Thank you, guys, for that support!!
For today;
"If you give to charity while you are poor, you will eventually give in days of wealth. If you do not give while you are rich, you will eventually abstain from giving because of poverty. God has willed that there be two hands in the matter of charity -- one that gives and one that receives. Thank God that yours is the hand that gives. Say not, "I will miss what I give." Be like the sheep who give their wool and have no less the next year because they have given."
-- Tan Huma Rabbinic Literature
2 Corinthians 9:6-11;
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness
Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.”
I almost never talk about giving, because collecting money is not the purpose of my ministry, nor should it be the purpose of any ministry! My ministry does not need your money. From the day we opened Bethany Church twenty five years ago, every singly need we have ever had has been met. We have never had over a thousand dollars in the treasury, yet the church has met each expense as it arrises.
You, however, have a need to give money into God’s work. You need to decide where you wish to place it, and do so very carefully. If you are placing it into a charitable work, spend some time investigating charities to see which one you want to support. Go beyond their signs and ads, and dig deep into the organization itself. See how much they spend on buildings and staff. Check into the salaries of the upper administrators. From my personal investigations - and personal history - there is no better large charity than the Salvation Army. And from my personal investigations and personal history, there is no major charity as wasteful and ineffective as the Red Cross.
You should put at least part of your titnes and offerings into the church you attend. If you are fed there, then pay for the meal.
Whatever you decide to do with your tithes and offerings, make sure you do not neglect to give them into God’s work, whatever vehicle you choose to do that through.
May God bless you, guys - -