In the Past Hour or Another Wasted Hour

In the last hour:

$2,088,751,996 personal income was earned by church members.
$2,737,851 was given to global foreign missions (about 0.01 percent of church members' income).
$2,966,005 was embezzled by trusted church leaders (nearly $250 thousand more than was given to global foreign missions).
20 Christians were martyred.
2,738 people have died from starvation.

Hmmm?

These statistics come from GodSpace09/Mission Maker Magazine 09.

Budget Freeze Again.

I have two friends who work for large churches. Guess what time of year it is? You guessed it. Budget freeze time. Don't spend any money on ministry time. Yeah!

This is such a fun time of year. I remember those good old days. I experienced them for 15 years working in a big ole systematically skewed church. I miss them. It was nice when we got the subtle mandate that people didn't matter for the next few months. Isn't that what it means? Time to coast. Don't spend money engaging people.

Why is this happening in your church? Here are the signs you can look for:

a) your churches priorities are out of wack: your buildings and programs have become more important than people and ministry
b) your church is concerned about attracting people rather than going out and engaging people
c) your church has become about nurturing it's members instead of being a missionary movement like Christ intended.
d) your pastor and upper level staff are worried about job security and aren't willing to step out in faith
e) your church has not embraced stewardship of God's resources
f) your church has a stewardship campaign instead of teaching people to live sacrificially and be generous
g) your church started passing the plate at funerals and weddings and twice on Easter and Christmas

My Old Secretary Was Laid Off

This little happening is definitely worthy of a post on "Sell Your Church Building dot Com" Blogspot - the most progressive and widely read blog in the known and unknown universe (could be true - you don't know).

Anyway, my old secretary from a former employer (church) of mine was laid off the other day. The church was struggling financially and they needed to cut $150,000 from their budget. They're having a hard time paying their electric bill on the massive, massively important buildings they own. Did I mention their budget is over $1,000,000 annually? No. I must have forgot.

But what do you do when your air conditioning and lighting bill is too expensive and you need to cut $150,000? Naturally, you get rid of the thing that is least important to you - people. Why? Because I think the Bible says something about people being expendable (I'm still looking but I know it has to be in there somewhere). Especially, faithful people who've sacrificed and endured much heartache for you.

Well, she was one of the first to go after 8 years of service. More followed. I'm sure there was nothing else they could do. It was the only option.

Oh, did I mention that the pastor's annual salary is $100,000+, and he gets a free house to live in and all his utilities are paid.

Come to think of it, our electric bill is getting a little high too. My wife and I were discussing which one of the kids should go first. We have a little swing set fort thing in our back yard and we think that if one of them slept out there we might be able to save a little. There may be no other option. We thought about getting rid of our satellite dish or our internet or phone or turning up the air to 78, like that guy running for president says to do, but we really need those things. Seriously, how could I write you this awesome blog without internet? How would we know what happens with Michael and Jan and Jim if we got rid of our satellite?

There is no other option - people have got to go!!! It's a tough decision but someone has to do it. Hmm...We could wrestle and the loser has to sleep in the fort thingy....or....

Then Jesus said, "Go and Build a New Building."

I was talking to some dudes whose church was cutting back on their missions giving because they were in the midst of a $6,000,000 building campaign. They "need" a new sanctuary. Their state of the art multipurpose room isn't quite good enough anymore.

I wonder how many missionaries they could support around the world or how many churches they could plant with $6,000,000!

Somebody please tell me how a church justifies spending that much money on a building that will get used once or maybe twice a week? Really, how do that many people come to a conclusion like that?

When are the people of God going to suffer for the Kingdom?

Couldn't they call the general - "General Steel" - and build a $200,000 or even a $500,000 building and use the other $5.5 million dollars they raised to give to missions and plant new churches? Here's the number to General Steel 1-800-745-2685.

Note: This is a re-airing of an older post on a different blog in a different time and space.

Sell Your Church dot Com

Welcome to "Sell Your Church Building dot Com." This blog is dedicated to being a voice of reason for the modern day church. This blog is dedicated to starting a transformation within the church. The church in the west has untold financial resources: people, property, cash, investments. This money could be used to clothe the naked, feed the hungry and set the spiritual prisoners free all around the globe.

This money could be used to change the world for the Kingdom of God and bring about a reformation of faith, hope and love on this planet that will be unparalleled in history.

It is time the church began to use the gifts that God has given them.