Stewardship

Dr. Jim and Nina Thomas spoke to us at the recent stewardship luncheon.

They are good friends and members of First Christian in Fort Thomas, where I previously served.

While there is not room to share what they, along with Marie Smart and our youth all shared, I will offer you a portion of their powerful statement of faith and stewardship.

At a time in Jim’s life when he was in the military and lived in New Mexico, Jim and Nina found a church.

The pastor of this church challenged them to be faithful, tithing members of the church. They embraced this as a new idea in their faith journey. Then Jim lost his source of income.

The pastor had indicated that God will provide. They continued to tithe. Soon enough, there were some programs and grants Jim applied for, that increased his income to a level above his original income.

This is a belief that in faith, God is good and is working in and through us to make sure we can maximize our opportunities. God will provide.

They have tithed in all circumstances since that time in New Mexico.

I invite you to follow their example of giving 10% of your income to the church in 2015.

This will be harder the higher your income.  Statistics prove this. Just last night, the author  of a new book who was being interviewed by Tavis Smiley said, “Those who are in the bottom 20% of income, give approximately twice the percentage that those in the top 20% of income give to charity. If you are unsure whether this will work for you, just try it for three months.

Please turn in your pledge card by this Sunday as a statement of faith and spiritual discipline.

Moving to the deeper places,
Jeff