What's with the 'Donate' Button?

There's a new item over on the sidebar that you may have noticed.

No, I haven't decided to become a blogging version of the televangelists.

And I can't promise you that if you click that PayPal "Donate" button, you'll pay off your mortgage, get a new car, or score front row seats for a U2 concert.

But I can promise this:

• 25% of all donations will support the ministries of my current parish, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio
• 25% of all donations will support the ministries of my previous parish, Friendship Lutheran Church in Amelia, Ohio
• 25% of all donations will support the work of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Clermont County, Ohio

There's a lot of content on Better Living. Some of it has been cited in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Slate, and RealClearPolitics.com, among other places.

I've gotten notes from English and Social Studies teachers who have used some of the essays found here to teach composition, history, and critical thinking.

Recovering alcoholics have told me that they've been given inspiration by some of what they've read here.

Agnostics and atheists, as well as adherents of various religions, have communicated with me to say that while they aren't Christians, they appreciate having a reasonable advocate of Christian faith with whom they can have a civil conversation.

Of course, whatever is good about this blog is a gift from God and whatever is bad about it is me getting in the way. But I hope and pray that the good posts outnumber the bad and that all of it, in some way, glorifies the God Whose love and forgiveness are free gifts of grace through Jesus Christ. Even the stuff that isn't religious can glorify God, I hope, if it informs, inspires, elucidates, creates laughter, or engenders civil conversation among us.

If you value Better Living, please consider clicking the button to the right and making a donation. (But not you Friendship or Saint Matthew people. Your tithes and offerings should be made through the congregations themselves. I'm not asking you to give more than your normal tithes or offerings.)

When you donate, you won't just compensate me for slaving long hours over a hot keyboard, you'll also be helping two wonderful congregations and a great youth services organization, all of which are changing lives for the better every single day!

Thanks in advance for your help!