Can you believe that less than one week away is
2012? Honestly, this past year has flown
by and brought me so many blessings, encouragement and changed lives. You could say the same. Sit back this week for a few minutes and
count your blessings, note what you’ve seen God do and celebrate the facts.
This week I am going to share some things that we
will be able to be part of in 2012.
Remember, this is from my perspective.
I will share some things that have helped our family, our church and
myself. I will share some things I will
be part of and things I believe in.
Thanks for listening in on this conversation for a few days because I
know God is going to open your mind and heart to what I share and even more…
Today I want to share about giving.
“What sorrow
awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are
careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore
the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should
tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
The first place we give is to our church, and it is
through the tithe (10% or more) to the place we have connected. I believe this is something that God called
us to and calls each of us to do. We are
part of The Community Fellowship,
and our church allows us to give giving during worship services, gifts can be
mailed (PO Box 388, Collinsville, VA 24078), gifts can be sent through your
on-line banking (which is what my family does), gifts can come through pay pal
(click this link
and note TCF), or through another on-line site we use (click here to register for it). I do want to thank our church family and
friends who give regularly. These gifts
are important to The Community doing what God called us to do.
Blessed are
those who are generous, because they feed the poor.
There are several places that we give to help those
in need, but one that I am most excited about is our Dream Center. In the last
year this dream of mine and others has become a reality. We are looking for people who will volunteer
and give, money and others resources, to help the hungry, hurting and homeless
of our community. In the coming months
we hope to announce the purchase of a building to house our homeless and
discipleship work. To give to the Dream
Center mail gifts (PO Box 388, Collinsville, VA 24078) or use an on-line method
(click this link
and please note Dream Center). It takes
lots of people giving to help those in need.
We are grateful for each of our supporters.
Tell them to
use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to
those in need, always being ready to share with others.
Share your
food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those
who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Here is a list of a few other organizations that my
family supports:
The Los
Angeles Dream Center (click here) is led by Matthew Barnett and continues to
help people in the LA area and beyond.
This ministry always challenges me, and I love to serve with these
folks.
Raceway
Ministries (click here) has events and ministry for
race fans at all the NASCAR tracks, including Martinsville Speedway, and other tracks. In the last 10 years this ministry has grown
in big ways. Roger Marsh leads
this ministry, is a good friend and ministry partner.
Children’s
Cup (click here) works with orphans who have AIDS
and other children in need in several countries of Africa, Vietnam and the Philippines. This work was started by some sweet friends
and continues to be led by Dan
Ohlerking and his family. This
organization helped our family begin our daily family devotions.
Joseph
Dayamba (click here) is a native of Burkina Faso
and began a school and ministry working with Muslim children. Many of them are coming to Jesus through this
work. Joseph is an
incredible man.
There are a few other people and organizations that
we currently give to or have given to in the past. I commend these works to you because God is
using them to lead people to Jesus and helping people in need.
I look forward to sharing more with you this week,
but what I really desire to share with you is our passion to help hurting
people. We have to invest what God has
blessed us with in the lives of people who need Him. That is my commitment and my passion. It is not just about money. It is about our lives and making a difference
each day.
May God use us in 2012 to impact many people for Him!
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