Money flows to the right causes.
—Wayne Pohl

Last year, for the first time in the almost two decades that I have been pastor of St. Paul's, we had to make a 17 percent across-the-board, mid-year cut in the budget, primarily because of economic recession in the Detroit area.

But there were other reasons. Raising money is more difficult today than at any time in my twenty-five years of ministry. There are so many more toys to buy and pleasures to pursue. People want the newest technology in their homes. The percentage of our members who frequent Florida or Arizona every winter or a cabin in northern Michigan every summer weekend has increased. Such enticements divert dollars.

And there is a new mindset. Whereas our parents and grandparents believed in saving money for security, accumulating as large an inheritance as possible for their children, today, in such uncertain times, people wonder how much time they have left. Many choose to live for the moment. One bumper sticker says, "I'm spending ...