Thursday, August 23, 2007

Seeing Resources From God's Perspective

I have been recently been challenged to change the way I view God's ability to provide and the resources that He has available to His people. It seems to me that if I can grab hold of God's perspective on this, that it will have a revolutionary impact on my life and on that of The Voice of the Martyrs here in Canada.


Too often, ministries like VOMC see themselves in competition with other ministries for donations from supporters or potential supporters. We see the resources available in the world today as a concrete, limited amount that is divided up for everyone to get a piece of, depending on how hard or smart they work. A good illustration might be that of a pie. There is one large pie in the world, so to speak, containing all of the money available to Christian ministries and we need to make sure that we get as big of a piece of that pie as we can, because if we don't someone else will. We also fear that if we are not careful, someone may steal part of our piece. And so we compete for our share of the pie.
The fact is, the real source of our resources has no limits to what He can provide. There is no pie. Hence, our competitiveness as organizations reflects, I believe, a worldly perspective rather than a godly one. One consequence of embracing God's perspective would be a willingness to work together far more freely as organizations. We need not fear that other organizations will steal support from us if we cooperate with each other; God has the ability to supply the needs of both if they are faithful to Him. Pastors could relax and stop seeing parachurch organizations as competitors for their congregant's dollars.

Is this naïve? Some will say so, but only those who continue to hold to a limited universe with a limited God. I, for one, will not dishonour God in this way any longer.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen!!!

I have supported VOM financially before, but how can I support VOMC.

Thanks

Wes

Glenn Penner said...

Hi Wesley,

You can find our contact information on our website www.persecution.net (links are on the right column of this blogsite) and either mail it in, phone in with a credit card or use our secure online donation form

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I thought about it afterwards that asking that question after this post probably wasn't that wise, but I am really interested.

Thanks

Wes

Parakletos said...

We are called to be a seamless garment.
God's servant, our fellow brother, George Mueller, in the 1800's never asked for anything. He only prayed for the support and provison of God. He asked for nothing so that none could say that God does not provide. From believing in our faithful God, only with prayer, God supported George Mueller to help over 10,000 orphans. Heroes of the faith are not just in Hebrews 11, but they are here today with us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1
Lack of belief in our God to provide, and our fearful jealousy will entangle us from receiving the blessings God wants to give us to bring Him glory anyway.

Not to us, O Lord, Not to us
But to Your name be the glory;
Your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 115:1

2blikehim said...

The Lord specifically impressed the same idea on us this past year. We were praying for a van for a pastor in Albania, and that same month our business delivery van died. I was ashamed to ask God for such a carnal need -- a van to deliver donuts. It was as if I thought that God had only one van available and He has to decide which precious child to give it too.

The foolishness of that line of thinking really should embarass us.

Instead we should be praying for the people and channels God has already chosen, that they may be obedient with overflowing joy to give what God has spoken to their hearts. And even more, to make it a habit (like breathing) to lift up and breathe out the needs of all the ministries we clearly hear about.

Participating in the blessing of giving and the blessing of facilitating the giving is often as enjoyable as receiving the blessing.

Our God is Huge! And He created us out of nothing. I don't suppose a little coinage (and etc.) would be difficult for Him. :)

Виктор Костов said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Виктор Костов said...

Agree with you 100%. The economy of the world is not the economy of God's kingdom. It's quite uncomfortable to live it out, however.