GIVING DOWN
The Salvation Army reports that giving is down 40% this Christmas. This is consistent with reports earlier this month that suggest over-all giving to churches is down by 10-20% across the board.

This is a ripple effect of all the saber rattling in the Middle East as well as the down-turn in the stock market. People are feeling insecure. But they are not reluctant across the board. The carts in Costco still seem pretty full. And the sale of houses continues to be strong. These areas are seen as "essentials." But in less-than-essential areas like charitable giving people are a lot more reluctant. This is indicative of two things -- our priorities (what we see as important) and just how much of the charitable giving in our country is asset (rather than income) based. That is, people tend to give out of the dividends of their investments. If there is some left-over then we are very very generous. And we ought to be extremely generous if we have excess. But this is not the first-fruits kind of giving indicative of biblically-molded people. See for example, Leviticus 23:17, ...they will be an offering to the LORD from the first of your crops.