Jesus said,
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Matthew 6:24
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"
Luke 16:10-11
For many years I didn’t see what the Bible taught about money. I was caught in the mindset of working, paying my bills and tithing to my local church. I experienced both success and near bankruptcy during this time. If someone said do you serve money, I always answered no.
When I was working at General Motors as a toolmaker, I had a certain amount of financial success. I gave generously to my church but the scriptures that talked extensively of caring for the oppressed were in most part, ignored and not understood by me. It wasn't that they were difficult to understand but it was like there was a cloud over my thinking to really appreciate them.
I always had small misgivings about where my trust really was, God or GM, but I managed to push those insecurities into the background. I even proved that I wasn’t a slave to GM when I quit this well paying, very secure job. I managed to go to Bible College for 3 years, with 3 young children and came out of that experience with no debt. I then went and pastored for 5 years in a small northern community for 5 years, making a third of the wages that I had made at General Motors. We were poor but my kids never knew it. In all of this, I really didn’t understand the basic teachings of finances that I would like to share with you.
One of my favorite studies in the past was the topic of the endtimes. A key passage that is often ignored by endtime teachers is found in Matthew 25,
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
Matthew 25:31-45
I am a little shocked by how Jesus separated the sheep from the goats. It was essentially over the issue of the handling worldly wealth. Providing the basic necessities of life: food, water, clothing, and friendship to those who have less than us.
I come from a church tradition where tithes and offerings get dispersed in this order: buildings, salaries, programs, district office, missions and if anything is left over, some form of benevolence.
For some reason, a simple to understand verse that speaks specifically about caring for the poor was used by me to take up an offering for the above priorities.
1Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
1 Corinthians 16:1-2.
I often quoted from verse 2 when taking up the offering at church. I know it is often printed on tithing envelopes. But the context of this passage was that it was a collection for the oppressed and likely people the Corinthians would never meet.
As a follow up to this passage Paul writes this about a year later.
8I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
10And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
13Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."
2 Corinthians 8:8-15
This finally gets me to Principle #1 in dealing with finances.
Principle #1 - EQUALITY
Our first priority in handling money should be the goal of equality. This is equality on a global basis.
When we hear a kingdom word like equality, our immediate response should be joy. And for some it may be. But for those who might be more like me, it may mean a big pang of fear, or a quick dismissal or maybe it feels like a small bone caught in your throat.
Some people have rejected the idea of a good God on the basic premise of “Why would a good God allow innocent children to die needlessly of hunger and malnutrion.” As a Christian, I somehow closed my ears to that argument and yet it has significant merit.
The reality is that God weeps over every person that has been oppressed and He expects His people to do something about it. My heart was closed to this concept for most of my 30+ years as a Christian. It wasn’t that I wasn’t giving away money, it was that I wasn’t fervently seeking EQUALITY in our world.
The more I meditate on this one concept I am astonished at how much of the evil in the world would be eliminated if we simply desired and acted upon this one principle.
How many trillions have been spent on war or how many millions have been spent on toothpaste for whiter teeth or how many billions have been spent buying bricks for beautiful edifices while children drink contaminated water and fill their bellies with dirt.
Equality would get our priorities straight. Surprisingly, I don’t think we would do without anything of value, in fact, we would even prosper more if we established this as a priority. How much of our taxes goes to lining the pockets of those who have the most and building bombs that supposedly have the purpose of bringing freedom? The waste and excess could be RRRRRRolled back considerably if equality became a real goal.
Praying about equality cannot be done passively. It does require a right understanding of giving and receiving. It requires us to take action but it does not allow us to make beggars of others. This simple caution steers us in a much more creative process of things like micro loans and teaching people to fish.
Let’s not confuse the kingdom principle of EQUALITY with forced equality that is advocated by power mongers in order to control the masses.
I tentatively think the next principle is going to be "There's a Go in Gold".
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Hirelings and Pastor’s Wages
Is a pastor a pastor because of a wage or because he believes that he is a shepherd called to encourage and equip a group of people.
The simplest way to find this out is to stop the paycheque.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep."
John 10:11-13
Ezekiel spoke about false shepherds.
"1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them."
Ezekiel 34: 1-6
How do many shepherds define their sheep? There is some varying schools of thought as to whether a pastor wants to know if a parishioner is giving towards his salary. In the long run there is an expectation that a pastor's sheep are those that pay for his services.
How do parishioners define who their pastor is. I found this out when I was fired as a pastor and I think it was the greatest gift I could have received. The day I stopped getting paid was the day people no longer recognized me as their pastor. Their definition of a pastor was one who takes their money.
Many pastors are trapped into serving a group of people as a hireling and many church members feel they need to pay to have his services. The motives and the giving of respect are confused because of the exchange of money.
What happens when the salaries decrease or there is a staffing cutback. The ministers that were "called", simply leave for "greener" pastures. What else can they do but find a group of people that are willing to pay them? Getting a job or owning a business is out of the question. Many are stuck with a lifelong dependency on the sheep.
Pastors talk forever and a day about being “called” by God to a local church. Amazingly one of the major determining factors for knowing they are called is by the amount of dollars that are exchanged. They and their parishioners even feel they are biblically mandated to receive a wage. One of the most popular verses which is interpreted to support the paying of pastors is,
“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” 18For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,"[b] and "The worker deserves his wages."
1 Timothy 5:17,18
And yet paying wages and giving honor are distinct from each other. The reward for a local elder is honor, even double honor. This wasn’t a codeword for money.
This verse clearly distinguishes finances from honor.
“Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Romans 13:7
Here is an overlooked passage quoting Paul as he charged how elders were to conduct themselves,
"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "
Acts 20:32-35
No doubt Paul argues that an apostle (not a local elder) has a right to be helped but he was careful not to receive a wage if it became a hireling model and his motives for bringing the gospel could be questioned.
“11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 13Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. 16Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.”
1 Cor. 9:11-18
The selling of the gospel has become such common practice that God’s people think everyone who preaches should receive an “honorarium”. Many preachers believe this quite passionately. This is no different than paying for a good singer.
You can go to a lot of single person ministries out there and I guarantee that they will give you a charitable receipt to support them. They likely even donate to their own ministry. And even though it is illegal to get a donation receipt for giving to a specific person, lots of churches and ministries skirt this issue by making themselves an employee of their ministry. They then give to their ministry which is really just themselves.
Most churches have more than one elder and yet only the one called pastor gets paid. Why doesn’t every mature believer who becomes an elder get paid? Why is it that the weak are the ones paying the strong? The transaction goes like this, the strong give spiritual support and the weak give financial support. A good reason to become strong, I guess.
Paul didn’t seem to think that,
7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
2 Thess. 3:7-10
Why is there such a distinction between lay people and professional clergy? It seems the guy asking for money every week for himself deserves special recognition because he humbly takes his sheep’s money.
"The ideal tyranny is that which is ignorantly self-administered by its victims. The most perfect slaves are, therefore, those which blissfully and unawaredly enslave themselves."
The simplest way to find this out is to stop the paycheque.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep."
John 10:11-13
Ezekiel spoke about false shepherds.
"1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them."
Ezekiel 34: 1-6
How do many shepherds define their sheep? There is some varying schools of thought as to whether a pastor wants to know if a parishioner is giving towards his salary. In the long run there is an expectation that a pastor's sheep are those that pay for his services.
How do parishioners define who their pastor is. I found this out when I was fired as a pastor and I think it was the greatest gift I could have received. The day I stopped getting paid was the day people no longer recognized me as their pastor. Their definition of a pastor was one who takes their money.
Many pastors are trapped into serving a group of people as a hireling and many church members feel they need to pay to have his services. The motives and the giving of respect are confused because of the exchange of money.
What happens when the salaries decrease or there is a staffing cutback. The ministers that were "called", simply leave for "greener" pastures. What else can they do but find a group of people that are willing to pay them? Getting a job or owning a business is out of the question. Many are stuck with a lifelong dependency on the sheep.
Pastors talk forever and a day about being “called” by God to a local church. Amazingly one of the major determining factors for knowing they are called is by the amount of dollars that are exchanged. They and their parishioners even feel they are biblically mandated to receive a wage. One of the most popular verses which is interpreted to support the paying of pastors is,
“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” 18For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,"[b] and "The worker deserves his wages."
1 Timothy 5:17,18
And yet paying wages and giving honor are distinct from each other. The reward for a local elder is honor, even double honor. This wasn’t a codeword for money.
This verse clearly distinguishes finances from honor.
“Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Romans 13:7
Here is an overlooked passage quoting Paul as he charged how elders were to conduct themselves,
"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "
Acts 20:32-35
No doubt Paul argues that an apostle (not a local elder) has a right to be helped but he was careful not to receive a wage if it became a hireling model and his motives for bringing the gospel could be questioned.
“11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 13Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. 16Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.”
1 Cor. 9:11-18
The selling of the gospel has become such common practice that God’s people think everyone who preaches should receive an “honorarium”. Many preachers believe this quite passionately. This is no different than paying for a good singer.
You can go to a lot of single person ministries out there and I guarantee that they will give you a charitable receipt to support them. They likely even donate to their own ministry. And even though it is illegal to get a donation receipt for giving to a specific person, lots of churches and ministries skirt this issue by making themselves an employee of their ministry. They then give to their ministry which is really just themselves.
Most churches have more than one elder and yet only the one called pastor gets paid. Why doesn’t every mature believer who becomes an elder get paid? Why is it that the weak are the ones paying the strong? The transaction goes like this, the strong give spiritual support and the weak give financial support. A good reason to become strong, I guess.
Paul didn’t seem to think that,
7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
2 Thess. 3:7-10
Why is there such a distinction between lay people and professional clergy? It seems the guy asking for money every week for himself deserves special recognition because he humbly takes his sheep’s money.
"The ideal tyranny is that which is ignorantly self-administered by its victims. The most perfect slaves are, therefore, those which blissfully and unawaredly enslave themselves."
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tithing, Malachi 3, Robbing God - Justice
How did tithing turn into the opposite of its intended meaning? Why did it become a collection of money for the purpose of sermons, buildings and programs? It was never used that way in the OT.
If we know anything about God, we know that He desires justice. And yet, rich people in the Old Testament were robbing Him of justice. How? By not tithing.
Who was the tithe for? The truth is verse 5 describes God's plan for justice and it was up to the rich land/herd owners to provide proper wages and a tithe from the land for the widow/orphan/alien/Levites.
It's fascinating that many bibles put a title between verse 5 and 6 of Malachi 3 called Robbing God, giving the impression that a new thought has started. I wonder if it was a religious minded editor that wanted the tithes to flow into the church coffers and away from those in real need?
5 "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.
6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Malachi 3:5-10
What is even more confusing is that offerings today do not reflect the call for justice that both 1 Corinthians 16:2 or Malachi 3 reflect. So the question remains the same today as it was in Malachi's time,
If we know anything about God, we know that He desires justice. And yet, rich people in the Old Testament were robbing Him of justice. How? By not tithing.
Who was the tithe for? The truth is verse 5 describes God's plan for justice and it was up to the rich land/herd owners to provide proper wages and a tithe from the land for the widow/orphan/alien/Levites.
It's fascinating that many bibles put a title between verse 5 and 6 of Malachi 3 called Robbing God, giving the impression that a new thought has started. I wonder if it was a religious minded editor that wanted the tithes to flow into the church coffers and away from those in real need?
5 "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.
6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Malachi 3:5-10
What is even more confusing is that offerings today do not reflect the call for justice that both 1 Corinthians 16:2 or Malachi 3 reflect. So the question remains the same today as it was in Malachi's time,
Who is Robbing God?
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Accountability Paradox
There is much ado about accountability within the body of Christ and yet I am not sure how this happens or if it even exists.
The premise behind accountability is that people will hold each other accountable to the teachings of the Bible. This isn’t to control or manipulate but rather to build one another up.
But what if the group you are accountable to, teaches error?
The reason for the 1,000’s of different church groups is because they believe that some of the other groups are teaching error. Some even believe they are the only ones with the whole truth.
So if a church group is teaching an error, who holds them accountable? The members of the group are supposedly the ones to hold them accountable. But the reason people are members of the group is that they agree with the error of the group. If a member in the group learns something that the group thought was truth but in reality was an error, how do they get the group to be accountable to their error?
I know a woman that was part of a group that decided women must wear hats as a sign of submission. She accepted that rule for many years and then had a change of thinking that determined that this rule was not for today and was in fact a sign of spiritual pride and elitism. When she no longer wore her hat she was asked to leave her church which she had devoted over 25 years of her life to.
They said she was in rebellion and was not accountable.
It seems to me that churches have become more like fortresses. You have to believe what they believe to belong. And if your beliefs change, you must leave otherwise you cause dissension. When you do leave you are considered to be in rebellion and not accountable to anyone.
In essence, the desire to walk in integrity with your own beliefs is considered secondary to the group’s need to uphold its teachings. The only people that see things differently and have the perspective to help the group grow are asked to leave or are shunned with silence because they disagree. In other words, the group is more important than any one person.
Some groups teach that tithing to their local group is a requirement for membership and/or leadership within the group. If a leader in the group came to the realization that tithing is a false teaching, he would not be able to have a voice within the group. When he points out that the verses used to support tithing are really verses that teach caring for the poor, he is considered to be a rabble-rouser. As soon as he stops tithing he can no longer be a leader. If he continues to tithe, he violates his conscience and does not walk in integrity.
I remember having breakfast with a pastor friend of mine from a different denomination. We enjoyed being with each other on numerous occasions. I suggested to him that it would be nice to get our men’s groups together. His face went pale with the suggestion. It seems, that what we could do personally and enjoyably, could not be tolerated at the group level.
It would seem that groups will invariably violate some form of personal freedom of expression or thought. I used to accept this paradox quite comfortably. Now, it seems like a complete mystery to me that people think God would desire all of these mini fortresses.
The premise behind accountability is that people will hold each other accountable to the teachings of the Bible. This isn’t to control or manipulate but rather to build one another up.
But what if the group you are accountable to, teaches error?
The reason for the 1,000’s of different church groups is because they believe that some of the other groups are teaching error. Some even believe they are the only ones with the whole truth.
So if a church group is teaching an error, who holds them accountable? The members of the group are supposedly the ones to hold them accountable. But the reason people are members of the group is that they agree with the error of the group. If a member in the group learns something that the group thought was truth but in reality was an error, how do they get the group to be accountable to their error?
I know a woman that was part of a group that decided women must wear hats as a sign of submission. She accepted that rule for many years and then had a change of thinking that determined that this rule was not for today and was in fact a sign of spiritual pride and elitism. When she no longer wore her hat she was asked to leave her church which she had devoted over 25 years of her life to.
They said she was in rebellion and was not accountable.
It seems to me that churches have become more like fortresses. You have to believe what they believe to belong. And if your beliefs change, you must leave otherwise you cause dissension. When you do leave you are considered to be in rebellion and not accountable to anyone.
In essence, the desire to walk in integrity with your own beliefs is considered secondary to the group’s need to uphold its teachings. The only people that see things differently and have the perspective to help the group grow are asked to leave or are shunned with silence because they disagree. In other words, the group is more important than any one person.
Some groups teach that tithing to their local group is a requirement for membership and/or leadership within the group. If a leader in the group came to the realization that tithing is a false teaching, he would not be able to have a voice within the group. When he points out that the verses used to support tithing are really verses that teach caring for the poor, he is considered to be a rabble-rouser. As soon as he stops tithing he can no longer be a leader. If he continues to tithe, he violates his conscience and does not walk in integrity.
I remember having breakfast with a pastor friend of mine from a different denomination. We enjoyed being with each other on numerous occasions. I suggested to him that it would be nice to get our men’s groups together. His face went pale with the suggestion. It seems, that what we could do personally and enjoyably, could not be tolerated at the group level.
It would seem that groups will invariably violate some form of personal freedom of expression or thought. I used to accept this paradox quite comfortably. Now, it seems like a complete mystery to me that people think God would desire all of these mini fortresses.
Monday, February 9, 2009
How High Can a Flea Jump?
The problem of unbelief.
If you found someone living in a remote village that was living in the stone age and whisked them away to our modern culture, what would be their reaction? Would they embrace it easily? Would they wonder how they could have ever lived without it?
Would they believe you, if you told them about a light switch and that by simply flicking the switch, the room would light up? What if you had a power failure just before they made their first attempt at turning on the light? Would it be more difficult to get them to try the second time?
How often have you and I been seduced into believing something didn’t work because of circumstances not directly associated with what we are being asked to put our trust in. Or is it simply a new idea that you aren't familiar with?
A young, pregnant Eskimo woman was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new baby. Her mother had taught her everything there was to be known. One of the most difficult things her mother had to teach her was that if there was something wrong with the baby the best thing to do would be to simply put the baby out on the ice. Life was almost impossible for healthy babies let alone ones with physical challenges.
Just before the birth, the woman's mother died and she was all alone. She remembered everything her mother had told her and delivered a beautiful baby girl. But too her horror, her baby had no teeth. One cannot survive without teeth in the harshness of the barren north. This must be one of the terrible deformities that her mother had warned her about. After all, if babies were born with no teeth, her mother would have told her. So the faithful daughter put her precious baby out on the ice.
She so desired to honor her mother's memory but she couldn't give up this precious life. She ran out on the ice and took the risk (had faith) of raising a deformed baby.
Here are some examples of how we don't have to be trapped in past failures or wrong lessons. All men aren’t abusive just because 1 man was abusive. Once you have gas in your car, it will run. Just because friends have let us down, doesn’t mean all friends will let us down. The list is endless as to what causes our faith to diminish. And what we sometimes fail to remember is that it wasn’t always the process that failed but a wrong lesson or application that caused the failure.
Learning to discern what caused failure is vital in developing our faith life and overcoming unbelief. Staying open to new ideas is what makes life like a box of chocolates.
If you put some fleas in a small jar and put the lid on it, you could watch them jump and hit the lid for awhile. It won’t take them long to discover jumping too high hurts their heads. Once they have learned the lesson, you can remove the lid and they won’t jump out of the jar. They learned the lesson that jumping too high hurts their head. You could even starve them and although they have the ability to jump out of the open jar, they will simply die believing that jumping too high hurts their head.
What lessons have you learned that has caused you to have unbelief? Did you learn the right lesson?
I write this from the context of having a plan that could literally bring economic equality to the entire world. The challenge is that people have to get 2 people to trust them. This is literally the only thing that has to happen in order to feed the poor, care for orphans and widows, achieve financial freedom and bring equality to all.
What lessons have you learned that stop you from believing this?
If you found someone living in a remote village that was living in the stone age and whisked them away to our modern culture, what would be their reaction? Would they embrace it easily? Would they wonder how they could have ever lived without it?
Would they believe you, if you told them about a light switch and that by simply flicking the switch, the room would light up? What if you had a power failure just before they made their first attempt at turning on the light? Would it be more difficult to get them to try the second time?
How often have you and I been seduced into believing something didn’t work because of circumstances not directly associated with what we are being asked to put our trust in. Or is it simply a new idea that you aren't familiar with?
A young, pregnant Eskimo woman was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new baby. Her mother had taught her everything there was to be known. One of the most difficult things her mother had to teach her was that if there was something wrong with the baby the best thing to do would be to simply put the baby out on the ice. Life was almost impossible for healthy babies let alone ones with physical challenges.
Just before the birth, the woman's mother died and she was all alone. She remembered everything her mother had told her and delivered a beautiful baby girl. But too her horror, her baby had no teeth. One cannot survive without teeth in the harshness of the barren north. This must be one of the terrible deformities that her mother had warned her about. After all, if babies were born with no teeth, her mother would have told her. So the faithful daughter put her precious baby out on the ice.
She so desired to honor her mother's memory but she couldn't give up this precious life. She ran out on the ice and took the risk (had faith) of raising a deformed baby.
Here are some examples of how we don't have to be trapped in past failures or wrong lessons. All men aren’t abusive just because 1 man was abusive. Once you have gas in your car, it will run. Just because friends have let us down, doesn’t mean all friends will let us down. The list is endless as to what causes our faith to diminish. And what we sometimes fail to remember is that it wasn’t always the process that failed but a wrong lesson or application that caused the failure.
Learning to discern what caused failure is vital in developing our faith life and overcoming unbelief. Staying open to new ideas is what makes life like a box of chocolates.
If you put some fleas in a small jar and put the lid on it, you could watch them jump and hit the lid for awhile. It won’t take them long to discover jumping too high hurts their heads. Once they have learned the lesson, you can remove the lid and they won’t jump out of the jar. They learned the lesson that jumping too high hurts their head. You could even starve them and although they have the ability to jump out of the open jar, they will simply die believing that jumping too high hurts their head.
What lessons have you learned that has caused you to have unbelief? Did you learn the right lesson?
I write this from the context of having a plan that could literally bring economic equality to the entire world. The challenge is that people have to get 2 people to trust them. This is literally the only thing that has to happen in order to feed the poor, care for orphans and widows, achieve financial freedom and bring equality to all.
What lessons have you learned that stop you from believing this?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Opposite of Vision
What is the opposite of VISION?
Where there is no vision, the people perish:
Proverbs 29:18
What is the fruit of the way churches today are organized?
8 I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
10 And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; 11 but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. 12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”
2 Corinthians 8:8-13
People are dying because of the thousands of divided fragments that are under the label of Christianity. The idea of equality and organizing for weaker brothers and sisters has been forgotten.
This must not continue.
Where there is no vision, the people perish:
Proverbs 29:18
The opposite of VISION
is DIE VISION.
is DIE VISION.
What is the fruit of the way churches today are organized?
They promote DIVISION as if it is a good thing.
Elitism: best doctrine, best teaching, best building, best pastor,
best program, best ...
Will they give up their name for His name?
They don't even know that their name is divisive.
Name one New Testament church?
BTW: Locations are not churches.
Besides, there is only 1 church.
Jesus said, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
Matthew 16:18
WHY DO CHURCHES NEED A NAME?
Elitism: best doctrine, best teaching, best building, best pastor,
best program, best ...
Will they give up their name for His name?
They don't even know that their name is divisive.
Name one New Testament church?
BTW: Locations are not churches.
Besides, there is only 1 church.
Jesus said, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
Matthew 16:18
WHY DO CHURCHES NEED A NAME?
Hint: No matter how this is answered, equality is rarely considered.
Should equality be a vision within Jesus' church?
8 I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
10 And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; 11 but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. 12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”
2 Corinthians 8:8-13
People are dying because of the thousands of divided fragments that are under the label of Christianity. The idea of equality and organizing for weaker brothers and sisters has been forgotten.
This must not continue.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Better Than Starbucks
What can be better than drinking Starbucks coffee?
Going to where Starbucks buys their coffee.
Win a Trip to COSTA RICA
You CAN DO THIS!!!
Going to where Starbucks buys their coffee.
Win a Trip to COSTA RICA
You CAN DO THIS!!!
Caution: This contest is almost too simple. Don't be fooled into thinking it has to be more difficult to work. Do yourself a favor and read this a few times.
Win a trip for two to Costa Rica at an all inclusive resort for 5 nights and make $3,200.
Show Me How
Invest $500 into your own business. You immediately get over $600 in high quality nutritional supplements. Get 2 friends to do the same thing. Help each of them to get 2 people to join them. That means 4 more people have done this. When each of these 4 gets 2 more people to join them,
YOU WIN!!!
Total number of people needed for you to win -- 14.
How many people did you personally get involved?
All you need is 2 people that trust you.
How many people did you personally get involved?
All you need is 2 people that trust you.
(You)
$500
(your 2 friends)
$500 - $500
(You make $200)
(their 2 friends)
$500 - $500 - $500 - $500
(You make $1,000)
(their 2 friends)
$500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500
(You make another $2,000)
Total earnings on your $500 investment = $3,200
Your 2 friends will have made $1,200.
Congratulations!!
You have won the trip to
Costa Rica.
Your biggest decision is to decide
on how many friends you will bring with you?
(your 2 friends)
$500 - $500
(You make $200)
(their 2 friends)
$500 - $500 - $500 - $500
(You make $1,000)
(their 2 friends)
$500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500 - $500
(You make another $2,000)
Total earnings on your $500 investment = $3,200
Your 2 friends will have made $1,200.
Congratulations!!
You have won the trip to
Costa Rica.
Your biggest decision is to decide
on how many friends you will bring with you?
There are no catches, no strings, no hoops.
Yeppers, IT IS THIS SIMPLE.
Yeppers, IT IS THIS SIMPLE.
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