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Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10)
Many years ago, right after I came to Christ, Suzanne and I made the decision to tithe our income to the church. At the time, we had one small child, one on the way, Suzanne was a stay at home Mom, I was a struggling salesman, and we were in debt up to our ears. I remember the day so clearly. For weeks, we had been talking about the debt we were in and what we were going to do about it. I had been reading what the Bible said about money and possessions and the Holy Spirit had been working on my heart. That fateful day, I came home from work, Suzanne and I sat down at the dinner table and we decided that no matter what the check book said, we would begin paying God first. So, we wrote our first tithe check.
I have to tell you, no magic took place that first year. It was hard and we were broke most of the time. We would siphon gas from one car to the other depending on who needed to go where. Suzanne pressed my dress shirts at home and we never ate out. Our entertainment consisted of going to church, tending my garden and going to a local auction house to watch the weekly crowds as they bought and sold mainly each other's junk. (I sold some of my junk as well.) To be honest, we learned to be happy and content with what we had. (Philippians 4:10-14 for biblical reference sake)
Not long after that, I answered the call to enter the ministry and go to seminary. By this time we were almost out of debt and I was making a good living in sales with a pharmaceutical company. To make a long story short, we sold our house, paid off our debts, moved to Indiana and entered Asbury Theological Seminary. Suzanne remained a stay at home Mom and I went from making a good living to making enough to survive. We still tithed and stayed out of debt. We didn't even borrow money for seminary.
I tell you this to encourage you to learn to make godly decisions in your finances. At NewSong we stress tithing as a spiritual discipline, and yes Suzanne and I still tithe. Beginning September 14th we will be offering you the opportunity to learn how to make godly decisions with your income, get out of debt and begin saving money by taking Financial Peace University. If you want to begin to get out of debt, save money and honor God with your finances, then this is for you. More details can be found below.
I dare you to make the first step in honoring God with your finances and becoming debt free!
Good Fishin' and see you in church.
Pastor Trey
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