verse4today: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" (Romans 12:12).
Posted on 2010-07-29 via Twitter
We, the Living Hope Church, encourage each other to read Scripture everyday with the goal of reading through the entire Bible. A good tool to help you achieve that goal is the One Year Bible online. This version of the Bible consists of a 15-minute daily reading that includes a selection from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. Each day's reading provides a clear understanding of the Bible's larger message. Check it out here.
The Back to God Hour produces a handy little booklet called "Today." It recommends a scripture reading for each day and provides a meditation on that reading. You can subscribe to "Today" or check it out on line at www.thisistoday.net
Pastor Hamstra utilizes a "Twitter" to post a verse for the day. The verse appears on the Living Hope Church home page, but you can also subscribe to receive the Twitter verse as soon as it is uploaded. Check out the Twitter at verse4today.
Pastor John Piper, of the Bethlehem Church in Minneapolis, MN, published a little artilce on how to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). In it he identifies and describes six biblical guidelines for Christians intent on living and loving those who differ from them. The article is a good tool for Christians in a multi-ethnic congregation. Check it out by clicking here.
If you have heard of tithing and would like more clarification about what exactly tithing is, you can read what Pastor Hamstra says about the tithe and its importance for the Living Hope Church community in this excerpt. To download the complete article, click here.
The Christian life boils down to two mandates: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! And love your neighbor as yourself! Strip away every thing else! Strip away your religious practices, your position in the church, your religious heritage, your hours of involvement in religious activities. At the end of the day, ask yourself this question: Did you love the Lord and did you love your neighbor as the Lord has loved you?
Are we, as Christians, free from the Law of Moses, obligated to give one-tenth of our income to the Lord? My answer to that question is two-fold. On one hand, everything we have - time, talent and treasure - belongs to the Lord. On the other, as Christians who love the Lord and seek to know His will, we ask, "Lord, how much should we give back to you in that you own everything?"
I suggest that the tithe offers a splendid guiding principle of stewardship. The tithe, that is, the practice of lovingly setting aside at least 10 percent of one's income for the work of the Lord, may be a neglected practice, but it is one that benefits those living under grace. Why?
There is nothing that has more potential to deepen or destroy a person's relationship with God and others than money! Money has thrown more people into prison, broken up more friendships, caused more divorces, and closed down more worthy organizations, than any other factor.
This is why Jesus spent so much time talking about it! Here are NT examples:
Mk 10:21 - Sell and give
Mt 6:19 - Do not lay up treasures in heaven
Lk 12:15 - Beware of covetousness
Mt 6:24 - Can't serve two masters
Mt 19:23 - Hard for rich man to enter
Mt 6:21 - Where your treasure is, there is your heart
Jesus taught that a person will never reach spiritual maturity until his or her attitude toward money is right. In Luke 16:11 we read, "If you are unfaithful with righteous mammon, who shall entrust you with true riches?" In other words, "If you can't handle money, I will not entrust you with souls."
A little boy once altered the familiar prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep," and then prayed "If I should die before I live." Many Christians are dying on the vine. They are not progressing in their spiritual walk because they have refused to get their finances right with God. They have tried to live in obedience with God without opening their checkbooks to the Lord. I therefore encourage tithing as a step towards spiritual maturity.
I am not sure when the trend started, but a surprising percentage of pastors have concluded that tithing is not for Christians. One said, "We are under grace, not under the law, and tithing is part of the law." But here are seven truths about the tithe, originally compiled by the stewardship ministry INJOY (http://www.injoy.com/).
The following "ten tips for tithers" is excerpted from Pastor Hamstra's article on tithing. Download the complete article here to read the basis for each of his ten tips and their biblical applications.