Hi Friends,
To all of our regular attenders at Faith, I’d like to share with you an update on our current spiritual condition as it relates to our finances at the church. Three Sundays ago I shared with the church on our current financial situation, and noted that after reviewing our giving records that we clearly had an obedience and sin problem in this area. Two outcomes have occurred since that meeting. I would like to briefly comment on both situations:
Our giving has gone up 40% over the previous pattern.
Wow, what a sigh of relief! And no, while I’m rejoicing at this turnaround, we’re not out of the proverbial “woods” yet. It will be some time before we get back on firm footing. For a long time we have literally been living Sunday to Sunday; the potential of not paying bills on time and staff receiving partial compensation being present and real. Until further notice, we are continuing on our “bare budget” program until we are on better footing and longer-term trending the right direction (which IS the case right now for the past three weeks, PTL!).
Why am I sharing this? It’s less about what our bottom line is, and much, much more about being obedient to God. It’s not only about the church being blessed, but EVERY area of your life! Should the Lord direct you to give a special offering (remember, those are above and beyond the tithe) to help our bottom line, please do so and may God bless you for it! However, remember that that our primary concern as believers is to be obedient in the basic things. Please be obedient! Three weeks ago I shared with our congregation that we missed between $300k to $450k because of our sin in not giving the tithe during 2009.
Yes, I remember the collective “gulp!” that Sunday. It makes each of us wonder what we missed.
But friends, be encouraged. Together we are turning a corner as many who have not been obedient are joining hands with those who have been. Keep being obedient! It you haven’t been obedient, start now! God will bless you for it.
We have ten brand new tithing households.
Wow, what an encouragement! Signs of growth in the lives of God’s people are what Faith is all about. We love seeing spiritual re-birth, baptisms, Spirit baptisms and folks moving out in their giftedness (among other areas). We also love seeing the maturity in a walk with Jesus in the area of giving.
We have several new families, some brand new in Christ who have starting following the Lord in obedience in the tithe. It makes us stronger as a church, unifying us in a greater way as we live together under God’s umbrella of blessing. It matters in regard to what God does among us. I’m also impressed by those who have been with us for some time who have begun to be obedient in giving their tithe as well. What an incredible encouragement for a pastor whose responsibility before God is to mature people in their Christian faith!
For those among us who are not able to tithe because of an unbelieving spouse, or because headship in the home won’t allow it, God knows your heart. We stand with you, for the salvation or change of heart of your family member. While it is difficult to think of a loved one living under a curse (Malachi 3) we are reminded in John 3 that this is already a reality. Our responsibility in these cases are to be salt and light, loving them into knowing the person of Jesus Christ.
As I conclude, I want you to know how much I love and appreciate you, enjoying this journey we are on together as a congregation. I’m looking forward to the days ahead of God’ presence being great among us, and being able to reach outside the walls of Faith in greater ways because our resource is not the buck, but God.
May you experience…blessing!
Pastor Mike Johnson