Something well worth the read as includes an aspect on tithing------->C.N.N. Interview with Paul Bradshaw ----
Rick said :-
People ask me ,''What is the purpose of life?''
& I respond; In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We are made to last forever, & God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, & that will be the end of my body ---not the end of me. I may live 60 -- 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We are made by
God & for God, & until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, just coming out of one, or you're just getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life
holy than He is in making your life
happy We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I
used to think that life was hills & valleys, you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountain top, back & forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills & valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, & at all times you have something good & something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. & no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on you problems. If you focus on your problems, you are going into self-centredness,
But one of the easiest way to get rid of pain is toget your focus off yourself & onto God & others.
We discouverd quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousens of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It was very difficult for her, yet God strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn closer to Him & to people.
You have to deal with both the good & bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also bought me notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego of for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety & influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do. 2 Corinthians. 9. & Psalm. 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in we didn't change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.!
Second, about midway through the last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third , we set up foundations to fund an initiative nwe call The Peace Plan to plant chuches, equip leaders, assist the poor, caren for the sick, & educate the next generation.
Forth, I added up all all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the chhurch, & I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes ( for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed & say, ''God, if I don't get anything done today, I want to know You more & love You better. God didn't pur me on earth just to fulfill a ''to-do'' list . He's more interested in what I am, than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments----- PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments--- -TRUST GOD.
Quiet moments-------SEEK GOD.
Painful moments------TRUST GOD.
Every moment--------THANK GOD.