Photo credit: Gravitywave (Creative Commons) Over the past few months, we have had several people from a more traditional church background and who are in the process of leaving for the mission field visit the church that meets in our home. The exchange has been valuable. Our “Jesus family” has rubbed shoulders with people sold out… Read More
Category: Finance
Our friend, Steve Lyzenga did his doctoral dissertation on releasing resources (both financial and personnel) towards completing the Great Commission. He compared how resources are used within a traditional church set up and house/simple/organic churches. I had the honor of being on his doctoral board, and so was closely involved in the whole process. His results… Read More
According to Dave Barrett and Todd Johnson in World Christian Trends, the average cost per new baptism in the United States tops $1.5 million! This figure reflects the cost of church buildings, seminary training etc. What has happened to Jesus' instructions to the disciples in Luke 10. "Don't take any money with you…"? There is… Read More
Back in the early 90's, Jim Mellon was on the eldership team of a megachurch with a $1 million a year budget. One Christmas, their church didn't have the funds to help a member's family where both husband and wife had lost their jobs. As he and his wife, Cathy, discussed it, they realized that… Read More
Photo by TMAB2003 (Creative Commons) Many of us within the simple/organic church movement are so scared of organization and denominationalism that we have failed to work together to take financial responsibility for those from our midst who, according to Scripture, "deserve their wages." As a result, some of these people are either unable to put… Read More
"I think that God wants my wife and I to start up a network of house churches in a small town in northern South Australia. I am keen that these groups don't become inward looking, but give money (and time, energy, and prayer) away to needs within the local community and further afield. I'm of… Read More
Frank posted this extraordinary story–a demonstration of how God wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, including the workplace–on an earlier post. It is all the more unusual because it happened in the UK. "In the early 80s, whilst out working, God clearly gave me a revelation for a business. The idea was… Read More
Categories
When Christian giving corrupts
Sometimes damage is done by well-meaning Christians giving their money in the wrong places. Example: if a church planting movement is dependent on outside funds to pay their church planters, there is a natural (financial) limitation as to how many church planters can be involved. This will limit the growth of what is going on.… Read More
It reinforces or creates a clergy/laity distinction. It can cause others to aspire to "move up the ladder" spiritually. Others in the body are tempted to let the paid person do all the work (after all, they are paid to do it!) Within a network of simple/house churches, there isn't enough work to do to… Read More
Photo credit (Creative Commons) swisscan We have some friends who think that because my husband, Tony, runs a business that supports us, we are somehow missing out on the best God has for us. "How much more you could accomplish for God," they imply or say outright, "if you were full time in ministry." Maybe they… Read More