I've been selected to be on the jury for a trial today. It's the first time that I've ever been on a jury and so far, I'm not real impressed. It's soooooooo boring. I can't really talk about it much, but maybe after it's done I can tell more about it. They say that It'll probably last until Friday. Hopefully, that's all since it's taking me away from working on the house I bought a week ago Thursday.
On another note: I have recently received news about a youth pastor that I know that has resigned from his postition because of a couple of different reasons. The first is because of the direction that God is calling him and his family and the exciting new ministry opportunities that are before them and second because the finances of the church have crashed over the summer due to several different reasons including but not limited to the huge mortgage they have on the gym they built several years ago. I bring this up, not to embarass him, but to relate this story to some of my previous posts about how money rules the church. God has truly moved in this situation for this friend of mine, but this example is played out over and over throughout North America every year as churches get caught up in this mentality of what's important, buildings or ministries and the casualties just add up. I'm truly thankful for is new opportunity for my friend as I believe this is God's timing for him, but I wonder how many times it's not God's timing though.
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3 comments:
I don't care what anybody says, you can always tell a where a church's priorities are by where they put their money.
jury duty. i sort of have always wanted to do that. not really sure why, but it just seems interesting.
that is a shame, what has happened to your friend. how do you explain that to the teens? "sorry, your pastor has to leave so we can pay for the gym." it just makes me sad.
Hey guys...and girls,
Wanted to chime in on the previous post but it was old by the time I got to it. First off, I have been very challenged spiritually by all of you and your posts. I have needed that!!! Thanks for letting me read your thoughts.
Now on to the discussion...
I totally understand the issues with money and the church. Being married to the person who handles good ole' St. Paul's finances, I hear (lucky me) stuff that goes on behind the scenes due to not having money, having money and what to do with it, etc. As many of you know, St. Paul's has had to cut back on expenses due to loss of regular attenders through various things (including losing 10+ through death in the past 3 years). We also have several new families who are new to church and tithing.
Anyways, at the beginning of the fiscal year, you know - time for the new budget, Pastor Caleb and Todd were dreading having our church meeting to discuss money and cutting back. You know what God did that night? He took over the meeting and wrapped up the discussion with an amazing prayer time together as a church. Yeah we talked about possible issues with cut backs but the focus ended up being on God, not the money or lack of it. One wise woman, my mom (whom I'm getting to see walk with God in a real and exciting way these days), said that she remembered back when my dad and her were in Bible College and their church was made up of a bunch of young couples who had no money but had the desire to see the church grow. They took their talents and focused on the needs instead of taking their money and trying to figure out how to fund the next activity.
That is what is starting to happen at St. Paul's. We have people pitching in to help everywhere. We have a new focus on prayer and renewal and outreach instead of activities and building projects.
I am excited to see where God is taking us when we take our hands off the purse strings and let Him show us the needs. Example of this new focus: Two of the three months in this fiscal year, we have exceeded what was need to pay our scaled back budget. We have several prayer and Bible study groups starting, the teens are praying for more of God in them, our gym has neighborhood teens in it every Friday and sometimes Wednesday and while Pastor Caleb is on sabatical for a time of renewal, our church is also taking that time to look at ourselves and renewal within us.
I can't wait to see where God is going to take us if we keep our focus on Him and not on the $$$.
Michelle S.
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