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Leading During Financially Challenging Times—1
This week, I’ll share a few thoughts about leading a ministry during shaky economic times.
Some have asked if I’m nervous about the church and the future. Although my financial strategy has slightly changed (with a potentially dramatic change), I am deeply confident and excited about the future.
When others are fearful, I’m confident for two main reasons:
- Christ’s church is resilient. The church has survived persecution, poverty, terrorism, genocide, and wars. A slow or crippled economy will not destroy the church.
- People will turn to Christ. In our prosperous country, people have never had to pray, “Give us today our daily bread…” because our cabinets have always been full of bread. In many ways, our blessings have interfered with a need for the Giver of the blessings. In hard times people will turn to Christ.
Instead of being paralyzed with fear, church leaders should be postured with faith for how God will use these rocky financial times.
Thoughts?
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Amen and Amen! God’s Word stands strong, no matter the times… believe it!
Craig,
I think this may be God’s way of driving people back to Him.
When I was young, I used to pray the “our Father” Prayer every night before bed on my knees with my head down and my hands together pointing to heaven. I don’t know if 90% of our children today even know what the “Our Father” is. But they know Sponge Bob…what is wrong with this picture? EVERYTHING!!!!
As a society our “shock Level” or attention grabbing ability has been shot by cultural novocain. Nothing grabs our attention…EXCEPT….taking away our “Things”.. just like taking a toy away from a 2 year old….we freak out! God loves us enough to shift our focus. As a Church this should praise and anticipate such an exciting time. People will seek Him out when they have nothing!!!!! Get Ready!!!!
I say…Bring IT on!
In my opinion …God is letting people know….
oops last words…He IS!
I love that second point - People will turn to Christ!!! I think what you said about bread is true in the UK as well. People are searching for truth and there’s only one answer. God uses everything for His good.
This has been a topic of conversation for a few months among people I know. I think my friend Mike Servello, Jr. has a fantastic post about this very subject. mikeservellojr.wordpress.com
Even Buddy Cremeans commented liked it!
I have been amazed at the continued giving during these times from certain people. You can see those that continue to trust God no matter what the situation and those that hold back. The ones still giving generously seem to be those really pressing into God and trusting Him.
Good post Craig.
It has been interesting to use http://churchmetrics.com over the last several weeks, and now seeing an upturn in our offering graphs.
It can be a scary time for all of us, but hopefully is driving us all back to our first love.
Great thoughts this morning Craig. We had a friend from Northeast India share yesterday in our services. He is involved in a movement in that area, as well as into the neighboring countries of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. As I listened to stories of what reminded me of the New Testament church, I found myself pondering the distractions of wealth, and the curse that is consumerism.
May the American Church rise up in this time, and be the salt and light we’ve been called to be!
Patrick, I, too, have been amazed at our people’s faithfulness during these times. I do know many churches in different parts of the country (and world) that have been hit much harder and are hurting financially. We need to keep these churches and leaders in prayer.
If your church is struggling and you would like us to pray with you, please let us know and we’ll pray.
Craig,
I recently had to leave our church start because of $. They couldn’t afford to pay me anymore & the pastor is probably going to get a 2nd job. But God is in contol!
I recalled the closest time to God and one another that I, my family, and my youth group, experienced was when we were in financial needs. We draw close to one another for support. We become creative when $ wasn’t easy to come by. This financial crisis is a blessing for our nation.
Thank you, Craig, for reminding us of that truth.
Amen brother! I’m tired of hearing American Christians whine about the economy. We’re the wealthiest people in the history of the world. And God has blessed us to be a blessing. Now our finance numbers haven’t grown in the last year…but they aren’t down either! And now we’re in the middle of a capital campaign. But what’s awesome is that we are being totally dependent on God for the miracle that we need.
2 sunday’s ago we took our entire morning service to just focus on prayer, worship and communion. The whole point was to refocus our thoughts and faith toward Jesus and not to man or a political process. Throughout the service you could sense the tension released and the amount of stress diminish. As Christians we MUST share this peace with the rest of the world…it is eternal!
[...] Leading During Financially Challenging Times—1 [...]
I think you have the right perspective for this time. We have seen our congregation dig deep in these times to help us finish out the year… but we need a new paradigm moving forward. What has “slightly” change in your mind that might lead to bigger changes?
MY SPIRITUAL SENTIMENTS EXACTLY…. GOD DID SAY HE WILL MAKE A WAY OUT OF NOW WAY…ISSIAH 43: 18-19 AND WAY HE MAKES THAT WAY IT IS UP TO US TO BE PRAYERFUL, HAVE FAITH IN THE WORD AND ULTIMATELY SEE.
THERE IS FAITH-BASED OPPORTUNITY BEING PROMOTED BY THE WWEENETWORK (WELLNESS AND WEALTH ENTREPRENUERSHIP NETWORK) IN COLLABORATION WITH MR. DANNY GLOVER - ACTOR/HUMANITARIAN…THAT CHURCHES IN NEED MIGHT CONSIDER THE ANSWER TO THEM BEING PRAYERFUL DURING THESE ECONOMICALLY CHALLENGING TIMES…I SAY ECONOMICALLY CHALLENGING..BECASUE TIMES OF TESTING ARE TIMES OF OPPORTUNITY AND TESTIMONY…
IF YOUR KNOW ANY CHURCHES WHO ARE INTERESTED IN RECEIVING A FINCIAL BLESSING WHILE HELPING THEIR CONGREGATIONS RECEIVE THE SAME AS A COLLECTIVE…PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL THE WWEENETWORK@GMAIL.COM AND I WOULD BE HAPPY TO EMAIL YOU ALL THE DETAILS INCLUDING POWERPOINT PREESENTATION THAT WAS JUST PRESENTED TO PASTORIAL LEADERS BY MYSELF AND DANNY GLOVER AT THE INVITATION OF http://WWW.PRAISEFESTMINISTRIES.COM. WWEE ARE NOW BEGINING TO WORK WITH PASTORS AND CONGREGATIONS NATIONWIDE…MOST OF WANT WE DO IS INTERNET BASED…
UPON RESPONSE, I WILL SEND LINKS TO MY WEBSITE, AND ALSO MR. GLOVER’S WEBSITE THAT DOCUMENTS THIS OPPORTUNITY…
IN THE INTERIM,
BE RICHLY BLESSED….
SANDRA A. ROSE/WWEENWTORK
WHO IS WWEENETWORK…WHAT WE DO IS P.R.A.I.S.E - PRODUCE RESIDUAL-INCOME AND INSPIRE SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENUERSHIP AMONG FAITH-BASED, COMMUNITY AND NON-GOVERMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS…. TO REACH ME…EMAIL WWEENETORK@GMAIL.COM
Ryan, We have tightened our belts some. We are prepared to tighten them much more if needed. We are not putting on the brakes. I still believe the Church should be aggressive, but we are trying to be wise.
Craig, I just listened to a podcast from a a year ago from the supernatural series and you say you have a spiritual gift of discerning if someone is called into the ministry full time. I am trying hard to contact you and sent an email to the info@lifechurch hoping to reach you. I will only take 3 min of your time but PLEASE drop me an email to jhenson@clemson.edu because I need your discernment and your use of your gift
Thanks Craig. Just wanted to be sure we are being the best stewards we can be. I appreciate you engaging this topic!
My thoughts? = Your thoughts are good!
Great faith and confidence! I think what Paul wrote to Timothy is a good verse to bring up: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity [fear], but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
Let’s be confident that God will bless what He’s told us He will bless. Always remember His promises to you.
Our church has seen growth from these uncertain times over the past few months.People that have been a part of our church in the past and have left for a variety reasons and new people that are really rattled by the state of the economy and now part of our community.We have made some choices from a church standpoint that will help us be a little leaner as a organization so we may be more responsive to what we see as tough times ahead. We have put off some major upgrades to our facilities that would of pushed us to the edge financially and have shifted our focus to providing resources that could reach people in more practically ways during this time (Financial Peace, Parenting and Marriage classes and supporting agencies within our community that deal with issues of food, utilities and shelter. We try to be the hands and feet to Christ in our community.
Well you can all call me crazy but I LOVE IT! I love when God brings people to their knees to make us realize that He is our provider - and no one else can be. He is the one who offers hope when everything looks hopeless. And way too often these days we lose sight of that! These little reminders are a huge blessing in disguise. Because they bring us closer to Him. I have heard too many pastors say they “need more money to effectively reach people.” I disagree. I think we need more love to effectively reach people.
I think this is a topic for leaders in our day. We live in a lower income part of Ohio and it has hit us pretty us. I wonder sometimes if God understands our financial need, but then I rest asure that He thrives in the middle of our needs. Thanks for the blog craig leaders like myself are in need of this kind of help. God bless!
Todd Martin
http://www.mariettacog.com
Todd, Praying for your guys in Ohio!
Amen! I’m excited to see what God is going to do in this next season…
Craig,
Great point. There has never been a real revival that has affected cities in a broad way that came out of a time of prosperity. The larger the crisis, the larger the evidence of the power of the gospel in people’s lives. trefaulkner
Thanks for your encouragement and boldness to stand faithful. We are hit financially and are having to make tough decisions concerning our facilities. We do ask for your prayers.
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