Amazing Gift Day!

As part of our move to Two Services we have just had a gift day towards redeveloping our main hall. This will radically reduce the set up/set down time on Sundays, and improve the way we can host people.

We set a target of £30,000 to redevelop the main hall. This includes new PA / lighting / projection / staging equipment, painting and carpets. The trustees had already set aside £4000 towards this total.

Drum roll please...

Gifts on the day were £28,625.80

We had agreed to give 10% of what was given on the day to Newfrontiers for Church Planting and Social Action around the world. This came to £2,862.58, and will be given to the offering at the Brighton Conference.

We are able to claim Gift Aid back on gifts which totals £7,189.49

When we add the money already set aside at £4,000.00

We are left with an amazing total of £36,952.71, which continues to grow as more gifts come in, and we have been able to give away nearly £3,000 to bless others.

I am absolutely overwhelmed by the response within the Church.

As a nation we are in the middle of a difficult time financially and just twelve months ago we had another massive gift day which raised over £70,000 to pay off the mortgage on our building.

Scanning back at our sermons, and we have only preached directly on the theme of money or God's provision five times since October 2007, and of those only one was about giving to the Church while the others were following the books of the bible we were covering, except for a one off about the financial crisis which was a response to the big news at the time.

8th June 2008 - Martin Charlesworth - Our Resources
July 20th 2008 - David Matthias - Feeding the 5000
19th October 2008 - Martin Charlesworth - The financial crisis
2009 May 3rd - David Matthias - Giving to the Needy
2009 May 31st- Phil Whittall - Treasures in Heaven

That encourages me, because we do not teach prosperity we teach simplicity. We don't force tithing we teach generosity. We don't bang on about money all the time, in fact, we rarely mention it except when scripture does. God continues to bless us as a Church with financial provision and a loyal community of generous givers continues to excel in the grace of giving. I think the Apostle Paul would have been pleased.

Be wise with money...

The last few weeks and months have been full of reports of people and institutions not being wise with money.

What wisdom does Scripture give us?

Well - two passages in proverbs have really spoken to me recently.

From Proverbs 3: "9 Honour the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine."

This is an often misquoted passage by those trying to sell the prosperity gospel. Yes I do mean "sell", because it is almost always accompanied by an appeal for funds. Therefore the promise of blessing is being touted as the return service for the sale. I fundamentally disagree with the way this passage can be used, so let me explain why is struck me as being useful.

This is biblical wisdom, and has so much to tell us about how to be wise with money.

1) Honour God first and foremost - that includes the pay check
2) Give to God first - that means two things. Firstly - priority of God over all else. Secondly - in order to give to God first you have to know what you have and so budgeting becomes part of the process.
3) It implies work - the crops don't arrive by accident. Wealth is the product of hard work, not a short cut cosmic blessing solution.
4) It does not imply status symbols or wasting money - it implies you will have enough of what you need, and more. This is not an excuse for excess, but rather saying you will have what you need. If you remember God He won't forget you. Then you will have enough for you and enough to share or to save. This is not ticking the box that allows you to buy a Ferrari with a clear conscience - this is what you need for now, what others need for now, or what you or others may need for the future. The blessing is for what we need, not for what we want.

Proverbs 23 says:

4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
have the wisdom to show restraint.

5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings
and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

I know many people who are wearing themselves out to get rich. I know many people who don't show restraint. It is wise to live simply and to hold things lightly, to show restraint. This is not talking about hard work to feed and house and clothe yourself and your family, this is to get rich. There is a huge difference in having our needs met, in having our needs met and overflowing, and in trying to get rich. Some of the wealthiest people I know live as those whose needs are daily met and thank God for it. Some of the poorest people I know wear themselves out to get rich.

This is the point where ambition and aspiration overcome calling and rob us of joy and peace. This is the point where status symbols and purchasing decisions move well beyond our needs and what the item does for us and into what owning the item says about us.

Verse 5 must be one of the most important verses in post credit crunch Britain. Not only is it wisdom, but it is prophetic, and it is prophetic that has proved true. The problem with giving ourselves for riches is twofold. Firstly we wear ourselves out to get them and secondly when we get them we can lose them. That is not just "You can't take it with you when you die" wisdom, but actually - that pension, that house, those investments - what happens if they go up in a puff smoke? What next? Where does our security lie? Many millions of pounds of money has flown off like an eagle into the sky.

So as I look at this wisdom and seek to take it on board I can see several themes.

Honour God - not riches
Work hard to have what you need - don't wear yourself out to get rich
We can rely on God - we can't rely on riches

God can and will bless some of us with wealth, for what we need, for what others need, for His work on earth. He comes first because it comes from Him, not because there is an outside chance we may get a bit more. What we do get is for what we need, which in this culture requires restraint. Whatever we have may not last, so we should not hold onto it too strongly.

I love the way scripture is littered with clear, wise counsel for life.

The Financial Crisis

On Sunday Morning our series on Abraham was interrupted for a one off "state of the nation" style address by Martin about the financial crisis.

It isn't very often this happens - perhaps the Tsunami was the last time.

But there does come a time when people do feel a sense of nervousness and it is important to teach into it. Cells will be discussing the implications this week and there will be an opportunity for individuals to support and encourage each other.

I believe that the Church has a huge amount to say about finances, justice, wealth and stewardship. I just wish it wasn't confused by prosperity rantings or church roof funds, which means the average man in the street just thinks the church is after your money.

Piaggio Zip 50 - God Provides!

For two years since getting married Esther has had priority with our car for her work as a support worker with social services.

That was fine when she worked just around the corner from here, although it was hard for me to lose my main transport during the day.

Then Esther's work moved to the other side of town and I was relying on lifts from people from church to get to work and then a different couple taking me home. That was so kind but it meant I lost even more flexibility for timings as well as being hassle for Esther having to trek across town every time my lift didn't work out.

So I decided to take a big step - I couldn't really justify a second car on the basis of both cost and the environment etc. That meant a scooter! A moped. A chicken chaser. You know, the ones that sound like a lawnmower on speed and represent the highest desire of a 16 year old male and no-one else in society!

Yep - that is it. I had little experience of motorbikes except 3 weeks clinging to the back of my friend Ankush on the back of his 500cc Enfield while spending time in Bangalore.

I don't need a different license as my car license is old enough to allow me to ride up to 50cc without L plates, but I did my CBT anyway for a bit of experience. The day I chose was in May, it hailed and one of my indicators didn't work. I was a bit depressed riding around on a clapped out old Honda in the hail having to make hand signals at every roundabout, but I survived.

So I decided to start to save up to purchase a scooter, and was looking for something cheap and cheerful, like a Kymco Agility or Piaggio Zip.

Then came our Church gift day towards paying off the mortgage on our premises to free up money which could then go on future staff wages. Esther challenged me one morning "I hate the way when we think about giving we always give out of what we have. I want us to do something really radical."

That was a spiritual "right hook" that took a few days to digest fully. Then it dawned on me, a seed of faith was planted.

"Babe, you know you said you didn't want to just do something ordinary for this gift day but wanted to do something radical? Well - I will cut a deal with you. I will give the money we have saved for my scooter, if you give the money we have saved for our holiday"

The look on Esther's face is difficult to describe, it was as though her spirit leapt inside her and a massive smile broke out. "Would you be willing to do that? Yes - that is exactly what I wanted. Something that actually matters."

So that is what we did - the week before the gift day I emptied our savings account, kissed goodbye to my scooter and gave it to the Church.

Two weeks later and the Gift Day total was announced - £87,320 was given on the day, of which 10% was given to the newfrontiers offering this year, so less 8,732. But then we could reclaim Gift Aid, and further money came in beyond the day itself, with the total figure now standing at £119,586, less the offering money leaving £110,852 towards our total target of £94,000.

God is so good!

What is more, Esther & I felt a very real sense of being part of that provision. We had not given that much money at all really, but we had given up something we both wanted. No-one knew we had done this. I don't share it now for any reason other than what happened next.

I heard the total for the gift day one morning. That afternoon a Christian friend said to me "Dave, we know you have being saving up for a scooter, and we want to give you X amount of money towards buying one." The amount? Precisely what we had given to the gift day - nearly double what I had given up as savings towards my scooter.

The provision was God's and was there all along. But how much more it meant knowing we had entered into the process with Him cheerfully!

In our local newspaper a second hand Zip came up with just 1500 miles on the clock and one older, careful previous owner.

So on Monday I picked up my scooter, a Piaggio Zip 50, and am now zipping around the streets of Shrewsbury knowing everytime I see that bike, Jehovah Jireh, God provides. It is not just a cheap and cheerful mode of transport anymore - it is a sign of God's goodness to me.


Ah you say - but what about the holiday? Well some friends offered us a week in a cottage in Worcestershire. It had been booked up all summer but was free the week we were booked to go on holiday. God had it all covered, we just had to step into His purposes to find it.

Piper on "prosperity"

Just in case I didn't clarify my thinking enough in this post: "Prosperity Gospel"

I thought I would share this video of a clip of a John Piper sermon.



In 1707 a non conformist from Southampton in his early thirties expressed something of his heart to God. Well, we have just broken 300 years later, three centuries have come and gone, and I still don't think he could have penned truer words. He did not write it in relation to prosperity teaching, but my goodness he could have done.

I will leave the rest to Isaac Watts...

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

10 reasons I hate prosperity teaching...

Yes "Hate" is a strong word.

to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest:

Yep - that covers it!

1) HEAVEN OR EARTH?
It focuses on earthly treasure - not treasure in heaven. (We have been warned about that)

2) GENEROSITY
It makes the goal of generosity the return we get - not selfless compassion and love.

3) POSSESSIONS
It focuses on "outward things" like possessions, not fruits of the spirit, like grace, love, humility.

4) STEWARDSHIP
It makes our "stewardship" about our "accumulation", not our "distribution". Thus it replaces generosity with greed. It makes "ownership" and "receiving" the prize - not sharing, that does not sound like Acts 2.

5) FAITH
It implies those with more "faith" get more "wealth". It therefore ignores:
- economic factors (such as industry declines etc)
- educational background & the opportunities provided
- family background & the expectations / opportunities given
- choice of career (Teacher vs Investment Banker)

AND it implies or accuses those with LESS that they somehow LACK faith that would have redeemed a blessing from the great cosmic bank account.

6) CONTENTMENT
It makes us dissatisfied. God's provision does bring some level of contentment and joy for the believer and leads us to worship Him. But the idea that more stuff = more blessing leaves us never satisfied. It is the spirit of consumerism marketed in a christian sweet wrapper. I need to give more, to receive more, to have more, to give more, to receive more, to have more, to give more is a symbian circle of greed that chokes faith. Suddenly "more" is better, and once "more" is master you are never satisfied.

7) JESUS & THE APOSTLES
Mark Driscoll said... "How can any teaching say "If only you have more faith then you won't be like Jesus""

Add in any of the disciples to that quote. Do we suggest that the apostle Paul lacked faith. Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 and then tell me faith = blessing = provision.

8) SELF RELIANCE
If YOU give and if YOU have more faith then God will bless YOU. Nope - our Father in heaven gives good gifts to his children and provides for our needs. Our needs are internal and external, spiritual, emotional and practical, and the answer is in God not us.

It is from Him, it is for His purposes, it belongs to Him, and with Him we can use it to honour and bring glory to Him.

9) EXTERNAL FACTORS
It ignores the following (a small example):

- international markets and trading (where we are told to seek justice for the poor)
- seasonal changes like drought (where we have an example to help the poor)
- wars, conflicts, the displacement of people (where we have an example to help those fleeing hardship, war or slavery)

This makes it an easy option for wealthy, educated "first world" Christians wanting success in their consumer culture. But it is a gospel of death to other believers around the world, who just happen to be our brothers and sisters in Christ, who we have a responsibility to help - both in terms of their humanity, and their place in God's kingdom.

In short, if you believe "faith = financial blessing" then go to a starving village in Ethiopia and tell the local pastor that.

10) HYPOCRISY
It means we talk about generosity and helping the poor, even though we already have more than we need, and give less than we can, and are dissatisfied! We are dissatisfied even though we have more than we need, as we want even more than we need, even though with more we will still give even less than we are able to, in order to sustain a lifestyle beyond what we need, which we remain dissatisfied with, while the poor we wanted to help stay poor.

We then wonder why those outside the Church think we are hypocrites...


For balance, I do believe that,

a) God blesses people as he chooses and some times with overwhelming wealth and power - Abraham, Job, Solomon etc. It is not wrong to be rich, to do a well paid job.

b) We do need to work hard to seek a return, especially if we have responsibility to provide for people and we should invest wisely to seek a return

c) God does bless us with nice things and let's us have nice things. It is from Him, it is for His purposes, it belongs to Him, and with Him we can use it to honour and bring glory to Him.

There is no shame in being very very rich, and there is no shame in being very very poor, and we get both cases within the body of Christ and both have enough when we share.

So while I love the provision of God and believe that wealth is a wonderful blessing from God I believe that the idea that guaranteed financial prosperity is part of our inheritance in the gospel is a lie and I hate it.

What we need is a balanced view.