HappyChristian

if churches don't manage their money well, the members ought to do something about it...not quit giving, but hold the pastor accountable for how the money is spent. There are times a new church sign is necessary (we would LOVE to have a permanent sign, but we cannot because of where we meet...bureaucratic red tape). There are times a new roof is necessary. Or a new building. Those are all necessary parts of having a local church building. I would be more concerned about other spending issues than a new sign, end times or not. We are to occupy til He comes and signage is a part of that for a church.

I put my shoes on first. 

On 9/18/2023 at 6:16 PM, TheGloryLand said:

That's nice, but remember the church will never be yours. Even if you paid for it. 

Never thought otherwise. But thanks.

If I had a million dollars, I'd put a good fence around our property, buy the church property and build a permanent building.

I don't think so. 

1 hour ago, Pastor Matt said:

cute 

I think I'm doing this grandparent thing wrong. You have yours listen to preaching and mine...well I'm giving him rides on my vacuum.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7tBfjW2jTm77qbT76

I've talked with my son about doing that! LOL. He's too young yet to sit up right, so we'll see in a couple months or so.

Tonight after we finished the last song, Asher said "aaayyyy..." Whether copying the sound of the last word in the song or being happy we were done, I don't know. lol

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

Yes, it should be to death. But in those early days, men had more than one wife. I believe this could be why they ask Jesus, which wife a man will have in heaven. The topic of this post can apply to why it's not in the Bible.

SOME men had multiple wives, not all...and, no, that's not why they asked Jesus that. They were specifically referring to the part of the law where a brother is to marry his brother's widow (to raise up seed to the brother)...and if there were a bunch of brothers, all of whom ended up marrying her because they were all dying (hardy bunch lol), whose wife would she be. Jesus said nobody's because there's no marriage in Heaven.

Today is our son's b'day...here's his boy, watching mom cook dinner and fix cake for his daddy's b'day. Sunday is Grandparents' Day...can't wait to hold this little guy then.

Jesus said "let not man put asunder..."  Saving for the exception clause, divorce is not something God wants...so if God doesn't want divorce, it should then follow that marriage is until death. Right?

4 month old Asher intently listening as his daddy preaches this past Sunday afternoon.

Hubs is gonna grill steaks later. Probably the last opportunity for the year. He's going to cook extra so I can make fajitas on Wednesday.

We had potluck at church today. Had chicken noodle casserole, beef gravy over potatoes, salad, etc. And for dessert, pie! 

I made beef stroganoff for lunch today.

7 hours ago, Pastor Scott Markle said:

Hmmm. I am pretty sure that 10% of $0.00 is ZERO. (Even so, those churches did not even charge a "tithe-tax." What they actually charged was membership dues.)

In addition, the case of the second church was completely backward. If the intern worked for the church for free, then the church received "services" and was thus the entity that acquired increase, not the intern. Even so, the church should have been responsible for the 10% of their increase, not the intern. 

What an ungodly shame the above two scenarios present. My heart continues to break over the condition of so much within the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement.

I agree that it's not truly a tax, but I used that term to liken it to what the government does to our paychecks. Membership dues is a better term.

The incident with my son put him in a spiral for a while, but thankfully he is faithfully serving the Lord, as is the intern. 

I wouldn't work at a church that felt it had the right to tax my paycheck. Show me where it's biblical. I don't think it's that common, but I do know of a church that takes people out of ministry for not tithing (happened to our son, when he didn't even have a job - but nobody wanted to hear that). There may be more than one, but I don't know. Also know of a church that had a young man who interned for a whole year for no pay...young man was presented with a bill for his tithe for the year, based on what they would have paid him. He had to work another 2-3 weeks for free before he could go on to the ministry God was calling him to. Where is that in the Bible?

I don't know how common it actually is, but if the employee of the church accepts the job and that's the way they do it, well, the employee has no recourse but to put up with it.  IMO, it's making tithe a tax...income tax is unconstitutional, and IMO, forced tithe is unbiblical.

Fair tax is the only way to go! I doubt it will ever be implemented because even those who know the Constitution (like Cruz) want a flat tax. But a fair tax is the only one that is truly fair.

Many folks try to compare it to a VAT tax (value added tax), but it is vastly different. Folks purchase things they want and they pay a sales tax. Rich people will pay "their share" when they buy yachts and expensive vehicles. The fair tax that folks are trying to get Congress to look at (it's actually already in motion) does not tax medicine or food, which is beneficial to the poor. It also comes with prebates, which is money  back.

One of the very best things about the fair tax is that the IRS is done away with after the first year of the fair tax.

Read more about it here:  https://fairtax.org/    They've got the kinks worked out, if we could get it adopted.

Sadly, the elimination of the dollar is imminent. When that happens, there will be nothing but chaos...chaos that makes Black Friday of Depression fame look like child's play. Thus America will become third world.

10 hours ago, TheGloryLand said:

Thank you for serving and sharing your experience in this area. I’m sure this will help others going through this. This can be different for others, like I mentioned, a window to do wrongly and this too can happen, not in your church, thank God. There are those that might say here, it’s none of my business, if he chooses his wife. These are those that thinks that all pastors are Saints? I know that there are some that are wolves in sheep clothing out there. They are taking advantage of the not so smart or blind sheep . Then there are those that say, the Lord is control of all and know all things. Yes, this is true, that’s why He tell us beware.

Oh, I agree that things can be different...if said pastor is himself a wolf rather than a shepherd.

This would depend upon the church's constitution - whether or not the pastor's wife can be secretary, and even if the congregation would vote on it or not.

Our constitution specifies that there are two elected offices - pastor and deacon. Those are the two that the congregation votes on. Our constitution states that other positions, for lack of a better word, are appointed by the pastor. 

When hubs became pastor, there was a different secretary. For the first almost year, it was left that way. They had voted on that position before we came, and that's  fine. So hubs explained to people that he was going to appoint me. Not because the person doing it was doing it badly, she wasn't. But it was extremely difficult to do basic stuff like correspondence, etc., because our building is not big enough for an office. So everything was kept at our house.  I did do secretarial work for him (as in welcome letters, etc.), but he wanted it all in a central location/person. Also, she had no printer, so she wasn't able to print off things like the financial record for the business meeting, etc. His decision was a wise one, even though it increased my work load (at least I can do it from home, which is nice).

Our hope is to one day have a church office with a couple of ladies (because my hubs cannot be there with just one lady) whom we can pay for their services. I do not get paid (nor did the lady before me). 

Does this give room for my hubs to do what he wishes? No, absolutely not. The church was only having one annual business meeting. At that same meeting where he announced I would be the church secretary he told everyone that he wanted us to go to a quarterly meeting so that members could see more often where their monies are going. So he actually brought about more transparency.

I FINALLY got to meet Otto. Mom and Dad brought him over today to meet Great Grandma and Great Auntie. I even got to feed him a little. He's so adorable! He's got the longest fingers and feet/toes! And he squeaks a bit while he sleeps. And tomorrow I get to see my Asher again. Can't wait. 

My mom took care of her mom until her death at almost 102. She was also taking care of my dad, who passed 4 months later. She reared four children mostly alone for many years and did a pretty good job of it...my mom deserves being taken care of by family. I was basically elected to do that, even though I would do it whether the others agree or not. She is pretty healthy for her age, thankfully (probably genes from  my grandma). My husband is a wonderful man who treats her like his own mom. She doesn't have anything to worry about.

I agree with Tony that it isn't a sin to put parents in a place where they can get care - IF the children cannot do it (not just don't want to), and IF said home is good. Too many of them are not.

Mommy and Otto are home. He is doing very well. She is having a rough time right now (going through what she did, and then going to Seattle - a 2  hour trip - and staying there til he was discharged this afternoon). We still  haven't seen him, but hope to do so this week. THANK YOU for praying!

On 8/11/2023 at 5:10 AM, TheGloryLand said:

Hot heat news, hot weather numbers breaking everywhere. It’s probably fake News, but I can feel it. The Bible mentions, no to more flood, but fire will be at the end times. What kind of fire or heat can this be that is mentioned, during the end of time?

I don't believe it's the heat from sunny and hot summers. It's funny, when I was a kid we LOVED the heat. Now it's just something for people to complain about other people destroying the ozone (and cows...can't forget the cows' part in all this). 

I believe I already mentioned this, but God promised more than not to flood the whole earth at once again, the rainbow being the token of that covenant.  HE also promised that "While the earth remaineth, seedtime [spring] and harvest [fall/autumn], and cold, and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Gen. 8:22

We will have all of our seasons, and that means the cold in winter (bringing lots and lots of snow and ice to many places) and the heat in winter (bringing high temps and dry weather to many places) will continue as long as the earth is here.

The Bible says the elements will melt with fervent heat when the earth is destroyed. (2 Peter 3:!0). A lot of people think that might be nuclear bombs or some such thing. But IMO, the elements refer to atoms, etc, and I think the melting is going to be along the lines of the A Bomb...I think that our Creator, by Whom the Bible says ALL things consist, will just let go of the elements He created that can cause meltdowns and extreme heat and kabloom, it's all done.  Now, that's my opinion of that verse (and Col. 1:17) so take it for what it's worth. lol

But I don't believe it will be the sun that causes it.

Unless it's all the suns in the universe that fall and melt everything.

Somewhat good news about the case. Not so much about your breathing. Praying.

My sister called today to let me know they were almost to Seattle, bringing Hannah (who is doing very well in her recovery, Pam said) to her boy. Doc apparently said everything was great and if it continues to be they will probably be able to bring him home tomorrow.

I'm hoping it's in the afternoon so we are home from church and that they stop by (niece just lives 5 minutes past us).

Otto is doing very well. He began to rally when they put in an IV in the helicopter.  The theory is that the drugs they were giving my niece caused his issues. He will stay in the hospital for 48 hours, and as long as there are no other issues he'll come home. 

THANK YOU for your prayer. Please continue praying for salvation for those concerned.