible thing to witness generosity in action! God truly does love a cheerful giver. At this Thanksgiving season, we are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our family at Dogwood Church.