Thursday I got good news. The Kentucky-Tennessee Conference, local sponsor for the NET meetings in Nashville, approved going out on a faith limb. This took courage, much courage and faith. And that's what the Christian life is all about.
You see, from the beginning, we had two budgets: the national budget of almost $700 thousand and the local budget of just over $300,000. The NAD has largely underwritten the national budget, although I'm responsible for raising about $160,000 of that money. A chunk of that has been raised, for which I thank God profusely. But the local budget called for fund raising about $45,000, and we had zilch to date (I've not been concentrating on that).
Now, before I go on, a word on fund raising. I'm not a fund raiser. I asked for help from the professional people at headquarters but it became obvious they were not used to raising money for evangelism. They deal with education, health, and other objectives. Most of the times, NET meetings are run by media ministries which survive on fund raising and have a network of people they depend on. Obviously, that is not our case, as my team and I teach at the Seminary, instead. The fact we have over $130,000 raised to date is a true and amazing miracle! This money has come from only a half a dozen friends and family members. I simply don't know more people I could ask.
Here is an example of God's intervention about this. One evening, after a weekend in Nashville, I was driving to another town, when the Lord--it was Him, unequivocally--brought forcefully to my mind to call somebody right away. I had seen that person three months before, and expressed our need for financial help, but nothing had come of it. It was mostly a case, I believe, of "out of sight, out of mind." Well, that crisp night, the thought entered my mind with amazing clarity: "Call such and so now." I called.
To my surprise, he answered the phone, and after talking for a few minutes, we agreed to see each other the next morning. Due to our schedules, our window of opportunity was open for only 15 minutes: a series of things would have to work just right for us to meet. Amazingly, all worked flawlessly, and we had our 15 minutes together, after which he promised me, clearly moved by God, to help me with a substantial contribution.
Back to KY-TN. I had not even began to raise funds for our local needs, knowing we'd have time as we got closer to the meetings, and during them as well. Now, keep in mind that large amounts are also budgeted to come in through offerings and material sales--a much larger amount that most would expect. So, it wasn't only donor money that was expected, and needed, to come in.
The conference treasury, understandably, got a bit nervous because that money not yet raised would be the only way to pay for some planned advertising. And we had no guarantees offerings and sales would reach our hopes and expectations. Should we, then, scratch those advertising plans now? They are already making a larger-than-ever-before financial commitment to evangelism this year. This already shows their conviction and courage. But in addition to mass mailing handbills throughout the metro area, we were considering the use of a blimp--yes, a blimp, like the Goodyear blimp--to float around the major Nashville freeways several hours each morning for two weeks! Tens of thousands of motorists each hour would see our website on the sides of the blimp that would lead them to check Prophecies Decoded, and perhaps register to attend. We'd even expect some press attention to it.
After having a candid discussion with all the officers, and ending with prayer as I boarded a plane to the Pennsylvania camp meeting last Tuesday, the decision was made to go for it, and trust the Lord would provide in His time. That's the news I received from the ministerial man on Thursday. This was a very difficult and courageous decision by the conference, and in my heart, I'm convinced God will repay their trust in Him with great dividends.
Now, we'll use mass mailing, the blimp, and two large billboards along a key interstate highway. Please pray that those efforts may bring many interested guests to the doors of our churches. I'm convinced once there, the Spirit of the living God would move powerfully in many of those hearts. And pray, of course, that we're able to raise the necessary funds to pay for it all.
So, the lesson today is that we must live by faith and not by sight. This is what pleases Jesus. His heart is warmed when we put Him to the test. Is it His will for us to do everything possible to share the Three Angels Messages with the world? Of course it is. Then, we must act accordingly. I never forget the many miracles our Lord made when on this earth, which included the caveat: "let it be done according to your faith."
You see, from the beginning, we had two budgets: the national budget of almost $700 thousand and the local budget of just over $300,000. The NAD has largely underwritten the national budget, although I'm responsible for raising about $160,000 of that money. A chunk of that has been raised, for which I thank God profusely. But the local budget called for fund raising about $45,000, and we had zilch to date (I've not been concentrating on that).
Now, before I go on, a word on fund raising. I'm not a fund raiser. I asked for help from the professional people at headquarters but it became obvious they were not used to raising money for evangelism. They deal with education, health, and other objectives. Most of the times, NET meetings are run by media ministries which survive on fund raising and have a network of people they depend on. Obviously, that is not our case, as my team and I teach at the Seminary, instead. The fact we have over $130,000 raised to date is a true and amazing miracle! This money has come from only a half a dozen friends and family members. I simply don't know more people I could ask.
Here is an example of God's intervention about this. One evening, after a weekend in Nashville, I was driving to another town, when the Lord--it was Him, unequivocally--brought forcefully to my mind to call somebody right away. I had seen that person three months before, and expressed our need for financial help, but nothing had come of it. It was mostly a case, I believe, of "out of sight, out of mind." Well, that crisp night, the thought entered my mind with amazing clarity: "Call such and so now." I called.
To my surprise, he answered the phone, and after talking for a few minutes, we agreed to see each other the next morning. Due to our schedules, our window of opportunity was open for only 15 minutes: a series of things would have to work just right for us to meet. Amazingly, all worked flawlessly, and we had our 15 minutes together, after which he promised me, clearly moved by God, to help me with a substantial contribution.
Back to KY-TN. I had not even began to raise funds for our local needs, knowing we'd have time as we got closer to the meetings, and during them as well. Now, keep in mind that large amounts are also budgeted to come in through offerings and material sales--a much larger amount that most would expect. So, it wasn't only donor money that was expected, and needed, to come in.
The conference treasury, understandably, got a bit nervous because that money not yet raised would be the only way to pay for some planned advertising. And we had no guarantees offerings and sales would reach our hopes and expectations. Should we, then, scratch those advertising plans now? They are already making a larger-than-ever-before financial commitment to evangelism this year. This already shows their conviction and courage. But in addition to mass mailing handbills throughout the metro area, we were considering the use of a blimp--yes, a blimp, like the Goodyear blimp--to float around the major Nashville freeways several hours each morning for two weeks! Tens of thousands of motorists each hour would see our website on the sides of the blimp that would lead them to check Prophecies Decoded, and perhaps register to attend. We'd even expect some press attention to it.
After having a candid discussion with all the officers, and ending with prayer as I boarded a plane to the Pennsylvania camp meeting last Tuesday, the decision was made to go for it, and trust the Lord would provide in His time. That's the news I received from the ministerial man on Thursday. This was a very difficult and courageous decision by the conference, and in my heart, I'm convinced God will repay their trust in Him with great dividends.
Now, we'll use mass mailing, the blimp, and two large billboards along a key interstate highway. Please pray that those efforts may bring many interested guests to the doors of our churches. I'm convinced once there, the Spirit of the living God would move powerfully in many of those hearts. And pray, of course, that we're able to raise the necessary funds to pay for it all.
So, the lesson today is that we must live by faith and not by sight. This is what pleases Jesus. His heart is warmed when we put Him to the test. Is it His will for us to do everything possible to share the Three Angels Messages with the world? Of course it is. Then, we must act accordingly. I never forget the many miracles our Lord made when on this earth, which included the caveat: "let it be done according to your faith."
"And without faith is is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
Hebrews 11:6
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