Before I was the pastor of New Hope, I worked in a factory in Butler assembling and converting castings for hydraulic pumps. I had my preacher’s license, so I was free to travel into other churches in CMI that needed leadership. Because of that freedom I was used by Bishop Paino as our trouble-shooter in churches in transition.
At one point, I was asked to be the interim pastor at a church in St. Paul, Indiana. The pastor of this country church had been forced to step down over an alleged child molesting case. There was a negative aura in the community over the church, and there were only about a dozen people left attending. With lack of evidence there were no charges and the pastor had moved away. Anita and I were supposed to keep this church alive until a new pastor could be installed. So, every Saturday we drove down to St. Paul, spent the night in a motel, led worship and preached to a dozen discouraged people on Sunday morning, and drove back Sunday afternoon. All with two little kids in a bright red 1973 Vega station wagon with no air-conditioning. They paid us just enough to cover our expenses.
But we were delighted to make that investment in the Kingdom of God. You know, there is no sacrifice we make that is a waste. What we invest in the Kingdom always bears fruit. What we withhold is withholding from God, to our own detriment. What investments are you making in the Kingdom?
Tags: investing, St. Paul IN
John Jacob Astor arrived in America in 1783 a penniless immigrant from Germany. Yet within a few dozen years, he grew to become America’s richest man. How?
Astor acquired his enormous wealth in real estate, finding that the smartest way to invest was not to buy the ‘hot’ properties everyone else was bidding sky-high. Rather, he would quietly buy cheap properties directly in the path of growth of a major city.
He then merely waited until the growth pattern reached his properties, causing their value to soar. Then he’d sell, take his proceeds and buy much more property – again at cheap prices – a little farther out from the city and repeat this process over and over.
His secret was wisely anticipating where the growth would occur, and being there when it happened. Hockey great Wayne Gretsky once stated his secret: “I don’t skate to where the puck is, I skate to where the puck is going to be.” Seeing ahead is vision. And without vision, the people perish. Ask God to show you what you need to prepare for in your life.
Tags: investing, plan, success, vision