Yesterday I talked about charitable giving. Today I wanted to follow up by challenging us as Christians to consider giving even more than we do. Perhaps the best book on that subject was written by David Green. It has the arresting title, Giving It All Away. He is the founder of Hobby Lobby and tells the story of his success and calls for Christians to give generously to churches and other ministries. He and the rest of his family have been on my radio program. We often talk about Hobby Lobby, the Museum of the Bible, and even their court case that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Most people know that Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday. They may not realize that their stores close earlier (8 PM) than other stores. That means that they are only open 66 hours a week and compete with stores open many more hours. David Green did this so that his employees can spend more time with their families.

Hobby Lobby also pays its full-time employees well. Back in 2009, they raised the base pay to $10/hour. The next year they tacked on another dollar. The next year they did it again and then again. This is another way that the Green family values their employees.

I asked David Green if he ever imagined that he would have to sue the federal government. The thought never crossed his mind, but they did so when the HHS mandate would have required them to provide abortifacients for their employees.

Much of his book focuses on giving and challenges Christians to engage in the adventure of tithing. He has three principles he uses and encourages all of us to implement them as well. First, set your criteria. What are you going to fund? What are your priorities? Second, set your giving amount. Give the first fruits, not what is left over. And finally, set fire for the future. He also has thought quite a bit about how to make generosity generational.

His book is certain to spark your interest and encourage you in giving.

As we come to the end of this year, you have probably been thinking of any final gifts you might want to give to your church or Christian organizations. Here is an interesting fact: generosity is good for the soul. Arthur Brooks has discovered that people who donate to charities are happier and healthier.

In the past, I have quoted from him and his book, Who Really Cares? He wrote that many years ago when he was a professor at Syracuse University. He has continued to follow giving patterns and discovered even more about people who give and how it affects them in positive ways.

He reminds us that Americans are givers. If you total the amount given to various non-profit charities and houses of worship, you end up with a dollar figure greater than the entire GDP of Israel and Denmark.

As you might predict, contributions increase as wealth and income increase. Women give more than men. Married people give more than singles. Religious Americans give more than secularists.

We are also finding that giving and happiness are strongly correlated. But does giving cause happiness, or do happy people just give more? Giving brings happiness. One study concluded that “the amount subjects spend on themselves was inconsequential to happiness, while spending on others yielded significant happiness gains.”

Other studies show an improvement in health. One study found that “volunteering significantly lowers the association between stressful events and death.” Another study found that dedicated volunteers live longer than those who do not volunteer their time.

Generosity is not only good for the soul. It turns out that it is good for your mental and physical wellbeing. People who give and give generously are happier and healthier.

A case before the Supreme Court should give a significant boost to religious schools. This month, the High Court heard oral arguments on the case from Maine. That state has one of the country’s oldest school choice programs. Unfortunately, religious schools are excluded. That may change when the justices hand down their ruling next year.

The educational program in Maine provides tuition for students who live in rural areas that don’t have a local school. Parents are allowed to pick a school for their children and use public funds to pay for the tuition.

The Nelson family wanted to have their child attend Temple Academy. It is “fully accredited” and also satisfies the state’s “compulsory education law.” But it is a religious school that also has biblical views about topics like homosexuality. That is why the state would not provide funds for their child to attend this religious school.

The case was brought before the Supreme Court by First Liberty Institute, which is led by Kelly Shackelford. When he was on radio with me, I mentioned that it appeared that the Supreme Court had already ruled on a similar issue in the case Espinoza v. Montana. I did a commentary about that case less than two years ago.

Maine tried sidestepping that ruling by arguing that they weren’t denying funds based on the religious “status” of a school. They would provide tuition help to religious organizations but refuse to allocate them for a “religious use.” I have suggested this distinction between “status” and “use” is a classic case of making a distinction without a difference.

Many of the justices didn’t buy this argument either. I think the court will rule in favor of the family and ultimately in favor of religious schools. This may be another important victory for religious liberty.

Big government isn’t working, according to Newt Gingrich. He doesn’t ask you to accept his conclusion but encourages you to check it out for yourself. Here are his suggestions.

“Go to your local gas station and ask folks filling up their gas tanks if they think things are working. Go to the grocery store and watch people coping with the rising cost of food and ask if they think things are working. Go to small businesses whose shipments are still hung up on container ships anchored off Long Beach and ask them if they think things are working.”

He gives other examples, including some of the sobering statistics about crime. Each of these examples illustrates why most Americans are convinced that big government is failing. He refers to that as “Big Government Socialism” because a recent national survey found that a majority (53%) of Americans describe the current administration as “Big Government Socialism.”

He also adds that “This passion for total control fits the warnings of Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World,’ George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and ‘Animal Farm,’ and Friedrich Hayek’s ‘The Road to Serfdom.’” Several people I know have decided to go back and read some of these books.

If you are wondering how to communicate these ideas to your children or grandchildren, he suggests you watch the film, “The Grasshopper and the Ants” based on the Aesop fable that describes two different approaches to life. The ants work constantly storing up food. The grasshopper enjoys life. He thinks hard work is a waste of time and makes fun of the ants. When winter approaches, the grasshopper nearly starves to death, but is saved by the generosity of the ants.

This is a lesson we should teach our children. Come to think of it, perhaps it is also a lesson we should teach to some of our politicians.

The US economy is not in good shape, and inflation hasn’t been this high since 1982. You wouldn’t expect to hear so many pundits try to convince you that everything is just fine. But that is just what we have seen from the establishment media, along with some economic cheerleaders on financial shows.

Charles Cooke provides a list of these cheerleaders, from writers at the New York Times and the Washington Post to broadcasters at MSNBC and CNBC. But he also includes his admiration for David Leonhardt, writing in the New York Times, who acknowledges that “Americans think the economy is in rough shape because the economy is in rough shape.”

To be fair, some economic indicators like a significant increase in stock prices and a growing GDP do look good. But you know something isn’t quite right when a tweet thanks the president for gas prices going down two cents in two weeks.

On the other hand, meat prices are up 16 percent over 12 months, used car prices up 31.4 percent, and energy up 33.3 percent. As I have mentioned in previous commentaries, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) does not evaluate the same basket of goods as it did decades ago and tends to low-ball such things as housing costs.

Over the last few months, we have seen government officials tell us that inflation is insignificant and then tell us it is transitory. Even now we have pundits and politicians trying to tell us that everything is fine. The government has been expanding the money supply since 2009 but vastly expanded the money supply these last two years. Inflation is the natural result.

These economic cheerleaders tell us nothing is wrong. I think the American people who buy groceries and pay bills know better.

This is Christmas week, and I thought it might be worthwhile to spend a moment to reflect on the words to the hymn, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It was written in 1867 by Phillips Brooks (an Episcopal pastor from Philadelphia). He had been in Israel two years earlier and had celebrated Christmas in Bethlehem. He wrote this song to reflect on what the night of the birth of Jesus might have been like.

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

While the streets of our cities are quiet on Christmas day, most likely that day was just like any other day for the people in Bethlehem. But as evening came, the town grew quiet and something remarkable took place.

In the second verse the hymn says, “While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.” This is just like today. Our world goes about its business, usually oblivious to the spiritual realities around it.

Jesus came into the world quietly. Yes, there was the angelic announcement to the shepherds, but most other people were unaware of the fact that the most significant event in history was taking place. God became a man. But he was born in a stable and laid in a feeding trough. There was no pomp or circumstance as you would expect of a King.

Jesus came not only to live among us but to ultimately die for our sins. He took upon Himself the sins of the world (your sins and my sins) and paid the ultimate penalty that we deserved to pay that we might have everlasting life.

During this Christmas week, I hope you will stop long enough to consider what happened in that little town of Bethlehem. But even more so, I hope you will think about what Jesus did for you at Calvary.

The carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is an English translation of a Latin hymn that is sung during Advent and Christmas. The text goes back to at least the 18th century (and perhaps much earlier) while the music put to it goes back to the 15th century.

“O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel. That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”

Emmanuel means, “God with us.” Even before the coming of Christ, we see passages in the Old Testament that remind us that God was with Israel. In 1 Kings 8 we read, “Praise the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us.” In Psalm 46, we read that, “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.”

One of the most visible reminders of God’s presence was during the Exodus. God was with the Israelites as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day. His presence was with them in the Tabernacle and later the Temple in the Holy of Holies.

But the most important aspect of Emmanuel is found in the New Testament. John tells us in his gospel, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This is the miracle of the Incarnation. God put on human flesh and came to Israel so that He might give His life for all of us. Paul writes to Timothy, “Here is the great mystery of our religion: Christ came as a human” (1 Timothy 3:16). This is what we celebrate at Christmas.

It is estimated that Charles Wesley wrote over 6500 hymns. Perhaps his best-known hymn is “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Over the years it has been edited slightly, but the meaning and theology remains as he wrote it more than two centuries ago.

It begins with a proclamation of the birth of Jesus: “Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

The hymn reminds us why Christ came to earth. Jesus came into the world to bring peace, but many who sing this song fail to realize that it was to bring peace between us and God. Wesley’s hymn reminds us that His birth was so that God and sinners would be reconciled. We are the sinners in this hymn, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). We have broken God’s commandments and need to be reconciled with God. This was done when Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3).

This hymn by Charles Wesley goes on to describe who Jesus Christ is. “Christ by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord! Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.”

This is the wonder of the Incarnation. Jesus became the “offspring of the Virgin’s womb.” God became man and was “veiled in flesh” even though He was the “incarnate Deity.”

This Christmas week, let us once again reflect upon the Incarnation. How wonderful yet mysterious that God would become man and dwell among us. And that He would be willing to die on a cross for our sins.