February 20, 2023
February 26 | Courage to Restore
Rebuilding walls can take people only so far. At some point a love for the Word of God must be restored for genuine revival to take place. . . .
Articles for tag: Tithes And Offerings
May 1, 2021
Why Are Numbers Important to Church Leaders?
Numbers can create tension or conflict between church leaders based on who is higher on a list. Our concentration needs to be on the positive impact of the numbers rather than if my numbers are better than others!
April 22, 2020
Church Giving Seems to Stabilize after Rough Start to COVID-19 Closures
We spoke with ministers of churches large and small in several states about how their church finances have been impacted by COVID-19 and the resulting stay-at-home orders. The sampling size is small—five ministers—but most report improved giving after a rough first couple of weeks. _ _ _ By Chris Moon When asked about church finances during the COVID-19 pandemic, pastor Vince Antonucci had a quick answer. “It’s scary,” he said. The lead pastor of Verve Church in Las Vegas—which averaged 285 people in attendance before the shutdown—is in a city that’s been particularly hard hit because of the outbreak. The
December 2, 2019
The Threefold Trust Given to Elders
By Gary L. Johnson Long before I went to seminary, I earned a degree in finance and worked as a commercial loan officer. I enjoyed everything about the banking environment, from the people to the processes to the policies. Many banks use the word trust in their names, such as First National Bank & Trust. It should be no surprise, then, that one of the many services banks provide is the management of trust accounts. Banks typically have a trust department where workers oversee assets entrusted to the bank. A trust department can manage thousands of trust accounts worth hundreds
December 27, 2017
The Future of Finances in the Restoration Movement
By Doug Crozier It was late August 1972 when I walked into one of my first college classes at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Accounting 101 was in a lecture hall large enough to hold more than 700 students. I learned a lot from Accounting 101 during that first semester, even though the large lecture hall was intimidating to this small-town kid. One of the key fundamentals of financial accounting I learned is a simple rule: Total Assets minus Total Liabilities equals New Worth (or New Assets in the not-for-profit world). In the mid-1990s, when I went work in
April 15, 2016
Why We Meet
By Mark Krause Why did the early church celebrate the Lord”s Supper every week? The answer to this is very simple, but for some Christians it requires a different way of thinking. Most believers are well acquainted with the church tradition and expectation of meeting together on the first day of the week. This weekly gathering is reflected in a term we sometimes use for a particular, local church, the congregation. This word literally means “those who gather together.” Churches are made up of members who assemble, who come together. But why? If you were to ask believers why they
March 3, 2016
Are You a Level 5 Multiplying Church?
By Michael C. Mack A number of behaviors (and corresponding behavioral types) affect a church”s capability for multiplying. In Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church, Exponential director Todd Wilson and Community Christian Church lead pastor Dave Ferguson define five specific levels of multiplying churches, with Level 5 being the most aggressive. “Regardless of church size, growth rate (positive or negative) or behavioral type,” the authors say, “all churches will exhibit behaviors from all five levels; however, we can begin to define a primary level and create profiles for each of the five behavioral types.” Surprisingly, most large churches are Level
January 16, 2014
Consumer Christianity: Idol for Destruction
By J.K. Jones It is a plague that seeks to devour our churches, a spiritual disease as old as Adam and Eve. It is a sickness of the soul. It is a sleight of hand, a slick replacement of God with something that resembles him but is not him. Consumerism of the Christian kind is a making of God into our own likeness, wanting him on our own terms. At its most crass level, clearly evident in the North American Christian landscape, consumer Christianity is taking and never giving in return. It is a worldview, a way of living out
August 19, 2013
Lesson for August 25, 2013: Sabbath Reforms (Nehemiah 13:4-31)
By Sam E. Stone The conclusion of the book of Nehemiah emphasizes how reform happens. James E. Smith observes, “Once again the reading of Scripture had driven home to the Jews the obligation to be holy unto Yahweh. The prohibition here enjoined (Nehemiah 13:1-3) was not absolute. It was religious, not ethnic. Those who embraced in faith the God of Israel, like Ruth the Moabitess, could find a very different reception in Israel.” Nehemiah 13 describes a time somewhat removed from the first chapters. Nehemiah has now returned to Jerusalem from his homeland (v. 6-9). While some feel he had
September 16, 2012
Why We Believe in Faith Promise
By Jim Bird What”s faith promise? I had never heard of faith promise and now I was expected to lead it! I became the lead minister at Fort Caroline Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida, in summer 2009. Soon I asked how we fund our missions giving and was told we do it through faith promise giving. It is an approach I didn”t know, but I soon decided I would preach two sermons on missions and stewardship, and then, on Faith Promise Sunday, our folks would make God-directed commitments to support our missions. With that in mind, I determined to learn
March 22, 2009
Hard Times for Healthy Churches
 By Darrel Rowland  On Long Island, fledgling True North Community Church is readily shelling out more than $2 million for a three-year-old building on four acres. In northeast Ohio, historic First Christian Church in Canton is meeting the payments for a $25 million relocation project from three years ago””for now. Along Florida”s Gulf Coast, rechristened New Day Christian Church faces an uncertain future because of its struggle to pay for a $5.5 million facility built about four years ago. While America”s economic woes are unquestionably hitting churches across the country, the varying experiences of this trio of growing
