INTRODUCTION
Over the last four months, I have been encouraged by way the Body of Christ has rallied around us financially as we are going through this challenge with my health, which has caused my wife and I to cancel nearly all of our ministry engagements. It's one thing to deal with this crisis; it's another thing to handle the stress of loss of income. We have gratefully been spared most of this because of the way God is providing for us through His Church, family and friends.

MILESTONE
As a matter of fact, Firepower Ministries International will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this July. We are grateful to God for this longevity, considering the average lifespan of a predominantly traveling ministry like ours is only about 18 months! However, God has taken us all around the world, relocated us from the south to the north, and even though we haven't been on a church's payroll for most of that time, He has faithfully provided us with enough support all these years to do what He has called us to do. This has made Him the most significant part of my life and my significance is found in Him.

LOOK AT ME!
Knowingly or unknowingly, we are all looking for attention. From an early age, we may have had to compete with siblings for the attention of our parents. So deep is this need in the human spirit that we will get it, one way or another - either by being bad or good, either through infamy or praise. However, in many ways, attention seeking, getting your 15 minutes of fame, is the antithesis of significance because it seeks only to get and not give.

SEARCHING FOR SIGNIFICANCE
Friend and colleague, Mark Pfeifer recently wrote, "People are searching for more out of life than what material possessions and achievements can provide. We all need something that makes life worth living; something that will give us self-worth; something that says we have meaning and purpose in life; something that can answer the ultimate question, 'Why am I here?'

What we are searching for is significance. And that can only be measured by how much a person gives!

Anyone can reach this point in life. As long as you are willing to become a giver, you can have a significant life. John 3:16 is very important: 'For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.'

True significance is being like God; not as Adam and Eve tried to be like God by taking something for themselves, but by imitating God in giving your life away. This is the path to true meaning and purpose in life. The measurement of true purpose is found in how much a person gives!"

FROM SMALL TO BIG
If we stretch this principle from a personal to a national level, we see that America became a great nation, not because of what it took from the world, but by what it has given. There has never been another nation like America, that has contributed so much. Often called the bread basket of the world, the United States rebuilt war-torn Europe and Japan and is often the first on the spot with aid when some disaster strikes. In a Gospel context, more missionaries have been sent from America than any other nation, taking the greatest message of hope to the world.

This is not a time to apologize for who we are or what we have given. The key to America's continued prosperous future is to keep on giving. The key to your and my future significance is to do the same. #