Greetings from the Pastor

From the Pastor’s Desk.....

January 2012

As we enter the New Year, I challenge each of you to help someone daily as you go about leaning to give and share God’s way.

All of us know that we are required by God through the writings of Malachi 3:8 to give 0ne Dime for every Dollar we earn, which is called tithe or tithing. We give tithe, not pay them!

Many nowadays preachers and some teachers are leading folks to believe that tithing was done away with when God sent Jesus into this world to free us from sin.

Jesus came to free us from sin. Tithing is not a sin. Tithing is a mandate from God to ensure that food is in the “Store House” – Church. See Malachi 3:10.

Now! Satan has bewitched us into thinking that we are to give to charitable agencies that are set up to aide the poor and needed.

Now! Listen to me. I tell you that every one of those charitable agencies is helpful and needed. However, if every saint of God would learn to give and share God’s way all of those charitable agencies would be non-existence!

Why? Because it was never God’s intent to have all of these charitable agencies robbing the saints.

Now! That is a cold statement and I know it. But we must be reminded that God told the saints to “bring ye all the tithes into His store house.” God’s “store house” is the church, not those charitable agencies.

First of all you need to know that the saints who have learned to give and share God’s way are the ones that are robbed by Satan and those charitable agencies.

During the year of 2010 more than $306B was given to all charitable agencies. Of that amount, Religious organizations – Saints gave 33% or $101B. The next highest contributor was Educators @ 23% of which 80% were saints; the next level of contributors were Executives @ 20 % of which 90% were saints. The next level of contributors was Military/Public Service employees @ 16% of which 80% were saints. And lastly, the other group which is not church affiliated or non religious affiliation gave 8%.

So, who is giving and sharing? Those who have learned to give and share God’s way. The Saints!

Saints are giving at the house of God and they are basically giving the bulk of the funds to support the charitable agencies. The Saints are being robbed!

Now! Look at this. In 2010, less than 3% of all saints received support from charitable agencies, whereas charitable agencies provided support to 97% of the non-saints or persons who have no affiliation with religion. So, who is giving and who is receiving? Saints are giving and sharing and the others – non saints are receiving.

So what are we saying? Should the saints stop giving to support the charitable agencies? You decide.

However, in your decision making process, you must take into account that there are those in the church who have not learned to give and share God’s way.

As a result, they are not giving in the house – the church and they are not giving to the charitable agencies. So then, if the saints stop giving to the charitable agencies, the charitable agencies will not have funds to support those in the church or those that non church affiliated at their time of need.

And surely, because of the lack of their giving and sharing in the church, the church will not be able to provide support either. So, they would be left out in the cold without any support.

For this cause, God is sending a message to us from the writings of Apostle Paul in 2^nd Corinthians 8 chapter verses 3-5 to share with us that all of us are to be generous in our giving and sharing as were in the churches of Macedonia.

The churches in Macedonia area had undergone some difficult times, but they gave and shared what they had with the church at Corinth. And they did so with joy in their heart.

They not only gave and shared what they had; Paul said they gave over and above. They gave beyond measure.

In 2012, God is calling on each of us here at 1st Providence to not only comply with the three Ps - be present, prompt and participate as we watch and wait patiently for His return, but that we also do some serious soul searching relative to our giving and sharing.

Having said this, I am reminded of a story of gentleman who traveled along a road way.  In so doing, he saw an old lady standing on the outside of her stranded car.  He pulled over to help her. In so doing, the old lady, even though the gentleman had a smile on his face as he walked toward her, pondered the thought in her heart, soul and mind if he was going to hurt her. After all, he looked poor, hungry and dirty.

As the gentleman approached her he dismissed the fear he observed in her face by saying, "I'm here to help you, ma'am.  Why don't you wait in the car while I change your tire?” He went on to say to her, By the way, my name is Robert Lewis.” Robert crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two, but he managed to get the tire changed.

As he was tightening the lug nuts, the lady rolled down the window and began to talk to tell him that she was from St. Louis and was only passing through, and she said she could not thank him enough for coming to her aid. Robert just smiled as he closed her trunk.

The old lady had learned to give and share God’s way so she asked how much she owed him.  Any amount would have been all right with her.  She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.  Robert never thought twice about being paid.  This was not a job to him.  This was an opportunity to give and share all he had with someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given and shared with him in the past.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give and share with that person the assistance they needed, and Robert added, “Think of me.”

God is a good God! A few miles down the road the little old lady stopped at a café to get a bite to eat. It was a dingy looking restaurant. As the waitress came over, the little old lady noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches of standing on her feet serving customers change her pleasant attitude.  The little old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving, sharing and loving to a stranger. Then she remembered Robert who changed her tire.

Upon finishing her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the little old lady had slipped right out the door.

The waitress wondered where the lady could be.  Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in the waitress eyes when she read what the little old lady wrote: "You don't owe me change.  I have been there too.  Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you.  If you want to pay me back: Do not let this chain of giving and sharing God’s way end with you. Under the napkin were nine $100 bills.

That night when the waitress got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written.

How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it?  With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard...She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her; she then gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's going to be all right.  I love you Robert Lewis.

When you learn to give and share God’s way, God will fight your battle! Be a Robert Lewis in some body’s life. Learn to give and share God’s way and watch God change things in your life.To God Be The Glory!

God bless, we love you and Happy New Year!

Rev. Dr. Alexander Pope, Jr.