Building Projects Are Worthy Of Your Support

40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life
Day 39 - Building Projects Are Worthy Of Your Support
 

"O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you."  (1 Chronicles 29:14-16)  

 

It may surprise you that as a church pastor, with a background in Architectual Drafting and who has led three building projects, that this is a contentious issue for me.  While I acknowledge the need for functional buildings to advance the mission of the Church, I feel a real conflict when I see a disproportionate amount of resources invested into buildings in the first world where the Church is in decline, while there are grossly under-resourced churches in the two-thirds world where the Church is experiencing revival.

Never Neglect God's House And Servants

40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life
Day 21 - Never Neglect God's House And Servants

"[The leaders and the people repented and said] We will not neglect the house of our God"  (Nehemiah 10:39) 

While traveling through some historic South Australian towns during my last holidays, it struck me the time, effort and money local people invested into building the church in the centre of town.  The community united together to ensure the church was built, even when resources were scarce and often at the expense of their own properties.  Imagine the impact of the local church today if the same priority was given to building the kingdom of God than is given to building our own homes.