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The Christian Way of Financial Management

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt. 6:24)

“Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, they will give into your bosom. For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:38)

The reason we are in darkness and are not in the light is that there is the entanglement of money. If we can solve this problem, many other problems will be solved… The gospel has been “bottled up” like water kept in a bottle, and money is like the cork of the bottle. If money does not go away, water will not come. If you do not give away your money, you will not even be able to live a proper human life. A person has to open his eyelids before he can see. In the same way, if money does not go away, a person cannot see the Lord.

The Christian way of managing wealth is completely different from that of an unbeliever. The Christian way of financial management is the way of giving. The unbeliever’s way is the way of accumulating… What we receive depends on what we give. In other words, the Christian way of financial stewardship is to receive according to what we give. Worldly people give according to what they have received, but we receive according to what we give. Our inflow depends on our outflow. (CWWN, vol. 49, ch. 28)

Being Revived Every Morning to Be Renewed Day by Day

“Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Cor. 4:16)

In Matthew 13:43 the overcomers are likened to the sun shining forth in the kingdom of their Father. The sun rises afresh every morning. If we are to be the overcomers, the sun, we must also rise up every morning to be revived by the Lord.

The Christian life does not only have one day. We are being renewed day by day. This means that day after day we have to be revived by the Lord. Yesterday morning we may have had a revival, but this morning we need another one, and tomorrow we need another one. Every year we need three hundred sixty-five revivals to be renewed day by day. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day”)

College Campuses in LA

This week we have 15 FTTA trainees related to LA joining us to serve for one week, mostly at UCLA. We also have a few new full-timers who have joined the team. Please pray that we would all be blended and built together for the Lord’s move on our college campuses.

UCLA classes resume this week and USC next week. In the midst of so many changes in the environment, we need to pray that we could reconnect right away and face-to-face with our students. In these times of uncertainty, we need much prayer to reach even more new students! Pray also for the Lord’s wisdom and covering of everyone’s health as our students and full-timers return to campus.

Denver, Colorado

A large fire near Denver has destroyed more than 500 homes. Some saints in the church in Denver had to evacuate but none suffered loss of property nor harm; all have returned home. The church in Denver has some cases of COVID and requests our prayer for that. Also, they desire that all of this turn into an opportunity for the gospel, since many people were directly affected or shaken by the fire.

Philippines

In mid-December a typhoon swept through the Philippines and caused much destruction and damage to a number of church meeting halls and saints’ homes. Those who wish to give for recovery from this disaster can do so through the church in LA or by following instructions at http://churchinanaheim.org/donations. Designate your offering for “Philippines Typhoon Relief.”

Russia

The church in Rostov-on-Don was established in 1994. Today the church has approximately 90 saints. The city has a population over one million and 39 universities, the largest of which has about 56,000 students. The brothers in Rostov-on-Don found a suitable meeting facility for a little over 400,000 USD (with remodeling). The Russian-speaking churches have donated 200,000 USD. The final payment is due by May 1. You may give through the church in LA or LME (http://www.lordsmove.org/offerings.html). Designate your offering “Rostov Meeting Hall.”

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 2 of Material Offerings and the Lord’s Move. Next week, we begin Meeting God’s Need and Present Needs in the Lord’s Recovery.

  2. SoCal Spanish-speaking Conference: January 14 and 15 on Zoom. The three conference messages will be spoken in Spanish and translated into English. For schedule and details, see http://socalspanish.org.

  3. Free e-Booklets: Living Stream Ministry: has made their rainbow booklets available as free e-booklets to read and to share with others. They are at http://www.lsm.org/lifes-principle where there is a menu with links to six more e-booklets.

  4. Living Stream Ministry: The December digital newsletter explains the significance of crystallization-studies, a report on the Recovery Version translation into seven languages in India, and helpful videos on getting the most out of the Recovery Version App.

  5. Lord’s Move to Europe: Please visit http://amanatrust.org.uk/page/reports for video and written updates on Europe prepared for the recent December Semiannual Training.

  6. Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.