All Like Sheep

Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all have wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.” You wouldn’t think sheep would be obstinate. Of all God’s animals, the sheep is the least able to take care of himself. Sheep are dumb. Have you ever met a sheep trainer? Ever seen sheep tricks? Know anyone who’s taught his sheep to roll over? No. Sheep are just too dumb.

When David said in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” couldn’t he have come up with a better metaphor than a Shepherd for sheep? When David, who was a warrior and ambassador for God, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd. He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep. How he watched over them. David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my Shepherd” and in doing so, he proudly proclaimed, “I am His sheep!”From Traveling Light

The Power of Song

“On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song…” — Judges 5:1

This Torah portion for this week, Beshalach, is from Exodus 13:7–17:16 and Judges 4:4–5:31.
The Haftorah for the Torah portion of Beshalach is taken from the book of Judges and tells us the memorable story about two biblical heroines — Deborah and Jael. Deborah was a prophetess and the leader of Israel. She was commanded by God to defeat the armies of Jabin and their General Sisera through her own second-in-command, Barak.

After Barak insisted that Deborah accompany him on the battlefield, the two defeated the enemy armies and only the enemy general, Sisera, escaped on foot. Sisera took refuge in the home of someone he considered an ally and friend, Jael. But instead, Jael chose to help Israel and killed Sisera in his sleep. The war was won, the enemy completely vanquished, and Deborah celebrated victory.

Our Daily Bread -- Spiritual Sight

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Ephesians 1:15-21

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. —Ephesians 1:7

A prisoner who survived 14 years in a Cuban jail told how he kept his spirits up and his hope alive: “I had no window in my cell, and so I mentally constructed one on the door. I ‘saw’ in my mind a beautiful scene from the mountains, with water tumbling down a ravine over rocks. It became so real to me that I would visualize it without effort every time I looked at the cell door.”

Violence topples Nigeria’s ‘bridge’

Posted on 28 July 2012

Jos (CDN) — Gyang Dantong was killed while attending a funeral.

He was among a handful of elected members of Nigerian government attempting to bury the more than 100 Christians killed just the day before, when Muslim gunmen had rampaged through several villages in Nigeria’s central Plateau state.

The sheer scale of the violence July 7 convulsed a country where attacks upon Christians are commonplace. Then the attackers returned the next day, killing scores more, including Datong, 53, and another elected government official, who had gathered to bury their dead. The two days of brutality have pushed Nigeria beyond shock into a debate about whether it can even survive as a nation.

Mormons and Baptists compete for converts

Posted on 20 July 2012

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jake Pulsipher’s first day as a working missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began at 6:30 a.m. with prayer and exercise, followed by breakfast and study.

Then he put on a black suit, white shirt, and red tie, along with his official name tag, and headed out to knock on doors and tell people about Jesus.

In doing so, he became the latest of 20,000 Mormon missionaries in the United States.

In Knoxville, Tenn., Southern Baptists Kevin and Kristi Cabe quit their jobs and sold their cars and most of their belongings. They’re moving to Brooklyn, N.Y., where they’ll spend their two years as — two of the 4,000 who the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board placed nationwide.

Churches shifting summer worship from Sunday to Wednesday nights

SALEM, N.H. (RNS) As New England sweltered in early July, Sunday mornings came and went without a single soul showing up for worship in the hot, stuffy sanctuary of First Congregational Church of Salem, N.H. Even the pastor stayed home.

But God wasn’t forgotten. Worship just waited until Wednesday evenings, when the cool comfort of the basement fellowship hall drew as many as 40 to sing and pray. That’s 50 percent more than the church attracted when it met on summer Sundays.


Merri Carlson, far right, sings during worship in the comfortably cool basement of First Congregational Church of Salem, NH.
RNS photo by G. Jeffrey MacDonald

“If people take a break from worshipping, they sometimes don’t pick that habit back up,” said Owen Williams, a longtime deacon at First Congregational, a United Church of Christ congregation.

What’s the difference in tithes and offerings, and how should churches collect money?

We have a study on our web site called, Financial Faithfulness which will answer some of your questions especially in regard to the tithe. I would also suggest that you carefully read 1 Cor. 16:1-3 and 2 Cor. 8-9 for some basic principles of giving and managing money in the church. As you read these passages, note the strong emphasis against any type of coercion and manipulation and how Paul was extremely careful that all money be handled in a way that would protect both the church and those involved with its collection and distribution from any appearance of mishandling of the funds.

Many, if not most churches pass an offering plate, but in view of the focus in 2 Cor. 8-9 on giving of one’s own accord, not grudgingly or out of a sense of compulsion, but voluntarily from a readiness of heart and mind, I do not believe this is the most biblical method for receiving the gifts of the saints. 

While pastoring churches for some 28 years, I always taught and worked toward some method of giving that avoided this. It usually took some time, but in most cases we did away with passing an offering plate. No matter how you look at it, passing a plate down every row brings with it a certain amount of pressure and is somewhat coercive. A simple way to avoid this is to have a collection box or more placed conveniently where the body of believers may simply drop their gifts or offerings of their own accord as they enter or go out. 

To further the non-coercive element, during the first part of the worship and Bible study time, I would generally make a comment such as, “Giving is a privilege for believers in Christ. It is to be done not grudgingly or out of a sense of compulsion (cf. 2 Cor. 9:7), but out of sense of stewardship having first given oneself to the Lord and out of faith in God’s grace (see 2 Cor. 8:1f). If you are here today without Christ as your personal Savior, we do not ask that you give, but rather that you would consider receiving Christ by faith as God’s gift to you.”

Concerning the managing of the funds, this is part of the responsibility of the church leadership that God has raised up to lead the church. But it must, as mentioned above, be done above board and in such a way that there can be a careful accounting of how much comes in and exactly where every penny is spent. This is needed to protect those involved from temptation and false accusations and to protect the church from problems. For instance, it is wise to always have more than one person count and record the money collected. This is not because we might not trust the person, but to protect them and to demonstrate a commitment to honest and above board behavior.

In view of Malachi 3:10, some teach that all giving should be brought to the local church and from there should be dispersed to the various ministries and missions of the church. This was a part of the OT system under the Law, however, and should not be forced on the church today. No such directions or commands are given in the NT. While believers are responsible to give to their local ministry to meet its needs, believers should be free, under the leading of the Spirit, to give to other needs as they see them and are able to help. 

But for even this there are some principles that guide us. Compare Galatians 6:6-10; 3 John 5-8; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:11.

http://bible.org/question/what%E2%80%99s-difference-tithes-and-offerings-and-how-should-churches-collect-money

Are there any New Testament scriptures that support tithing?

There are no New Testament scriptures to support tithing as a concept for the New Testament believer. Our giving is to be done as the Lord has prospered and in accord with the working of the Spirit—never according to law. In view of this, giving is a matter of the grace work of God in the believer’s heart. Actually, this means giving more, not less, if the believer is walking closely with the Lord and is giving as one who has first given himself to the Lord (cf. 2 Corinthians 8).

Ten percent is a good place to begin, but no New Testament passage tells us to give a certain percent. Also, in the Old Testament, there were at least two tithes, and maybe a third, which is closer to 20 % at least. The comments made by our Lord in the Gospels regarding the tithe occurred before the Church Age and the coming of the Spirit to indwell all believers. At that point they were still under the Law, but not now.

For a study on the subject of the believer’s finances and principles for biblical giving, see Financial Faithfulness on our web site.

http://bible.org/question/are-there-any-new-testament-scriptures-support-tithing