by James Lamkin

 

"Everything I Needed to Know about TITHING, I Learned in Training Union"

 

     Imagine going to church, not only every Sunday morning, but actually coming back for more every Sunday night! That would blow our busy, heavily scheduled minds these days.

     But that's exactly what we did every Sunday night when I was a kid. We came back for Training Union. It was like Sunday School, but its focus areas were leadership, missions, ethics, history, and giving.

     I was taught math in Training Union. Pie charts, graphs, fractions, and percentages were necessary to learn what it meant for us to "be church." And being church meant tithing.

     Look-up tithe in the dictionary and it will say, "to give one-tenth of one's income."   It is a biblical notion (Malachi 3:10).

     If I made $10 a week mowing lawns in the summer, in Training Union we calculated that one dollar was my tithe. And so it was.

     I turned in a pledge card when I was twelve. It wasn't much...but I knew in my bones that it was important. I was a small part of a larger whole. In Training Union I learned that my dime in the church offering plate went into the bigger plate of the Louisiana Baptist Convention which sent part on to the even bigger plate of the Southern Baptist Convention, and part of that went to a lot of plates all over this big mission-hungry world.

     I don't remember ever wondering if giving was an opportunity or obligation? That would have been like asking a fish for an opinion about water.

     Nor did it ever occur to me that money sent through the church should come out of expendable income. It is just what Christians do.

     There was great satisfaction in bringing my offering envelope every Sunday; and I put extra in for annual revival meetings and mission offerings.

     For most of my life, I've been a tither. However, I confess that I did not do so during my divorce years. But when Liz and I married, we just knew that this is what you do. Turns out: she went to Training Union too! (No wonder it was love at first sight!)

     Not everybody was reared like this; and, I suppose, nobody is today. But it is a significant part of my story.

     Each year Liz and I do the math like we learned in Training Union: 10% of our income. That goes to (or through) the church; then we give some beyond that to GPB, Food Banks, the Alliance of Baptists, The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, etc.

     Here's what I ask of you:

     First, turn in a pledge toward our NDBC 2011 budget. It can be $2.00 or $20,000.00, but pledge something. Everybody participate.

     Second, perhaps at this time you cannot choose to tithe, but do what you can and pray about the rest.

     In Training Union, Liz and I learned that sacrificial giving was a seminal part of how we live life as Christians. We've forgotten a lot of what we learned, but we've never forgotten that. Why?Because: everything we needed to know (about a lot of things) we learned in Training Union.

You can submit your pledge to the Church in any one of the following four ways: (1) complete and sign a pledge card and mail it to the church, (2) call Cherie Akin, the Church's Interim Business Manager, at 404-237-8621 and give her your pledge over the phone, (3) send an e-mail to Cherie containing the amount of your pledge and stating whether you will be fulfilling your pledge in weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual payments, or (4) submit your pledge over the internet by using the form on our website.

Our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon will be Sunday, November 21, following worship. On the menu: smoked turkey & pork, dressing, vegetables, rolls and dessert. Please make your reservation by Wednesday, November 17, by either calling the church office (404-237-8621); emailing the church (info@northsidedrive.org); or filling out an online form (http://www.northsidedrive.org/form_liveform.asp?FormID=17). Cost will be $7 per person with a $25 a family cap.