Author: editors

Heb 10:23-25

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. NLT

In this world of volatile world of human relationships, people come and go in our lives. Some people are acquaintances, people we know for a time, while others are true friends for a lifetime. Friends are people who stick with us through the thick and the thin issues of life. They don’t trash the friendship just because of something someone else says, they don’t get something financial out of the relationship, or they have to spend time getting to know you. Friends are people who care for us because of who we are.

Well, in our country the best friends we have should be born again or more accurately, ‘born from above’ (John 3:16 NAS) believers who love God. To be friends, we have to spend time talking, caring, and sharing. When Jesus won back the authority we lost in the Garden with His resurrection from the dead the first thing he did was talk, care, and share with those who loved him and followed Him. That was the beginning of the church. What is the church? The church is the family of God on this earth.

What is the purpose of the church? To allow God’s family to talk, share, and care for others and the people around them. It is the basis for the community. That is why Hebrews exhorts us never to forsake the gathering together of the family of God. If we withdraw and pull back from our community, we lose track of what is going on with other people, our community, our world.

In this earth are many people; just as there are many people, there are many families. But which families are the ones that know God, and encourage us to develop our relationship and go deeper with God? Let’s look at the key points for choosing your church family.

Charisma In Leadership 
Humble Seekers of God 
Unmoved by people, moved by the Word 
Reaching people 
Consistent 
Holy Before God

Charisma In Leadership 
I remember as a high schooler going to church thinking that I was going to church for the people and the fellowship. That is so true. But someone once said, “You can only go as spiritually high as your pastor”. Those words changed my perpective on church leadership and especially the importance of having a good pastor who has a living, active relationship with the Almighty God.

Humble Seekers of God 
In these last days it seems many people focus on programs in the church more than the relationship with God. Youth groups, Kids church, orchestra, cell groups, the list of various things to keep people involved goes on and on. However, more than anything our church leadership has to be humble seekers of God. The strength of the Brownsville Revival of the 1990s was the prayer and intercession of the church before and during the revival. 
We have to always be hungry for more of good. Jesus said, “I Am the bread of life…” When we are hungry for God, what we got yesterday is not enough for today. We need to feed constantly on His Word and wait on Him.

Unmoved by people, moved by the Word 
Any good church you visit is a good church because it has good leaders. Good leaders listen to people. But not everything the people bring to the pastor is God’s will. A good church family always has a pastor that listens to his church, but more importantly seeks God’s Word for His church. 
I remember when we got our first facility, I had resistance from some people in leadership within the church. But I knew that God’s will was for us to minister to the people of our neighborhood. Well, those people are gone but we had God’s Word for our church and many more have come.

Reaching people 
The church is a family of Believers. More important than anything else, we have to remember that the church is there to minister to the needs of people and the city. When a church because focused on internal issues, church growth is stunted. When a church is overflowing in the neighborhood and reaching out to the people of the city, there is life and there is growth.

Consistent 
If there is any favorite word of the day, being consistent would have to be it. So many people fail for being inconsistent. Just as they are coming to the end of the race they just give up. Many times it is like they have just run 25 kilometers and are just 10 meters from the finish line, all the sudden they throw up their hands and say, “I am finished, I have had enough” and stop running. IF they would have only kept on the race of our spiritual life and continued for a few more steps and they would gained the prize for all the hard work. Consistency is the key to success. Churches also have to be consistent to be successful and meet the needs of the people.

Holy Before God 
Holiness seems to be the forgotten ingredient in so many churches. Everyone visits their church on Sunday but many are thinking about lunch than the message God is speaking. Some places can become overcome by a spirit of lethargy. 
As we are growing in Him, we desire more of a relationship with Him. If we are holy before Him, it is so easy to turn off that television, secular music, movie, or anything else that desensitizes us to the move of the Almighty God. 
I will never forget attending revival meetings in Florida. As we worshipped the Father I had a vision of Him on the throne. I had to get myself to the floor because I could not stand in His Presence.

Whether you are looking for a good church family or are attending the church that your family has been attending for years. Keep the real meaning of what a church is in your heart. To gauge a good church you will see a church that is;

Charisma In Leadership 
Humble Seekers of God 
Unmoved by people, moved by the Word 
Reaching people 
Consistent 
Holy Before God

Posted on 17 October, 2006

Prov 3:9-10 
9 Honor the LORD from your wealth 
And from the first of all your produce; 
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty 
And your vats will overflow with new wine. 

In my early days of ministry, I remember serving in my denominational church in Japan. We served there three plus years and during that time we prayed for the sick, cast out demons, and saw many miracles. You would think that seeing all the great things that God does, people would want to go deeper with God and tap into that authority He won back for us. However, we found that most people are always looking at their wallet. If they are “blessed”, that isn’t some spiritual thing. It means they have all the provision (money, food, and things) that they could possibly need.

In the Japanese church, I found that the most common question was how do I walk in financial prosperity that the Bible preaches? Being a good student of law in my University days, I answered their question with a question. I always asked them, do you tithe regularly? The answer was always, one-hundred percent of the time, yes that’s 100% of the time, a big NO.

After a handful of people responded to the same question in the same way, we got smart and started a course on Sunday after church called God’s Financial Plan. In that way we were able to teach the whole church how God’s Word works in the financial area. To tap into God’s Financial Plan one of the very basic things is you have to be a giver. But that is not just a giver, but a regular giver. What is a regular giver? Well, Proverbs 3:9,10 lays that right out for us. If we are believer in God, then we need to honor Him with our Firstfruits. What are the Firstfruits? We are to give of the Firstfruits of our income. In the Old Testament, that was usually the first fruits of our crops. That is the top ten percent of what we produce was given to God in thanksgiving for all that He has given us.

If we are a farmer, then that would be taking the best off the top and offering it to God. Some might ask, “But Pastor, God does not need our money…” Well, He doesn’t need our money in Heaven but He does use it to work on this earth to work through His servants. Just as Abraham gave a tithe to the priest-king Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20) to honor the Lord for His victory, we are to honor the Lord with the Firstfruits of our labor.

It is interesting that Abraham chose to give off the top ten percent (10%) of his income, hence the beginning of the word tithe, which means 1/10th. Personally, I don’t think we are limited to giving the first 1/10th of our income. The point is that we are needing to be a consistent and thankful givers. Rather than saying tithe, at our church family we like to call our tithes our Firstfruits as that is exactly what they are; the first fruits of our labor, the cream on the top of the milk we have skimmed off and offered to God. They can be whatever percentage of your income that you have faith to give for. For our family, the ten percent is a minimum as we are so thankful what God has done through our local church and we want Him to keep it up.

For the founder of a major US corporation, his goal was to give 90% and keep 10% for himself. And he did it, but not only did he do it but he built the best company in his field because God blessed him for honoring God first.

Well, what is God’s Financial Plan?

1) Give your Firstfruits to the church you are ministered to at and where you call home. Your offerings can go anywhere as these are above your regular giving.

2) Give consistently. If you are experiencing financial lack, it is most likely because you are not giving consistently. If you are on a salary, most people give the Sunday following the receipt of their paycheck.

3) Give with a cheerful heart. This is probably the most important point. If you are not happy and thankful about giving then you should keep your Firstfruits. God wants you to give because you love Him and want to do so.

One other guideline we follow is we give our Firstfruits to the church where we are being ministered to. Anything above that becomes the offering. Offerings can be given anywhere God leads you to give. We give offerings as God directs to orphanages, missionaries in other countries, intercity ministries… however you are led by God’s spirit. You can even give regular offerings to ministries that God really ministers to you through.

The amazing part is the connection you get as you tithe your Firstfruits and sow your offering seeds into ministries. We have seen a direct connection in our lives between where we give and how God provides for us. It is amazing how when we are giving into a ministry that is good ground we are blessed. What is a good ground ministry? A good ground ministry is one that is 1) Proclaiming God’s Kingdom 2) Healing the Sick (Matthew 4:23). When we began giving into good ground ministries as well, our income increased three-fold. What does that mean in monetary terms? Ten-thousand Japanese yen became thirty-thousand Yen. For those who operate in dollars, $100 became $300. Hallelujah!

Praise the Name of Jesus! God is SO good. He is the ultimate giver who gave His Son to die on our behalf. 

Posted on 10 October, 2006