I would be happy if...

It would be sweet to win the lotto. For all the people that say otherwise, liars! Just kidding. Yet you can hear story after story of lottery winners going broke. Why is this? How is it they can live the majority of their lives on a certain amount of money, they gain much more and lose it all?

Happiness and money don’t always go hand in hand. What does it take to be content with what we have? Purchasing a new home and having multiple things go wrong with it has been nerve wrecking. Yet this is nothing new and every new homeowner knows things like this happen. Yet what would it take to make me satisfied?

Paul shares in Philippians 4:12-13…

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who give me strength.”

Paul has an amazing story of being wealthy, having a lot of people think highly of him and had a great life. Then he found Jesus, he gave up everything to follow Jesus. Paul had a wealthy life, political stature, and people that looked up to him. The word content in the scripture means self-sufficient. Another way this was put, “A calm acceptance of life’s pressures,” – The Bible Knowledge Commentary.

Do you have a calm acceptance of life’s pressures? This is an area I need to work on in life.

How about you? Paul gives a great example of how to live life. I need to take a better note today.

Have a great day.

Money and ministry

Nobody I know does ministry for the money. Nobody goes I am going to take up a load of debt so I can go into a ministry that won’t pay that well either. Serving God isn’t about money, it’s about sharing his word. It’s hard to go to Bible College knowing you are going to a private institution (Usually means paying a lot more then a state college). This is why I commend anyone who is going to Bible College. You literally have to say I am going to trust God with my life and my calling.

2 Corinthians 2:17… “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”

Sharing the word of Jesus is never about the money. Yet in Paul’s time he had to speak against false prophets. These were people that used the word of God to make money. Paul said they peddled for profit. This would be like the Israelites at the time that were known for diluted their wine so they could make more profit. Paul speaks against this.

Out of all the minister’s I have met in my life, I have never met one that was in this for the money. I can say that from the depths of my heart.  Even the one’s I don’t see eye to eye with, I know they love Jesus and want to see his kingdom grow. Ministry is tough, you do this because you love Jesus and want to see his will be done on earth, yet minister’s have to face unrealistic expectations.

Being a minister doesn’t mean you have to be broke, it means you trust the church to take care of your needs. Paul worked as a missionary and often didn’t take money himself for it would be a conflict of his message. That is awesome. Paul also didn’t have a family to care for or student loan debt.

I went into ministry knowing I needed to make sure my family would be taken care of by the church we went too. I once had a phone interview with a church out of college. This church was very interested in me and they asked early on, what I thought I should be paid (I thought this was weird to ask this early but went with it). I said I need between 27,000 and 33,000 with health insurance. The man responded well we are offering 22,500 with no insurance. I told him this wasn’t feasible for a family of four and some of the health issues I have.

He responded you just have to trust God, and told about his back problem he had for the past couple of years, but he didn’t have insurance and trusted God to take care of him. I was put off by this guys attitude and told him well this doesn’t look like it could be a fit for my family then. His tone of voice showed a great displeasure in my answer and told me, “Good luck trying to find a church to meet your needs.”

The three churches’ I have served in have done a great job in meeting my families needs and any needs that came up. The church is supposed to meet the needs of the minister. A minister shouldn’t have to go and ask for a raise from the church, because the church should know if they are truly taking care of the ministers. If the church leadership (Elders and deacons) are not, they have to answer to God.

I would love to say minister’s don’t have to worry about money but sadly they do. This past year I talked to a minister who was ashamed because he had to file for bankruptcy. It wasn’t for living above his needs. It was what he made as a minister couldn’t pay for the monthly bills with no thrills. He struggled to make his student loan payment. He was crushed, had no choice because the church didn’t help and let him struggle. He eventually left that church beaten, broken and broke. The church let him down.

Ministry can be a thankless task. Many people in ministry could make a lot more money selling used cars then they could be the senior minister of a church (Work a lot less hours too). One of my awesome ministry friends and an elder were talking about this same subject how a used car salesman makes more money then a lot of ministers. As they were talking the minister told him this means his bosses at the used car lot take better care for their employees then the church. Sadly sometimes that can be true.

If you attend church, do you know if your minister’s are taking care of? I am blessed to say I love where I am at, what I am doing and how I am taken care of. Health insurance is starting to be an issue with new policies, but I know my church is going to meet the minister’s needs because we are loved and cared for. They know they have to answer to God with how we are treated. Are you doing your part to make sure the needs of your ministers are being met? If not, how can you help?

Have a great day.

Church Myth: The church only cares about money

Money can be used for good or bad. Making money is not a bad thing, but what do you do with the money you get? We can make a positive difference or a negative. Every time money is mentioned in the church there is a certain cringe that happens. I used to think this. Growing up looking at immaculate buildings with some beautiful design in architecture and thinking this building cost so much money.

I hated the church and how it had a very expensive building yet there are people all over the world starving and they cared this much for the building? I’m out. I don’t want to be apart of a place that puts value over a structure rather then starving people. The church cares to much about money used to be a thought. Is there a point for the church to collect money every week? Is that really necessary?

This is what Paul told churches in regards to money, 1 Corinthians 16 2…

“On 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.”

What’s the point? Giving needs to be done on a consistent basis. It should be a slice of the pie not the whole entire pie. Some people make a lot more then others, therefore if you are broke you give a chunk of that and if you make a ton of money it would be a bigger chunk. The collection of money was an application of faith to care for the needs of others and in particular, the needs in Jerusalem.

Giving was for meeting the needs of those less fortunate, do we do the same thing today? Churches do have buildings, some bigger then others and money is given with majority of churches ministers salary is a good chunk of the overall church budget. Honestly though, when looking at a church, I look at what a church does with it’s money.

At Union Christian Church we give about 15-20 percent to missions we support. Some of which includes taking care of those without homes and food in our area. We try to support missions that help bring people to Christ and try to help churches all over the world like North Haiti Mission. Then when needs come up in our congregation we have benevolence setup to help people out. I love being apart of a congregation that looks outside of our own needs and sees how we can help others out.

I believe it is right for the church to put money towards buildings and paying staff (98% of ministers are severely underpaid) but mission has to be a goal and that is what Paul was moving towards. Giving money to help meet the needs of other people.

When you look at your life do you give? Do you try to meet others needs or just do what you want with your money? Maybe someone you know could use some of the money you have today.

Have a great day.

Is money the root of all evil or are we?

What’s nice about having money, having money. I serve at a church where once every while someone will give the minister’s some extra cash here and there. It’s amazing how God works things out. Usually this happens when something is about to break down. Three years ago, someone gave us an anonymous check for $100 dollars. We felt so blessed, the next day our battery died in our van, it cost around $100 to replace it. Thank you God for giving us awesome people! There is nothing evil about money.

You can do good or bad with money. This anonymous person did something awesome with money, not because they gave me money. They could have spent that money doing or buying something they wanted. Yet they chose to give it away. Money is not bad. You can do good with it. What are some ways you can do good with the money you have? Chances are you can think of some pretty great ways. Along with the good comes the bad. What are ways you have spent money unwisely? Chances are you have had moments of both.

Paul has a great line that doesn’t talk about money but about helping people out, 1 Corinthians 10:24…

“Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

In this section of scripture Paul is dealing with some other issues among the people. Some people were unifying the church and having meals together. Others were having meals that were going for idol worship or meals that were going to demons. In between this all Paul mentions that there is good and bad practices we can follow. We aren’t meant to lead people astray with our meals and what the meals are going for. During that time there was a lot of demon worship and meals were a part of what people gave to the demons. What you do with your money could be good or bad, your choice.

Money isn’t evil, but what do you do with your money? I have been reading a book titled Open by Craig Gross. It starts out with a story about two guys who use X3watch to keep themselves from looking at porn online. Gross talks to these guys on a flight from Vegas and asked what are you doing in Vegas if you are trying to stay pure? They respond how they did a whole bunch of things they shouldn’t do, gambling and strip clubs etc. They were trying to not look at porn online yet deemed it acceptable to go to strip clubs. Sometimes what we do doesn’t make sense.

You can do good with your money. I recently read a story about a scholarship program that Magic Johnson has and how he helps people out with these scholarships. He gives money to change the life of these people that wouldn't be able to go to school. Think about the good you can do with your money. How you can help people out? Now if you owe $1,000’s on a credit card/car payment/student loans, get that paid first, you aren’t supposed to be in debt. After that look at your life, what would you like to do with your money that can be a blessing to others? Today you can be a blessing to others. How can you make that happen?

Have a great day.

If you could fight anyone in the world or history, who would it be?

Ghandi.

Not really, that was a quote in a movie though.

Most of us do not choose who we are going to fight in life.

Not every fight is physical.

There are plenty of fights that are more verbal and in other forms.

People fight, argue and disagree all the time.

Who do you choose to fight with?

What are you even fighting about?

I have seen people fight over some stupid things that have no significant value.

Some issues have come up with my family about my Grandma’s possessions since passing.

It breaks my heart to hear my family fighting over an amazing women’s stuff.

There is no earthly possession that represents Grandma or Grandpa.

Yet fighting happens.

It breaks my heart that a family so close as ours fights over who gets what.

Memories are not possessions.

When I think about my Grandma, I think about all the times we ran into her working at Sears, how she would always try to get a volleyball game together at whatever family event we had and how she would always tell you exactly what was on her mind.

I love my Grandma and hate the fighting that has taken place after she has passed.

So much love destroyed by possessions and power.

I love and miss my grandma, and even just hearing about the fighting tears me apart.

God gives us a couple of issues that came up between people and the church.

This is what was given to us to learn from.

In Chapter 15 of Acts an issue comes up about salvation.

Issues came up about whether you had to be circumcised in order to have faith in Jesus.

Faithful followers who came from a Jewish background said yes and people without a history of faith came to know Jesus (Gentiles) did not think so.

There was a discussion of the leaders of the Church.

They came up with a letter to explain their answer to this question.

They sent leaders to explain what their conclusions were, the results were positive.

Verse 31…

“The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.”

It encouraged each other from them looking into this matter.

So much fighting can revolve around bickering instead of fighting a result.

Matthew 18:15-20 gives us this so solve disagreements…

“If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

Jesus gives us some great tips about fighting and confrontation…

1.      Go to that person first.
2.      If they won’t listen bring in a mediator that both people respect.
3.      In the Church aspect, you tell the entire group.
4.      Offer the chance for forgiveness and repentance.

We can fight over some pointless things and ruin some great relationship over fighting over some meaningless things.

The church in Acts 15 were able to work out their differences.

Are you willing to stop bickering and try to workout those relationships in your life that have went wrong?

God always gives us a second chance, are you willing to do the same?

Sometimes the first step is the hardest.

Are you willing to forgive just like God has forgiven you?

Have a great day.