A young man was raised by a Christian mother who taught him that 10 per cent of everything he earned belonged to God.
When he began to work at the age of 16, he gave 10 % of his earnings to God’s work. By the time he was 33, he was a millionaire. By the age of 43, he had the largest company in the world. Sadly, when he was 53 something happened and he stopped giving God first place in his life.
It was then that he got a horrible disease, and the doctors told him he would die before he was 54. The man repented, turned back to God, and he lived to be 98 years old, giving away many millions of dollars just as he had before. The foundations he established are still giving away millions long after the death of John D. Rockefeller.
Rockefeller had a gift of giving. When he stopped using his gift, the purpose of his life ended. When he reestablished living for his purpose, God continued to bless his life.
What has God called you to do? If you’ll do that, God will keep away the devourer.
Tags: giving, tithe
When George Washington was President, there was a move in Congress to change laws so tithing to a church wasn’t required. The move was voted down because Congress didn’t want the government to be responsible for supporting needy citizens. They saw that as the church’s job.
How far we’ve come! Or have we?
When Congress makes laws, they are one-size-fits-all laws that are easily taken advantage of and abused. If the church were responsible for caring for the needy, there could be one-on-one ministry that individualizes the care given. Of course, today even church members don’t tithe, so finances are limited.
What do you think? Would it be better for the church to care for needy citizens or the government? Why?
Tags: money, needy, outreach, poor
It was Easter Sunday morning in Feldkirch, Austria. Napoleon’s massive army was preparing to attack the strategic town. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender.
The townspeople had gathered in the local church for the Easter service. The pastor rose and said, “Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us.”
The council accepted his plan and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left.
The lesson in this historical account is that when we praise the Lord he confounds our enemy. Let’s keep the praise coming; it may be our salvation!
Tags: Easter, Napoleon, trust, worship
During the early days of Operation Desert Storm, US Marine Corporal Robert Banner got separated from his platoon. Alone, he wandered in the desert for 48 hours hiding from the enemy, evading Iraqi scouts, and hiding under the sand in evasive maneuvers.
He was found by allied forces who happened to have reporters with them. He was recounting his story to the reporters who noticed he was gulping down water. A reporter commented, “You sure are thirsty!”, to which Cpl. Banner replied, “You know what, I was so busy running, I forgot I was thirsty.”
Is it possible we can get so wrapped up in doing “church” that we forget to thirst after God? Think about how thirsty you really are.
Tags: Desert Storm, thirst, worship
Don Berry is an electrician and has been very beneficial in keeping our electrical needs resolved here at the church. I’ve also used him on electrical projects at my house.
On one occasion a couple of years ago we had an electrical problem at our home. I called Don up and explained the problem and we agreed on a time when he would be there. Don is usually very prompt and I was concerned when he didn’t show up as promised.
A bit later he called me from his cell phone. He had been at the church and couldn’t find the problem I had described. We had a big misunderstanding. I was describing an electrical problem at my house and he was thinking I was describing a problem at the church. We wasted a half hour of his time over a miscommunication.
I think many of our problems are either mis-speaking or mis-hearing. That is the cause of 90% of the disagreements Anita and I have. I say one thing and she hears another. Then she says something and I hear another. Is there a way out of the mis-communication dilemma? Probably not until we learn to speak the same language.
Let’s try a little harder to hear what each other is saying today.
Tags: hearing, mistakes, misunderstanding
Leon Kessler passed away last night. Leon, also known as Arthur, and Esther were a part of our church many years. Leon was a blessing to me. He was a World War 2 veteran who was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, 1941. He spent his time in the marines going from island to island in the Pacific freeing them from Japanese control. He saw a lot of combat and returned home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Leon was not a church goer and was pretty rough around the edges. But, he had a conversion experience in the 1980s that dramatically changed him. Although he understood that all his sins were under the blood of Christ, he had haunting memories of the things he had seen and done in World War 2 that bothered him up to the end. He and I joked about it, but we both knew this was a very real battle for him.
Leon didn’t trust church leadership or the government. On several occasions he gave me a financial gift in cash, because he was afraid the church or the government would keep part of it and he didn’t want any record to be turned in as taxable income.
My fondest memory of Leon was when my sons and I took him to the Garrett theater to see ‘Pearl Harbor’ when it was first released. Fortunately, it was a Monday night and only three other people in the theater, because Leon spoke his opinions right out loud: “Why, they’re killing way too many people!” and “That never happened!”.
What will you remember about Leon Kessler?
Tags: Remembering, World War II
I was so proud of everyone who participated in the musical/drama’ The Borrowed Tomb’. Everyone worked really hard to do the best presentation of the Easter story we could; and it was a great success. The choir did a great job, the behind-the-scenes stage hands had everything in place, the character actors acted the story well, the lights/sound/and technical arts were supportive and powerful, the fog machine worked great this year, the construction/artistic people designed a great and believable set, the make-up/costume people were excellent, and the Directors, Janet Bontrager (drama) and Pastor Adam (choir) wove it all together masterfully. For a church of our size, I think we excelled and went over the top!
But the real test was in the response. Could we tell the story convincingly, and could those who attended be tugged enough by the Spirit to want to make a public demonstration of that faith? Apparently so, because we counted 33 or 34 people stand to make a decision for Christ. And some of those we tough cases who had resisted the gospel for years.
So, I’m proud of all your hard work. We won a victory over Satan on behalf of many captives. Now we can rejoice in the harvest the Lord has given us (Deuteronomy 16:15-17)
Tags: harvest, rejoice, work