Money is power, and you ought to be reasonably ambitious to have it. You ought because you can do more good with it than you could do without it. Money printed your Bible, money builds your churches, money sends your missionaries, and money pays your preachers, and you would not have many of them, either, if you did not pay them.
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.
First Fruits has impacted my life personally and the lives of countless others!
I do not give alms; I am not poor enough for that.
Travis Alexander was a good guy. Was he a saint? No. But he was somebody who was really, really invested in helping other people and making this world a better place. Everything he did, even the car he drove, was a sign of him trying to be a force for good in this world.
The rich man is not one who is in possession of much, but one who gives much.
When I had made more money than I needed for myself and my family, I set up a foundation to promote the values and principles of a free and open society.
People like givers, people want to help givers. I get stuff all the time.
The charitable say in effect, 'I seem to have more than I need and you seem to have less than you need. I would like to share my excess with you.' Fine, if my excess is tangible, money or goods, and fine if not, for I learned that to be charitable with gestures and words can bring enormous joy and repair injured feelings.
Give, do not lend; after death who will thank you?
[Discussing his political contributions:] Now that circumstances have blessed me in terms of my own financial security and sphere of influence, this is my opportunity to influence the direction of the country.
You cannot mandate philanthropy. It has to come from within, and when it does, it is deeply satisfying.
If all alms were given only from pity, all beggars would have starved long ago.
God has given us two hands - one to receive with and the other to give with. We are cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing. If we fail to fulfill this divine duty and privilege we have missed the meaning of Christianity.
One in 5 Americans is touched by the Red Cross every single year.
Preacher to me: 'A dollar for the Lord, brother?' Me to preacher: 'That's all right, I'm headed his way. I'll give it to him when I see him.'
Give to another human being without the expectation of a return.
The Cancer Society here in Nova Scotia is doing nothing, and money is being wasted. I would love to get my hands on the people in Halifax.
My take on tithing in America is that it's a middle-class way of robbing God. Tithing to the church and spending the rest on your family is not a Christian goal. It's a diversion. The real issue is: How shall we use God's trust fund-namely, all we have-for His glory? In a world with so much misery, what lifestyle should we call our people to live? What example are we setting?
We had a Jewish school; we had a Jewish club. My father was a main donor. My mother was on the committee of the school.
There are a lot of complaints by the older generation about the lack of action in this generation. My retort: give these people something to be engaged in. Cutting a check is not engaging.
A lot of people don't know the USOC is not government funded and they are always looking for support from sponsors.
One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!
My views on charity are very simple. I do not consider it a major virtue and, above all, I do not consider it a moral duty. There is nothing wrong in helping other people, if and when they are worthy of the help and you can afford to help them. I regard charity as a marginal issue. What I am fighting is the idea that charity is a moral duty and a primary virtue.
Meeting people who want to start a charity, help out their families, or raise money for a good cause has been really fun.
