Lessons from a Church Breakfast

   A pig and a chicken were walking down the road. They came upon a church sign which was advertising a fellowship breakfast that weekend: “Ham and eggs will be served from 8:00am-10:00am.”

The chicken turned to the pig and exclaimed, “Well isn’t that wonderful…even farm animals like us can help the work of the church!”

“Yes,” said the pig, “but yours is only a contribution. Mine is a total sacrifice.”

That funny little story about the pig illustrates a serious biblical truth – that Jesus really does call his followers to give up everything (Luke 14:33). But how do we live that out?

One practical way is to realize that because God owns everything (Psalm 24:1), we can prayerfully consider giving anything we “own” back to God to bless our church or ministries such as Mel Trotter Ministries.

For example, it may surprise you to know that many assets may be more “tax-efficient” to give than cash - such as stock, real estate, retirement assets, life insurance, grain, business interests, and tangible personal property. That’s because federal tax law makes gifts that have grown in value more advantageous than giving cash.

If you transfer the appreciated property directly to a charitable organization such as Mel Trotter Ministries rather than selling it, you receive a charitable deduction for the full market value of the property at the time of the transfer. You also avoid the capital gains tax if you held the property for a period of one year or longer.

For more information on giving any asset, request a FREE copy of “More Trust. More Joy” by simply checking the box or contact Tim Swiney, Director of Development, at Mel Trotter Ministries at (616) 454-8249 ext. 268 or timswiney@meltrotter.org