Less than two weeks until our 30 Hour Famine event and I'm so excited about all the ways that people have pitched in to make this project a success! The truth is, though, as excited as I am about all that we have accomplished so far, the needs are still great and there is so much more that we can do!

The theme for this year's 30 Hour Famine is "Love Hungry". Because the truth is that it's not that hard to love when it's easy. It's not that difficult to love when it's comfortable and it doesn't cost us anything. But the whole purpose of the Famine is to learn to identify with other people's struggles and hardships and to learn to love when it's difficult... when it costs us something. And that's exactly what Jesus calls us to... to not only love when it's easy and comfortable but to learn to love when it's difficult and painful... when it costs us something.

I'm so proud of all the kids who have stepped up to the plate and volunteered to go without food for 30 hours and to love through their hunger. But this project isn't just about going without food to identify with others but to raise awareness and support so that we can change the circumstances for so many people that live in the reality of hunger every day. It's easy for us to throw a couple extra dollars in the jar and pat ourselves on the backs for doing a good thing. And don't get me wrong, those extra dollars make a huge difference and change lives, but is that really a sacrifice? Does that really capture the essence of "Love Hungry"?

So I'm asking you today to consider what sacrifices you can make to participate in changing the reality of hunger for people all over the world. Just $30 will feed a child for an entire month and in many cases provide sustainable food sources for an entire family for the rest of their lives... that's $1 a day!

I don't know about you but my family goes out to eat usually once every week or two and we spend at least $30 for the 5 of us. Perhaps we could sacrifice that meal for a week and eat at home, and know that by doing so we have saved a child's life for a month and maybe even for a lifetime.

Perhaps you go out to lunch every day while you're at work. Maybe for the next week or so you could pack a lunch and take that money and donate it to the Famine.

The possibilities are endless! Be creative! But I'm begging you all to dig deep during these final days of fundraising for our 30 Hour Famine and learn to "Love Hungry".

If you'd like to make a tax-deductible online donation to our group for the 30 Hour Famine, visit our team website at http://twv.convio.net/site/TR/30HourFamine/30HourFamine?team_id=11443&pg=team&fr_id=1310.

May God bless you richly for the sacrifices you make!

I've been reading the past couple days in the book of Exodus, the lengthy and incredibly detailed instructions given to Moses by God about how to build the Tabernacle (house of worship) and how to conduct worship, and it's got me thinking. At first glance it's easy to glaze over these portions of Scripture with their meticulous attention to every detail and easily think that it's irrelevant to us today who live so far beyond the times of Moses and the worship that took place in the Tabernacle.

I wonder though as I read this, how God feels about our worship. So much attention is given in this day and age to our personal styles of worship and what we like or don't like. But when was the last time we really asked how God wants us to worship? If he was so specific in his instructions to the people in Moses' day, is it too far fetched to think he might have an opinion on how we worship today?

That's not to say that I think our worship forms and styles today are irrelevant, or that God is not pleased with the sacrifices of worship we bring to him. But I think in the consumeristic culture we live in, church and worship can easily just become another thing we consume... another thing to feed our own selfish motivations. We can easily become consumers of worship rather than givers of worship. If indeed this is the way we operate, it is completely contrary to the essence of what worship is all about. Worship is an opportunity for us to take the focus off of ourselves and to honor God who is highly exalted above all of our selfish ambitions. Worship is about honoring someone else above ourselves and often involves sacrifice.

When was the last time you took time to consider or even ask God how he wants you to worship him?

When was the last time your worship cost you something?

Are your acts of worship truly God-honoring or self-indulgent?

Take some time to pray, read the Bible and consider how God might want you to worship. See what specific instructions he might give to you.