There is such a poverty spirit in our churches that many people expect everything for free, and because of this poverty spirit we have been dishonoring the leaders of our churches by not paying them what they are worth. How effective are you going to be in ministry if you have to work 40+ hours at a job so you can pay your bills, support your family, then on one of your two days off a week try and preach the word of God? Yet this is exactly what we have asked many Pastors, Apostles, Ministers, and Church Leaders to do. We have asked many of these church leaders to take on part or full time jobs and still run the church, plus we want them to be an influence in our community, and in our political arenas.
So let me ask you something? Where is this man or woman's day of rest? They usually don't get one. If you are working 40 hours a week, say Monday through Friday, you know that isn't the only work that needs to be done by that person. There is still work that needs to be done at home, laundry, dishes, cleaning, fixing things, mowing the lawn, paying bills, car maintenance, etc. We are not resting when we are doing these. Yet we have asked many church leaders to work 40+ hour jobs and run the church and these other things still need to be done.
We know that the pastor will lose one of his or her two days off to do this other work, and then we expect them to give us a good solid message from the Lord on Sunday. Where is this person's Sabbath (day of rest)? So many people ignore the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for us. It was designed to give us rest with the Lord. Were any of the other Ten Commandments canceled? Is it ok to murder? No. Is it ok to commit adultery? No. The commandments covered everything in life and all of them are important including rest. If we don't rest we will start getting far from God, do things in our own power, and become ineffective in teaching the word and bringing the kingdom.
Acts 6:2-4 So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
Did anybody call them lazy? How exhausted is the church leader (Pastor, Apostle, Prophet, Minister, whoever is leading that church) going to be if he is working 40 hours a week, trying to take care of things at home and then taking care of the sheep. That is not to mention the service during the week (Tues or Wed night), the phone calls from people in the congregation who need prayer or counsel, or visiting people when they are sick, or in the hospital, time spent to prepare to do a funeral or wedding, or helping various members of the church with their needs. We ask these men and woman of God to do this, but are we willing to do these things ourselves? Do we work these kinds of hours? Do we work day and night on call at any hour for the needs of the flock?
Time to Get Things in Order
We have dishonored these people so much. It is time that we get things back in order. It is time that we give honor to the man or woman of God if they are called by God to do the work of the ministry. A worker is worth his / her wages. We need to support them in their work. We need to teach our congregations to honor the man or woman of God that is doing this work.
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We need to get the poverty mentality out of the church. When people start blessing the man or woman of God, they will be blessed as well.
Phil 4:16-19 For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
He knew that they gave and took care of his needs and he knew that the Lord would honor that by blessing them by supplying all of their needs.
It is back to sowing and reaping. They sowed into Paul for the furthering of the Kingdom of God, and they were blessed by God that all of their needs would be taken care of "harvest".
Let's start honoring the men and woman of God that have been called and have given their lives to further the kingdom. If you are a member of a church and God has called you to be at that church and you are not tithing to help support that man or woman of God that is teaching and training you, you should be ashamed of yourself. Repent for dishonoring your Pastor or Apostle, (whoever God has called to lead that church), and start tithing, and sowing where God tells you to.
1 Tim 5:18 For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
The church pays the Pastor's (church leaders) salary from the tithes and offerings. That is how the salaries are paid, for the work they perform. It is also how the building is paid for, the utilities, etc.
What is Honor?
We have no concept of honor anymore in this day and age, which is why the outside world wants nothing to do with us. They don't see anything they want. They see fighting, bickering, and dishonor.
We honor athletes more than we honor the men and women of God that are running our churches. This needs to stop. We need to bring back honor to the house of God by honoring our leaders and that includes honoring by tithing and giving offerings to the places where we are fed.
You know Malachi 3:11 says that the devourer will be rebuked for you if you keep the commandment of tithing, but we shouldn't want to tithe just because we want that promise. We should want to honor God by honoring His servants who are called to do His work.
We do this by tithing and giving offerings.
Start honoring your Pastor or church leader "Apostle, Prophet, Minister, etc" by paying what he or she is worth. A worker is worthy of his wages.
If you are a member of a congregation and you are not tithing to help support that man or woman of God, start now.
I hate to tell you this but the Mormons are better at this than we are. For a person to become a Mormon and be a member of the Mormon Church, one of the requirements is that person must tithe. It is not an option, "it is a requirement." That is why they are getting further than we are because they have the resources to evangelize their message, and to build new buildings, and to do missions, but we won't even pay our pastors what they are worth. We need to change this. As the children of God, we should have to best. Not the Mormons and not the Muslims. We as the children of God should have the best, and it starts by honoring the men and women of God, and we do this by supporting them by tithing and giving offerings.
Tithe to your churches; give offerings to the ministries that are feeding you. It is just as important to sow into these ministries that are feeding you as it is to tithe to your church. Stop trying to take everything for free, and start honoring the men and women of God that are doing the work of the Kingdom. By doing this, you will be blessed.
Phil 4:16-19 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
When we don't tithe according to Malachi 3:11, the devourer can come in and devour because he is not rebuked. What will he devour? Your finances, health, whatever he can take, but one of the things that he will steel is the seed that was sow into you by the message that you heard.
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Putting Money in what you Believe In
If your heart, which includes your finances is somewhere else, you won't be sowing or tithing, and the message won't really mean much to you, so the enemy will immediately come and steel that seed (which was the message you just heard) and about a week later you won't hardly remember what was said. The seed was stolen, so there was no change, and no harvest, but if you really believe in what you are doing, and the seed that is being sown, then you will be willing to finance it by your tithes and offerings. Once you start doing that then what happens? Then Malachi 3:11 kicks in and the devourer is rebuked for you. The seed is sown and it reaps a harvest, 30, 60, and 100 fold.
You are going to put your money in what you believe in. Where your treasure is, so is your heart. Every time you go to a meeting, these are the three things you should bring with you. Your bible, your notebook, and your seed which is your tithe or offering depending on whether you are at your home church or somewhere else.
If you are being fed, you should help support who is feeding and training you. Do you work for free? If your boss asked you to work for free, (that he wasn't going to pay you), you would quit and go find another job because you have bills to pay and a family to support. Well, so do these men and women of God, yet this is exactly what we are asking them to do. Are you worth your wages? So are the men of women of God that are shepherding teaching, and training you.
1 Tim 5:18 For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
Now if you are feeling convicted by this message, don't let it turn into condemnation or the enemy can get in and start beating you up. Just repent. Tell the Lord you are sorry and make the commitment to help support the people who feed you by your tithes and your offerings.
This is always a great check point to see the condition of your heart.
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Start today, tithe, give offerings, and see your seeds grow. In Jesus name, Amen.
Well Paul Worked....
I have heard many people say "well Paul worked so he should work". Yes Paul worked so he would not be a burden to anyone, but this was not a full time job. He was helping the people out that he was staying with at the time. He was not working a 40+ hour a week job to try and support himself and his family. His support came from the people but he also helped the people and did not elevate himself above the people and consider himself too worthy to help among them, just like the Pastor or Church Leader should be willing to go out and help any of the flock.
If you expect your pastor to work part or full time at another job to support himself, you are asking him or her to split his or her focus between two careers. How many careers do you have? If your focus is split you will not be fully focused on either. How effective do you think a person is going to be at a job with a split focus? Can the CEO of a corporation have a split focus and be fully effective? What about a doctor? Yet, we have asked our church leaders to work other jobs while leading the flock and we all know that part time jobs or full time jobs that would still allow for a career in ministry don't pay very well and usually don't have great benefits. So not only are we asking them to have two focuses, we are also asking them to have second jobs that don't make much money since they can't get into a good paying career because that would take all their focus and maybe retraining. We are asking them to work another job which usually means they will lose their days off, so they can do the ministry. So we are asking them to work more, for less pay, run our church, and shepherd the flock, and we wonder why our churches are so ineffective.
Let's start honoring our church leaders, ministers, pastors, apostles, prophets, etc, by paying them what they are worth. It may take us giving more to the church. It may take a commitment of some of the leaders to stand up and give something extra each month to go toward the church leader's salary. It may take having more teaching on tithing; it will take putting our priorities in a place that puts the Kingdom of God in first place above everything else, but it is not just tithing. We need to sow and give to the places that are feeding us. Ministries that are providing teachings, prophecy, videos, etc deserve their wages to. Many people tithe to their local church, but take everything else they receive from other ministries for free without sowing anything back. These people deserve their wages too. They have families to support and bills to be paid just like the churches. They have given their lives for the Kingdom of God and they deserve your support also. If you are being fed by these people then you need to be sowing back into them.
This message isn't for the lukewarm Christian. If you truly are following Christ and you really want to see His Kingdom come, then your money is going to match what is in your heart. Who is your first love?
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We have dishonored these people so much. It is time that we get things back in order. It is time that we give honor to the man or woman of God if they are called by God to do the work of the ministry. A worker is worth his / her wages. We need to honor the Lord by supporting them in their work.
My prayer is that we will listen.
Elizabeth Larson
Ministering Spirits Ministries
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