Have you ever winced at the announcement that it's time to take up the offering? Has it ever made you uncomfortable knowing that it's time to give the tithe and maybe you don't have it?
Well, this is NOT a message on that. I personally believe that we should give God not just the first fruits of our lives, but our WHOLE lives!!!! We are the offering. Give Him EVERYTHING. Don't hold back. He's worthy of it ALL. But that's another message for another time.
However, this message IS about money and what that looks like in ministry. Paul said that a laborer has rights to be paid and supported in ministry:
"In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:14)
Paul personally chose, of his own accord, to make tents ON THE SIDE, as additional income. However, wherever he went, people still gave and supported him and his buddies, in their travels to spread the Good News and advance the Kingdom of God...the greater work.
6 and a half years ago, the Lord commissioned me to do the same. I haven't told everyone this story yet but here it is. I had a great job, beautiful home in a great location, and was engaged to a Christian man. In an instant, I lost it all. The Lord said, "I want you to go into ministry full-time."
Unforeseen, my job suddenly went bye-bye, and I had no house and relationship anymore. I had been doing part-time ministry already for about 3 years, but now the Lord was stepping it up. He told me I was ready for more and to make a total commitment to serving Him wholeheartedly, not holding back anymore. "Come follow me," literally means leave everything behind, pick up your cross, and go into unknown territory and change it.
Overwhelming joy and peace hit me Thanksgiving night of 2014, as I said goodbye to the old way of life and jumped in a car with people I barely knew.
On the way up to Pennsylvania to visit Harrisburg (my last name ;P), the Lord spoke to me clear as day. I asked Him plainly, "Now what? I've lost my job, house, and fiancee, now what Lord? What do you want me to do now?" I was sincere and I was humbled, ready to be obedient, whatever that looked like and whatever the cost. "Go," was His response.
"Go where?" I asked. "To all 50 states; it's something you've always wanted to do, since you were a little girl. Go now. Now is the time." He responded as clear as day.
The peace and joy immediately came and I knew. I knew I had to do it. It was something I had to do. So, I did. The Lord had showed me what that life could be like, a week after breaking off my engagement, and now here during the Thanksgiving season, as I visited a ministry/missions house in PA with new friends. My life would never be the same again.
I left about a month later, on January 8, 2015, to travel the nation as an American missionary to the United States. My heart was for my own home country and to lead as many people, as I possibly could, to the good Lord in my lifetime. I couldn't wait anymore. It was time.
I visited 23 states in just 7 months, but that's a whole book-worth of testimonies to be written down. We'll save that. Let's just say it changed everything. I encountered the love of Jesus in a whole new way on a whole other level. Lives were saved, people were set free, healed, and delivered. There were baptisms, miracles, signs, and wonders. Heaven touched Earth.
I will never be the same again. I learned so much and grew so much too. The love of Jesus was real and it was powerful. It was true love and it broke forth in radical ways to set captives free and move mountains. I won't ever forget the friends I made or the lessons I learned.
I am better, much better, from that time but that time is far from over. In the last 5 years, going on 6, I've been to 28 different states and even more cities. The light has been shone in the darkness and peoples' lives are forever changed for the better. They've encountered the living God and Heaven now knows their names.
I can never stop. I never want to. Even in Sabbatical seasons of rest, like I've been in here recently, my heart still beats and burns for the lost. I still have compassion and passion to match and rival the most zealous of souls. I relate to the likes of Paul, David, and Elijah.
I feel this boldness of the Holy Ghost blazing alive and powerful in me, and yet my heart is so filled with pure and sensitive love for all people. I won't hold back and I won't give up. People need to know Jesus and how amazing He is. People need Him. I want to keep as many people out of Hell as I possibly can. Eternity is a long time and the Lord is so worth knowing.
So, I'm asking for your help. As I traveled the nation back in 2015, I heard the Lord clearly say: "Don't ask anyone directly for money. I will provide for all your needs myself."
And He did just that. Money was left on my car, people handed me envelopes of cash, strangers gave me bucks, and people filled my belly and car with gas. I was given backpacks, technology, homes that hosted me, snacks, drinks, clothes, and on and on and on it goes.
The Lord really showed up as a Provider in my life. He taught me that He will take care of His children, the ones He loves. He really is a Father, and a GOOD one at that! And the more we step out in faith and obedience, as led by the Holy Ghost, the more He shows up and wrecks our lives for the better. He IS ENOUGH. And He WILL MEET ALL OF OUR NEEDS.
Yet, I am in a new and different season now. I hear the Lord saying to me it's okay to ask for help now. It's okay to be vulnerable and open and honest. It's okay to go to the people and ask humbly for their support and help in advancing the Kingdom of God. In fact, it's more blessed to give than to receive, so it's important that I give them that opportunity.
I don't want to deny anyone their chance to be blessed by being a blessing. Pride says, "Do it alone and don't let them see you weak. Only losers ask for help." But I don't listen to pride. I am humble enough to admit I need your help Church. I need your support and yes, prayer is GREAT! But the Bible says in James 2:16, "If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?"
Guys, I have a huge and hurting heart for souls. It breaks my heart and crushes my spirit to know that people are dying all around us and going to Hell. I will NEVER BE OKAY with that!
But I can't do it without you! You might not be on the frontlines, where the needs are the greatest. You might not travel the nation as a missionary. You might not be the "boots on the ground." But you can be a hand that reaches out with a financial blessing to support the soldiers on the field. You can do something. You can help. You can make a difference.
Your donation(s) allow me to continue to reach a hurting and lost, broken world. Your monthly or one-time financial contribution will not be wasted. It gives me the ability to keep going forward and changing the world, in Jesus' name.
I've done small, side-end jobs before. I even currently do, but the Lord never allows me to get a full-time job again doing anything other than His work. Believe me, I've tried. Yet, I feel Him even transitioning me out of these part-time gigs, to be able to fully commit and concentrate on the work of the Lord specifically, and doing the things that Jesus did.
Will you help me? It's still a little uncomfortable to ask that question but I don't want to be afraid. I want to be as sincere and upfront as I can be with you all. It's challenging and nearly impossible to continue to live this life of faith without the family of Christ coming together to be a family and help where needed. And I've been on the other side too.
I've been the one supporting others and helping them with their ministry calls, but now I feel like it's my turn. It's more comfortable on the other side in some ways, yes, but God has called me out of my comfort zone to put myself out there like this.
I love you guys and I hope you hear my heart. God is faithful and I know He will continue
to provide in different ways. But here is my request: pray and ask the Lord. Genuinely, ask Him if you should give and how much and how frequent. Don't do it out of fear, or pressure, or any other reason other than this one, that you feel the Holy Spirit telling you to.
I don't need your money. But the work of the Lord is too important to be held back by lack of funding either. I want to go and make disciples of the nations and fulfill the Great Commission. I want to heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, and preach the Gospel.
I want to obey the Greatest Commandment and love people well through radical acts of love that changes communities and eradicates poverty in low-income housing. I want to continue to feed the hungry and pray for the hurting. I want to be able to jump on a bus, train, or airplane in a heartbeat to go and minister where the Lord prompts me to.
This is important. This is necessary. I didn't specifically ask for this life but the Lord chose me. He called me to do this and I have responded with a "Yes, Lord, send me. Send me wherever you want me to go, to whoever you want me to go to, whenever you want me to go. I will go."
And He made the Church to be a Body, a Body of Believers that need each other to fully function in the way that they were intended to. I need you hands. I need you. They need you. The people that are depressed, starving, scared, sick, and lonely. They need you.
What are you going to do? It's your move Church.
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