© 2013 by
ANTHONY T. EVANS

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Editor: Kathryn Hall
Interior Design: Ragont Design
Cover Design: Barb Fisher / LeVan Fisher Design
Cover Image: Colin Anderson / Getty Images

ISBN 978-0-8024-0723-8

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Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

1. Stewardship

2. Rewards

3. Victory

Notes

The Urban Alternative

STEWARDSHIP

During the time I was a student at Dallas Seminary, my wife and I used to house-sit for people in an exclusive area of Dallas. These homes were something else; a real contrast to our tiny, cramped apartment.

For every assignment, our job was to watch over the house, keep things going, and keep it clean. In exchange, we got to live like royalty in another kingdom for a few days. The home’s owners would stock the refrigerator and pay us for staying there while they went away on business or vacation.

The families usually gave us the run of the place. But even though there was great opportunity for enjoyment, there were also definite limitations on that enjoyment. Each family had rules they wanted us to follow while they were away. And we agreed to follow the rules because it was not our home. Yet sometimes I used to tell the guys at the seminary, “Come over to my pad this afternoon. You have to check this place out.”

You see, I wanted to fully maximize the situation. For a brief time I wanted to act like I owned the home; that it was mine to do what I pleased. But my wife was always careful to remind me, “People shouldn’t come over, Tony.”

I would say, “Why?”

Her response was, “Because this is not our house.”

She was reminding me that we did not own the house. We had to be careful about what we did because the owners were only letting us use their property. My wife was wise to point out that we were managers over what someone else owned.

Friend, here’s my point. In this life, none of what you think you own do you really own. All that you so call “own” really belongs to God. What Satan wants to do is make you think you can do whatever you want with it, independently of God. But that is definitely not so.

In my example of this principle, every home we watched while I was in seminary was the kingdom of the family who owned it. ...