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You may have noticed a new face around here lately…

Josh Woods recently joined the TLC team as our Community Pastor. What does that mean? Josh will be heading up our “LIVING groups” (Bible studies/small groups), helping lead our LIVING youth ministry, organize outreaches and volunteering opportunities for our members, and doing graphic design for our website. In other words, we keep him busy!

No matter what he’s doing, his purpose will be to help grow a healthier church community with our members while also reaching out to our local community of Hartsville in various ways.

While many of you have already met Josh, I wanted to take the time to formally introduce him to the rest of the world.

Josh is 27 and has been serving in Christian ministry for the past nine years. Originally from the Pensacola, FL area, he has a heart for social justice and a desire to see believers reach out and connect to their host communities in new and creative ways. He graduated from Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL with a Bachelors degree in Religion and later received his Masters of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

His favorite verse is Galatians 5:13…

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Josh enjoys hiking, camping, as well as spending time with his girlfriend Laura (who’s back in Alabama) whenever possible.

You can connect with Josh by:

Following him on Twitter – @joshwwoods  www.twitter.com/joshwwoods

Adding him on Facebook – www.facebook.com/joshwwoods

Visiting his blog -  www.emerging.me

Or just come to one of our LIVING groups during the week or our Sunday morning worship service at the Center Theater!

It’s over two weeks into 2011 and many have already given up on their so-called “resolutions”. Those $60 a month gym memberships, weight-loss books, nicotine patches, are all starting to wear off!

But what I’m excited about is something that should never lose it’s luster:  a deep, lasting habit of reading God’s Word!

Last time I blogged about the “practice of prayer” and it’s importance to our everyday life. The same sense applies to our devotional time spent with God and The Holy Bible.

So what’s a good way to go about it? Where do you start? How do you keep yourself motivated? All good questions to ask and there are many answers to it. One way that our church wishes to address it is with a program called B90X.

Most of you have heard of “P90X”, the crazy workout and diet program designed to “get you in the best shape of your life!”. Having done P90X before (read my blog post about it here), I can assure you it’s no joke! It requires self-discipline like you may never had before. But if you stick it out, you’ll be glad you did!

When planning out our LIVING groups for this year and after speaking with people about their needs, I came to the conclusion that something must be done to address the spiritual laziness of today! Most “believers” just don’t read their Bibles enough and when they do, they get lost and confused by it all. They believe the lie that they don’t have time for that, so they’ll just get their fix on Sunday mornings. That’s why we chose to offer B90X.

What is it exactly?

“B90X is an intensive 3 month Bible study and prayer commitment designed to put you in the best shape of your spiritual life! This is not a Bible study for wimps! B90X is a serious program that will deliver serious results! Have you ever wanted to read the Bible the whole way through? You can do it in just 90 days! We’ll show you how!
You will learn how to read and apply scripture, as well as how to develop a daily prayer life… all while getting to know others in your group!”

Sounds good, right?

What’s been cool to see is that a nice variety have already signed up for it: members from TLC, their friends and family, complete strangers (but not for long), and to break out some Christianese terms: the “churched” and “unchurched” alike. It has excited some folks that would have never joined a “normal” Bible study! (and that’s a good thing)

If this interests you, the first meeting is tonight (Monday, January 17th) at 7:00pm at the Midnight Rooster Coffee Shop in downtown Hartsville. It’s FREE and open to anyone who wants to participate!

You’ll receive a daily reading schedule, a simple 5 step guide to scripture application and prayer, and be assigned an accountability partner. We’d love to see you there!

Be sure to visit our Facebook event page to connect with others who have joined.

One of the things people do every year is make “New Year’s Resolutions”. Lose weight. Stop smoking. Read more books. The list goes on… yet, hardly ever do such new habits stand the test of time. Why is that? I think part of the reason is that they’re solely focused on ourselves!

With this in mind, I believe one of the best practices you can commit to is daily prayer! In reality, most Christians shy away from an active prayer-life where they set aside a part of their day to address the needs of loved ones, their community, their country, and the church (both locally and worldwide).  But when we neglect this great privilege we have, why are we so surprised when the world crashes down around us?

What do we consider prayer to be? If it is truly us “talking with God”, then shouldn’t that make it much more important to us somehow? Shouldn’t we be more excited about the prospect of the Creator of the whole entire universe is listening to us? I mean, HELLO! This is mind-blowing that we, mere mortal human beings, have the ear of a loving God that only wants our affection! He loves us so incomprehensibly, but yet we ignore Him like the ugly classmate with a crush on us! (That is until they’re the only one who’ll pay us any attention!)

If prayer is what we usually treat it to be, like we barely have the time for it, then it is just lifeless words dripping from our mouth every once in a while with no sense of His reality within us (and boy, it shows). The old saying of “you are what you eat” could be similarly applied here:  your God is as big as your prayers!

How about this:  let us treat the practice of prayer for what it really is… not only a line of communication with our Heavenly Father, but a powerful weapon used to accomplish supernatural things in a natural world! Let us be renewed with a sense of eagerness and expectation to see God move in awesome ways around us! That word, “expectation” applies here well because we know we serve A GREAT MIGHTY GOD THAT CAN DO ANYTHING! Our prayers should reflect that!

1 John 15:14-15 says:

^“14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.”

Pray BIG because our God is BIG!

Now do something tangible with this realization:

For this next year, will you commit to pray…

- For our ministry (and every other local church!) to make an even greater impact in Hartsville?

- For our city’s leaders, businesses, and those in uniform (police, fire department, military, etc.)?

- For our church’s Sunday morning worship services?

- For our members and their families?

- For our community care programs?

- For our missionaries around the world?

- For our youth and children’s ministries?

- For our worship leaders?

- For me as the pastor?

I ask for all of this because I know 2011 can be a BIG year for not only TLC, but also for our community and everything that is tied to it!

Sign your name to this commitment by emailing us at: prayer@thelivingchurch.tv

This email address also serves as a way to communicate your prayer needs!

Please know that your support is always welcomed and your prayers will not fall on deaf ears!

While some folks will going out of town this weekend, The Living Church will be holding a Christmas Worship Service on Sunday, December 26th at 11am. This is our way of celebrating God’s gift to the world! It also serves as a reminder on how this gift keeps giving to us and through us!

This will be the perfect opportunity to bring those family members, neighbors and friends that may not normally go to a church service on a Sunday!

If you are traveling, please drive safe as they are calling for possible rain and snow on Saturday! We may just get a “White Christmas” here in South Carolina… for 10 minutes anyways!

And let us remember that while all of the parties, decorations, lights, gifts, songs, and food are all well-and-good… take a moment at some point to reflect on just what all of the fuss is really about: Jesus Christ! Without Him, we would never get to enjoy this holiday we call “Christmas”, much less know what salvation is like!

The birth of Jesus is told in the book of Matthew 1:

²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through His prophet:

²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a Son,
and they will call Him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”

This changed everything! It wasn’t just about some baby being born… but rather God, the creator of the whole entire universe entering our world! He put on flesh and lived among us! In other words, it was a pretty big deal! The significance remains to this day with us, when we recognize Jesus as our personal savior!

Knowing the “reason for the season” puts the holidays in proper perspective (and that means more joy and less stress!). The things we often attach to Christmas are temporary and vain… which is quite unlike the gift we received from God more than 2000 years ago!

¦

To our church family, ministry friends and loyal blog-readers… Heather and I wish you a Merry Christmas! We have been blessed this past year to serve you and the city of Hartsville. We’re looking forward to even greater things for 2011!

I like words. More accurately, I love learning how words were shaped and what their application is in today’s culture. Some pastors like explaining away Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew words from the Bible. I’m a man of simple tastes, so just give me the English language…

The word “flee” carries a negative connotation with it. Mainly because it conjures up an image of people running for their lives! Yet in the Bible it is mentioned numerous times in the context of avoiding temptations, idolatry, immorality, sin, lusts, etc. While the action of “fleeing” itself in real life seems cowardly, it’s a matter of preservation and personal growth in the text.

We find a good example of this in 1 Corinthians 6:18, where the Apostle Paul says to…

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”

Why is this so important? Because sexual immorality (in all of its many forms) is probably the most common temptation we face! I use the word “we” because statistically women are initiating adulterous situations as much as their male counterparts these days. Much of this can be attributed to the internet and more accurately social networks like Facebook. Certainly it isn’t all on the shoulders of the “world wide web”, but given how many active users there are now, it has quickly become the most common way people are connecting to each other (replacing bars, clubs and unfortunately the church).

So how do we deal with it? When I’ve counseled couples in the past, the issue of either online pornography or affairs started by social networking has been brought up. One thing I advised them to do is to either remove yourself from what’s tempting you (a situation, workplace, social group), or more commonly, remove what is tempting you from within your reach! If this means ending a friendship that has crossed the line, or removing your Facebook profile (if not the internet altogether, if proven to be a problem), then so be it!

The most dramatic way this was displayed was in the Kirk Cameron movie “Fireproof”. He portrayed a frustrated, angry man whose marriage was falling apart. Part of the reason for that was he gave into his temptations through an addiction to online pornography. To save his marriage, he took part of the “Love Dare” and during this challenge he takes out (mafia style) what was tempting him… his computer!

For most of us, this seems like an extreme measure to take… until we realize that this is a matter of life and death!

James 1:12-15…

¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

¹³ When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Here the connection is made from desire, to sin, to death!

To back this up, Romans 6:23 says this:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There’s much debate to what “death” means here in these passages. Without going too deep into a theological discussion, let me give you the real life implications of a fulfilled temptation:

When temptation that becomes a sin through our decision to engage in it has many results:

- If married, it will affect our marriage. (This is not just for sexual immorality, but all forms.) Our relationship loses trust, which is hard to build back up, no matter how strong of believers in Christ we are. It also can cause untold pain and anguish to the spouse for years to come.

- If we have children, they will see a bad example set for them. Character, fidelity, faith… all good things to have, will be less important to the next generation because of one person’s selfish decision.

- If it is merely a personal failure that no one else knows about, then realize that sin (no matter the “size”) will infect other areas of our life like cancer. Our job performance, our attitude, our bodily health… all affected because of the enormous weight of sin! Not only that, but sin often breeds other sins, much like how one lie has to be covered up with more lies!

Sin came into the world like a terminal disease and it still behaves that way today. “Death” is an applicable term to use because it means the end of the “life” we enjoy when we’re living righteously as God intended! This is without even mentioning the eternal consequences of our actions!

“Temptation” and “sin” are relevant topics because eventually the discussion will emphasize the great need for God in our life!

While there are many passages that refer to God being our source of strength, I think Psalm 18 does a great job of it:

¹ I love you, LORD, my strength.

² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³ I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I have been saved from my enemies.
⁴ The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
⁵ The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

When we find ourselves weakened by temptation, that’s when we need to FLEE (remove ourselves from the situation) and run to the refuge we have in God! We have to remember that our main source of joy and strength must come from God and nothing else! If that isn’t the case, then we find ourselves worshiping false idols! (things that do not deserve our time and affection!)

What does this look like in practical terms?

- Prayer and devotion. Not just for blessing your supper, but the very line of communication you keep with the Almighty! The more time you spend with God, the more the Holy Spirit fills your “gaps” (where things other than Him are residing). Again, Jesus has to be in our hearts, otherwise all measures we take against temptation are futile! (useless!)

- Surround yourself with good Christian influences. This is not just the pastor, but other believers that have gone through trials (experiences with temptation, sin and recovery) themselves! One way to do this is to get more involved in your church (volunteering, small groups, etc.) and seek out reliable, positive and active followers of Jesus!

- Identify the areas of weakness in your life so you can put into place measures to make yourself blameless (safeguarding in the eyes of others) and lessen the chance of failure. This might mean: no more car rides with just one person of another sex, limiting your television or internet usage, avoiding social gatherings where alcohol will be served, providing full disclosure of financial information to a spouse (debt can be a sin!), or maybe cutting back on the buffet restaurants (yes, “gluttony” is a sin!).

If you’re thinking such steps are “unreasonable”, then ask yourself this… is my relationship with God worth it? My marriage? My children’s future? My emotional health? The answer, if you haven’t figured it out already, is YES! These are much more important than what you think makes you happy! (which is almost always an outright lie from the enemy!)

Point being, the closer we are to HIM, the less likely we’ll be drawn away by THEM! (the world and all of its snares)

Don’t let temptation ruin your life!

I can remember a time not so long ago that if you had a problem with a product, service, etc., you could simply call the business or organization and get a prompt response. The call center reps tended to be pleasant, helpful and eager to keep your experience as good as possible.

Well, it’s almost 2011 and that stuff is ancient history.

Nowadays you have to be a licensed private investigator to track down any customer service number to get a hold of anybody. If by chance you do, it’s not going to be a plain-speaking American citizen with a head full of relevant knowledge ready to tackle the issue. It might be a “jingoistic” notion, but believe it or not I actually prefer being able to understand what the other person is saying. A pretty unreasonable concept, I know…

Then there’s the website “contact form” when you fill out a blank comment field with your information in hopes of a response. The reply you’ll often get is nearly always automated and never personal.

You see, the problem at hand is not only frustration on my part, but the separation between myself and the organization. The company might as well be telling me… (in a Bill Lumbergh kind-of-voice)

“Yeahhh…. good luck with that. In the meantime, we’ll be drafting another payment out of your account later this week. Thanks a bunch!”

In other words… bug off, you fool! We don’t need you!

So what does this have to do with ministry? Everything!

As church leaders, we have to be aware of the experience people sometimes have this kind of impression from us:  we don’t have time for them, we don’t care, take-it-or-leave-it. Some of this resentment is warranted and other times it is not. But you know what? Folks aren’t exactly beating down our doors these days. Whatever issue the person has with us, it does matter and should be addressed with a smile and in a timely fashion!

One thing I pride myself on is my connection to our church family. They know my cell number, my email address, my Twitter handle, blog URL, etc. I’m accessible and I don’t mind it! Even if TLC ever reached a level of “megachurch” status, I would still have measures in place to handle personal inquiries because what people feel and think about your organization matters!

There are a fair share of crazies in this Christian church world and not every problem can be solved with “good service”. We can’t give them a “refund” nor can they make a “return”. In truth, the customer isn’t “always right” but the way we treat them is of great importance (and even eternal consequence)!

In my dealing with people from all sorts, the one thing that remains a constant thought is: WWJD (what would Jesus do?) Yes, the cliched phrase that swept through 1990′s youth groups everywhere. But in reality I have to shift my way of thinking because the “carnal” or “worldly” side of me wants to shove them aside and let someone else handle their problem (which is really easy to do!). But if I have the Holy Spirit reside in my heart, I’m going to take the time to hear them and deal with it as lovingly (as hard as that may be) as possible.

In a world where customer service has now taken a backseat, there’s opportunity for the church to set the example!

The Apostle Paul simply calls what we refer to as customer service, “love” in Romans 12:9-21

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The overriding sense here is that no matter what way someone approaches you, treat them with love! Bless them any way you can! Don’t pass them off on someone else, instead personally invest in their life! (it makes more of a difference than you may realize!)

Loving beyond reason is the complete opposite the way “the world” operates today and that’s why we should recognize the need to provide good “customer service”! There is a wide open opportunity for us to help change someone’s life just by treating them with “lovingkindness”!

We’re starting our new message series “flee” this Sunday at TLC and I’m excited about it! (you should be too!)

In 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul tells us to:

“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

That word “flee” is important to note because it stresses urgency and action! The spiritual condition is damaged by things we too often consider to be “harmless”. Unfortunately, instead of running away from them, we get cozy and make ourselves at home! What are some of these things exactly?

Find out this Sunday at TLC! See you at the Center Theater at 11:00am!

In the church world you often have trendy words that come-and-go. I’m not immune to them. Such terms as “emerging”, “vision-casting”, “post-modern”, “seeker”, “missional” and “relevant” are some of the more well-known ones that almost have no application or impact outside of Christian circles. That last word though, “relevant” gets tossed around a lot…

For the traditionalists (those who seemingly refuse to change anything) the word might as well be: “satanic” or “worldly”. Instead of looking at it practically, they dismiss it and defend their way as the only way.

For the hipsters (those who feel the need to change everything) the word might as well be: “Biblical” or “effective”. Instead of using it just to change their approach, they take it too far by also applying it to the Gospel making God’s Word seem like just another “motivational tool”. (although some traditional churches have been known to stray away every now and then too!)

Let’s look at what “relevant” actually means though…

From Merriam-Webster:

a : having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand

b : affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion

The first definition really applies here…

- We want to be a light to darkness.

- We want to speak truth to power.

- We want to matter in a culture where “Jesus Christ” is little more than a cuss word.

In other words, we want to have a spot at the dinner tables of this world! We want to impact people’s lives in a real, demonstrable way!

Now, I’m “relevant” because I believe the Word of God is relevant. It speaks…

- To all people, in all languages and cultures.

- To every situation and circumstance in our lives.

- To every problem and issue we have to face.

Our church is relevant in style so that we can be “different” in how we present the Gospel in order to go after “different” kinds of people. I’m of the belief that there are “many ways to skin a cat” and this applies to ministry just as well.

The Apostle Paul did “relevant” ministry well!

1 Corinthians 9:19-23…

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

Paul adjusted how he shared the Gospel depending on who he was speaking to! Instead of merely changing outfits (say from a three-piece suit to a graphic t-shirt and jeans), he actually had to adapt his diet and customs! Had Paul not done that, then his ministry would have been a lot less effective!

How does this translate to us? Well, not everyone will respond to the same old ways of “doing church”! Yet, methods are somehow sacred to a lot of leaders! The only thing we should be holding onto is the truth found in The Holy Bible! Everything else is up for grabs! From hymnals to electric guitars… if it ain’t working, feel free to change it! We need to remember that methods/styles/traditions are MAN-MADE!

What relevant is not (or at least should not be) is “watering down” God’s Word. That is the big misconception with the relevant style and with some places, rightfully so!

However, most churches that practice this style of teaching and preaching go about it the right way by taking God’s Word and use it conversationally and authentic in approach. They’ll use creative illustrations (videos, skits, music) and life experiences to show God’s truth. As a result, it’s these type of churches that are growing the most (and have the largest target on their backs) because people are engaged and respond to it!

But even the most dynamic presentation should keep the flavor of God’s Word… where the natural part of us (the carnal, human, but sinful stuff) is offended (you read correctly!). God’s Word and sin are like oil and water… they don’t mix! That “uncomfortable” feeling is often where the supernatural has kicked the natural right in the groin! Our first instinct (since we’re human) is to be confused and sometimes a little angry! It’s only when the Holy Spirit comes upon us where that confusion and anger turns into acceptance and understanding.

This month we’re doing a series on money. Talk about where the rubber meets the road… this kind of stuff can step on people’s toes, for sure! But it still needs to be taught! Truth will pierce the heart like a sharp arrow! A watered-down message will merely hit the head like one of those suction cup toy arrows (that barely stick to anything anyways!).

Remember that we’re in the business of heart transformation, not behavior modification! We need to do more convicting and less convincing! (This is especially true for a sermon about tithing!)

For instance, there was a church I knew of that introduced a giving campaign centered around a “graduated tithing scale”. Can’t do 10%? Well, why not 5%? Maybe get a little crazy and go for 7%! (and this was no “modern church” either!)

You see, when we start trying to reason with people and bring the Word down with them, then the foundation of truth is all but lost! Instead of trying to convince members to tithe what amount they felt they could (really, as little as they could!), the church should be presenting God’s Word in such a way that whatever it says for us to do, we do it! The Bible isn’t a list of “suggestions”, but instead a detailed, life-changing account of God’s love for us and why we should be living for Him! (and not ourselves!)

Guess what folks? We have the answer (Jesus) to the world’s problem (sin) and we should make no apologies for it! Be BOLD and courageous… not a wimp!

So if you want to be truly relevant, speak God’s truth and do it with excellence! Change your approach if necessary and customize it to the culture that you’re surrounded by! (If missionaries around the world can do this, why can’t American churches?)

Amen?

I was watching the Biography Channel a while back and caught the documentary on the infamous bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow (“Bonnie and Clyde”). We’re in the middle of our “LIVING is GIVING” series this month at TLC and what better example to use for “thieves” than these two. Why? Because of the explanation given by history revisionists that carelessly characterized them as flamboyant, but desperate criminals.

You see, they committed their robberies (and many senseless murders) during the height of the Great Depression. Jobs were scarce, banks were seen as villains to the common man and outlaws like John Dillinger and the aforementioned power couple were celebrated as heroes. They were even glamorized in bio-pic movies! Pretty twisted, I know…

These experts, mostly pseudo-intellectuals with far-too-much-time-on-their-hands sympathized with them and explained away their crimes. The thing that kept coming up was how “desperate” they were and that’s what motivated them to take such drastic measures. Clyde Barrow was a convicted felon who had a hard time keeping a job because of his past. He gave up on trying to “live right” and decided to go on a string of bank robberies to make something of himself. Surely, he had no other choice!

In essence, desperation justified the crime and all the trappings that came with it should just be forgiven and forgotten!

You know it sounds crazy, yet this same mentality exists with everyday churchgoers today. How’s that?

It says in Malachi 3:8-9…

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.

What is God saying here? That if you aren’t faithful with your giving, then not only are you a thief, but you are CURSED!

Pretty heavy stuff, right? When we don’t tithe (10% from the “gross”) and give offerings out of our heart, then we are called out by God like someone making a 911 call after their house was broken-into! If not committing a crime against God isn’t enough, then being CURSED should weigh a little more!

The statistics are disgusting… the percentages vary depending on the study, but less than 10% (being generous here) of born-again, church-going Christians actually tithe! It’s become increasingly worse over the past few decades, yet we wonder why the economy isn’t getting any better and households are broken (and broke)!

It’s because we are not putting God first! Simple, yet we ignore the fact that we put a lot more faith into the few dollars saved by not tithing, than Almighty God Himself!

To break it down for you… if someone earns $3000 a month before taxes, then the tithe should be $300. For many of us, that’s a good chunk of change! That could take care of our electric bill during the summer/winter months. That’s a car payment! It could be anything you want it to be.

But if you’re not tithing that amount, you’re making the profound statement that $300 is going to take care of you better than the Creator of the whole entire universe! You are also saying you love that money more than Him! In other words, you trust this small amount of money more than you do God!

Keep the faith in the Lord that He will take care of your needs in times of struggle, but by all means meet Him halfway by not wasting the money He’s given you! (It’s all His money to begin with anyways!)

For those that say that you “can’t afford to tithe right now” because of: 1. Your job (or lack thereof) 2. Bills or 3. In debt… you’re really no better than Bonnie and Clyde or any other criminal in the history of the world! Instead of robbing banks in the small towns of Texas, you’re robbing God! (which I’m venturing to guess is probably a worse offense!) The same desperation that drove them to kill and steal is the same desperation behind you clinging to that money!

And you know, it should be sufficient for us to tithe based on the first two verses above alone… but wait, there’s more!

Malachi 3:10 tells us:

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 there will not be room enough to store it.

So what is God saying here? Basically, “Hey… don’t believe Me? Then give it a try. If you actually do it, then I’m going to BLESS you like you’ve never seen before!“

That’s a BIG promise from God! Personally, I’d rather be BLESSED than CURSED… but that’s just me.

Imagine if faithful Christ-followers everywhere tithed and gave as they should, churches would never have to wash cars at Autozone, sell any chicken bog tickets, stand outside of Wal-Mart with dry poundcake and brownies, or put up with any other fundraiser you can think of! We could get so much done! We’d be building God’s Kingdom, and not our kingdom!

So by all means, get yourself BLESSED by giving joyfully from the heart… (2 Corinthians 9:7)

- Joyfully because you have a blessing waiting for you! It may not look like in the form of a lottery ticket or material goods, but it will be what you need! (God knows exactly what that looks like!)

- Joyfully because you know you’re displaying complete love and trust in Him by being faithful with your checkbook!

- Joyfully because… well, HE IS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER WHO LOVES YOU AND PROVIDES FOR YOU! (and really, that should be enough!)

Still not convinced? Good luck with that whole “CURSED” thing…

Let me know how that works out for ya! 

This weekend kicks off our new message series at TLC, “LIVING is GIVING”.

Part 1 is called, “Greed vs. God”. Why? Because they are truly on opposite ends of the spectrum!

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24…

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Notice the words “love, hate, devoted, despise”. All are attitudes of the heart! If we let money (and much of the trappings that come with it) control our lives, then what’s left for God? (not much)

This is often a taboo, if not outright abused subject in churches around the world! So when starting a message series that will address our giving (tithes and offerings), debt, budgeting, etc., you first have to frame the discussion on the proper role of money!

This Sunday’s service will do just that. We’ll get to see why this is much more about what’s inside our hearts, rather than our wallets!

Hope to see you there! It’s going to be great!