A young man who was attending my Coffee Bar Bible studies tossed a $20 bill on the table between us. He said something like "I haven't been sowing anywhere lately" and added that he felt my eMail ministry was as valid as any. Something to that effect.
A few years back Michael Dickson Jersey , my own son handed me some crumpled bills and told me he had grown convicted about regularly supporting my ministry. He's seen the fruit of his dad's labor and wants to "link up" with me. I cannot deny him the blessings of such action.
Ah, the power of partnership!
These two situations remind me of the importance of addressing the subject of God's Kingdom and our Finances. There's such a blessing in store for those who comprehend this matter. Just last week, two people asked me if anyone supported my ministry and another individual promised to do so. In all honesty, I do NOT want to be lumped in with anyone's concept of money-grubbing ministers. I don't "need" anybody's money to do the things I do for Jesus. Good thing because, frankly, very little Kingdom Cash tends to make its way in this direction. Perhaps making donations to an on-line ministry is still too foreign a concept for most people.
Frankly Shaquem Griffin Jersey , that's too bad. The soil of this ministry is VERY fertile and I can't help but feel that anyone would be very blessed to jump on board and sow their seeds in this direction. I realize the sensitive nature of this subject. Any time I even so much as hinted at this in any of my previous broadcasts, I've received more than a few accusations pertaining to greed, scams, etc., and I've lost a few subscribers.
This is a chance I'm willing to take because, fact is Chris Carson Jersey , God's people MUST know the truth about giving. So, despite the potential negative outcome, here it is.
GOD WANTS YOU!
For starters, God doesn't want our money. He wants US! And since our hearts are so inextricably tied to our wallets, we must learn the Kingdom principles regarding finances.
The giving of finances is about the closest any of us will ever come to a human sacrifice. Think about it. We give our blood, sweat and tears to earn every dime. It is society's way of measuring what we're worth. Ever wonder why it's so hard to give to a ministry? You can't tell ME there's no devil! And he'll do everything within his power to keep our money steadily slipping away like water from our cupped hands Russell Wilson Jersey , going every direction except toward God's work. His deceptions and distractions are the reason it's so hard for us to sow our finances as we should.
A young man selling magazines door to door came to my house one day. He said he was trying to win a trip. I didn't buy any but I couldn't help but notice on his order form that my financially strapped neighbor had just purchased $26 worth. How easy it is to part with our hard-earned cash on an excursion through a shopping center or to impress another person with our generosity or our "stuff," but when it comes to sowing into the Kingdom, well ... that's quite another matter.
It's tough to contribute to an invisible cause the likes of God's Kingdom! To many of us, being a good steward of what God has provided us with is best defined as finding a good deal on something we really didn't need anyway. I know a lady who told her husband she had saved them $200 one day. "How?" he asked. "I bought this pretty $400 comforter for half off," she responded with pride.
Yes, we give willingly Seattle Seahawks Hats , cheerfully, to the "causes" of drive-thru restaurants and to check-out counter gadgets and magazines. In America, the average kid spends about $40 per trip to the mall. Their parents, about $80. And our closets and attics are filled with old and broken junk. In contrast, Jesus said, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven Seattle Seahawks T-Shirts , where neither moth nor rust destroy...," Matthew 6:19, 20. A baby will play with a stack of shiney, jingling pennies and ignore a crumpled old $100 bill.
The BLING stikes again.
THE TRUTH ABOUT TITHING
God doesn't need our money any more than He needed the fruit on the tree in the Garden of Eden. The issue is this: it's called recognized rights. Five-hundred years before the Mosaic Law, Abraham was tithing; Jacob, 250 years before the Law. Once the tithe was implemented Seattle Seahawks Hoodie , God's people were bound under the Law.
Now, under the New Covenant, we should willingly give all we can to build God's Kingdom as His co-laborers. After all, we're citizens in this Kingdom, too, y'know. To build it is only to build into what is now ours anyway! We must become intimately joined to the Kingdom enough for that to ring true to each of us.
To those who teach a mandatory 10% AFTER the cross Customized Seahawks Jersey , sorry, but there's no Scriptural evidence that the "storehouse" is an expensive, usually-empty building, property, equipment, musical instruments Cheap Seahawks Jerseys , or salaries (64% of western church workers are administrative and janitorial - NOT ministerial). No, the storehouse is the Kingdom of God. But there's so little teaching on the Kingdom. The Word of Faith movement of the late 70's and 80's was the cause of many a shipwrecked faith as people developed a "give-to-get" mentality. Name-it-and-claim-it theology certainly had elements of truth within it, but too few ever asked the 'why' questions ... like, why wasn't the preacher in the $400 suit and the fancy Italian shoes teaching this stuff in 3rd world nations?
Jesus didn't do it, folks. Neither did Paul. Think of how stress-less ministry would be without all that "stuff" anyway ... and how much more effective we'd be in Kingdom work if we weren't so consumed with running these "spiritual corporations."
BETTER TO GIVE!
Ephesians 4:28 tells us: "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work Ugo Amadi Seahawks Jersey , doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to give to those in need."