I am running a little behind on the most recent chapters of The Generous Soul. If you missed the first installments, follow these links to read: The Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Below, you can read Chapter 6. Thanks for your patience. At the end of this chapter you have the option to buy the Kindle version through Amazon. chapter six becoming missional givers “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” 2 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV) “See that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV) You want to know what’s wrong with our waterfront? It’s the love of a lousy buck. It’s love of a buck, the cushy job, more important than the love of man! Father Barry (Karl Malden) On the Waterfront I am not by nature a generous person. I’m more what you might call, “generous by degrees.” I tend to be fairly generous with some things, but not so generous with others. For instance, I’m OK with giving money to someone who lost a job, buying Christmas presents for kids who are not going to have gifts on the 25th of December, giving an offering for a guest speaker, or a family who lost everything in a house fire. On the other hand, do not ask me for a SweeTart; that’s where I draw the line. I’m not likely to share a Snickers with you either. There are some things I’m just not sure God would ask this child to do. A couple of years ago, I was invited to speak to a group of pastors in Oklahoma. The leader who invited me, John, picked me up at the airport and we started a multi-hour ride back to the city where the event would be hosted. Pretty quickly he noticed my roll of SweeTarts and mentioned his affinity for, I believe, the blue ones. It grieved me to no end that he was worming his way into my candy stash. It was only with the greatest personal suffering that he received a few of those tantalizing discs of Dextrose, Maltodextrin, Malic Acid, Calcium Stearate, artificial flavors, Blue 1 Lake, Blue 2 Lake, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, and Yellow 6 Lake. I mean, c’mon. I would have bought him an apple.