Keep Your "Faith" out of my pocket!

Keep your “faith” out of my pocket!

Recently I attended a service and felt like I was being berated for my lack of faith in God and the church simply because I did not “double up” on my offering to sow a seed into the ministry. I had a prophet for profit tell me in front of a congregation of people the ministry God gave me would not grow because I refused to give a certain set amount of money that night – regardless to how much I had already given that week and leading up to the services. Of course this was after he declared great things for my ministry. He neglected to tell me and all assembled that the blessing he prophesied over the ministry God had entrusted to me was contingent on a lay away plan with a payment due that night. I have been shaken down in the church because they needed a certain amount of money to make budget and because I was pastoring and working I had to have it. If I feel this way I wonder how the people in the pews who had hitched rides to get to church; who had taken the bus and some who may have even walked may have felt about the constant pull for money that they did not have.

Once only relegated to non-denominational or certain Pentecostal ministries this if you do not give, you don’t have faith or you don’t trust God” mindset has penetrated even the most traditional churches. Many children of God have their faith attacked each week over money.  Those that give are always pressed to give even more. Those that don’t have it to give are reprimanded for their lack of faith. It is not always a lack of faith thing, even though ultimately it is how it is presented. The thing that always crosses my mind as these appeals are made is “poor planning on your part does not constitute and emergency on my part.”

Raising funds for any ministry has always been a challenging proposition. No matter what type or denomination church it takes money to do ministry. This will never change.  Even though we technically make way more money than we ever have it seems like less and less reaches the church. The appeals for funds are getting out of hand and downright scandalous. In the words of a former deacon “God is not pleased.” Why is that?

Failure to tithe - This to me is an obedience issue not a faith issue. We do it because we are told to do so. My blessing comes because I obeyed God, not because I had faith to believe He would do what He said or because I trusted Him even if I did not believe He would do what He said. The amazing thing about tithing that there are ungodly people across this world that recognize the wisdom of tithing and do it – giving to charitable organizations of their choice instead of the church. Yet for many in the body of Christ we have to be convinced that it is still relevant for today. In my book on tithing and stewardship in the local church written in 2002 I stated that even if one did not tithe, if they gave truly as the Lord blessed them they would be giving way above 10 percent, not way under 10 percent. Many people who make the argument not to tithe, make it to give less than 10 percent not more than.

Stewardship – as I get older this is truly the major issue. We are not trained to be proper stewards of what God has already entrusted us with. We don’t manage our household finances well and then we are chafed when the church that we say we love asks for money. We spend as much as we can to feel like we or our family is not missing out and then have little to nothing left for the work of God. At the least give to God first and not last. Put Him at the top of your spending list and not the bottom.  Make God your priority and then budget the rest to save, treat yourself, pay your bills, etc.

Accountability – If people in leadership are not accountable to what they say and to what they do then there will be a failure to trust those in leadership. Once that trust is dissolved, the finances will dry up. This issue cannot be swept under the carpet. People will come hear you preach, teach and minister but that does not mean they really believe in you. If they believe in you, even if they are not there every Sunday you know they are committed to the vision in many other tangible ways.

People don’t give like they used to - This is because back then even though they did not have much money they truly believed in the minister and the ministry. They believed in the vision. They believed in the goals set before them.  Many now are super skeptical. Whether it is due to previous mismanagement of funds, a building fund that never seems to have money in it to build, or the repeated give or we won’t leave this part of the service, people withhold their hands and their wallet.

Tired of the incessant appeals for money - When every time you go to church you constantly hear how much the church is struggling you begin to wonder why. Many churches and ministers are guilty of spending for the big vision before they have the money to support it. This mindset claims that if the people don’t see the physical manifestation of the vision quickly they won’t give. So they stretch out on God, get into debt and difficult places and then challenge you to do the same and watch God move in your life. Then claim you have no faith if you do not respond. While I have no doubt on the stretch of faith, we are called to be faithful stewards and to plan well; that our plans do not come to naught and we are brought to an open shame as one preacher is fond of saying..

During my pastorate at one church in North Carolina I was led to begin raising funds for a church steeple. In reading the history and minutes of that church, the steeple was a major issue. Numerous attempts had been made to get a steeple on the church, but had ultimately failed. This seemed to me to be an issue that we all could agree on and give cheerfully towards.  I believed it would unite warring factions in the church for a common positive purpose. Although that was not the case as there were those who wanted to see me fail so they could not support anything I did, by the grace of God we were able to raise the funds for the steeple in under ten months and place it on the church.  God gave us victory to raise between $6,000.00 to $7,000.00 in a very short time period and accomplish something that was a sore point in the life of that church. How did that happen among people who had no money as I was told?

•   A simple plan was laid out and communicated that as many as possible could embrace that vision. 
• We shared with them the exact price and pictures of what we would be getting.
•  We continued to feed the vision to all, even though there were those trying to stop it.
• As a leader I gave and let the entire membership see me give to the project without taking away from my regular tithe and offerings.
• We used faithful members of that congregation who believed in my leadership and the vision to be in charge of the steeple fund and report every week to the church treasurer – so that there was no mixing of funds and when we needed the funds they would be gone.
• We received gifts even from those who publicly stood against us but said privately they wanted to see the steeple up even if they didn’t want to see me get credit for it. One of those checks was $1500.00 from someone who didn’t support me!
• We gave constant updates as to our progress in raising the funds. As much as I detest fund raising especially in church, I got out of my comfortable zone to ask people to give to this project.
• We stated wholeheartedly that we would not finance the steeple project.  We would only get it when we could pay cash in full. The only thing we would be in debt to was our dream.
• When the steeple was paid for and put up we gave all credit and glory to God and thanked all, even those who chose not to give a dime. 

      While I do not think that this is the only way, it definitely worked for us. The blessing was not getting in debt until we had the money to pay for it. If many more ministries took this approach they would find out they could still stretch out on faith in their appeals yet be faithful stewards of what God has already entrusted them with. This is a balance that is worth striving for.

For the Work of the Kingdom

Lesson # 1

We are the Family of God

Lesson #1
We are the Family
Copyright © 2002
D. S. Briggs, BA., ThM., D.Min

Romans 11:36 – 12:5
Background Scripture: Ephesians 3:14 – 21
Memory verse: Amos 3:3

The family unit has been attacked! It now lies in a critical state, just barely hanging on for life. Once defined as the bedrock of Christian stability and a shelter from the time of storm. The family was a safe haven and a strong tower. Yes, that was the family. Don’t you remember the good days? When the family was the place for unconditional acceptance, and unconditional love for all its members. It was biblically defined and operated as the structure through which the Lord intended to bless all of his creation. It was through the family that God intended to reveal the order of his creation. But we may be too late. Look closer.

The family unit as we know it now lies in intensive care. Look carefully and observe the tubes protruding from all over, monitors flashing, buzzers ringing. Listen. There goes another one. What does it mean? Wounded from the attacks of the adversary. Wounded by friendly fire. Infected by the religious dogma of secular humanism and through media manipulation. All signs point to its demise. The doctor has gathered the remaining family members to tell them that all hope is gone. That there is nothing more that can be done. How did this happen? Why didn’t we catch this earlier? Perhaps we could have taken preventive measures… if not to stave off death, to at least delay its finality, so we could at least get things in order and say goodbye.

Beloved, we can not say that this a strictly a new millennium occurrence. According to Dr. James Dobson, founder of the group “Focus on the Family”, this current attack on the family first became physically evident in the early 1970’s and was highlighted by a British psychotherapist. This psychotherapist, Dr. David Cooper, argued for the need to abolish the traditional family unit as we know it and to substitute new forms of human relationships. In 1971 new age guru Shirley Maclaine mocked the traditional monogamous family unit, and argued for its dissolution and restructuring into what could only be called polygamous serial relationships. In 1992 Time magazine predicted that in the new millennium, the nuclear family as we know it would soon die.

Through years of social engineering, we have in effect sanctioned the multiplicity of partners, thereby increasing the amount of children born out of wedlock. As a society in general we have dramatically reduced the need for parents to stay together to raise their children, relying on the government to step in and be the parent.

This attack is the result of three things that must be dealt with by the power of Almighty God:

1.) Sin…………………………………………………Psalm 51:3; Galatians 6:7-8
2.) Self………………………………………………...Proverbs 14:12; Acts 5:1-10
3.) Satan………...………………………………………………………I Peter 5:8-9

Because we have turned away from God as the head of our lives, we have placed our lives under the control of Satan. When we bow to such doctrine as moral relativism and secular humanism, we in effect become our own “god.” This was the charge that the Triune Godhead made of man and woman in the garden. (cf: Genesis 3:22) We choose to sin and live in sin because it is easier than doing the right thing or living the right way.

Until we get these areas completely under the blood of Jesus Christ, the family unit will never come back together as it should. The family will never operate as the organism of blessing that God intended. We will continue to struggle and live far beneath our privileges.

It is time to fix the Family!!!

Lets go to the text.

Ø Vs#36…For of Him, and through him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Ø Vs#1..I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Ø Vs#2…And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Ø Vs#3..For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Ø Vs#4…For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office:
Ø Vs#5…so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

I.) The Divine Right of Ownership
a.) All things exist because of God……………………………….................................…He is the Creator
b.) All things remain because of God………………..………...................................…He is the Conductor
c.) All things are for the glory of God……………….………….................................…He is the Controller

II.) The Disciple’s Responsibility to the Owner
A.) Paul implores the brethren
1.) Live a Saved life
2.) Live a Submitted life
3.) Live a Sacrificial Life

***a life that is truly, thoroughly, and totally submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ will never be submitted to anyone, or anything else.***

B.) Paul instructs the brethren
1.) We must present our bodies for service
- Holy…We must lay down our lives on the altar of god to be consumed by him
- Acceptable…he alone gives us approval of our sacrificial service
- Reasonable…Jesus dies for you, shouldn’t you be living for him?
2.) We must conform our lives to Christ, not to society
- Not just our soul and our spirit
- Through our study of God’s word, our mind can be transformed
- Renew your mind, by thinking what and how God would want you to think
3.) We must live a life of humility before God and men.
- Arrogant thinking and attitudes have no place in the house of God
- Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time
4.) We must recognize the value of all of God’s children to the whole
- Unity demands respect first, last and always
- There is a difference between adhesive and cohesive unity
- God demands that the family unit have cohesive unity

Concluding thoughts:

As we keep on through this particular chapter of Romans we see both the characteristics of the Christian family towards each other, as well as the characteristics of the Christian family towards the world. When we employ these principles, the family will revive!!!

There were a group of 16 soldiers in the mid 1940’s who had no knowledge of each other. There were just trying their best to serve their country. One by one they were summoned to their commanding officer’s office and given orders to go to Great Lakes, Illinois. When the arrived at the Illinois Naval Facility, these 16 soldiers were told that they were being considered for Officer Training School.

This was still a time of great racial tension in America. Politicians, civil rights groups, and others trying to placate the troubled racial waters during Word War II gave them a grudging chance to see what they could do. Although the Navy had about 100,000 sailors at that time, there were no black officers.

There is no doubt that many in America were expecting them to fail. They were subjected to harsher screening procedures, background checks by the F.B.I. that no white candidate had ever faced. The Navy had projected that they would have a 25% attrition rate, so they pulled in 16 sailors for 12 openings.

None failed. According to George C. Cooper, one of the last living survivors of the group dubbed “The Golden Thirteen”…

“…We made up our mind…early in the game that we were either going to sink or swim together…”

None failed. Sixteen Black men succeeded and passed the test at the same time for twelve slots. No stabbing each other in the back, no undermining each other, no leaving your brother behind while only caring about oneself. Whatever happened they were going to stick to each other and do it together. Succeed together, fail together; it made no difference as long as they stayed together.

That is what family is supposed to do.

We Made This Mess

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to talk with a friend of mine as he was sharing how he came to a recent revelation on how he would be handling a certain aspect of ministry in the future. He shared how he had invited a minister in to minister at the church God has entrusted him with specifically because he believed in his gifts and desired him to minister according to the gifts he had demonstrated in the past.

When the minister arrived he flipped the script so to speak. He went a whole different route, teaching on a difficult subject matter rather than preaching and ministering through word of knowledge - which was why he had been invited. He attempted through several ill placed comments to imply that the subject matter he was teaching was so deep that he needed to be invited to stay there a couple of weeks to teach in order for them to fully receive the knowledge of what he was teaching. When he flowed in his God given gifting he was on point. When he started to teach he sunk faster than a lead balloon. Needless to say the teaching was not received and he might never get another opportunity to minister again at that church.

My friend lamented on why he did not just handle the assignment that he had been given. Why did he feel the need to do something different just to prove he could teach and because it has become the latest new in thing for ministry - and yet fail so miserably. To the minister's credit at least he did not say "God told me to teach" but rather "I know you want me to preach but I teach at home and I going to teach you today." God revealed to both of us in that conversation that We made this mess.

This hit me very hard. First because I have always been the type of pastor that has opened the door of whatever church I pastored to other ministers. They did not have to have a church. They did not have to reciprocate the offer - and many have not. But because I made a vow to the Lord if He ever blessed me to pastor a church I would not do to others what I felt what was done to me - which was to exclude me from various ministry engagements because I was not a singer, or a evangelist type preacher, because I was not a member of the biggest church or most well connected Pastor in the city, or because I was not a member of the in crowd of preachers.

It hit me because as I approach 50 years of age, that like it or not I am part of the establishment. No matter how I think of myself, by virtue of my tenure in ministry, the positions held over the years in vairous associations  conventions and fellowships, the churches served since that day I preached my initial sermon, I am squarely a part of the problem. If I say nothing especially when I know better then I am just as guilty as those who actually do these things.

Beloved let us hear this then loud and clear: It is time for us to stop blaming God and the adversary for what they are not doing. We as members of the Body of Christ have created this monster. We have set it up so that with all the ministry that is needed in this world, so much ministry is not even being touched because we are trying to get in where we fit in when God created us to stand out! An old quote came to my mind that says that God will never do by miracle what he requires us to do by obedience. Simply put, it is up to us to fix this mess we made, not God.

We protest that many preachers are pastoring that should not be. We smugly talk about those that were sent and those that just went. But why are they doing so? Are they rushing God? Are they simply being impatient? Are they not willing to wait on their ministry - even though we have made it clear that they wont get the chance to minister here? Have we effectively silenced them by not even giving them opportunities to use their gifts to the point the only way they can do what they believe God has called them to do is start church / ministry, start a fellowship or pastor an existing church? Do we even communicate with them at all?

No matter how much we try to teach and explain the value and importance of every gift in the Body of Christ, as pastors and leaders we are also too often guilty of promoting one gift above another. We say there is no "big I or no little u" but when those who are Apostles, Prophets, Bishops, Pastors do it among themselves is it any wonder why the church does the same thing? As a result we become hypocritical when we say for example we value the teaching gift but never bring anyone in to teach.

We exalt preachers that can "bring it" and "kill it" by giving them the prime speaking spots, the biggest honorariums and seats of honor within our fellowships but those gifted in other areas are rarely called to serve. As a result these ministers who aren't getting opportunities to minister in the area of their calling try to spiritually diversify themselves to appeal a greater audience. Often this is at a cost of minimizing or sacrificing their true gift(s) from God. This places them out of order and in disobedience to God yet we fail to see how we helped create the environment for them to disobey.

Far too many Pastors are not adequately training and teaching those young men and women God gives them in the things of ministry. We have left them vulnerable to all sorts of trickery by those who wear the same robes as we do. Proper training includes a plan for development and spiritual growth, opportunities to develop their gifts, and sitting them down if they are out of order. While school is important and ever learning should be the goal of every minister, the Pastor is the primary teacher beyond the father and the mother. This absence of pastoral care leaves the newer ministers foundering in their spiritual development, looking for direction and a word from anyone. Even those who they know are not their daddy but at least takes the time to say hello.

In comes the preachers who can't birth new ministers into the Kingdom or can't keep them longer than two months, but are seeking to take what has already been birthed by other pastors who have left them vulnerable. Too many preachers are laying unholy hands on new ministers claiming to want adopt them as spiritual sons and daughters not to pour into them Godly wisdom, spiritual things, Bible knowledge and ministry understanding but to pick their pockets of dollars, or to initiate other ungodly activity. Something is wrong about anyone who can not birth anything in ministry but can only reap where they have not sown. That is the way of the world, not the way of the Kingdom.

We must repent. We must go back to our first love. We must recognize if it is not about God it is not about nothing. Enough tearing down our barns and building greater yet folks leave just as broken as when they entered in. Having abundance means nothing if the people whom God has entrusted to you leave hopeless.We who have been fighting this fight must press faithfully onward in a manner that will give God glory. It starts at the top. We made this mess. Time for us to clean it up.

Will anyone hear? I believe that at least one will. And that one could be the one to make the pendulum swing back the other way and begin to bring us back into proper spiritual balance. Will it be you?

We are the Family of God - Intro

This is the Introduction Chapter to a Vacation Bible School lesson that was written in 2002. I am reworking each chapter and will eventually put it online in it's entirety. The theme of the Bible Study was We are the family of God; Learning, Loving, Lifting and Living the Word of God. I Pray that it blesses you now as it did our former place of ministry.

We are the Family of God

Introduction

Copyright © 2002

D. S. Briggs, BA., ThM., D.Min

Ephesians 3:14 – 21

Memory verse: Amos 3:3

(This series was prepared for Vacation Bible Study during a pastorate at Mount Zoar Baptist Church, Durham, North Carolina)

Family matters!!!

That was the name of a hit sitcom that aired from the mid 1980’s until the mid 1990’s in original airings and now runs in syndication in many outlets. However it was more than just a tug at the heart title, or a catchy song that introduced the show to millions of viewers week after week. It demonstrated week, after week that no matter what the problem a family that was committed to each other would rise above and conquer. Although it wasn’t paraded out and pronounced verbally week after week, (for that would be anathema to the producers) you just knew that the ultimate strength of this family was their faith in God.

The sitcom, set in Chicago, had all the concepts of a traditional nuclear family that has been offered to us down through the years with one major change. This family, the Winslow family, was African –American! So many other shows produced and offered to the public for their viewing pleasure either patronized the African-American race, or characterized them as incompetent, irreverent, and totally dysfunctional. Not this show! The husband worked as a police officer…struggling year after year for that much wanted promotion (validation in the sight of his peers as well as himself). The wife who wrestled with changing careers and even wrestled with being a at home mother for awhile. One son and two daughters (Eddie, Laura, and Kelly)who matured on television right before our eyes as we saw them wrestle with pre pubescent, pubescent and finally young adult problems. Sports activities, cheerleading, dating, rebellion against their parents for not understanding them, attempts to divide the father and the mother, sibling rivalry…we saw it all. Yet there was more.

As in so many African – American homes, as well as other minorities, the home is not just a place for the nuclear family, but extended family as well. When one was blessed, all were blessed. As long as one family member had a roof over their head, no matter how large or small, no other family member was going to be left out in the cold. The mother of the husband lived in the home as well, after the death of her husband. Like in many African – American homes before the 1980’s she was the fount of all wisdom, spiritual and otherwise. She kept the family together through the tough times. She not only provides the family much needed spiritual wisdom, humor and moral counsel from time to time, but also gives them the shock of their lives when she starts dating again. This caused a reaction in her son that causes him to act more like a detective and less like a son. The wife’s sister resided in the home as well after the death of her husband, along with her son. No matter how attractive she looked, gifted she was singing in the church choir, and talented when she finally opened her own business, it seemed like she spent every Christmas with no man to call husband, boyfriend, or any other endearing nickname of closeness. Yet in very few episodes do we see either of them dwelling so much on the loss in their life that they live like they have no future. Neither one hung their harp or their heart on the willow tree down by the river.

Then there were the non-family members who did not have the blood of the Winslow’s running through their veins but they were family nonetheless. Week by week we walked with them and grew up with them. There was Waldo, the son’s best friend…whose character had no diagnosed learning disabilities but just was definitely challenged in the learning arena. Yet he makes it into college and discovers a gift for cooking in the process. No matter how many seemingly idiotic things Waldo did, and even though they may had lost friendship and partnership for a season, the relationship remained strong. Then of course there was Steve, the nerd with a genius IQ living next door who was hopelessly in love with Laura and dreamed of nothing more than being with her. Laura however would have no part of dating a nerd!

Americans of all racial backgrounds tuned in week after week and year after year to see if Laura’s resolve would ever break down and she would finally give Steve a chance. Clumsy, careless, a cheese connoisseur and fashion challenged he pined week after week over the affections of his sweet Laura. Steve was over the Winslow residence so much that he too became family. In later shows he even submitted that his family did not want much to do with him, that is why he was always over the Winslow’s house. So much that he became (whether intentionally from the inception of the program or not we are not aware) the main character that viewers tuned in to see.

Through Steve’s genius, he invents a machine that allows him to alter his personality and person to be exactly what Laura wanted in a relationship, and perhaps also what he inwardly wished he naturally were. This role (Stephan) however only wins Laura for a few seasons until she realizes that she really has developed feelings for Steve as himself. Finally there was Myra, who eventually came on the show (before the transforming machine) and fell in love for Steve being Steve and became his girlfriend after he gave up hope of ever dating Laura as himself. Rather than try to change Steve, she accepts him as he is, even learning how to play the accordion so she can play duets with him. She hated the transforming machine and tried to destroy it a couple of times. But no matter how much he tried to forget about Laura, she was the true love of his life. Nothing Myra could do or say would stop that aching in his heart for Laura.

This show both in production and in real life had a myriad of issues. Yet they remained a family. The show revived the career of Telma Hopkins who played Rachel, as her last work of notoriety was as a backup singer for the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970’s. It rocketed Kellye Shanynge Williams (Laura) Jaleel White (Steve) and Laura Voorhees (Myra) to many more prominent acting careers including a recurrent role for Laura Voorhees on One Life to Live. Finally it had to deal with the untimely death of one of its bright stars, as Laura Voorhees died of ovarian cancer in her early twenties.

As we pause to return to the thrust of these series of lessons we have to ask, what has happened to the family today? The nuclear family has gone nuclear. There was a time that we stuck together through the thick and thin, no matter how thin it became. Live in cousins, nieces, and nephews….two or three generations of kin living under the same roof…sharing the same space…extended family, adopted…both formally through court appointed legislation and informally through the taking in of a god-child or a wayward child so that they are not lost to the chaos of the government welfare system.

Now we all demand our own space and our own private time. Families today seemingly represent a live together, roommate combination of single individuals, rather than one unit fulfilling the plan of God for their lives. Everyone has their own room, own job, own cars, own telephone numbers, own life. In some cases we rarely gather around the dinner table once a week, let alone once a day, choosing rather to eat in the solitude and privacy of our rooms. We have as many televisions as we do rooms in the house and it seems like every one is watching a different program. Dad with his sports, Mom with her decorating, daughter with her teen dramas, and Junior with his cartoons. Asking about a child’s day in school incurs the wrath of the child for the parent being too intrusive or nosy into their business. Dad comes in from work and slumps in the recliner and says not a word to anyone, stressed out over how to pay the bills on time. Mom keeps her pent up frustration to her self, working in the garden so she doesn’t explode.

And we have the nerve to call this…progress.

However in mind, it is the concept of family in the house of God that is under the greatest attack. Once the devil has attacked the foundations of the nuclear family and extended family in the home, he goes down the street to the church. Now that he has the mother fighting against the mother, the son and the daughter in rebellion against the rules of the house, he goes to replicate what he has done in the home to the church. And once there he attempts to cultivate the same individualistic, “it’s all about me” atmosphere that he has in the home. The adversary causes us to bring our modernized myopic misconceptions of family and transplant them into the church. Then he seeks to get us to establish them as the normative behavior and not an aberration.

We wonder why our church relationships are strained, we have no joy in serving with each other, preferring rather to do it all on our own. We have abandoned the family concept of God and decided we would rather sink or swim on our own than to be slowed down by standing in the gap and helping our brothers and sisters in the faith. We have said over and over again through our attitudes, arguments, and actions, that we don’t care what others think, say, or do. Just as long as it does not interfere with what I want to do, because what I want to do…what I want to think…what I want to say…what I want to feel is more important than what anybody else has to offer to me, or to anybody else.

The devil is a liar. Family matters. The concept of the family grew in the mind of God before the world was formed. The family relation is the institution of God lying at the foundation of human society. As the family is strengthened, so is every institution that is serves. As the family is united in purpose, so also the church will follow its lead in maintaining unity in its purpose. The leader of Israel Joshua was so convinced of his responsibility as the leader of his own family and the impact that it would have on the rest of the people he led boldly declared…

When we look at the word family in the Old Testament, it is translated from the word “Mischpachah” in the Hebrew. This word occurs over 300 times. It means… “all members of a group who were related by blood and still felt a sense of consanguinity belonged to the clan or the extended family.” (Vines Topical dictionary) In the New Testament we see it derived in the Greek language from the words “oikos” and “patria” which means larger than a nuclear family, but smaller than a tribe. Family was so important to God that He created it, challenged it, and cared for it. Family was so important to the Lord that when He chose to destroy the wickedness off the face of the Earth, he still saved not only a righteous old preacher by the name of Noah, but his family as well. So important was family in the religion of the Israelite’s, that the times of the feasts and especially the Jubilee were set aside as a time for all families to return to the homeland, no matter how far their own personal journeys had taken them. This was a time to reconnect with their families as well as their faith. Family matters.

While serving a small rural church on the outskirts of Farmville, Virginia, I was always reminded about the fact that the church I pastored was a family church. Churches (or certain difficult family members) always use this statement as a pre-emptive strike to avoid anything that looks like ministry, sounds like ministry, or cost ministry money to implement. It was used to discourage preachers from doing anything more than picking up the check, going home, and minding their own business. Truth is many of those churches can take preaching or leave it. The family church would take care of itself I was assured without any outside intervention. When the preacher had gone on about his business, (called to another church, resigned, voted out, left for the day, or silenced through death) the family would remain together. Church growth was not something they truly even looked for, or prayed for unless it was their own kinfolk that walked the aisle and joined the church. Outsiders who had no blood claim in the church were advised not to join, or if they did join were shut out of the decision making process, and any positions of influence and power. (ex: they could help in the kitchen, but not become the chair of the kitchen committee.)That was their premise.

While that statement was always used in the pejorative sense, I see now after many years a positive side to it. Although the devil tried to pervert the purpose, I see a blessing in the designation of…”We are just a family church.” Especially if it is God’s family.

We are a family church. We ought to operate like the family that God intended us to be. A family is where everybody is some one special. A family is where all gifts are cherished and appreciated. Family is the one place where no matter what fame or wealth you have achieved in the world, when you hit the door, all formalities cease. Every family I know always has endearing or embarrassing nicknames for each other. They are never thrown out in insult to one’s character, but rather affirm the genuine love that the family has for that member. Family is the place where you are offered safe haven from the hurts, harassment, and hatred that the world seeks to hurl against you. No matter how long they have strayed or stayed away, a family where forgiveness carries the order of the day. A family is where we look out for each other and protect each other’s reputation from injurious assault. Now inside the house we may get on you, but no one that is outside the doors of the family will never cause you any harm because we stick up for and stand by our family. A family is where we connect with our faith and each other. A family where we can be real, right, and rewarded together. Where we share in each other’s joys, comfort each other in sorrow - through thick and thin, we remain bonded. Why?

Taken from an Interview with a Former Student in 2005

6. What are the challenges and pitfalls of leadership? Please share with me some leadership challenges you have faced and your response to them.

The challenges of leadership include

• making sure the vision you communicate is not miscommunicated
• getting people in the same book, before getting them on the same chapter and page
• getting a diverse group of people to work together for the common good
• humility must be an institutional word and not an individual witness
• keeping people focused on the assigned task
• being able to address distractions, not letting problems fester, but working them out immediately. Nehemiah was used as an example. Nehemiah had to address the distractions with building the wall.
• making sure someone else is equipped to carry on the vision. Every Elijah needs an Elisha.

The pitfalls of leadership include:

• arrogance
• power struggles
• boredom- as a leader your mind wanders and then your body wanders. If you feel as if you are able to do it with your eyes closed, you get bored. Boredom is an avenue in which the adversary can come in.
• sense of entitlement to perks , money, raises and respect
• thinking that you can’t be replaced
• not having someone to carry on the vision beyond you

Disturb us Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

Sir Francis Drake

Adiaphorous (Indifferent) Attitudes

Chapter 1

Adiaphorous Attitudes

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”

St. Matthew 4:4

            The financial aspect of the ministry in the local church is perhaps one of the most neglected areas, yet undoubtedly the most crucial.  No matter how great the Vision, how anointed the man or woman of God may be, how many people attend and rave about our services, the sloppy mismanagement of resources of any kind will scuttle the most promising and productive ministry.

There is nothing that can more quickly undermine the work of the Lord at any level than either the lack of financial resources to do His work, or the financial mismanagement of the resources already entrusted to our care.  If there is not both spiritual and personal integrity as well as accountability in how we receive, handle, disburse, allocate, and account for whatever is entrusted to our care, we jeopardize our worship, witness, and our work. No matter how small or seemingly insignificant the amount given is, we must be faithful.

Moreover it is required in stewards that they be found faithful

1 Corinthians 4:2

The spiritual principle says we don’t deserve nor should we expect to receive anything else from God or His people if we do not faithfully use what has already been sown into the church for ministry. Missionary Hudson Taylor has said:

“Small things are small things, but faithfulness with a small thing is a big thing.”

It was Luke the Beloved physician that wrote “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”  (St. Luke 12:48) We must learn to use what we have be given first, and to use it in a manner that brings glory to the Lord. In the parable of the talents found in St. Matthew 25:14-30, we see that the talents were divided according to the pleasure of the Master and not the servants. It is Jesus our Master, who alone decides what He wishes to disburse to who and why. While we often celebrate over the Declaration of the Sower we should also notice the Distribution of the Seedcarefully.

“Well done my good and faithful servant…you have been faithful over a few things…come on up and I will make you ruler over many things”

St. Matthew 25:21, 23

God never makes mistakes! Note that the Master only gave one talent to the one servant who ultimately brought no glory to his Master for how he practiced his stewardship with that one talent. Do you not think that the Lord knew that this one servant would do nothing with the talent anyway? The omniscience God knew that this servant would bury it but He gave him a chance anyhow. Perhaps one of the reasons your church is not truly being seen as faithful ground for God to send His people to sow their financial gifts into is because the church has the spirit of the third servant in the text. The spirit of one that would rather bury a blessing in a bank account than to bless someone…anyone…to the Glory of God.

Any pastor that seeks to make sure that this department of the local church is set on the right biblical foundation and headed in the right spiritual direction can usually expect plenty of irate biblically uninformed members to protest the pastor knowing anything about the money. In some churches it can signal the beginning of the end for that pastor’s season of ministry at that particular local church. Many pastors can point to a money issue as being the primary motivating issue behind an overt operation, or a covert and clandestine coup de etat to either silence our witness, or eliminate our presence totally from the churches we served.

            While the reasons of spiritual ignorance and pseudo-professional incompetence are legendary and numerous let it be known that none are able to effectively stand up under a careful study of the Word of God. Hence the true nature of the rebellion is a spiritual stronghold that must be pulled down. (II Cor 10:4-5)  On the spiritual plane, the adversary does not want the Body of Christ to receive anything that will enable God’s Kingdom to triumph over evil. Anything that will cause a child of God to mature in the faith and to be more effective in ministry for the Lord Jesus Christ is “anathema” to the devil and his minions. So the devil takes the fight to the carnal plane where we battle him and each other in the flesh rather than in the spirit.  This literally ties the church up in knots over money issues, while ministry goes unfulfilled. It is time for the Body of Christ and the local churches in particular to rise above this petty plan of the devil that had grounded our ministries. How well the Apostle Paul declares to the church at Ephesus

“…Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light.”

Ephesians 5:14

            There is no other organization on this earth where one can retain their full membership in good and proper standing without paying their assigned dues as well as physically supporting the organization in other endeavors except in the local church. When we try to do that in the church, people scream “this is not a cult…we are supposed to give by His grace freely.” It is a miraculous testimony to the power of God; to His grace and mercy that the church is able to operate off the shoestring budget that it does from year to year.

Many local churches are still operating in 2002 off the pennies and nickels given by honest hard working folks while our government institutions and organizations have to step in to fund, control, and direct the outreach work that Christ commanded the church to fulfil.  Sadly we end up begging the government to fund our programs at the church so we can do the work that the Lord has given his people to do. It is the church where “card carrying, born again, members for life,” who have been giving $2.00 a Sunday for the past twenty years get highly upset and downright unchristian if you teach, train, or tell them that they should at least be trying to give more or do more. Worse still, they even get upset if you teach the other members who want to learn because then that will make them look bad for not “coming up higher” in their level of giving.

            It is impossible for Trustees, Financial Committees, Stewardship Committees, Budget Committees of any church regardless of denomination to manage what we as the church do not put in the plate. Now I know when I say that there are people that picked up this book who are shaking their head right now and saying the church is not supposed to be about raising money are usually the ones who are not putting that much into the church in the first place.  That is a half-truth, which by default the other part is a half lie. Why? Sit down for this one.

Because it takes money to do ministry!!! No money equals no ministry.

We all will readily agree that the church of the Living God is first and foremost a Spiritual enterprise seeking to save lost souls. However there is no church in this earthly realm that can effectively minister the redemptive cause of Christ without finances. Now I know that there are some who don’t want to believe that simply because they don’t want to give anything in the first place or because they are afraid that the big, bad preacher man will get it.  I will wait while you do some research and find one ministry that operated for any length of time, was effective in its thrust, and fulfilled the dictates of Christ without any money from somewhere or someone.

Find it yet? I will go on, and you can get back to me on it.

The sad fact is that for too long the local church (yes, probably your church too) has connived, swindled, duped, tricked, trapped, suckered, begged, and raped other churches and their members to take care of financially what your members would not willingly and cheerfully do. This is how we do it and get away with it every time. Fundraisers, dressed in spiritual sounding garb, such as Church Anniversary, Family and Friends Day, Homecoming, Revival Fees, Baby Rallies and Hat Rallies. All because we as the people of God will not give to the work of God as God commands us to give in the first place. We try to find “another way” to get the finances out of folks…by hook, crook or dirty look.  Strong graphic language, yes, but in your heart you know that it is true. This is so important that Solomon said it twice in two different chapters of Proverbs

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death”

 Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25

“For the ways of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in them”

Hosea 14:9

“As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him”

 Psalm 18:30

            Beloved, if the local church of God will not do what the Lord has told it to do, then listen closely and carefully “We ought to fail!” God has provided a means for financing for His church and His work.  It has never yet failed and supercedes any plan or rally we could ever come up with.  Yet we as His church want to debate His Word and argue over “what He really meant.” Rather than fall out with folks we condone their financial foolishness, then justify our disobedience because of others mismanagement.

Consider the following simple statements and scriptural reference.

• We are the church

¨      I Corinthians 12:12-26

¨      Ephesians 2:14-22

• We belong to God

¨      St. John 15:5

¨      I Corinthians 7:23

¨      Colossians 1:18

• The church belongs to God

¨      St. Matthew 16:13-19

¨      I Corinthians 6:19-20

• The church operates according to God’s Holy Word

¨      Hosea 4:6

¨      I Timothy 3:14-15

• God reveals His Will for His church in His Holy Word

¨      Romans 10:17

¨      II Timothy 2:15

• The Bible is God’s Holy Word

¨      Hebrews 4: 12

¨      II Peter 1:20-21

¨      II Timothy 3:16-17

• The Bible does not change

¨      Isaiah 40:8

¨      Jeremiah 36:28-31

¨      St. Matthew 24:35

• Every word of the Bible is true

¨      St. John 8:31-31

¨      St. John 17:17

¨      James 1:22

If we as the church of the Living God do not believe in the Bible and the God who inspired the Bible to be written, then we will never raise our level of commitment to God in anything! Pastors and preachers, teachers and workshop leaders are literally beating our heads against the wall trying to convince folks who do not believe the Bible in the first place to tithe, give more generously to His work both home and abroad, or donate more of their time and talent to the Kingdom of God!

In my heart that is why I believe so many church members do not give as they should. They do not accept the entire Bible but rather only those parts that they may agree with.  In this then, they have an adiaphorous attitude or indifferent attitude to the Word of God.

 Additional Scriptural Review:

¨      Psalm 119:11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee

¨      Titus 1:9

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers

¨      I Peter 2:1-2

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 

¨      I John 2:14

…I have written unto, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Finally let us conclude this matter.

“I will worship towards your holy temple and praise your name for your lovingkindness and your truth; for you have magnified your Word above all your name.”

Psalm 138:2

Faking Christianity

Faking Christianity

D. S. Briggs

Rehoboth Covenant Bible Fellowship

(919) 926 - 9672

                Question: “I feel like I’m just going through the motions with God. I lift and clap my hands on Sunday because everyone else does, but I don’t feel anything like I used to. How can I get back to a real relationship, like I had before?”

                Response: In the story of the Prodigal Son(s) found in St. Luke 15, we find two sons who could be defined as prodigals. One was prodigal in his actions and the other was prodigal in his attitude. The son who went down and spent his inheritance on riotous living eventually became destitute and alienated from what he knew. At his lowest point when he came to himself he rehearsed the statement he would give to his Father “I am no longer worthy to be called your son make me as one of thy hired servants” yet when he returned home, the Father would not let him utter these final words “make me as one of thy hired servants.” Why? Because even though he felt like he was no longer worthy of the Father-Son relationship, the Father knew that although he may have stopped behaving, and stopped believing, he still belonged, in spite of how he felt.

Beloved, it is a dangerous thing to give into our feelings, especially when it comes to the things of God. We are challenged in Hebrews 12:6 to walk by faith and not by sight. Our feelings can easily be manipulated, misinterpreted and massaged to work against the things that the Lord is trying to develop in our lives to produce lasting fruit for His glory. Every storm is seasonal and every trial is temporary but your relationship with God is for eternity, in spite of how we may feel for a moment. Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV declares “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.”

     When we give into our feelings we are making a contractual agreement to live beneath the level of victorious living that the Lord has ordained for our lives. Feelings if left unchecked become the handholds and footholds that the Adversary uses to entrench himself in your life to establish a stronghold. Suffice it to say that many would not be dealing with the strongholds they now face in their life, if they had not given place and authority to their feelings.  So if the handholds and footholds can not be established, neither can the stronghold.

     There is a major difference in Churchianity and Christianity. With God there is no faking it until you make it. Either you have it or you don’t. One can not truly “fake” Christianity, but they can fake churchianity really well. Churchianity is anything we do in the name of God that has become disconnected from God’s intent for our lives. In essence the form takes precedence over the function. This can be seen in the worship of buildings that can not save, glorification of committees that do not function spiritually and correctly, rigidly following a program or bulletin without leaving room for the Holy Spirit to flow freely, or as you pose the outward manifestations of worship when one’s heart is moved away from the relationship it has with God   Is it possible that what you view as going through the motions has become a new tradition in your worship experience with God? Certain actions observed in modern day worship …the lifting of hands, shouting of praise, laying on of hands, speaking in unknown tongues, can become a model of Churchianity if uprooted from their Biblical context or separated from it’s true meaning to the worshiper.

     To insure you keep that precious gift within you, let me suggest the following plan of action:

      The thing we must do is to seek God.  Isaiah 55:6 declares “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.” The statement raised by the Angel of the Lord on Resurrection Morning has powerful relevance for your dilemma. The angel declares in St. Matthew 28:5 “Fear not ye; For I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.” The Angel knew that they were seeking Jesus. To some this may sound simplistic but to me it is profound and relevant in today’s society. Because we are a generation that is constantly seeking a sign, but not the Savior…a miracle, but not the Master…Deliverance without becoming a Disciple, anointing without the Almighty, and joy without Jesus! Jesus himself declared to those that would hear in St. Luke 11:29  ESV “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Even in our moments of worship are we truly seeking God or are we simply seeking what God gives? A constant refrain in our fellowship is that if we would seek the heart of God we can always get what is in His hand.

                Seeking God must be a priority in your life. I submit it must be the number one priority in your life. Until that is number one everything else will suffer from being out of order. How can we honestly declare like Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane “Thy will be done” if we truly do not know what His will is? We will never know what His will is, if we do not send time with Him and His word. As we spend time in fellowship and communion with Him, the connection is strengthened and our commitment inevitably grows deeper. The Apostle Paul states “that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.” (Philippians 3:11) Knowing God comes from first seeking after God.  The Word of God declares “Seek and ye shall find.” Seek the Lord, Saints.

                Seeking God is not a Sunday only proposition, it is a daily devotion. We love Him because He first loved us. (I John 4:19) We spend quality time with those we love.  We speak the same language and embrace the same goals. We should set aside a daily time of devotions with God. This is a quiet time where you can be alone with God and communicate the innermost parts of your heart. Reading the Scriptures, singing songs, praying, and most importantly listening to God deepens our relationship with God and ensures we are not merely going through the motions.

                There is a well known song by Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson that is entitled The Closer I Get to You. One of the verses goes:

                The Closer I get to you

                The more you make me feel

                By giving you all I’ve got

                Your Love has Captured me.

                How appropriate would that be beloved, if this described our affection, attraction, and attachment to God. I humbly submit, that if you seek Him like this, with your whole heart you will find Him every time.

I.)   Seek God Through His Word

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to they word.” (Psalm 119:6 KJV) Many today seek diligently after a spoken word from God but reject the written word of God they have before them. They run from church to church and prophet to prophet trying to get a deeper, stronger, life transforming word, yet ignore the 774,746 words contained in the Holy Bible. They listen to mortal flesh expound upon the Scriptures, but dare not go to the Scriptures themselves. May I be as bold as to suggest that this is laziness concealed by a host of spiritual sounding excuses.

When we read the Word of God it is to know more about the loving God that inspired the book to be written, not a mere template to get more material possessions. The Psalmist states “thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” It is through the Word of God we are drawn to become more like him, transforming our minds, disciplining our body, and establishing our goings. It is God’s Word that strengthens us, sustains us and succors us. It is God’s Word that Jesus declared would never pass away. 

II.)     Seek God Through Our Worship

“For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” (St John 4:24 NLT) The act of worship does start at the opening strains of the introit, or with the opening notes of the choir. Worship is not dependent on whether or not the musician is on time to play. Worship starts the moment God opens your eyes to see a brand new day, allows you to function in this realm to accomplish His will. It is more than praise but it is the sign that one has truly connected and committed to the Lord. It is the outpouring of a love affair of your soul with God. When true worship occurs you can not cut it off because the bulletin calls for the welcome or announcements. Those who do not worship in private will never worship in public. If you do not worship at home, you will not worship when you come to church.

There are those who can only worship when all is well in their life. This is conditional worship that I contend is not worship at all but praise for a safe season of life. When your worship is genuine you can worship your way through whatever you are dealing with. Rick Warren writes in The Purpose Driven Church “In genuine worship God’s presence is felt, God’s pardon is offered, God’s purposes are revealed, and God’s power is displayed.” Saints of God you must have more than a “yet praise” (Habakkuk 3:18) you must have an “in the midst of” worship! (St. Matthew 8:2)

III.)    Seek God Through His Witnesses(s) 

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of His coming back again is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25) One of the chief purposes of our fellowshipping together as fellow sojourners in the way of God is to encourage each other in the things of God. We are to help each other along the way and strengthen each other to maintain our faith. This is why no matter how you may feel you must continue to press your way to the household of faith.  The devil would do his best to disconnect you during your time of not feeling what you think you should to send you off wandering in search of a feeling and not God. This is what plagues many “church hoppers.”

Through our fellowship with one another we are to build each other up in our most holy faith. In moments like you are now experiencing you need to bond together with fellow believers who have been where you currently are. It is through this process of caring and sharing together that we get stronger. Proverbs 27:17 NLT states “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.” We Seek GodDaily for:

A.) Direction

1.)   Way to Go

2.)    How to Go

3.)    When to Go

B.) Development…Planned progress in pursuit of the plan

1.)   Spiritual and Secular

2.)    Personal and Professional

3.)    Ministry and Mindset

C.) Discipline

1.)   Correction

2.)    Control

D.) Deployment

1.)   Let Go

2.)    Launch Out

““Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it” Hebrews 2:1 ESV

Preach Life!

This blog will be for me to expound on church life and religious matters that are important to me. I look forward to meeting you here on a regular basis!