Posts Tagged ‘debt’

How Spirit Led Giving Could Transform the Church

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

If Spirit led giving is more beneficial than tithing, then there must be an objective list of benefits to prove it. Here is a list of the positive changes that would come in result of Spirit led giving as opposed to tithing.

1. Church budgets would require more faith to operate through freewill gifts

The tithe acts as a mandated tax system, which implies that you are obligated by ‘law’ to pay it. The tithe works out great for church budgets. Granted not everyone tithes, but still the few that feel obligated to, are consistent and reliable in providing steady income for the church. Regardless of rain, or shine, utopia or apocalypse; these faithful few will tithe.

I can understand how a base salary for church budgets seems to make common sense, but at the same time, let’s look at the pitfalls. Imagine if your leaders want to build a skating rink, bowling alley, and pool hall inside your church. All they have to do is say is the spirit of God is leading them. In the mean time, your consistent tithe enables this poor stewardship because your predictable giving provides no accountability for the spending. They tactfully rely on your tithe because they bet that your fear of the . . . “curse” . . . will keep your money in their pockets. As a tither your money must go towards your home Church regardless of your feelings or desire to give elsewhere.

Imagine a church that will say “we believe that God is calling us to start a homeless ministry, and we believe that He will call others to donate without being forced to do so”? I’m sure all the church accountants will start biting their nails off. According to their faith it’s seemingly impossible to operate a Church by people who are led by the Holy Spirit.

Spirit led, freewill giving takes an extreme amount of faith to accept. Operating a ministry through a mandated tax system requires very little faith compared to spirit led gifts.

To practice a faith that believes the Holy Spirit is capable of convincing a missionary to travel to the remote parts of an African jungle but is not capable to direct others to give freely is hypocritical.

2. Many ministries not called by the Spirit will close their doors

Some have heard the old saying, “if God calls a ministry, he will pay for it”. Unfortunately, many church doors remain open today because of the imposed tax system levied upon the members. The mandated tithe guarantees the place is warm in the winter and the lights are on at night, but it does not hearts are receptive and God is welcome.

If the Spirit of God were in control of funding the ministries, then the Spirit of God would encourage us to give only to those ministries in which He wishes to work in. If you are unhappy with the financial decisions of your fellowship, then most of us are technically faced with 2 bogus decisions. One is to keep paying our tithe with regret, and the other option is to leave. This doesn’t seem like a great choice. The people of God need the liberty to give to any ministry that their heart is pleased with. Look, i don’t believe that all of us will agree with every financial decision of our church body, which means we should not violate our spiritual conscience and blindly follow a legal law.

At any given time, God’s people need the option to practice discernment when deciding which ministry is best suited for monetary support. Spirit led giving truly practices the cliche statement, that if God calls a ministry, then God will pay for it.

3. More needs would be supplied rather than wants

You don’t have to beg for givers when you see someone in a desperate fight to keep their family healthy because of a financial hardship. Within my Church fellowship, we are building homes for poor people in Guatemala. Once you hear their testimonies, and hear about their spiritual and physical struggles, many times people are anxious for the offering plate to be passed around.

On the other hand, when you look at 3-D models of the potential state-of-the-art fitness facility, many times the pastor has to preach a mini sermon on tithing prior to the offering plate being passed around. They have to lay the guilt on you and make you feel the pressure. If it’s not guilt they impose on you, then their other tactic is to get you to salivate over this nice new facility. So more than likely your desire to give is out of greed or guilt, and not out of a cheerful heart. Let me be clear . . . I’m not saying that tithing can’t be done with a right heart, or that church buildings are all bad.

Spirit led giving allows us the choice to put your money anywhere. The tithe only allows us one option – put your money in the “local storehouse” offering. The responsibility of church leaders is to distribute your tithe according to needs or wants. Many times, our leaders may do a great job, but on some occasions, your desire may be to give elsewhere.

Most churches are setup to appeal to our greed because when we walk in we expect cushioned chairs, hi-def screens, marble flooring, and fancy sight and sound. If we stop seeing these amenities, we begin to wonder where our tithe is going. We give our tithe partly because of the luxurious benefits we receive from it. When people aren’t seeing any new TV’s or equipment in the church, then we start questioning where our tithe is going. This cycle causes most of our tithe to be spent on church amenities and not on the real needs. No wonder recent giving statistics have stated that 85% of what religious organizations bring in is spent on internal operation.

4. People would pray more

Tithing is so easy! No thinking involved. No questions. No doubts. Just take your paycheck, multiply by .10, and now you have your tithe. You don’t need to pray or ask God about anything. This is the epitome of automatic Christianity.

Christ didn’t die so that we can continue to blindly follow rituals that require no communication with Him. Christ died so that he could repair the relationship between God and man. He tore the veil for a reason. If he wanted us to continue the traditions that enable automated worship, then he would have kept the veil intact in front of the holy of holies.

Spirit led giving is an opportunity for God to confront you individually about your giving, and an opportunity for you to listen. What a boring relationship would i have with my wife if all my deeds were spelled out in my vows. A romantic relationship is spontaneous, sacrificial, and creative. If you were to treat your spouse the same way you treat God with your tithe, i believe many of you would be sleeping on the couch.

It takes work, communication, and listening to understand and hear what my wife’s desires are. I give my unknown acquaintances the same fruit cake year after year for Christmas. But the reason why i can give my wife things that mean something is because “I KNOW HER“. Do you know God? Tithing is just like that stale fruitcake you give to that person year after year. The absence of a personal relationship is an excuse to forgo sacrifice, creativity, and spontaneity.

Same time, every week pagans come to their stone god and present a sacrifice. They don’t know if that’s what the Buddha wants, because he is dead and his memories are made of stone. On this note, Christians are great at pagan worship because we forget that our God is actually living as well. We have an opportunity to communicate with a living God, but instead we are satisfied with returning every week with the same gifts, even though God is looking for something else. He might as well be stone because somewhere between his lips and our ears His requests seem to hit some mortar.

Tithing can be an escape route to avoid communication with God- “I don’t have to talk to God, nor do I have to come face to face with his holiness. All i do is just sign my name on that line, and now I have one thing accomplished without even confronting God!”

We have to ask ourselves if tearing the veil to the the access of the throne room of God was actually intentional?

Spirit led giving is a great opportunity to pursue what God wants you to do with His money. Many of us hate confrontation, and even more of us hate confrontation with a holy, powerful God. Spirit Led giving requires us to counsel with God on our giving. Sure, a set standard, such as tithing, can eliminate the battle with excuses, but it cannot eliminate greed that dwells in your heart.

5. Spirit led giving does not appease the hearts of those who could afford more than 10%

Tithing kind of works like an alibi. It’s the sort of evidence you present to the defense proving that you are innocent. Not that you couldn’t have done more, but who could point the finger at you and exclaim, ‘guilty’. You paid your tithe, so you are covered.

If i believe my tithe protects me from the curse and the devourer, then why would i care to give more than 10%? But if i believed in Spirit led giving, i have no security blanket to protect my conscience from poor giving. Either I will have to ignore God and my conscience, or will need to give what God is telling me to. Tithing is not there to fall back on as a safety net.

More would be able to pay off debt

I’ve written a few blog posts already about tithing and debt, but this always needs to be reiterated. Tithing, while in debt, does not protect your testimony from poor stewardship. Actually it would just prove that you have a problem with money leaving your pockets too often. You are not a good steward if you serve God with your tithe and yet you also are a slave to debt. You cannot serve two masters.

I’d rather that you pay off debt, and learn from the guilt and embarrassment while you are empty handed as the offering goes by. Tithing does not teach good budgeting skills, nor can it promise to teach you self control. Get your budget and spending under control first, because that’s what the world will see. Then begin to enhance your giving. We are so worried about what Johnny Steeple and Mary Chapel are thinking about us in the church. The world does not need to see you giving tons of money to the church while ignoring practical stewardship principles. They are going to think you are in a cult ;)

One story i always state as a reminder to tithing while in debt. Remember the master who left 3 servants with talents while he went away. The first two servants invested their talents and gave the master more than their initial amount. The third servant buried his talent and gave all of it back to his master. The thing to remember is that the third servant, who gave 100% of it back to his master, was considered the ‘wicked’ one.

6. People would connect more closely with one another

I would consider this point more on the un-obvious side, but i believe is of crucial importance. This is one of the things that i’ve struggled with whenever i began Spirit led giving. Believing in Spirit led giving is all fine and dandy, but how do i find out where to give my money to? Certainly God wasn’t going to start appearing to me in dreams or paint a message in the sky. Praying does help to bring some ideas to mind, but that can’t just be it.

Shortly after practicing freewill giving, i began to realize that i needed to find out what other’s needs were. Before, i didn’t know about many financial needs. I didn’t really worry about it either. The church leaders were the ones with that job. I just gave them my tithe and they worried about it. But now, i have to connect with my brothers and sisters to find out their needs. I need to know how they are struggling.

I’m no counselor but most of us have something to contribute whenever we speak with one another about problems in our life. For many of us we can help by paying for someone’s gas to work, or pay for books for school . . .etc. Tithing doesn’t require us to be socially intelligent with our giving. All we have to do is drop it in the plate. There’s no need to listen to your brothers financial problems because you already gave your tithe away anyway and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Spirit led giving forces me to connect one-on-one with my brothers & sisters. I need to hear what issues they are dealing with in life. I  need to know if money would help them start up a ministry. Spirit led giving requires me to be in tune with those in my spiritual family. This also requires my senses to be on alert. I am more aware of physical needs around me now that i am free to give towards anything. I was so narrow minded prior to Spirit led giving

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New Blog Category for Questions

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

I don’t know why i have never done this before, but i finally started a new blog category listed on the right that will list many of the questions i receive through email or elsewhere about stewardship and tithing.

Here’s the first question for this category.

Q: We need to get caught up on our debts and pay them off. My husband insists that we still pay tithes and offerings instead of paying them off. Is he right?

A: Absolutely not.

How can you serve both the master of debt, and also serve God with gifts? You can’t serve God while you are a slave to debt. There is no guarantee of a reward of money to pay off your debt just because you paid the tithe and offering first.

My parents paid tithing for 20 years, and i can tell you that in the end they were still in $30,000 in credit card debt. Their tithe over those years was equivalent to about $100,000. I believe a wise steward would pay 70,000 in tithes and offerings and used the other 30,000 to stay out of debt.

God doesn’t look at the amount. He looks at your heart, which will fall in line with a sacrificial giving attitude. But he’s not happy with poor stewardship regardless of your worthy giving habits. Remember, it was the servant in Matthew 25:14-30 who gave 100% back to his master that was considered a wicked servant and a bad steward.

Living in debt, outside of investment purchases such as schooling, mortgages, transportation, and business purchases, is poor stewardship. I’m not trying to get you to be divisive with your husband, by all means, come to an agreement together; but please be persuasive that tithing does not exempt you from the curse of poor stewardship.

In the end. Remember that you can’t properly serve both masters.

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Have Debt? Start Tithing

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Oh yes, another example of someone getting out of debt by tithing. Read the story here “CBN.com“.  I have to be careful here, because i do believe God honors faith, as well as sacrificial giving, which means that i believe giving 10% isn’t the only way to receive blessing. According to the story, apparently, a couple has paid of $125,000 worth of debt since they started tithing. I do not doubt that God’s blessing is upon them, i just wish people do not think that tithing is the magical bullet for their lives.

For every tithing success story, you could probably find  an equal story where an individual is tithing and getting in even more debt then before. In my tithing testimony you will read that my own family suffered the consequences of debt, and legalistic tithing. People don’t understand that God blesses the sacrifice not the animal. So it isn’t because this couple reached the 10% benchmark, that God decided to finally bless them. It’s the sacrifice that they made that God blessed.

I’m not preaching another form of the health/wealth gospel here. God’s word says he blesses faith. I couldn’t tell you the form that your blessing will come in, or even if it is now or in eternity, but God does reward faith, not that personal gain is why you should give.

Many more have gotten out of debt, through practical stewardship principles rather than waiting for the windows of heaven to open up. Typically, money doesn’t fall from the sky. Usually, financial planning is the key to financial success. There are no tricks to being wealthy, or even financially stable. There is only planning, and implementing.

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Church rethinks its role

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

The quotes i am about to write in this blog almost don’t sound real. The original news article is found at PressTelegram.com. You can see for yourself how the Church is way off track with what our mission is suppose to be. For those of you who don’t want to read the article, the basic premises is that a church is in a lot of debt, and they don’t have a lot of money to pay for it. So they are contemplating turning their facility into a community center so they can attract more revenue in order to keep their doors open. So let’s start blowing your mind. Here are the quotes from this article.

Mind boggling statement #1

“I’ve perceived a real need for a center in the community” . . .

. . .  “We’ve seen the facility as a real potential asset for the community as a whole”

Mind boggling statement #2

“The answer may be found in what other communities nationwide have called “adaptive reuse” of churches that have opened their doors to community purposes in order to survive.”

Mind Boggling statement #3

“I am of the opinion that some of the ideas that have worked across the country in adaptive reuse could work here if there is a proper process in educating the community and allowing the community to participate.”

Why does it all of a sudden become a necessity to be involved in community, when you face extinction? How messed up have we been if now we realize that we should start being an asset to the community around us? Since when did we realize that our doors need to be opened to community? And finally, since when did we realize that educating and allowing the community to participate was a good idea?

Holy, stinkin moley! Are you kidding me? These church leaders all of a sudden received an epiphany about their relevancy in the community? Being relevant is hardly about whether you’ve got the right clothing styles, modern worship band, great equipment, and a nice place to gather. I can tell you that as a parent, if simulating my child’s wardrobe and music mixes makes me relevant than that’s the last thing on my list to do.

The definition of relevant is: “Having a bearing on or connection with the matter at hand.” What specific matters does the church have a good bearing on right now? I’m sure we have a good hold on the “cool” matter. I’m sure we have a good hold on the “big and popular” matter. I’m sure we’ve done a great job connecting the Godly culture with the wordly culture. But what matters should we actually have a bearing on? That’s the relevant question we should be answering.

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Sermons for Stewardship Month

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Stewardship MonthJanuary is typically the beloved stewardship month for all churches. It’s the month where all the building projects and dreams are laid out on the table, and drooled over. This is also the month where tithing sermons are preached on the most. I can prove this because i see a spike in my statistics letting me know that more people are searching for stewardship or tithing sermons on google.

The majority of all tithing sermons are given during this month alone. I can understand the influence that greed has on everyone’s life, but considering stewardship goes far past the aspect of giving, let’s get into something a little more appropriate during our economy. Here are four sermon topics besides giving, that you can preach on each Sunday during Stewardship month.

  1. Saving

    I think there are some out there that are against saving for the long term like retirement. That’s simply because they feel that Christ could return at any moment, and that whole time you have had money sitting in an account somewhere. I’m not gonna get into that because i think it’s just foolish thinking.

    Saving is so important today more than ever. You can’t rely on your job tomorrow, and you can’t rely on social security and your pension when you retire. You may never get a pension, and social security in some way will be revised or broke by that time. The bible says that the parents are in charge of laying up for their children. This is an earthly task with spiritual authority. Your children need you to be wise with your money. It gets tougher and tougher in this world to make it, and our children need our help.

  2. Debt

    I don’t think that i need to explain why this is an important topic. Really what can i say here? We all know how crucial debt has been in destroying our homes and economy. During this month start a stewardship class. Dave Ramsey, and Crown Financial have some very good materials and courses that will jump start your church into financial freedom. After all, the less debt they have the more they can offer God.

    If you are a pastor in unsecured debt and you would struggle with preaching this topic to your congregation, well, admit your struggles, don’t pretend that you have no vices, and preach on debt anyways. If your church is in major debt, then this would be a perfect opportunity for you to take serious looks at your church budget, and find out how you can cut back.

  3. Budgeting

    This is usually the root of the problem of the above two points. I’m sure you’ve heard the statement: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. I have to admit, i hate budgeting. I am not a numbers guy. They do not excite me. I received a “D” in accounting when i took it way back in highschool. I have to admit also that i know budgeting gets even worse when you are in debt, or have no money because it is depressing to open up your books and see your situation over and over and over. No one wants to remind themselves about the pennies that they have left in their account. We just want to close our eyes and hope that we make it from paycheck to paycheck. Become disciplined with this challenge, and force yourself to do it.

  4. Faith and Trust

    To me this is the most important of all the topics. We need to trust God. We need to ask him to help us. We need help if we have an abundance, and we need help if we have a lack. I know many of us are “living on a prayer”. We don’t know how we are going to make it, and yet we look back, and here we are. I sincerely don’t know how my family has made it this far. I tell you what, if i could explain how i’ve made it this far, then that means God had nothing to do with it. It is important to build your faith and your trust in God in regards to finances.

I guarantee that if you preach on these four topics and God’s people righteously act upon them; you won’t have to preach on giving. Giving will automatically flow – not that money in the Church bank account is the motivation to preach on these sermons. As a church, be wise with your money. Be free to give, and share. God blessed your church to bless others. I just wrote a post about some giving statistics the other day that reveals how ungenerous churches really are. Don’t be a selfish church that spends 85% of their resources on themselves.

Does anyone have any other topics that they think would be good sermons? If not, what are your thoughts on the points above?

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Foreclosure, Tithing, & Guilt

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

Just read the blog on reuters that addresses the God before mortgage crisis in which people would rather tithe than lose their house. Consider my post a continuation from the last post. The author stated on Reuters how he had trouble finding anyone who would give their name and publicly announce that they are foreclosing on their home so that they can continue to give to God.

I find that very interesting, cause normally tithers are very bold about their life long decision to tithe. If they think their tithing decision is truly making God happy, then people are always more than willing to share their story and give their name. Even as they foreclose their house, usually feelings of persecution usher into their minds as they strain and stand up to do God’s tithing will, amidst their crisis. You will never have trouble finding a name or a person who tithes, but finding a name from a tither who is foreclosing on their house, now that’s like pulling teeth.

It’s not as if he couldn’t find these people. No, he could. They just wouldn’t give their names. This is interesting indeed. Granted losing your house is embarrassing. But why all the embarrassment if you are doing what is right by tithing? Unless, these people truly do think that their decision is foolishness. What does the bible say?

Psalms 37:21
The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives.

This is where these people are stuck. They know that what they are going to do with their house is wrong, but on the other hand, they feel that not tithing is wrong as well. I feel bad for these people. I really do. It is sad to me. Besides the fact of what this is doing to their family, it is said at what the world sees. The world doesn’t care about whether you tithed or not this Sunday. Not that i care what the world thinks in the wrong way, but God does call us a light on a hill for a reason.

What a testimony. We talk about a God who paid the debt for everyone, but we show them our stubbornness to pay our own financial debts. How is God glorified through your financial negligence, but honored through your tithing? You cannot justify one over the other. There are many people out there who are in legitimate debt that they cannot afford to pay. I understand that, so i am not talking about those people.

Through it all, my guess for why nobody wanted to share their name in that news article is because people know what they are doing is not right, but they use tithing as a spiritual quest to appease their guilty conscience. People need to stop tithing & get out of debt.

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Stop Tithing & Get Out of Debt

Friday, September 5th, 2008

There it is, I said it. I think this is the first i’ve ever heard myself go straight out and say it. Stop tithing, and Get out of debt. I don’t want you to give another dime until all of your unsecured credit is paid off. I’m not talking about your house, or your car, or your school loans. I’m talking about all the store and credit card debt. Get out of Debt!

“No one can serve two masters”. Although that statement in context of scripture was not referring to debt, i believe it is applicable as a stewardship principle. It’s hard to serve God with your money while you are still a slave to debt. It’s also hard to serve God with your money while you are a slave to possessions as well. I know there are some legitimate people who are not slaves to possessions, but have some debt lingering over them. In those cases the simple answer is get out of debt and then your can give God your money.

Do not bow to the pressure of the tithing threats. God does not judge a person by what they’ve given; He judges them by what they’ve kept. You need to be a wise steward, and part of that is making the decision to get out of debt, and then give to God. Actually, here’s a thought that just ran through my head. Who said that paying your bills and striving to get out of debt is not giving to God. The misconception is that paying your bills or striving to be debt free is not a spiritual way of giving. Are you somehow dishonoring God if you pay off your debts? Why would God be more honored if you paid the parishioner, but was late on your bills? Where is the honor in that?

God judges us based on our stewardship. I’ve stated this so many times as an example, but it is so relevent: The servant who gave 100% back to the master when he returned, was the one considered a bad steward. A good analogous word for “steward” is “investor”.

At the end, the truth is we will be judged by our investments. Whether we are in debt or not, If we’ve invested in the worldly things, then God will burn up our works like wood, hay, and stubble. If you are struggling financially, and cannot get out of debt no matter what you’ve done, then stop giving it away and start investing in the plan to get out of debt. If you have trouble with debt because of self control, then get some accountability, get some instructions, follow a plan to stop spending; and start investing in a debt-free life. Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial offer good programs to help you get out of debt. Don’t feel guilty about putting your money towards debt instead of in the offering plate. God will honor your decision for being a wise, investing steward.

Remember, God’s blessings are reaped naturally by a cause and effect more then they are reaped miraculously, such as money falling from the sky. You will reap what you sow. So if you sow a debt-free life, you will reap the rewards that come from it. The natural reward of a debt free life is not money falling from the sky. Although i wouldn’t pass that up.

There are only two paths you can take towards Godly stewardship. One leads to debt as your master, and the other path leads to financial freedom as your master. Which path are you going to choose?

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5 More Myths About Church Building Projects

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

Yesterday I presented the first 5 Myths About Church Building Projects, so today i continue with the final five myths that our pastoral leaders misuse in order to initiate an expensive building project.

Myth #6. Our renovated and upgraded sanctuary resembles the glory of God

- We act like we are recreating the holy of holies or the temple of Solomon! At one point I had the privilege of going to a church that had built a 96 million dollar facility. As a matter of fact, they paid cash for it! Let me tell you, it was something. It was beautiful! But once I walked out the doors on Sunday, what was it to me then? What was it to God then? God doesn’t sit up in heaven and just stare at all the beautiful churches, as if he were walking through a gallery admiring all the works of art.

Most people renovate their church out of peer pressure from so many complaints. I know of churches who have split over the color of the carpets or where the piano should go. What they’ve done is completely forget about their savior, who was born in some cave, placed in a feeding trough, and grew up a carpenter’s son.

Myth #7. We need to invest in more room to fit our congregation

-God is calling his church to disperse, not build our own civilization. A passage about the tower of babel in Genesis 10 says, “And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Now in the 21st century mankind is back to our old ways. We get so comfortable and are so afraid to break up the chemistry. We think that we can’t possibly start a new church or disperse the people we do have. Of course because we are carnal thinkers, when we are uncomfortable, we come up with a natural way to fix it, instead of coming up the spiritual way.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not talking about that we all should be worshipping under the open sky whether or not its rain or shine. Many churches do not make the right decisions when it comes to investment. Just because you built your church building on some property that is appraised higher than what you bought it for, does not mean that God looks at it as an investment.

This reminds me of the story in Luke 12 which states,
“Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

‘So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’”

Myth #8. The debt will be worth it

- There can be much said on this subject alone. The first thing that comes to mind is that our debts typically do not last for 10 to 15 years. Most of our church mortgage debts run for typically 30 years. Which means that these debts will not only be paid by us, but also by our children. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to pay for my parent’s debt. I don’t care if they think the debt was for my benefit. I don’t want to pay it. Why should children have to pay for the debts on the decisions that their parents have made?

Let’s not forget about what will be neglected because we have to pour so much of our money into paying off this debt now. Who will go hungry, what ministries and missionaries will be sacrificed? Are we neglecting the one good to do different good?

What will you have to sacrifice from your family so that your church family will have? Are you leaving an investment for your children or are you considering this church building your investment for them? Eventually they will move away from that area, so then what? 2 Corinthians 12 states, “For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.”

If I knew the end of the world was going to be next week, I’d be racking up all of my credit cards and going into as far debt as possible. I would only do that because I knew next week it wouldn’t matter. But the Church isn’t doing this because they are getting ready for the rapture, tribulation, or the end of the world; they are doing it from the desire to pursue the American dream. This country is in unprecedented debt, and why should we preach against it when our church’s debt is maxed out?

Myth #9. Our growth will allow us to birth more programs and functions

- If only we had more, then we could do more for those who don’t have what we’re gonna have.

Although I can say more, I don’t think I should. That said it all there.

Myth #10. This is the will of God

- There are many churches out there that have fallen into the path of a pastor who has been misled. For most churches, all it takes is the pastors to get up one day and say that God is calling them to initiate a church building project, and from then on, all the energy, time, and resources is poured into the pastor’s vision. I understand the role of the pastor. They are to lead and to shepherd, but God still created him as part of the body. The pastor is not the head or the cornerstone, he is a co-dependant organ, just like the rest of the body parts.

There are so many people out there that claim the will of God and His power over their life, but the repercussions do not show the power of God. I agree that it is hard to discern the will of God, but no man can do it alone. The pastor must operate as one of many.

What happens many times in building projects is that the pastor gets everyone all pumped up and on board with this goal. Then all of a sudden when bills hit and the pastors preaching his 10th sermon this season on giving, people now aren’t so on board with it all. You see what happens is that the pastors will was not the will of God. You do have some people that continue to stay on board, but he majority lose track of the excitement because they’ve realized that they’ve been pursuing the dreams and visions that a man, and not God, has placed on their heart.

As a simple illustration, this is typically how this same scenario works out with a teacher who is motivating kids to go to the museum for a field trip. The teacher pumps the kids full of excitement about the awesome dinosaurs, and animals that are at the museum. But when the kids get there, they are bored out of their mind. They are not interested at all. Yes, the teacher told the truth about a few dinosaurs and animals, but to a kid who can’t touch or climb on it, it’s dumb.

You see, the teacher wanted to go to the museum, and then all he had to do was excite the children into going. There was no consensus made nor was there a proper perspective painted about the actual experience.

When I am facing some open doors for my family, it would be foolish for me to just excite my wife about the decision that I’ve made without actually consulting her first. When you are a body, you breathe as a body, you think as a body, and you open doors as a body. It is designed this way by God because he knows that 1 man(one body part) has difficulty discerning the decisions for the whole body.

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