Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

There it is, I said it. I think this is the first i’ve ever heard myself go straight out and say it. Stop tithing, and Get out of debt. I don’t want you to give another dime until all of your unsecured credit is paid off. I’m not talking about your house, or your car, or your school loans. I’m talking about all the store and credit card debt. Get out of Debt!

“No one can serve two masters”. Although that statement in context of scripture was not referring to debt, i believe it is applicable as a stewardship principle. It’s hard to serve God with your money while you are still a slave to debt. It’s also hard to serve God with your money while you are a slave to possessions as well. I know there are some legitimate people who are not slaves to possessions, but have some debt lingering over them. In those cases the simple answer is get out of debt and then your can give God your money.

Do not bow to the pressure of the tithing threats. God does not judge a person by what they’ve given; He judges them by what they’ve kept. You need to be a wise steward, and part of that is making the decision to get out of debt, and then give to God. Actually, here’s a thought that just ran through my head. Who said that paying your bills and striving to get out of debt is not giving to God. The misconception is that paying your bills or striving to be debt free is not a spiritual way of giving. Are you somehow dishonoring God if you pay off your debts? Why would God be more honored if you paid the parishioner, but was late on your bills? Where is the honor in that?

God judges us based on our stewardship. I’ve stated this so many times as an example, but it is so relevent: The servant who gave 100% back to the master when he returned, was the one considered a bad steward. A good analogous word for “steward” is “investor”.

At the end, the truth is we will be judged by our investments. Whether we are in debt or not, If we’ve invested in the worldly things, then God will burn up our works like wood, hay, and stubble. If you are struggling financially, and cannot get out of debt no matter what you’ve done, then stop giving it away and start investing in the plan to get out of debt. If you have trouble with debt because of self control, then get some accountability, get some instructions, follow a plan to stop spending; and start investing in a debt-free life. Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial offer good programs to help you get out of debt. Don’t feel guilty about putting your money towards debt instead of in the offering plate. God will honor your decision for being a wise, investing steward.

Remember, God’s blessings are reaped naturally by a cause and effect more then they are reaped miraculously, such as money falling from the sky. You will reap what you sow. So if you sow a debt-free life, you will reap the rewards that come from it. The natural reward of a debt free life is not money falling from the sky. Although i wouldn’t pass that up.

There are only two paths you can take towards Godly stewardship. One leads to debt as your master, and the other path leads to financial freedom as your master. Which path are you going to choose?

So everyone in Church has more money than you huh? Well, there’s only one way to get more for yourself. Convince others to give it to you. Here are 11 tricks you can use to convince God’s sheep to give you their money.

1. Be a Good Salesman
There is one thing for certain, you need to be a good salesman/woman. If you do not sound sincere about persuading your victims into giving, then people will not give as much. The fight for money is a war that you must win! Pick up a sales technique book. There are many tips and tricks that will help you hone your scandalous techniques.

2. Show Off Your Own Bling
The fact is, people want to see the truth in order to believe the truth. They don’t want to believe that giving makes you rich. They want to see it. So take this time to show off your bling. Perhaps you should wear diamond cufflets(if you don’t have any you can wear CZ’s). Or perhaps you can wear Armani suits and drive a Bentley. Perhaps you can fly a private jet. . . just make sure it’s in the Church’s name. Whatever it is, just make their eyes razzle and dazzle.

3. Pay for Actors to Give and Write Testimonies
People want to see examples of ordinary people who have a testimony of extraordinary things. Your audience will want to know that any Joe Schmoe can be blessed by giving. Just write some letters and come up with a good story. Start out by saying, “this letter is from Suzie Q. in Phoenix Arizona”. After all, nobody knows who Suzie Q is from Phoenix Arizona. People will want to see how another person in the same financial situation that they are in can afford to give so much. Make sure you praise yourself in this letter, because people will also want to see how joyful and cheerful these people are as well. The goal is to get your victims to want to be just like Suzie Q. from Phoenix Arizona.

4. Start Crying
Emotions play a large part in convincing people to give. People need a little more than logical reasoning to motivate them. This is where your acting skills come into play. When you are swindling money from people, you need to find your inner self. Think of something that would help you cry. Maybe the joy of being so rich will overwhelm you and bring tears to your eyes. Maybe the thought of not affording a new Rolex will bring tears to your eyes. Everyone has different ways that make them cry. I’ve even seen someone wipe onion juice on their mustache to help them cry. Whatever it is for you, you should do it.

5. Feed People’s Greed by Promising a 10 Fold Return.
Ah, yes. Money is the universal language. It breaks down all barriers. Just flash something gold or green in somebody’s face and you could turn a frown upside down without saying a word. In this case you want to turn your frown upside down, so you need to convince people that giving to you really is a benefit for themselves. Learning how to tithe is like playing the lottery, but in God’s lottery, everyone is the winner. This is one of the best ways to convince others to give because they not only are convinced they will see more in return; they are also cheerful.

6. Have Poses of You Handing Out Food to Starving Kids with Bloated Bellies
People want to know that you have a heart, so we are going to have to do some Public Relations work here. You are going to have to take 1 week every year and get your hands dirty. I know it’s not fun, but it ensures that your pocket stays full. Make sure you keep a smile on your face because the cameras are rolling. Just think about all the money you can ask for just because you help starving children with bloated bellies and flies all around them. A wise old wolf once said, “If you touch people’s hearts, you will also touch their pocket books.”

7. Show a Slideshow of an Evangelism Rally in a 3rd World Country
As long as your victims know that people are getting saved because of your efforts then they will continue to give. This swindling technique is also one of the most effective. Each soul that you save (well actually, they are just pictures of some random person praying to God), is considered priceless. Who can put a price on someone’s soul? People will dig the deepest in their pocket just to have souls saved. Some might even empty their lifetime savings accounts. For every picture that you show of someone praying to God or lifting up their hands, consider it an extra thousand in your pocket. Take pictures of people from all different races, because whether it is black, white, yellow, brown, or red, all ethnicities want their nationality to be saved. Also multi-cultural pictures make you look like a well diversified and multi cultural ministry.

8. Install a coffee shop or some TV’s to show their money is being put to good use.
There may be times when people start questioning what you are doing with all this money. At this time you need to do something to pacify them. Install a coffee shop, or some flat panel TV’s. This will keep them happy and is an integral part of keeping the cash-flow steady. I know, it may cost money, but consider it an investment. You thought that you convinced them earlier about giving their money, but their cognitive dissonance has settled in. Make sure you spoil them. The things that you buy for them will keep them appeased and they will feel rewarded for giving.

9. Hire an Architect to Build a 3D Models of Potential Building Projects for the Church
Getting money based on people’s dreams and your promises is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it still works today. People want something to look forward to, so make sure your building plans for the future are as extravagant and lavish. All you have to do is convince them that this will happen if they sacrifice enough money. Your victims will ooooh, and ahhhh at the magnificent structure while you ooooh and ahhhh at the money coming in.

10. Have a Time Limit and Make it Urgent
Whenever you are beginning a giving campaign make sure you set a time limit, and make it urgent. The salesman always wants you to buy now. They don’t need time to think about the decision, they just need to pick up that phone or offering envelope and commit their money now. The longer they wait, the longer God will wait to bless them.

11. Just Scare Them Into Giving
You might want to save this one as a last resort. There are many Biblical examples that you can bring into this. First, you have Annanias and Saphira being killed for lying about giving. Then there is Malachi 3:8, where you are cursed for robbing God. Scaring people into giving is a bit cynical, but is a necessary evil in order to convince people to pay for your new mansion. You can even use personal testimonies that show how people were cursed for not giving their tithe.

A person reported in the news sacrifices and gives up $3 million in an offering plate, and on the other hand the church gets excited about hoarding it. Here’s a news story of a person anonymously putting a lottery ticket in the offering plate of a (here we go now. . .) strugggglllliing church. Ooooh! doesn’t it just make you shiver! Man, this church was busting out the seams and now they can afford a new building. yippeee! God is glorified. When our building cup runneth over, God just goes all out and gets us a new building cup.

If your cup is full? Duh! Just get a bigger cup. We don’t need to plant more churches. Duh! Just make ours bigger. That’s the problem with us Christians. When our church is packed out, we think the size of the building is to blame. When a cup overflows, the size of the cup is not at fault. The fault is those who don’t pour it out when its full.

Our first reaction when we are full is to get a bigger cup instead of pouring ourselves out into a completely different cup that’s empty. There are desperate and empty parts of town that need a church, but we don’t want to pour ourselves into that area, because we just want to get bigger. Our first reaction is “let’s just expand ourselves “IN” here”, instead of “let’s just spread OUT there”.

Before you get onto me about the big deal of getting a new building, let me explain something to you. What was all the hype about in that news video? The truth is that the excitement was generated from what they were going to “build” with that money. You didn’t hear anything about needs being met, or bodies or souls being fed with that money. Because. . . well. . . duh. . . that would just be boring. Who would just give away that money and not use it on themselves? Giving away money is boring. Using it on ourselves, now, that’s exciting! Apparently, the person who gave the lottery ticket away in the first place felt that it was important to distribute the wealth. Unfortunately the Church doesn’t think it’s important to distribute. The church is truly where the buck stops.

The deception our church leadership has is that we take this money in the offering plate every Sunday and invest it into facilities and programs and call it a distribution. We don’t recognize that we are just spending it on ourselves. For instance, if me and my wife saved money for some long term goals, and rarely and barely gave to others; we would be considered selfish. But if a church does this very same thing under the cloak of “God’s will”, then they do not fall under the same accusation. But why not?

God’s Word does not provide instructions on how to fund an organization. It does however show us how to help those in need. We are the only thing left on this earth that resembles Jesus Christ. Jesus left us a legacy from his works and actions. He didn’t leave us a building, or a worship center, or a youth center. On the other hand, we’ve done a good job of leaving all the things that Jesus didn’t leave. Unfortunately, we have not done a good job of leaving Jesus. Where does the buck stop with you?

I like to go in forums and strike up debates with people. It drives me to study and prove the truth behind what i am saying. I am my biggest critic. I guess i try to stay open minded about myself. I am not a respecter of persons and that means myself included. There are times when i’m on forums debating and arguing when people take what i say and either twist it, or take the polar extreme of what i’m saying and argue with me on their own conclusions.

For instance, I wrote on a forum that cheerfulness is required in giving to God, so in turn someone accuses me of saying that we shouldn’t give unless we feel like it. First, i never stated that, but nonetheless, i try to reason with them. In a nutshell my conclusion was that cheerfulness is not required “in order to” give, it is required “of” giving. There is a difference in the comparing statement above. You don’t sit around and wait for your heart to get right in order to obey God’s orders.

So anyways, i get accused further for obeying God based on emotion. Then they want me to provide bible verses that show how emotions is a requirement to obtain or maintain salvation. . . the list goes on and on. Quite frankly, it gets very tiring and annoying. I don’t know why i try to reason with people, or why i even go back to that forum. Maybe one of you reading this is a psychologist and can explain why a dog returns to its vomit, and why i go back to this emotionally draining forum.

So yeah, as i said, i am pretty open minded, but it just is crazy to me that people aren’t the same way. i mean for crying out loud. People will argue with you over one stinking little word that you said, instead of sticking to the subject. I have conceded to many things on the opposing side of the tithing debate, but not once can i remember in my 400 something posts, that the opposing side conceded to me.

If i state that the tithe was part of the fulfilled law and is not required for New Covenant Christians, i get painted as a heretic that is trying to throw out the bible. It’s crazy. I feel like i’m the one that has to defend my position, but in reality, i’m the one that is armed with so many accusations and questions that they should be the ones on defense.

So Anyways, my question to you is do you think cheerfulness is required of giving? I don’t want to know if you should be happy in order to give. I want to know if being cheerful is a command just as much as giving is a command? I feel like this answer is obvious, but i want to hear your opinion. I want to make sure i am not losing my mind on this issue. The next post i will state my defense and reasoning on this issue.

I continue and conclude the series on the Invisible Church with Homelessness. Before i go on, I want to say that I have read some things from people that have taken my posts out of context. My intentions were to reveal the neglection of our duties in the Church. I do not want to negate preaching, teaching, or witnessing as a means of evangelism. I simply am stating that words without benevolence is simply faith without actions. Taking care of those in need is part of our mission. The basic needs of every human being are health care, hunger, and shelter. We simply need to create ways to provide these basic needs of God’s creation.

We are stewards of God, but stewardship does not begin and end with possessions. Our priority in stewardship is investing in people. I would go as far as saying that stewardship has very little to do with money and possessions and has a lot to do with people. Sure, we want to keep and maintain our church facilities; but to neglect the starving souls around you in order to maintain the facility or organization is still poor stewardship.

Homelessness is just one aspect of many social responsibilities of the Church. Yes, there are spiritual needs, that are more important. I know that! But if we are not good at meeting the physical needs, we’re not going to be good at meeting the spiritual needs. A good father feeds his children on top of spiritually nourishing them.

If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?”

I know taking care of your children is just common sense, but what about taking care of children who are not yours? What about providing shelter for God’s children?

Psalms 61:4
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.

Psalms 143:9
Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter.

Isaiah 4:6
And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.

Isaiah 16:4
Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler.

Joel 3:16
But the Lord will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel.

I am not saying that you should invite a stranger into your house with your family there. I’m sure many have done that and have been safe, but there are plenty of programs out there that can do more to help with homelessness than you can. Many city shelters provide recovery programs that will help adults get back on their feet on top of providing shelter and food.

Here’s some basic ways that you can help with homelessness

1. Volunteer at your shelter downtown.
2. Buy extra food at the grocery store and drop it off at a shelter on your way back.
3. provide supplies or money to the shelter organization.
4. Start a ministry in your fellowship that helps out at the homeless shelter.
5. Go through your old clothes and donate them.
6. Donate your beat up car.

People in a homeless shelter are there for many reasons. Some from addictions. Some from mental or physical disabilities. Some from depression. Some from financial devastation. Some from divorce. When you serve at a shelter, make sure you interact with these people and find out their needs. Pray for their weaknesses, and encourage them. Many of them don’t have family. Many don’t have friends. All you have to do is be their Jesus, and love them.

The three words: ministration, ministry, and administration, all have the same greek root word - “diakonia”. When you look up the definition, the first description you read is “service, ministering, esp. of those who execute the commands of others“. the ability to control, manage, or run things is not being a minister. The Greek term strictly says those who EXECUTE the commands that others have given them. We have many that act as bosses, or managers, but very little who act as ministers or servants. Make sure you are the one executing the commands of God by serving.

If you and 50 people in your church were asked to worship and fellowship in the middle of a barren wasteland for 40 days, what basic needs would you ask for? It’s not an impractical question. It doesn’t matter if you are in a grocery store, you still have to pay for food. Without money, you might as well be in a wasteland, because that food is just as much out of reach as it is to someone in a dessert.

In the United States, the Health care system is destitute, the Social Security system is going bankrupt, the housing is devastated, and all people can do is cry at the government. Taking care of our families and taking care of the stranger is the Church’s responsibility, but we take up our pitch forks and torches and march on capital hill with all the other complainers. What’s wrong with us? The Church has really gone down the tube when people stop asking us for benevolence, and continue to beg Uncle Sam.

In the last post we had spoken about providing and helping people pay for health care. In continuation of the “Invisible Church” series, let’s talk about “hunger”. When it comes to world hunger the Church takes the verse, “man shall not live by bread alone” in a literal sense. People ask for food around the world and we just hand them a tract, or we send them a missionary. We say, “here, this is even better for you”. In a sense, when they ask for food, you might as well just give them a stone:

“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?”

There’s nothing wrong with sending missionaries, or a shipping container full of bibles- that’s part of Jesus’ commission to us. The other part of the commission dealt with taking care of the poor, and feeding the hungry and the stranger. Send food also.

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’”

We have much to be thankful for in our country. We need to share what we’ve been given. We are stewards, but we are acting like a bunch of glutenous wasters. We put so much money into things that are not needs. We have purchased so much “Jesus junk”. I’m talking about all the little knick knacks that you can purchase at the Christian store. Everything from TestaMints to t-shirts. Sure, that stuff is creative, it’s thoughtful, and it might even have its rightful place in our Christian sub culture; but for the most part it is just junk.

As we’ve stated before, God doesn’t need anymore advertisements; he needs ambassadors. He doesn’t need posters, He needs people that advertise his work through actions. Helping those who are hungry is one of the ways of doing that.

Everyone knows that the red cross, and heifer international brings aid to desolate people, but do the poor know that the Church does as well? The Church wasn’t meant to be a hospital just for Spiritual care; it was meant to be a hospital for physical, emotional, and mental care as well. I don’t know why we have handed that torch over? I don’t know if we think it’s too expensive, or too demanding? In essence, we didn’t hand over an opportunity to feed people, we’ve handed over an opportunity to witness. God gave us the call to take care of those in need so that they can see God in their needs through us. Zechariah 8:13 says:

“And it shall come to pass
That just as you were a curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing.”

The opportunity to be a blessing to others is not an opportunity to show off ourselves, God saved us and blessed us so that our actions would glorify His name. I know people need to find a place that has good doctrine and fellowship, but i’m kind of intrigued at the idea that churches put their address on the back as if that’s the road to salvation. I know, i know, it’s there for a good purpose, but it’s just funny to me how it shows in a slight way that a purpose of witnessing is to bring more people to “Our” church. It was funny to see that when i moved into our new house, i received a couple letters from churches stating, “come visit our bla bla bla church. . . we are a friendly people . . . bla bla bla.” Cold calls, mailing lists, and email marketing is what i learned to run a business in college, so that type of outreach kind of ruffles my feathers.

In closing, i wrote a poem called, “Why is God so Selfish“. It has a deeper meaning than just to say that God is selfish, so i would recommend you read it. But for now, here’s an excerpt:

“Why should I give to God’s missionary
When my own city is cold and hungry?
Why should I find God by going to church
As if God wanted me, but didn’t search?”

Love is an invisible source, but always has tangible retributions. Sure the gospel message is a huge benefit package initially of God’s love. But what if we advertised God through our own giving and our service? Of course we can’t do away with the gospel message and just rely on our good works to save others. So what if we start organizing and providing proper health care along with preaching the gospel message?

The Problem
47 million Americans are without health insurance. This means that they are not getting proper care, and that means many more in the world are doing even worse. What makes matters even worse is that people are turning to government to cover their medical needs instead of turning to the Church. The government is not an efficient resource to organize proper care for individuals. It is not even the biblical responsibility of government to perform this duty either.

God left the church in charge of the care for the sick and indigent. Outside of miraculously healing the sick, our resources should go towards providing proper health care through our money or services. People cry every day about the government not doing enough for them, when they don’t even know that it is the Church’s fault. We think that we are getting away from our responsibility, but i guarantee God does not overlook our neglection. Why should government spend time dealing with health care issues when their responsibility should be devoted to other issues?

The more responsibility you leave in the hands of Government the more it will cost you. Read the account of Israel trying to replace the provision of God with the provision of an earthly king in 1 Samuel 8:14-15

“And [the king] will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants.”

Government will cost you more than what it’s worth. Sure, the church will no longer pay directly for the health care of individuals, but our taxes will pay for it. The opportunity that we lose to be a testimony is an even greater cost. We cannot neglect the health of human beings and still call ourselves a loving body. It is hypocritical.

Jesus did send invitations out addressing sinners, but he also addressed those who were sick and weary. He said, “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest.” God allows sickness, and struggle in our lives to remind us to come back to Him. Jesus created many witness opportunities by calling the sick and weary. The Church’s negligence reminds people to go to the government, instead of God for their care.

We are so concerned with improving our entertainment programs, worship experiences, and facilities. What do you think the world sees? They see a self serving Church. Why would the unsaved want to come to a God who has representatives that serve themselves? Sure, we give to missionaries outside of our walls, but in their eyes we are still serving our own agenda. But what if they saw representatives that were more concerned with the health of others than their own?

The Solution
I can go on a rant all day about what’s wrong, but it would be more profitable to provide solutions. So here are 2 solutions to solve the health care dilemma:

1. Start a Health Care Fund

Initiate a program or start a fund in your church that pays annual health care costs to a set of individuals. All this will take a plan before this is approved by anyone. Here’s a few simple steps to follow.

• Evaluate a process to find those in need
• Assess the cost of paying for health care
• Brainstorm ideas of how you can fund this operation
• Finally, go to your pastors or elders and propose the ideas to them

It may be simpler to start this in your small group first, and work your way up, but you might as well present it to your church leaders. Some things to remember is that you might not have the funds to pay for everyone that comes and asks for help, but the important thing to remember is that they see your love in action.

2. Adopt a person in need

Even if you can’t get this ministry approved by your Church, nothing is stopping you from doing something about it. Also, nothing is stopping you from spreading this idea around. Here’s how you can do that

• Write about it in a blog
• Share about it in your small group
• Share about it with your friends
• Tell how you have been blessed through this
• Tell how the one you helped had been blessed by this
• Write a story about it in the church bulletin or website

Chances are, if the Church starts seeing others get on board with this idea or if they start seeing souls saved and hearts touched; then your democratic influence will change their minds also. Even if your idea never does get anyone on board, still do it. It’s worth eternal consequences.

No doubt the greatest needs are spiritual, but there’s no doubt that God left the care of the needy in our hands. What if the needy saw a Church, who cared and showed it through their actions? Would the invisible Church once again become visible?

Can a city on a hill be hidden?

Some recent thoughts about the availability and efficiency of the Church have prompted me to write a series titled, “The Invisible Church”. Make no mistake, I said “invisible” NOT “invincible”. This series has been prompted by my thoughts about how billions around the world are homeless, starving, or without proper health care. I would even love to write a book on this subject, because there is just so much to say.

We’ve made ourselves visible through our elaborate sanctuaries, energetic conferences, social alliances, political influence, catchy billboards, pop music groups, energetic websites, tag line t-shirts, bible verse tattoos, entertainment events, radio and TV broadcasts, Christian concert and cruises, and engraved jewelry; but our efforts have brought anything but tangible results. The above ways of “reaching out” have very little to do with actually reaching out. Advertising is not reaching out. Making sure our church sign is lite up at night is not reaching out. We have to be in the mindset that putting money towards any of these things could be considered an overhead cost, because they do almost nothing in performing the actual work of Jesus Christ.

Ok, Ok, so you get my point. I understand those things are not wrong. Well let’s look at this practically. I do not put a sign up at my house with spotlights saying, “i am a Christian”, just so everyone can know, that God is here, just in case you didn’t know. Ok, analogies are not perfect, but i want to show that actually reaching out is in contrast to advertising God. We should give them help when they need it. Give them food if we have extra. Mow their lawn if they are incapacitated. A house next door doesn’t show that there are any neighbors, just like a church building does not tangibly prove that there is a loving God. This is why you can have millions of dollars in real estate, top-notch church programs, energetic worship team, and thousands in attendance, but still fail miserably.

We have said enough about Jesus, written enough about Jesus, sang enough about Jesus, it’s about time we just be Jesus. The world doesn’t need anymore words, or pictorial reminders. They need real tangible help. The repetitiveness of Jesus name in public is not going to stop world hunger, cover the homeless, and bring back proper health care.

We pour so much money into displaying our God and our Church that we could easily pay for all the commercial spots available during the Superbowl! Are we afraid that people don’t know that we are here? Does God need a greater display than the heavens? Does He need a greater display than what nature gives us? Will our t-shirts, billboards, tattoos and jewelry make the Church tangible in any way? Will our humanistic efforts to display God make God more real to us or others?

People are over gorged with our Christian sub-culture. We are so accustomed to displaying Jesus, instead of being Jesus. Jesus laid simple principles of this in his teaching. He said,

“for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

This is the first part of a series on this blog about the invisible Church. In the next couple of posts, our stewardship methods will be on trial; and hunger, poverty, and health care will be on the witness stand. My final question to you is, “Can a city on a hill be hidden?”