Resources for Ministry

This afternoon I was presented with our church financial reports for this month. Earlier I came across our Ladies Retreat planning team crunching the numbers for their upcoming weekend. Earlier this week I also touched base with our Assistant Pastor, Nick Jones, on raising funds for the summer camp trip several of our students and leaders hope to go on this July.

All this got me to thinking about the challenge we constantly face as a church to fund the work of the ministry. Weekend retreats, summer camps, supporting missionaries, ordering gospel tracts, updating office equipment, paying staff, providing discipleship and counseling materials are all part of church life and ministry. Yet finding enough money for ministry is tough.

Let me share with you a few bottom-line figures. Our General Fund annual budget is $348,000. Our Missions Fund annual budget is $150,000. This gives us a total budget of $498,000.

However, our actual giving thus far for 2008 results in a weekly deficit of $1,000/week for the General Fund and $500/week for the Missions Fund, which means that if this trend continues, our annual giving would total $420,000. This is about $78,000 short of our total budget. Make sense so far?

Now, I did a little calculating based on our church demographics. We get alot of people from all over: Weymouth, Braintree, Quincy, Hanover, Holbrook, Hingham, Abington, Milton, Rockland, Randolph, plus some other towns further out (Bridgewater, Hull, Mansfield, etc.). Probably about half our congregation comes from the Weymouth/Braintree area, and the other half come from the other towns on the South Shore.

With this in mind, I calculated the median income for Weymouth and Braintree, averaging the two together and letting that represent half the congregation. Then I combined the median income for pretty much all the other towns represented in our directory and averaged it out, letting that represent the other half of the congregation. (The two averages were very close, as it worked out.) As it works out based on the above formula, the average annual household income for our congregaton would be $60,000.

Now, get this: If everyone who has a church envelope tithed according to their income, our church's giving receipts would total $840,000 per year! Throw in the loose cash (non-envelope offerings), and we'd be taking in about $875,000 per year!

Think of what could be accomplished with that much money, simply based on our present challenges and objectives:

• Getting the Columbine family to Senegal
• Increasing support for our present missionaries and bringing on new missionaries
• Bringing on a full-time Associate Pastor of Adult Ministries
• Finishing the roofing projects and other critical repairs
• Building a new Welcome Center between the sanctuary and school building

Do you realize that all the funding for the above items could be raised in two years if we simply gave a tithe to the Lord through the local church! It reminds me of the one pastor who said to his congregation: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we have plenty of money to meet all our ministry objectives and even to pay off our church mortgage!" The people started cheering. The preacher continued, "The bad news is, the money is still in your pockets!"

Without looking at any individual names or envelopes, I got the following statistics from 2007. Out of 140 envelopes, 117 gave less than $6,000/year (tithe based on median income for our area). That's 84% of our envelope-givers! Furthermore, 30% (42 out of 140 envelopes) gave less than a thousand dollars for the entire year.

In one sense, these are certainly discouraging statistics. On the other hand, they can be quite encouraging. How? By considering the tremendous strides that could be made in ministry -- world missions! capital improvements! staff additions! discipleship resources! -- if we simply tithed our income, trusting the Lord to provide for our needs.

My purpose is not to get into a debate of the Old Testament tithe versus New Testament giving. I'm simply using 10% as a rule of thumb, remembering that grace always takes us to a higher level than the law. Consider the possibilities! Step out in faith!

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. --Luke 6:38

Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns till be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. -- Proverbs 3:6

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. -- Malachi 3:10

Those Tenacious Senior Saints!

A funny thing happened on my way to Santa Fe. . .

Well, actually, I didn’t go to Santa Fe, but it seemed like a good way to start off this story, which was reported in the papers on Monday. The actual incident happened last Wednesday in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here’s what happened:

Bernie Garcia, an 83-year-old great-grandmother, was gassing up her car when she was approached by a young man who seemed to be a nice guy in need of some money. When she kindly informed him that she’d just spent all her spare change on gas and had none to give him, he grabbed her purse.

But Bernie held on! She had it wrapped around her wrist twice, and the would-be robber couldn’t pull it away. He sure did try, though. But Bernie fought back! She sprayed his shirt with some gasoline from the nozzle that she still held in his hand. But he was bound to get the purse and wouldn’t let go. But neither would Bernie. The struggle got so intense that the man pulled Bernie to the ground and actually dragged her a short distance until another man confronted him, demanding that he let her go.

His robbery attempt completely foiled, the man jumped into a nearby vehicle and fled.

A witness tog the license plate number, and just three minutes later, police spotted the car – which had been reported stolen – on the highway.

Bernie Garcia and an eyewitness identified one of the men inside as her attacker. He and two other guys in the car were charged with robbery and conspiracy.

Bernie felt fine after the attack and declined medical attention. (Later on, when she got home, she did feel a bit faint, went to bed, and woke up the next morning rather sore. Her son, a former firefighter, checked her out, and everything seemed okay, thankfully.)

At some point, Bernie’s son asked her, "Why didn’t you just give [the purse] up?" Bernie said, "[Mild expletive] no, that was my purse. I was fighting for what was mine."

Way to go, Bernie!

After I read this story (and enjoyed a good laugh), I thought of our own "tenacious senior saints" here at First Baptist. I thank God for them and am so grateful for what they don’t hold on to, and for what they do hold on to.

Our senior saints don’t hold on to a certain musical style, insisting that the times conform to their preferences. For the most part, they love the old hymns (as do I), but they are also willing to learn and sing new songs that we introduce to the congregation, so long as they express biblical truth. Our seniors try really hard to emphasize substance over style, and I appreciate that.

Also, our seniors recently had to move their Sunday morning Bible School class to another room, due to some necessary shifting that had to take place in order to provide more efficient storage and office space. Instead of complaining or insisting on their own preferences being met, they simply went with the flow and continued to enjoy their time of fellowship in the Word.

Yes, our senior saints are a blessed bunch of pretty flexible folks. But there is one thing that they hold on to tenaciously. There is no bargaining, no compromise, no give whatsoever – and you’d better not try to take it away from them! Can you guess what it is?

It’s not their purse, pocketbook or billfold. Rather, it is the treasure of God’s truth. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is directed by God’s Spirit to every believer: "Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us" (2 Tim. 1:13-14).

How glad I am for our faithful, older members who cling so tenaciously to sound doctrine, as taught in Holy Scripture ... who continue to gather faithfully each week to study and celebrate God’s truth ... who continue strong in the faith to the glory of God. Thank you for being such an example of faithfulness to the rest of us week in and week out. May your tribe increase!

My Dream ... and Reality

Last night I had a dream. It was a really good dream. Usually my dreams or nightmares occur in the "moderate" range. That is, my dreams are rarely ever so great that they don't have at least some negative elements in them, and my nightmares are hardly ever so scary that they can be described as horrifying.

But last night's dream was an exception. I dreamed that I was in my senior year at Washington Bible College, and I had just returned from an away game where I scored 26 points. (I think that in the dream we won the game, but it's interesting that the only thing I really recalled was my outstanding individual performance!) Upon returning to the school, I found my bride-to-be, Ruthie, sitting out in the picnic area (apparently it was early spring) with dozens of other students having dinner. She asked me how I did, after greeting me with a kiss. (Again, this could only happen in a dream, because students were not allowed to kiss on the WBC campus, so we would have never done this ... at least not out in the open!) I was more than happy to tell her. She along with everyone else was rather impressed. At that point I joined her and our friends at the table, and that's right when the dream ended.

Then I woke up. It's almost twenty years later. My basketball skills are yesterday's news. I haven't scored 26 points in the last two decades, but I have picked up 26 pounds. My right knee is arthritic and is constantly giving me grief. Two of my children have already beaten me legitimately in one type of basketball game or another.

Now normally I would have been depressed waking up to such hard, cold reality. But honestly I wasn't. Because whatever I've lost in the last 20 years or so has been far outweighed by what I've gained: a beautiful, godly wife ... five precious children ... seventeen years of full-time pastoral ministry ... the formation of many friendships ... and, by God's grace, a closer walk with Christ.

I couldn't help but think of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16: "So we do not lose heart. Though our outward nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day." Amen! This body is slowly wasting away, but one day it will be better than it's ever been. And it's all because that when God saves a person, He doesn't do a half-way job. He redeems both the outside and the inside so that one day, faster than the wink of an eye, "this mortal body [will] put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15:54), and all the thanks goes to God, "who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57).

I'm looking forward to that Day. In the meantime, I'll work hard at taking care of both my soul and my body, getting both the spiritual and physical exercise I need to serve the Lord at an optimal level.

And, of course, I'll take those dreams as often as they come.

Hoops, anyone?

The Faithful Few

One of the most discouraging things for pastors, Bible School teachers, and other ministry leaders is to see hordes of church members jump into a class or ministry with both feet, only to tip-toe their way out over time. Commitment is lacking among Christians, and the church is feeling its effects. Virtually everyone has heard the proverbial stat that "twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work."

In trying to analyze this pervasive problem biblically, I've come to a few conclusions.

1. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of salvation. That is to say, many who claim to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ aren't genuinely saved. They stick around awhile to see how things benefit them, but they soon disappear once they hear a hard-hitting truth or a call to commitment. This was true of the crowds of Jesus' day, for He Himself told them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26). These people were following Jesus because they were more interested in how He could fulfill their physical appetites and pleasures rather than the deepest needs of their souls. And so, "from that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" (John 6:66).

This pattern of defection continued in the early church. The apostle John wrote, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19). For some, a lack of commitment may indicate a lack of conversion.

2. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of faith. Not saving faith, but serving faith. David confessed plainly, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). The apostle Paul exhorted the Galatian believers, "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Gal. 6:6). What keeps us going when the road of commitment gets long and hard is the belief that what we're doing will pay off at some point. But once we start thinking that what we're doing won't make a difference, we get down and give up.

3. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of love. Scripture commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37). The apostle Paul wrote, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Why did Christ die and rise again? So that His people might live for Him and not themselves. Yet many professing Christians are living for themselves instead of Christ. That's not to say that they have completely abandoned Christ. No, not at all. They still come to church, try to have their quiet time, and throw a few bucks into the offering plate when it is passed. They have just enough commitment to ease their conscience. They give God a slim piece of the pie and keep the rest for themselves. They have a divided heart. Their compartmentalized Christianity does not allow for all-out commitment.

David, a man after God's own heart, found the need to pray: "Unite my heart to fear Your name" (Psalm 86:11). This prayer could be translated, "Give me singleness of heart." Only as our hearts are fully devoted to the Lord will we be fully committed to doing what pleases Him. Indeed, this is essentially what David goes on to say in the very next verse, in anticipation of God's answering his prayer: "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore" (Ps. 86:12).

4. Lack of commitment may indicate a seeming lack of resources. Surely there are some who truly want to serve the Lord faithfully, but they seem to lack the resources to do so. They are short on time, energy, money, and the like. While this may appear to be the case, we must remember that God will supply our every need, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). God delights to show Himself strong through our weaknesses, rich through our poverty, and sovereign over our schedules! In fact, this fourth point really goes back to the second point: faith. Do we trust God to provide where He guides? Do we believe that He will give us the necessary resources to do what He calls and commands us to do?

If any church had an excuse to bail out on Christian service and commitment, it was the churches of Macedonia. They were dirt poor. They didn't have enough resources to meet their own needs, let alone the needs of others! Yet in Scripture we read "that in a great trial of aflliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I (Paul) bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they gave first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God" (2 Cor. 8:2-5).

Ah, there's the key! This takes us back to the third point: love for God. Notice that the Macedonian believers first gave themselves to God -- then as a result they gave themselves in service to others, God giving them the resources to give beyond their natural ability! The Christian life is one of "faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6). One commentator sums up nicely the meaning of this expression: "The person who lives by faith is internally motivated by love for God and Christ (cf. Matt. 22:37-40), which supernaturally issues forth in reverent worship, genuine obedience, and self-sacrificing love for others."

Proverbs 20:6 says, "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?" It's easy to find people who profess to be loyal, but it's another thing to find those who are actually faithful. As William MacDonald put it, "There is a difference between what men are, and what they want others to think they are."

What about you? How is your commitment to Christ and His kingdom? Are you truly serving Christ or simply "playing church"? Does God have all your heart or a mere fraction of it? Do you pay lip service in the church without fulfilling your commitments to the church?
"Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). If you find yourself discouraged, lacking in spirit in your service to the Lord, why not pray what David did in Psalm 51:10 - "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Remember, "those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40:31).

Mean Moms

Given our more intense discussion on parenting these last few days, I thought I’d leave you with something a little more light-hearted. This tongue-in-cheek tribute to mothers is not only humorous but also timely for our day. I don’t know the original source, but I have seen it posted in many places. Even if you’ve read it before, it’s worth reading again:

Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world!

While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, or eggs, or toast. When others had Pepsi and Twinkies for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

She always insisted on telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing others’ property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what’s wrong with the world today. It just doesn’t have enough mean moms anymore.

God bless “mean old moms” ... who are, in reality, the best moms in the whole world. Chuck Swindoll was right when he said of such moms: “Their words are never fully forgotten, their touch leaves an indelible impression, and the memory of their presence lasts a lifetime.” Yes, indeed. “Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates” (Prov. 31:31).