Because I pay tithe....

This blog is actually one I posted on a forum I visit, but thought that I would put it here for others to read:

As some of you know, I am an advocate of paying tithe. In fact as I have posted, I believe that paying tithe of ALL the increase, so tithe on the gross, not the net.

I personally believe that the tithe is a "foundation" for giving and that giving offerings and alms on top of that foundation is what builds a strong lifestyle of giving, and therefore being blessed.

This testimony has a couple points, one that is a praise report for the here and now and one is a future praise report. I will begin with the easy one:

I had my house built. I made the plans and furnished them to a contractor that built my house to my specifications. The Christian businessman did help me with the plans as far as some "standards" are concerned and helped in reduction of "custom" and costs.

Anyway, that was some dozen years ago. The air conditioner went out a couple years ago (right about 10 years old). Because of an unexpected blessing at the time, I was able to pay cash for a new air conditioner system. The furnace is a top of the line, high efficiency carrier, so it did not need work or replacement.

This year, the air conditioner didn't seem to be keeping up. The serviceman came out and found a leak outside, and fixed it, it was under warranty by 2 days! A few months later (last week), it stopped cooling again!. I called and they said if it was the same problem, that it would be under warranty (90 days from the last service).

Well, it was a leak again. The problem it wasn't the same kind of leak. This time it was found in the A-frame oil in the furnace, so it wasn't going to be under warranty. I just paid the property taxes for my home so was a little tight budgetwise, but needed the Air, so told him to go ahead but to give me a call with the price because I needed to seek God on how I was going to pay the bill.

I went to work. I didn't get a call from him on my cell phone and that was the number I gave him to call me. I got home from work that day (Monday, this week), and a note on the kitchen table from my son who started College this week had taken a message but was in a hurry to get to class so didn't call me.

The note simply said: Bob (the repairman) called, parts and labor are going to be under warranty, will be back on Thursday.

Bob left a little while ago. He spent many hours tearing into my furnace to get to this a-frame thing, and it is all fixed now. I asked if there was anything for me to pay for extra parts or anything - he said nope, all covered, not even a trip charge.

Praise God!!

The next one is a bit more personal, but similar situation. I have not always been a good financial manager for myself and my family. God has taught me alot since He lead me into being the church treasurer some 7 or 8 years ago (very late in my life, unfortunately).

Because of choices I made about things I wanted, I got hugely into debt, then finding out my wife was divorcing me and wanted 50% of the equity of the house I had built (this one), I did what I could to refinance etc. God gave me a plan that meant that I should trust Him. I had always paid tithes, but I began to understand that paying gross, and in fact beyond that, and began to be consistent in paying His tithe.

Short story, kept the house God blessed me with, had payments that I could afford , so my blessing wasn't a "curse"., got into debt and cashed in my retirement, all because of some stupid mistakes and my wife leaving me for another man.

so, debt, on top of debt. For the last 8 or so years, though I had been learning alot about finances, as I mentioned. At least to begin to pay off as much of the debt as possible. Every time I made a credit card payment, it was a reminder of past mistakes, and I felt like I needed to repent all over again, even though God had forgiven me, I still was paying for the ramifications of those sins.

In those last half dozen years or so, God has been speaking to me about giving, on top of the tithe. I learned that the measure that I gave, was how God was going to bless me. I did what I could, by paying tithe first, whether or not I had money to pay all the bills. It's interesting though that when I did this, the bills all got paid, even though the checkbook would tell me that it wasn't possible.

God blessed me with a job that is, well, a blessing. I love my work and I get to work "in the toy store" (I am a computer geek, and am a LAN infrastructure engineer). Last year I was given a bonus. I had received them before and they help with paying off my debt. But a couple months ago, I was informed that I am in a position at work now that I should be able to expect those bonuses each year!

To top it off, my son lives at home and is going to college so there is some tax benefits.

What I am getting at here is that After some discussion with my wife, We believe that besides the mortgage, we can be debt free within three years. Maybe even two years, if we choose not to go on that vacation/trip to Europe next year.

So, while paying/climbing out of my own debt, I always felt like I was drowning, even though slowly the water was lowering. I believe that God showed me this plan, and we are taking it. Even though I have the debt, I feel somehow "freer".

So, what does all this have to do with the subject of this post? Because no matter what anyone says, I fully believe and correlate these miracles to God and my obedience in paying His tithe. I am persuaded that had I not been paying tithe as I had been lead, that I would be in a much different position, financially, today.

I believe God's hand of Grace is on me and in part because of being obedient in paying the tithe. I don't do it out of desire to receive, only desire to be obedient and with love and joy and worship to my creator and savior.

some may "nay-say", but I fully believe that as we consistently pay His tithe, miracles happen more frequently in this area. I plant watermelons and I harvest watermelons. I personally directly correlate the above kinds of blessings to giving, on top of a foundation of paying tithe.

Change is bad. Or is it?

Because I "forum" so much, I don't often get time or energy to actually "blog". (Are forumming and blogging, verbs?) Sometimes, a change in my life will prompt me to wax philosophical or just chew on some wax. Remember those old sugar-drink-filled wax bottles that you could chew?

In any case, Mary and I got back from her families vacation last weekend. It was a challenge for me because the week prior I found out that my Pastor, Bishop James Endecott, was praying about a particular situation in our region that might requisite him moving to another city. More on that later. The next part of the challenge was that our local church's VBS was scheduled the week we would be gone.

Because the VBS scheduling came later in the year, and the fact that Mary had already planned the family vacation, that had priority, even though we normally would have volunteered for and worked at the VBS. The VBS went well, I am happy to say. It didn't come to a grinding halt because we weren't' there. Which is a good thing. We didn't' actually think it would, but we really did want to be here to help lighten the load for those that did work and volunteer to work with the children.

And finally, I felt I had to work while I was on vacation as well. Normally, I will "dial in", to check for "emergency" emails and the like. A few times while I am on vacation; but this time because of the workload at work, I didn't feel right about leaving my team with all the work we had going on, so I ended up spending 3-6 hours a day dialed in and doing work. It really only interfered with vacationing plans once, so it turned out okay, but it really wasn't a vacation, even though I had to take the time off.

back to the changes...

Turns out that a Pastor in our region, that pastored a church in Council Bluffs had taken advantage of an opportunity to pastor a church in Georgia. I am not privy to all that went on in that choice, but I do understand it was a great opportunity of God for him and that God had apparently "made the way" for him.

So, that left the church in Council Bluffs pastorless. I heard about this a few days before leaving on vacation. I know that the regional overseer, Bishop Madrid and my pastor, Bishop Endecott had been discussing this and they came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, God's direction that Bishop Endecott assume the pastoral role for that church. And further that a local COGOP ordained minister in our congregation, Brother Tim Shipley, would be our local pastor.

Those changes are all now official and while Pastor Endecott is no longer my pastor, I will probably refer to him as pastor for some time. However, I hope that I make the necessary conscious effort to refer to Pastor Shipley as pastor, instead of just "Tim", or Brother Tim. Since he is now my Pastor.

I was asked by several if I would be moving to Council Bluffs to follow my pastor and my best friend. The though hadn't even really occurred to me. God had called me to the COGOP and to this local church, at least for now and I am going to do nothing but dig-in and support my pastor and our congregation.

The timing could've been better, in my opinion, but then again, I am not God and I am still not sure what's going on in my life as far as ministry is concerned and why I am here. Why would God call this multiple divorcee to a denomination that has an "official" teaching that divorce and remarriage is essentially evil and unforgivable. I know that God is calling me to the ministry, but I don't know that I know how to "preach". I can teach, but preaching feels different to me. Pastor Endecott had been helping me in that area, now he is gone.

The bottom line though, is that I just want to serve, and be in service for God.

I don't attend any particular church or associate myself with a particular organization because of any particular man. I do it because I believe God's hand is here and that He is leading and guiding me. So, while I will miss my my pastor, and my friend, I know that our communications will not end and our friendship will continue on.

I will need to step up to the plate now, as an example, I was the treasurer for our church, but I mostly worked with Pastor Endecott and we did it together. With Pastor Shipley, I will be on my own for the books, though Pastor Endecott has said that he was available if I have any questions. Then there was the mentoring. Pastor Endecott had been mentoring me and teaching me about being a pastor. I can't assume that Pastor Shipley will be available for that as Pastor Endecott was.

I expect some changes in the way things work in our local church. I pray that God's will be done, no matter what I think personally.

The only thing I know to do now is to continue to do what I believe God has set in front of me to do and do it the best I can and with all my heart and unto Him. I trust Him and will continue to be as obedient as I know how.