I grew up in a religious home, went to a religious college and am now trying to live my life not as a religious person but as a Christ Follower. I like many others struggle with faith and have doubts. I know God has a plan for me, sometimes I just wish he would show it me.
For the past 4 weeks the men of the church got beat up with our series called “Ultimate Fighter, the temptations men face…. Sex, Money and Power.” The series was really good and was a challenge to men to step up and be the men God created them to be.
Well as you all know we attend a very different kind of church. The music is rocking and the preacher may not be the type of person you would think of as a preacher. Lets just say that he is one of a kind. He is very Bible based in his teaching. His goal and the goal of the church is to meet the unchurched people. Well he and our church “Revolution” have a passion for meeting the needs of people all over the area, not just those in the city of Canton, GA. So this Sunday we launch location #2 in Holly Springs, GA.
David, Caleb and I are on the launch team. David will be working in the services running sound. Caleb will be running sound and video in Planet Shakers (our version of Sunday school), and I will be a lead teacher in Planet Shakers.
The Canton location is portable and meets in the movie theater. This means that every week, states, projectors, sound systems and everything else must be set up and then packed up. Our children’s area also has props, baby beds, play pens etc… that have to be set up and then packed back up. Not an ideal situation, but when there is no money for land and a permanent building it works. The meeting place is also comfortable for those who are not used to coming to church.
The Holly Springs location will have its own building, so no setup or tear down will be needed. We are meeting in a warehouse that has been renovated to meet the needs of the church. Most of the work on the renovations was completed by members of the church. We will have a live band each week, just like the Canton Campus, but will receive our messages via, video. However, from time to time Gary (the pastor) will come an speak live to the Holly Springs location. Video teaching will be different but it will work. This is not a new idea, hundreds of churches are doing this across the nation.
We do not know weather to expect 10, 50, 100 or even more people on Sunday. But we are excited about branching out to reach the people in our surrounding areas.
Our church has been doing a great series called “ALIVE.” It has been really getting me to think about life and am I just going through the motions or am I living like I am alive. The question that started the series was, “If you knew you only had 30 days to live what would you do differently.”
Last week focused on regrets and how to live a life with no regret. How to fix and repairs the regrets that you may already have. It was a very powerful sermon. I am trying to live life as an ALIVE person, and focusing more on what really matters, and less on the things of this life that don’t matter.
So I missed church on Sunday due to illness. During Davids recap of the service I really felt like I needed to write or email about our experience with tithing. So here goes. Close friends and family may find parts of this hard to believe.
I am so glad that tithing will NEVER be an issue in our house. During the past year the only thing that has changed is that we now tithe and we did not do so before. We have seen first hand the benefits of obeying God in this area of our lives.
In 2006 we basically stopped going to church (hard to believe). It was too hard with all of the foster kids. Once we stopped going to church we also stopped tithing. Thats when things began to get a little rough. Paying the bills became a nightmare. There was never enough money and stuff always got paid late. There was never money for extras and our budget needed a budget. I would get sick just thinking about paying the bills.
Then in July of 2007- our house was empty (no foster kids). We saw a sign for a church in a movie theatre and we decided to attend. Needless to say we really liked it, so we continued to go. We wrote a tithe check during our second visit to the church.
Since then we have been faithful with not only paying our tithes but giving extra. God has blessed us in many ways since we became faithful with tithing. I believe that I am a giver, but I never had anything to give until now. Through our faithfulness God has allowed us to bless others and he has blessed us. Look what GOD has done through us obeying him in giving of tithes: (I am only listing a few).
Prior to our tithing we would not have been able to give anything to any of these people.
Were we tested? YES. In Jan. of 2007, my pay got cut by $1000.00 per month. But we still were faithful and paid our tithes. A few weeks later David needed to hire another contractor, which increased his pay, almost the exact amount that mine got cut.
Has God blessed us? YES. Not only can we give to others but this past year we have been able to give to ourselves. Tithing has made our lives better. Through our tithes we bless our church, and the church is able to bless others. Through tithing we have been blessed and have been able to bless others. We will continue to be faithful in tithing and know that God will continue to bless us.
Check out the link to Revolution Church. We do not have a building so we meet in the local movie theatre. The seats are comfortable, but it takes hours to set everything up each and every week. We have been attending Revolution since last July. David and Caleb both work on the sound crew and the setup and tear down crew. Caleb hates to miss church, so much that we have to make him go on scout camping trips. I love that he loves church, but I want him to know that it is alright to miss a service once in a while.
I work in Planet Shakers, which is our Sunday School and with the tear down crew. I normally work with the second graders. It is fun, but loud and busy. Our Sunday’s are long and we usually end up napping the afternoon away.