RSS Feeds
Equipping people worldwide to learn, apply, and teach God's financial principles so they may know Christ more intimately, be free to serve Him, and help fund the Great Commission.
Today on MoneyLife with Chuck Bentley
Friday, November 6, 2009
Love Packages
Everything starts and ends with believing God’s Word and applying it to your life even when it seems contrary to conventional wisdom. God’s Word provides blessing for those who hear it. We have total confidence in God’s Word. I don’t believe you can separate God’s financial principles from God. God’s principles aren’t common sense, it’s His wisdom. He said it first. When we follow the logic and wisdom of man, we turn our backs on God. Steve Schmidt is someone who turned to God for wisdom at a low point in his life. He now loves God’s Word and seeks to spread it all over the world. Steve is the Founder of Love Packages, a unique ministry located in Butler, Illinois that recycles Christian literature. Steve has a heart to be a steward of all the resources God has blessed him with, and he's been a friend of Crown for many years.
Steve used and sold drugs earlier in his life. He ended up in jail for a short time. While there, he began a search for the truth. Steve looked at many religions and proved them wrong. He couldn’t prove the Bible wrong and came to believe it was the truth. Steve repented of his sin and accepted Christ as his Savior in 1973. He's never regretted it. In 1975, God began showing Steve that He wanted him to do something with the Christian literature in his home. Steve says he argued with God about it, but finally wrote to some overseas missionaries to find out if they could use English language Christian literature. Steve and his wife, Jeanie, started collecting literature. They shipped 30 boxes the first year from August to January. Word got out and the ministry grew exponentially. Last year, 35 years later, Love Packages shipped 1,000 tons of new and used Bibles and other Christian literature to God's people in impoverished lands all around the world. The materials are sent in 20-ton containers on ships. There are pastors all over the world who do not have a copy of the Bible, entire nations that don’t have literature and Bible colleges without books. We have so much in America, it doesn’t seem possible. Steve says there never seems to be enough Christian literature to meet the worldwide demand. There are 11 million people in Zambia, all speak English. Love Packages has sent about 400 tons of literature there in the last 7 years, making an impact on the people there. Love Packages takes new or used Christian literature. Most Americans probably have many things sitting on their shelves that they won’t use again. That literature could bless someone else. If you send it to Love Packages, it will be sent overseas. Steve and the staff of Love Packages sort all the literature received and remove any cult material. They make sure everything going out is Biblically sound. Love Packages gets literature from many other ministries. Steve believes God has called him to do this. He sends out a newsletter 10 times a year and shares testimonies about the ministry. The ministry's goal is to ship 60 containers this year, about 1200 tons of Christian reading material. We can be stewards of even the smallest things. If you have Christian literature, including Crown materials, you’re no longer using, consider sending it to Love Packages. Help spread God’s Word around the world! You can contact Love Packages online at lovepackages.org or by calling 217-532-6701. |
|||
Effectual GivingIt is not the amount of money given that concerns God, because He owns it all; it’s how the money is being used that’s important. |
Responding to God's MandateSometimes generous givers are tempted to think that all they have to give is money. |
||
Bottom Line DiscipleshipYou can’t serve the Savior and all that stuff on an equal footing. One has to take precedence. |
Setting Dreams in MotionWhen it becomes clear that God is redirecting our efforts, what can we do so our natural determination does not become a liability? |
||
Other Resources: |
|||
Our guest today is Steve Schmidt, the Founder of 
Many people become discouraged by their financial mistakes.
Steve understands, but he’s also seen God redeem his mistakes.
Steve says if you’ll humble yourself before the Lord and submit yourself to Him, He will turn around your mistakes and use you to advance His kingdom.
