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Many pastors find it hard to talk about money, believe it or not. Pastors who are starting a church find it particularly hard to talk about giving because they are afraid that people might stop coming and they are desperately trying to get the church off the ground. Over the years I have learned that there are typically three types of responses to money talks or giving talks.

1. Pain.

There are people who are in pain in our current economic crisis. Whenever you talk about giving they don’t get angry, they just feel the pain of wanting to do more but they are unable. Because they have lost their job or experienced a catastrophe they really can‘t give. After all, a tithe off of zero dollars is zero dollars. Of course, I am not talking about simple disobedience here. There are some who think they cannot give who have jobs but they simply do not put God first.

Whenever I feel a pain that won’t go away I consult a doctor. When I was 26 years old I had the most incredible pain in my abdomen. I really thought I was going to die. I went to the doctor and he told me that I had a diseased gall bladder and that he was going to perform surgery. Can you believe that? I was in pain and the doctor was going to cause me even more pain by cutting me open! Do you think I was mad at the doctor? No, of course not. Even though he recommended something that was going to be painful I knew that he was actually saving me more pain in the future and was actually saving my life. Just because you may have pain does not mean that the pastor is being insensitive to your pain when he talks about money. People who believe the Bible know that God tells us the way to financial freedom and blessing is through giving generously, sowing financial seeds into God’s kingdom, and tithing. Pastors, respond to your people with love like a doctor. Love them enough to help them through the pain.

2. Pissed.

Some people do not experience pain when you talk about giving, they just get pissed-off. This has always been a strange thing to me. They don’t get angry at other things. You never hear them say, “All this store ever thinks about is money, money, money. Every time I come in here they expect me to pay for stuff that I eat, use, or take home. I don’t think I am ever coming back again!” They don’t say that. They may complain about the price but they keep on spending their hard-earned money.

Normally, it is not the unsaved that say things like that. They understand that it costs money to have buildings, programs, and all the things that they enjoy when they come to church. In fact, whenever I talk about money I find that those who are new to church, the ones that most pastors are afraid to offend, are the ones that are thankful when I talk about money, debt, giving, and generosity. It is normally angry, crusty, pissed-off Christians who do not tithe who get mad when I talk about money. At the very best they tip God and just sit and soak up resources. They don’t help move the ball down the field but they actually hinder. They cost the church program money, staff resources, facility costs, water, electricity, printing, and all kinds of expenses; they just don’t give or don’t even cover the cost of what it takes to minister to them.

So what is a pastor to do with these people? You are to love them. You are to do your duty and preach and teach God’s Word faithfully. You are to pray for them. You are not to be offended or intimidated by them. You are not to be mean-spirited toward them. You are to challenge them and try to motivate them, but you are not to focus on them. No matter what you say, some people are not going to respond. After all, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict. It is simply your job to love, warn, teach, inspire, and coach. Be positive. Talk about managing money and getting out of debt. Talk about the joys of giving. Show them ways to give, but leave their response up to God.

3. Pleasure.

There will be some who get it. They are not offended by money talk; they are challenged by it. They take pleasure in hearing God’s Word and following God-called leadership. They understand that you are not trying to swindle them or sell snake oil to them. They want to obey God and live a blessed life. This group is a great blessing to any pastor.

What should a pastor do for this group? Love them. Challenge them. Teach them to live in faith. Cast a big vision before them. Most importantly, lead them. Lead them by example. You will never help them to be generous if you are not generous yourself.

In my experience these are the three types of responses to talking about giving. What do you think?

Ritchie

This morning I read in Ezekiel chapter 37 about the valley of dry bones that God breathed life back into. An entire army of dead men — dry bones — who had every bit of the life snuffed out of them were resurrected at God’s command. Actually, God asked Ezekiel if he thought they could come back to life again and Ezekiel said that only God knew that. God told him to tell the dead bones to “listen to the word of the LORD” and God breathed new life into them. Then the dead guys got up and walked!

The application is fairly obvious: faith, obedience, and the power of God’s Spirit will resurrect dead things. When I trust God and believe His promises, obey His Word without questioning it, and allow God’s Spirit to empower me I can have life again. Dead things start to come back to life again!

That got me to thinking about what else can God bring back to life if I trust Him, obey His Word, and depend on the Holy Spirit for power?

All I need to do is trust Him, obey what He says in the Bible, and ask for the Holy Spirit to empower me. When I do that He promises to bring me to life.

God, please breathe new life into us today.

Ritchie

This week I have become keenly aware of the tough times that a lot of people are facing in our current economic climate. Yesterday and today I read some verses that I think will offer hope to everyone who is in an economic crunch or to anyone who might just be fearful.

I want to encourage you to read both of these passages and let God speak to you and calm your fears.

Psalm 112:1-9 (NLT)
Praise the LORD! How joyful are those who fear the LORD and delight in obeying his commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed. They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will last forever. Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor.

James 1:2-18 (NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

I hope you take comfort in God’s promises. I know I did.

Ritchie

I love Fridays. Mainly because I am off on Fridays and I get to recharge and rest. My finish line each week is Thursday at 5:00 pm, give or take. The proper rest and rejuvenation is vital to maintain long-term viability in ministry. There are certain seasons that are busier for pastors so one must be diligent in guarding the Sabbath rest. I am in a particularly busy season now with our vision campaign, Miracle Offering, Thanksgiving, and Christmas coming up. I don’t do many funerals or weddings anymore because of my schedule and because we have wonderful staff members who do such a fantastic job with them. I have had a funeral and a wedding last Saturday and this Saturday, however, and so I really look forward to some chill time today.

I plan to work out, read about the Tar Heels football and basketball teams, see Quantum of Solace, piddle around the house, and whatever the heck I feel like.

Peace.

Ritchie

I have noticed that most families seem to be off-the-charts busy these days. Especially moms. Our culture seems to serve a big slice of guilt to parents if they are not involved in soccer, cheer-leading, karate, dance, boy scouts, girl scouts, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, football, play dates, sleep-overs, and a million other mind-numbing “family” activities that actually do the opposite of what parents have been programmed to think they do. I am not suggesting that we go back to Mayberry. I actually grew up in Mayberry. No, really. Andy Griffith is from Mt. Airy, NC, which is the real town that the fictional Mayberry is based on. There is a Floyd’s Barber Shop, a Snappy Lunch, a real town called Pilot Mountain, and a whole lot of Goober’s and Gomer’s. That just happens to be where I grew up. I can promise you that Mayberry never was like what was portrayed on television. Never. I don’t think that any of those old shows were based in reality. My parents were married as teenagers. My mom had a Ritchie bun in the oven. My grandma was 14 when she married my 17 year old grandpa. I had an aunt that was married at 13. Everybody drank a lot of Bud and smoked a lot of bud. I distinctly remember more yelling and cussing than there ever was on Andy’s show. So, no, I am not calling for heading back down memory lane.

I am saying that you need to simplify your life. There are only so many things you can do. Of course there will be seasons that are busy and there is nothing you can do about that. You can choose, however, to set priorities in your life. In your children’s lives too. If you don’t you are going to frazzle. You will break down, break up, or crack up. It is inevitable. You have control over so much more than you think.

I believe that is one reason that God demands to be first in our lives. The simple fact is that if we do not set boundaries and make difficult choices and exercise our “no” button we will let the important things suffer. I do not know many Christians that intentionally avoid loving God. In fact, most say that they do love God, even though their schedules and their check books shout something much different. It boils down to saying no to some things. It’s Ok. Try it. You will like it once you get over the feeling of guilt that comes from trying to keep up with the Kardashians.

Your success comes from the things you say “no” to. In other words, you have to say “yes” to fewer things, but to more important things. I have chosen to say yes to a relationship with God, a relationship with my family, a relationship with Avalon Church, a relationship to HOPE, and to very few other things. I am OK with that. I read my Bible, pray, write, prepare sermons, work out, hang out with my family, hang out with Avalon, hang out with pastors, and very little else. I am totally OK with that too. The more margins I put in my life the better all my relationships are and the more successful I become.

So what do you need to simplify in your life? Start making that choice and you will be happier, more successful, and a lot easier to get along with.

Here’s to some chill out time for you.

Ritchie

I have been reading the book of Ezekiel lately and I have had my world rocked by the Spirit of God. Here are a few observations.

• I love the Bible. It is amazing how much God reveals to us when we simply read it. It truly is alive.
• I am falling in love with the prophets. To be real honest I have not really been that enthralled by the major or minor prophets before. I have read them all dozens of times, but mostly with the goal of getting through.
• The prophets were an amazing group of men. They made HUGE sacrifices in order to give God’s message to His people. Some were killed, some were imprisoned, some never married, one was ordered by God to marry a prostitute, and they ate weird stuff and did weird things just to get a point across. These guys had a major-league love for God.
• The next time I hear some well-meaning, ill-informed preacher talk about how you should not use creativity in the church I want to tell them to read the book of Ezekiel. This guy was creative in the way he preached.
• God hammered Judah and Israel for worshipping idols. The thing is they never fully rejected worshipping Jehovah. They just worshipped other gods too. How many times have we done that! We worship God (we say), but we also worship money, our job, our schedule, our hobbies, and our relationships.
• Ezekiel talked about idols of the mind. How many idols have I had in my mind? Idols make you compare, they make you jealous, they make you stretch the truth, they fill you with pride, and they make you forget your calling and mission.
• God help me to be more like the prophets and care more about what YOU think and depend less on the approval of others.

Ciao.

Ritchie

Reading in the Old Testament gives you a sense of the immense power of God. I have been reading in Ezekiel the last couple of weeks and I have been amazed by God’s power, holiness, and His right to be worshipped. I have also been amazed by His sense of sarcasm, hyperbole, and humor.

God would use totally offensive language to get His point across. Sometimes it employed exaggeration and sarcasm, with a little humor sprinkled in. In Ezekiel 23 He sent a message to the Ezekiel prophet in which He compared Judah and Israel to sisters who became totally promiscuous. That is putting it kindly. They started by loving to have their breasts fondled when they were young and ended up having sex with entire armies of men. In verse twenty God described their desire for other gods, besides the One True LORD, like this: “She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse.”

When I read that I almost guffawed like a pubescent boy in 8th grade health class. I love the fact that God is not the giant sissy in the sky. He is real and raw. He is holy, righteous, merciful, loving, and He will kick our butts, if necessary. Actually, He could destroy our soul and body in hell. He is dead serious about being first in our lives.

God was so serious about not worshipping idols that He destroyed the nations of Israel and Judah for their idolatry. You and I may not bow down and worship a totem pole or a figurine, but we definitely have a tendency to make idols out of other things. An idol is anything that you worship or love more than God or in addition to God. Remember, the Israelites never totally stopped worshiping Jehovah God. They just added other things to their list.

Most of us say we love God. So did the ancient Israelites. They just worshipped other things in addition to God. That got me to thinking. What other things do we worship?

• Money. God wants us to tithe in order to put Him first. When we don’t give and tithe we worship money in addition to God.
• Jobs. We trust in our job rather than God.
• Schedules. How many times do we put ourselves first? “God can wait. His house can wait. I am too busy to serve.”
• Possessions. How many times do we put things and possessions before Him?
• People. It is easy to put people before God. We do it in dating relationships, marriages, work relationships, and friendships.
• Places. “I will serve you, Lord, as long as I don’t have to move, or sell my house, or change jobs.”

Sobering, isn’t it? There are so many things we worship in addition to God. My prayer is that we will worship only God.

Father, help me to put you first in every part of my life, today. Use me for Your glory. Help me to worship only You! Amen.

Have a great day.

Ritchie

I am sitting at my kitchen table writing this blog and I keep on smelling something that smells a little bit funny. I checked my shirt (just in case I wore one that I worked out in). Not that. I checked my feet. OK there. I even smelled the table cloth. You never know what will be left on the table by a teenager. Still, I can’t identify the “odd” smell. It doesn’t smell totally bad, but it is just a little funky. Now I found it. There are some flowers in a vase on our table. They are beautiful to look at but they are a little hard on the nose. So much for “stop and smell the flowers.”

That got me to thinking. What are some other sayings, anecdotes, or proverbs that may or may not be paradoxical?

Stop and smell the flowers. What if they stink? What if you are allergic to them and you break out into a sneezing fit? What if you are driving and you smell them and start sneezing and lose control of the car? What if you sneeze on a WWE wrestler and he pile drives you into the pavement? What then, Mr. Florist?

You can’t judge a book by its cover. Oh yeah? Try telling that to your cell mate after wearing flip flops, cut-off jeans, and a halter top to your trial. Wear a dress to your next job interview…if you are a dude. See if your “potential employer” shares your feelings about not judging the tome by its exterior trappings.

What goes up must come down. Who is the genius that came up with that one? With all due respect to Sir Isaac Newton, did he ever go on a diet? I look at the scale and I promise you it does not have to come down.

There are lots of things that may seem to be true that are not. Today, why not go with the sure thing – the Word of God. It is always true! Claim God’s promises today and you will have a much better day. That is one thing that I can guarantee.

Have a great day!

Ritchie

This past Sunday I told Avalon Church that I have asked God to let me pastor this church for at least 30 more years. I am 44 years old today, so if my math is correct, that would make me about the age of dirt by then. Of course, no one knows what the future holds. God may take me home tomorrow. I am simply planning on still being around if God allows me.

There are lots of reasons why I asked God to allow me to stay here for so long.
• I like it here. Actually, I love it here.
• God has called me here.
• I have given my life to the ministry and to whatever God has called me to do.
• Ministry is a marathon.

Ministry takes time. It is a marathon not a sprint. I have always said that it takes seven years to establish a church. That does not mean that God does nothing in a church until it is seven years old, it just means that it takes time to grow disciples. If you are a church planter do not get discouraged if your one-year-old church does not do what a ten-year-old church does. You can grow a weed in a week. It takes years to grow an oak tree. You have to decide what you want – a weed or a tree.
I believe that you can do a lot more in thirty years than you can in three. That is why we must take Sabbath rests and pace ourselves. It is the principle of the goose that laid the golden eggs. Take care of your health, your marriage, your family, and your spiritual life and you will be around for a while. Neglect any of these things and you won’t! You have to decide if you want to be a marathon man or a flame out. Don’t worry about how fast you grow. Worry about how strong you and your church grows.

Keep on pressing toward the goal.

Ritchie

We all have dreams. Some dreams are bigger than others. Some people confuse a fantasy with a dream. I used to fantasize about playing basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. No matter how hard I worked, no matter how much I believed in myself, and no matter how many positive thoughts I had, that was never going to happen. I simply was not good enough. To have continued pursuing that was not a dream but it was a fantasy.

I am a church man. To be more specific, I am a church planter at heart. I love helping people. I love pastoring. I love preaching. I love leading. I love pastors. I love church planters. I love seeing people experience life-change. I love challenging people to get better. I love helping business people. I really love pointing people to Jesus. The prism through which I see colors my world view in stark shades of eternity and that which impacts eternity. So when I speak of turning a dream into a reality I tend to look at things that impact both the “sweet by and by” and the “the nasty now and now.” This thought, therefore, best applies to starting a church, starting a business, leading in a church, or leading in a business rather than fulfilling your dream of running a marathon.

Here it is. If you want to turn your dreams into reality you must be able to raise capital. I consider this to be one of the most important things you can do as a leader.

What is capital? Obviously, capital can be money. No business can be successful without financial capital and no church can do ministry without money. If you do not raise money as a church planter you will probably fail. That is just the stark reality.

Capital is not just limited to money, however. There is also the all-important human capital as well. I like to think of it this way. Capital is divided into four categories. One must have all of these categories of capital to be successful. If you are short in one area you have to make it up in another area. What are they?

1. Financial capital.
2. Time capital.
3. Energy capital.
4. Talent capital.

If you lack financial capital you must make up for it by increasing your time, energy or excitement, and talent capital. It may take longer and require you to be a bit more creative with the way you surround yourself with talent and energy, but your dreams can still be achieved.
Your task today is to think of ways that you can increase the time, energy, and talent capital around you. Just having money is never enough to plant a church or lead a successful business!

Have a great day!

Ritchie