Eccl: 4:12 “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

• The history of the children of Israel is the history of the Making of a Nation.  (Jews in New York joke:  Moses gave us Saturday off, Jesus gave us Sunday, if we had five more good Jewish boys we wouldn’t have to work.)
• To make a nation requires something more than common blood and language.  Common beliefs, hopes and traditions need to be developed.

Israel had the raw material and the enthusiasm, now other forces would need to be present to begin the Formation Process

In come three figures that would help shape Israel’s destiny:

Moses with the function of prophet who operated with practicality, high principles, a great statesman and skilled.

The building of a community was beginning to take place, Moses was always aware of the near reality of a personal God.

Aaron:  the priest, the pastor, the organizer of the religious life of this vast community.  This position was so necessary for a people who have been disorganized and demoralized by long years of slavery in Egypt.

Miriam:  to the prophet and the priest is sent a poet, the inspired singer, the one whose office and function it is to take the national hopes and aspirations and connect them to music.  This was Miriam, not the gift of Moses or Aaron.

As is the case, many times the prophet finds himself removed from where the people live, often with many people admiring from a distance and even putting this gift on a pedestal.

Miriam was close with the people; her outbursts of song rang with human triumph.  She sang as though the very life-blood of Israel was within her views.

• Miriam cared about Unity of her people, she cared about the destiny of her people and she cared about the mission of her people
• Today, Poets and Prophets are not the same; however, during this time there were great similarities.  It was like an ‘open secret’, open to all, seen by almost none.

Let’s look at this incredible woman of God in three different scenes.

1.   By the Nile:  4,050 miles in length, rich in sentiment, the envy of all nations around Egypt.  The Nile is the longest river in the world, stretching north for approximately 4,000 miles from East Africa to the Mediterranean. Studies have shown that the River (Iteru, meaning, simply, River, as the Egyptians called it) gradually changed its location and size over the years. The Nile flows from the mountains in the south to the Mediterranean in the north.

Ex. 2:4 “His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.”

With the Nile River as her background, we see Miriam watching the little cradle boat with her brother in it, this dark eyed girl, perhaps 15 years old, clever, sensible and confident.  The entire world knows the story of how baby Moses life was saved, the resolve on the part of his Hebrew mother.  To commit her little one to the ark in the bulrushes where Pharaoh’s daughter would find the baby and the heart of yet another woman would care and love this child.

Three women are involved in this saga:  Mother, young Sister and a Princess.  1.  Consider the ark by itself; it would only prolong the tragedy.  2.  The Princess alone would have saved the boy at the cost of losing his nationality and his destiny.  3.  Miriam by her intervention preserved both Mose’s life and his destiny.

• When God gets ready to change a nation, to lift an empire, to bring forth deliverance to mankind, a baby is born.  He told Abraham his seed would be a stranger and a slave in Egypt some 400 years, but afterwards he would bring them forth with great substance.  Now a baby is born, little Moses, for the purpose of delivering Israel from Egypt and God allowed him to be the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  Placing him in a position for that hour when he would strike the blow of deliverance.

Nile produced life…the birthing of a Destiny

            2.   By the Red Sea

Ex. 15: 19-21 “19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted.  The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.”

• Many years have now passed by, when the curtains arises, there’s a new scene.  Egypt has vanished, another world has appeared, and the slaves are free.  Again we see Miriam standing on the banks of a river, not the Nile, but the Red Sea.  The armies of Egypt have been engulfed in the water; Miriam sings a song of victory.

• You see in her:  Courage, passion and intense patriotism

Women in Ministry have not had it easy! 

• We hear the song as a war song with Godly spirit…

Ex. 15:2 “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation, He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

You see a direct link with OT Miriam and the NT Mary where Mary says, “Mary’s Song

Luke 1:46-48 And Mary said:  “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed,”

Nile:  Birthing of Vision and Destiny

Red Sea:  Triumph and Victory

               3.   In the Wilderness

Deut. 24:9 “Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

Num. 12:1 “Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.”

• New scene, a new act of the drama opens, we have passed the Nile, the Red Sea, we have now entered the Wilderness, and we have left behind the songs of victory and of triumph.
• A cloud has settled over the singer, poet, the prophetess…a Moral cloud

Wilderness trials are hard…The Leader’s faith has been tried, the Leader’s temper has been tried and the Leader’s enthusiasm is on trial.

It’s hard to focus on the early ideals associated with the birthing of a vision or nation and with the great experiences of Sinai

In Comes:  Disagreement, Disappointment, Resentment

• Moses has taken a wife from the Crushites, it was seen as a mistake by his sister (Disagreement)
• To complicate matters, Miriam feels shut out of areas that she feels should involve her. (Resentment and disappointment)

…remember…a three fold cord is not easily broken!

Num. 12:2 “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses?  Hath he not spoken also by us?”

When jealousy struck one man…”To his intense self-loathing, he found that the green-eyed monster of jealousy had its claws upon his soul.  I shall never forget the sense of guilt and sin that possessed me over that business.  I was miserable.  Was I practically saying to the Lord, unless the prosperity of thy church and people comes in this neighborhood by me, success had better not come?

Num. 12: 2b -3 “And the LORD heard this. 3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

• It does not appear that Moses tried to defend himself…the Lord heard it.
• 1 Cor. 13 – Do not keep record of who is for you and who may be against you.

Miriam and Aaron were severely rebuked…Leprosy fell on Miriam

Num. 12:10-11 “10 when the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.”

• Aaron understood the sin when he saw the results of it…immediately he asks Moses for forgiveness

Look how quickly Moses came to her rescue when he says in verse 13 “So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!”

• Miriam was subjected to temporary disgrace…she was expelled from the congregation of the Lord for 7 days during which time she has lots of time to consider the Nile, the vision, the Red Sea, the victory and now the wilderness, repentance and refining

Miriam came out of her cloud with an unstained reputation.  She resumed her leadership by the side of her two brothers.  She kept an honored name not only through the marches of the wilderness but through the long march of Jewish history, Miriam the prophetess.

Miriam never reached the promise land.  Yet a death in the desert was a fitting close for such a life.

Things my mother taught me:

1. Don’t be selfish or self-Centered
2. Take pride in your work
3. Move on!

1. Nile = Birthing
2. Red Sea = Victory
3. Wilderness = Repentance

Ken and his wife Lena met in the United States, after graduating from Bible College they were married in Sweden in 1984.  After moving to Edmonton, together they raised their three daughters, Louise, Angeline and Linette. 

In 2004, while in the District, Ken & Lena, together with a fine team of leaders, planted City Centre Church in Edmonton, the vision to be ‘a church plant that plants churches’ was the driving force behind this dream.  In three short years, City Centre Church assisted a church plant in Slovakia and planted another church in Edmonton called Urban Bridge Church.
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Ken’s pursues God in everything that he does as part of his desire to see the will and blessing of God unfold in his life and the lives of those around him. It is this desire that has birthed in him a heart to see a generation turn to Christ through a Church Planting and Multiplication movement.
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“Just wait until your father gets home.”

My Mother taught me about RECEIVING:

“You are going to get it when we get home!”

My Mother taught me to MEET A CHALLENGE:

“What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you…Don’t talk back to me!”

My Mother taught me LOGIC:

“Because I said so, that’s why.”

My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT:

“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”

My Mother taught me about GENETICS:

“You’re just like your father.”

My Mother taught me about my ROOTS:

“Do you think you were born in a barn?”

My Mother taught me about WISDOM OF AGE:

“When you get to be my age, you will understand.”

My Mother taught me about JUSTICE:

“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.

Then you’ll see what it’s like.”

My mother taught me RELIGION:

“You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”

My mother taught me FORESIGHT:

“Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”

My mother taught me IRONY:

“Keep crying and I’ll *give* you something to cry about.”

My mother taught me about WEATHER:

“It looks as if a tornado swept through your room.”

My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY:

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times: Don’t Exaggerate!!!”

My mother taught me about ENVY:

“There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do!”

• Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet

E M Bounds explains, “Praying is the best school in which to learn to pray, prayer is the best dictionary to define the art and nature of praying.”

Hope MacDonald in her book, discovering how to pray said, “We can read all the books that have ever been written about prayer, but until we actually choose by an act of our will, to pray, we will never learn.”

1.    Prayer will help Christians everywhere fulfill the Great Commission

1500 new converts per day reaching 2 billion un-evangelized persons would take 4,000 years with zero population growth

2.   Prayer will help unify Christians for this task of world Evangelization

While lots of things can and do divide the church, prayer is not one of them.  Prayer brings us together from diverse backgrounds, if we can learn to pray together, we can learn to work together.

3.   Prayer will take us to new personal levels of our spiritual journey

Charles H. Spurgeon preached Spirit anointed sermons backed by hours of prayer.  He said, “In the ark of salvation we find a lower, second and third story; all are in the ark but all are not in the same story.  Most Christians, as to the river of experience, are only up to the ankles; some other have waded until the stream is up to the knees; a few find chest (breast) –high; and but a few—oh! How few—find it a river to swim in, the bottom of which they cannot touch.”

4.   Prayer reaches everywhere for every need

“There is no other item as universally available to mankind as prayer.  Jonah prayed from the belly of a fish.  We teach the importance of prayer because its power is far-reaching and may penetrate where people cannot go.

5.   Prayer will help Christians zero in on the supreme task of the church

Supreme task of the CHURCH is the conversion of lost souls!

Dr. R. A. Torrey said, “We live in a day characterized by the multiplication of man’s machinery and the diminution of God’s power.  The great cry of our day is work, work, work, organize, organize, give us some new society, tell us some new methods, devise some new machinery:  but the great need of our day is prayer, more prayer and better prayer.”

6.   The experiences of millions of praying Christians is proof that prayer works.

Prayer is effectual and makes a difference in the destinies of men and nations.

A miracle is a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature, such that can be attempted to be explained by divine intervention, and is sometimes associated with a miracle-worker. Many folktales, religious texts, and people claim various events they refer to as “miraculous”. People in different cultures have substantially different definitions of the word “miracle”. Even within a specific religion there is often more than one of the term. Sometimes the term “miracle” may refer to the action of a supernatural being that is not a god. Thus, the term “divine intervention”, by contrast, would refer specifically to the direct involvement of a deity.

On August 13th, 2009, Dairy Queen® and Blizzard® treat lovers across North America will make miracles happen for sick and injured kids in their communities. Purchase of a Blizzard treat at participating DQ stores will benefit local Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. Thank you for helping us make miracles happen.

In this commercial you see three different miracles take place, they are a:

• Boy with hair-lip
• Girl with face and neck burns
• Boy with braces

My first impression of this commercial was how excited I was for those in the dramatization getting well, the second thought I had was, ‘where are the miracles we need to see in the church, through the church’?

I believe there are three types of healings that can take place at anytime in anyone’s life.  I have personally experienced all three.

1.   Natural

2.  Medical

3.  Miraculous

Luke 3:15:  The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.”

Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.  He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

Luke 4: 14-20 “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,

In Luke 4 we see five different and decisive areas that Jesus was called to do on earth and to bring healing to those suffering.  He was to:

• Preach the Gospel to the poor
• Proclaim release to the captives
• Recovery of sight to the blind
• To set free those who are bruised
• To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

“We are a product of our total life experience; our reactions to present situations are determined by past experiences.  Our perceptions of the present time can be distorted by our past hurts.  To the extent that we react violently to a simple problem, we must conclude that we are bound to the past and cannot respond normally to the present situation.”   Karol Thompson

With everything that is legitimate, there will always be the false, the phony, and the liars.  In Acts 8:9-24, Simon the sorcerer is one of these false deceivers, even though he went through many of the steps to freedom in Christ, however, something from his past, something deep in his heart, kept him from yielding fully to God and as a result, he was willing to attempt to take the pure and make it pitiful.  Look at the text closely.

⁹Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; ¹⁰and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. ¹²But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. ¹³Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. ¹⁴Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, ¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! ²¹“You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. ²²“Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³“For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” ²⁴But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

~ There can be no God-power when you don’t operate under God-authority ~

Vr. 23 “you are full of bitterness,

People love Jesus but have issues not dealt with, causing them to want control…thought you could buy. Verse 21

Hebrews talks about a root of bitterness

Hebrews 12:15 “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

• Bitterness begins with unforgiveness,
• unforgiveness
• resentment
• retaliation
• anger
• hatred
• violence
• murder

Bruised (release the oppressed) in the Greek is Thrao and means to smite through, shatter, eg:  broken by tragedy, great distress or misfortunate, an event causing great harm or loss and affliction.

The Bruises of Satan

Adam:  “What you became, we are.  What you originally were, we would like to be.”

At first Adam was dirt shaped form created by the finger of God, with head and body, with hand and feet, with heart and veins, with muscle and tissue, with digestive and nervous system, but no soul, no life…

Then God breathed into his nostrils the “Breath of Life” and Adam became a living soul.

Adam you were the first man, the first laborer, the first husband, the first Father, the first Sinner!

Cain:

No doubt his conscience shouted to him:  “Don’t do it” – His envy argued, “Kill Him”

Cain Kills Abel – Both were sons of Adam and Eve.  Both were taught the same.  Whatever was within Cain’s heart, which led him to make a wrong offering, also led him to resent God’s rejecting of it.

What a disappointment to Adam and Eve, What a reminder of their own failure

Joseph:

Joseph’s brothers piled hate upon him; the son of Rachel was going to receive the birthright honor.

His brother’s hated him for this, he tells them of the dream of the 12 sheaves

After a long journey from Hebron to Shechem and d from there towards Dothan, he is tired and looking for a friendly face.  He finds his brothers, only to find out that they had engaged in a conspiracy to murder the dreamer who had his father’s affection and wore a coat of distinction.  Reuben intervened and suggested they put him in a pit

Now he’s sold into slavery

Moses:

It was a hard political age for the Egyptians.  Fear so gripped their national leadership that a decree was published to destroy all male babies of the Hebrews lest they join the enemies of the nation in a time of war.  Mass murder was underway.

Moses is hid for 3 months, placed in the water and discovered by Pharaohs daughter.  The child’s life was divided into three equal periods of 40 years.

In Egypt learning

In Midian in discipline

In leading and training the nation

Jesus Christ:

Born in a manger, betrayed by a friend, Rejected –

Isa. 53:3 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.  Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Falsely accused

Matt. 12:24 “But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub,the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

Gen. 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Imprisoned through the Bruises, Released by the Blood of Jesus

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

• Sin produced Hurt
• Hurt produced pain
• Pain is a bruise
• Bruises produce bitterness
• Bitterness can bind us to our hurt and pain

Don’t give Satan the ground he wants in your life, don’t give him the right of way or the use of your mind.

We need to learn to forgive others and ourselves

When you hate yourself, your immune system turns on you and destroys you

If you give up on yourself so will your body

Perfect love casts out fear

Let God heal you today however He chooses, keep away from all demonic activity and trust the Bible and all it says about Jesus Christ’s desire to set you free, Spirit, Soul and Body!

There’s a story told of a woman who pulled up to a red light behind another car. The driver of the car in front of her was talking on his cell phone, and shuffling through some papers on the seat beside him. The light turned green, but the man didn’t notice. The woman began pounding on her steering wheel, honking her horn and yelling at the man to move. The man still didn’t move. The light turned yellow. The woman blew the car’s horn repeatedly, as she yelled and screamed at the man. The man finally noticed the commotion. He looked up, saw the yellow light, and accelerated through the intersection just as the light turned red. The woman was beside herself, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection. As she was still in mid-rant she heard a tap on her window and looked into the face of a very serious looking policeman. The policeman told her to shut off her engine and step out of the car. The red-faced woman obeyed, speechless at what was happening. The policeman took the woman to the police station where she was placed in a cell, after a couple of hours of sitting in the cell, the woman was brought out to the front of the station where the original officer was waiting with her personal effects. The policeman handed her the bag containing her things, and said, “I’m really sorry for this mistake, but you see I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn and screaming and cursing. Then I noticed the Choose Life license plate holder, the Follow Me to Sunday school bumper sticker, and the chrome plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, naturally I assumed that you had stolen the car, but I was wrong!

Authenticity…Refers to the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions.

Philip Yancey wrote: “Grace comes free of charge to people who do not deserve it and I am one of those people. I think back to whom I was — resentful, wound tight with anger, a single hardened link in a long chain of “un-grace” learned from family and church. Now, I am trying in my own small way to pipe…the tune of grace. I do so because I know, more surely than I know anything, that any pang of healing or forgiveness, or goodness, I have ever felt comes solely from the grace of God. I yearn for the church to become a nourishing culture of that grace”.

Grace also will remind us, it’s okay to let others see how much God still needs to work in our lives. Grace and authenticity walk hand in hand.

• Isn’t it tragic that people regularly enter churches and then leave again never finding grace?
• It’s common to believe in God’s grace but to be ungracious. It’s also common to preach grace, but not extend it. As people, we claim grace and forgiveness for ourselves, but we often demand performance from others. We need to understand Christ’s heart for His Church.

C.S. Lewis said, “Man is incurably religious.” 

Our human pride makes us legalists by nature. We need regular, repeated doses of the Truth of grace to flush that garbage out of our thinking. We also love to give others a good impression.

• What will characterize Christians who pursue grace-driven authenticity?

The passage below will help us discover, how to put a “face on grace“. It helps us celebrate grace — in turn to “grace” each other. This moves us down the road to being real.

Colossians 3:1-14 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is yourlife, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

1.  Grace (driven) people know their roots – verse 12

2.  Grace people reflect grace

Wear gentleness… This word is the same word as meekness — it‘s the opposite of rudeness and abrasiveness.

Put on Kindness…. that’s action that grows out of compassion.

Put on humility…. Humility flows out of remembering God’s grace to you. In Romans 12:3, Paul says, through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

Put on patience… Literally, that means putting up with people’s exasperating conduct without responding in kind.

It time we find our Purpose ~

Dictionary for Purpose:  The object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or a goal:

Paul Harvey – “Like what you do. If you don’t like it, do something else.”

John Ruskin – “Tell me what you like and I’ll tell you what you are.”

Kenneth Hildebrand – “Strong lives are motivated by dynamic purposes; lesser ones exist on wishes and inclinations.”

What is your purpose in life?  - The object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or a goal:

• Most times we are quick to say what is our secondary purpose, but everything in creation has a primary purpose, or a reason for existing. For anyone or anything to be successful, it must fulfill that purpose.

•  AUTHENTICITY = REAL
            

Nine Reasons for practicing Stewardship 

• It is a tried and proven pattern of giving by godly people throughout the ages
• It will help you revere God more in your life
• It will bring God’s wisdom and order to your finances and will help you harness the dragon of materialism.
• It will serve as a practical reminder that God is the Owner of everything you have
• It will allow you to experience God’s creative care and provisions in ways you would not otherwise experience
• It will encourage your spiritual growth and trust in God
• It will strengthen the ministry, outreach, and stability of your local church
• It will help provide the means to keep your pastor and missionaries in full-time Christian service
• It will help accomplish needed building projects and renovations

What some Millionaires thought about money and GIVING…Quotes by some folks you may have heard of…


L. Kraft, head of the Kraft Cheese Corp., who had given approximately 25% of his enormous income to Christian causes for many years, said, “The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord.”

J. D. Rockefeller said, “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.”

Quotes on the subject by other well known people:

Martin Luther  – “I have tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all, but what I have given into God’s hands I still possess.”

Jimmy Carter – “When it comes to giving, some people will stop at nothing.”

George Mueller – “God judges what we give by what we keep.”

Peter Marshall – “Give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving.”

Mother Teresa – “If you give what you do not need, it isn’t giving.”

• “The trouble is that too many people are spending money they haven’t yet earned, for things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like.”

Three types of Giving

Little – You ought to (obligation)

Legal – You have to (law)

Liberal – You want to (grace])

Liberal giving says:  You Have the Heart of Christ…You See Others Needs as Something You can Help With…You are Tied to Others…You Get to Give – Not vice-versa…You are an Inspiration to Others…You improve the Lives of Others Around You…You have a Right Attitude…You Will Get Back Liberally Also…Your aim in life is to Glorify God

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke – 1 of 6 verses deals with money

• Giving has nothing to do with ASSETS!
It’s about Attitude…Trust…Choice…Ownership

Truth – Most Tip God & Call It Tithing

Leftovers are such humble things, we would not serve to a guest, & yet we serve them to our Lord who deserves the very best. We give to him leftover time, stray minutes here & there. Leftover cash we give to him, such few coins as we can spare.

Cheerful Givers

A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. “Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. “Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did.”

1. Before she was your wife she was God’s daughter…and He is VERY concerned about how someone treats His girl!
2. Women are responders, so if there is friction/conflict in the relationship she is most likely responding to something that is off center…and it is going to take an actual conversation where you use words to figure out what it is.
3. If a man will not lead his family then Satan will! (See Genesis 3)
4. One of the biggest questions that a woman is always asking of her husband is, “can I trust you with my heart?” And the answer to this question is not simply declared but rather demonstrated over time.
5. Every word you speak has meaning to your wife…and HOW you say those words carry even more meaning.
6. No woman responds well to condemnation…and if we are supposed to love our wives like Christ loves the church, and there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1) then we MUST watch our words carefully.
7. It is a spiritual impossibility for an angry husband to love his wife like Jesus loves the church.
8. Your wife LOVES to know you are thinking about her during the day.
9. Surfing the Internet or playing games on your smart phone while she is sitting next to you on the couch is NOT romantic.
10. Pursuit must be intentional! You did not accidentally fall in love…and you will not accidently stay in love!

1. Honesty
 – Two people who are not going to be honest with each other have planned to fail. It’s been well said, ‘we don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan’. Plan on being honest. No lying! 
Lena and I made the commitment before we got married that we would not have secrets from one another, no matter how painful. Early pain for long-term gain is the philosophy behind being a truth teller (all the time). The power of a secret is broken when the lie is exposed to the light, the fantasy and intrigue that the devil places in your thought life is now broken. 
Truth telling is especially crucial when it comes to finances. This is true right from the time you start dating til the very end. It’s not my money, it’s our money and having secrets about finances will be a relationship breaker.

2. Humility
 – is not thinking badly of yourself, it’s simply not thinking of yourself at all. If you care for the needs of others, our needs will always be taken into account. Jesus practiced humility in every possible way, right to the end when he washed the disciples feet. The resistance that he received from Peter was much like we see in today’s relationships. All one sided, Peter said, ‘you will never wash my feet’ and Jesus said if I don’t wash your feet, you won’t have fellowship with me. Humility opens up the gate to fellowship, being friends! This is not an overstated word, being a true friend should be seen in marriage as much if not more than any other place.

3. Patience
 – Because we live in a fast paced society with many built in expectations, we often take out our angry on the person closes to us. If you’re deadlines at work are not being met, who get’s it? You come home and in an atmosphere where there is and should be more acceptance, we blast away at the one we love, trying to relieve the pressures imposed upon us from other circumstances. Stop and take a breath before responding to a question from your spouse, take a walk, go on the treadmill, do something that doesn’t inflict pain on the soul of your lover.

4. Self-Awareness
 – Get to know yourself! The Bible says that you should love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself. Self-love is not narcissism, it is getting to know the author of love, Christ Himself, who laid down His life for us and letting Him teach us more about us. Find out through reading the word, listening to anointed, inspired and sound teaching, truths about life and love that will radiate from you to those within your love circle. While we are to love everyone, the amount of time, energy and emotional quotient that we can expend is set at the level designed by our creator. The more you spend time with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be evident in the direct benefits towards your best friend. Learn to discern, grow in self-awareness, go deeper within and let the Spirit search you thoroughly, allowing the real YOU to shine through!