Living in Kingdom Abundance

Heaven’s culture is not formed in us beyond our heart to hear His voice. That is where life begins for us. We live “by every word that proceeds from His mouth” (see Matt. 4:4).One of the first areas where God began to teach me how to recognize His voice was in giving. This was so fascinating to me, as He always seemed to make it clear what I was to give for a specific cause or situation. With His voice comes the faith to obey. Learning to give according to His heart is always beyond what my mind would lead me to. So faith was essential. This is where I learned that “ faith comes by hearing” (see Rom. 10:17 NKJV). Learning His voice in the area of money has been monumental for me, as the effect of that lesson has spilled over into other areas of my life. Knowing His voice is one of the great treasures of life. Simply put, He speaks, and we live.I remember the Lord speaking to me about supporting a specific missionary. The amount was clear. But I also knew we didn’t have that much money to give on a monthly basis, which was the direction of the Lord. I obeyed. Within a few days, my car insurance company sent me a letter apologizing for over charging me for my monthly rate. They lowered it, almost to the exact amount of my pledge. Coincidence? Perhaps. But they seem to happen more often when I obey.

Stories of this nature are simple but common in my life. Learning to impart this as a cultural value is necessary but can never be reduced to a one-time act. The lifestyle of generosity must be taught and modeled. The reason is not because of the Church’s need for money. While that is a constant, the real impact comes from the way we live for others. Money is one of the tools used to reveal the Father’s heart and can impact the value system of entire cities.When I first became pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, I noticed that the finances of the church were in bad shape. I knew enough to know that problems in this area are often symptomatic of problems elsewhere. It was obvious to me that I would need to teach on the subject. So I did. The first two weeks in my new assignment at Bethel, the teaching was about money.

I have purposed never to teach on a subject for personal gain. And while there are times it seems to be unavoidable, I try to put parameters in place to guarantee that the teaching is always for the benefit of others.I taught for two weeks on the tithe. I know it’s become popular in recent days to state that the tithe was from the law, and we are free from the law. Therefore, this must mean we are free from the tithe. While tithing isn’t the subject of this book, I will take a moment to put this story into a context:

First of all, the tithe was not from the Law. It was Abraham who first instituted the practice of the tithe. In Scripture, he is called the father of our faith. (See Romans 4.) Many years later it was ratified by the Law and was later ratified by Jesus Himself. History shows us it was also the practice of the early Church fathers, which speaks to us of the culture Jesus gave them. So it is with joy and confidence I teach on the tithe and offerings as important expressions of how I acknowledge and honor the Lordship of Jesus in my life. The fruit in my own life in this area is beyond debate. We also have practiced this as a ministry where we tithe to other ministries from which we receive no direct benefit.At the end of the second week of teaching, I called for a repentance offering. To prove our repentance is real, it must bear fruit. Otherwise, it can be just a momentary attitude of the heart. I then informed the people that we would not be keeping the money from this offering. We’d be giving the entire amount to another church in our area. The repentance was deep, as the offering was unusually large. I called another pastor in the city and asked if we could have lunch together. After sitting down to eat, I handed him a large check and told him the story. He looked at the amount, and then told me he wasn’t sure if it was exact, but it was close to the amount that they were behind in their bills at church. This was so encouraging to me.But it’s what happened next that touched me even more deeply.He went to his church board with our gift. They were so moved that they decided to do the same, but give their entire Easter Sunday offerings to other churches in town. That offering was three times larger than their average! They divided it among three other ministries. One of those ministries had a bus ministry that brought the kids from around the city to their very special children’s ministry. They were so moved by this act of kindness toward them that they followed suit by giving their best bus to another church in town that also had a bus ministry. I hope you get the point. Generosity is contagious. It is Kingdom. And it reveals the Father. And while a single act of generosity does not create culture, it does set a direction in thought, attitude, and practice that eventually becomes our culture.We have to make sure that we require ourselves to think bigger than we find to be comfortable. God has not called us to do what is humanly possible or reasonable. We are children of a King who knows no impossibility. And He longs for His heart to become ours.