generously in order to imitate God. Rather, giving generously is the ordinary mark of those who follow God. At this point I knew I was in trouble. While I had engineered a great outline from the Bible that accomplished my goal of addressing our budget shortfall, I was only leaning on the Bible the way a drunk uses a lamppost—more for support than illumination. The only remaining questions I had to answer before stepping into the pulpit that week were: Who will be king? Me? Or the biblical text? Would