Back on September 23rd I had a post titled Get A Guaranteed Return On Your Vegas Investment. That post was about Verve, a new church starting soon in Las Vegas. Well, Shepherd of the Hills church in Porter Ranch, CA has committed to matching any donations made to the Verve Venture Capitalist Campaign in December. So, if you are looking for a place to make an end of year tax deductible donation, click on the image above and become a Verve Venture Capitalist.
"For me, it still gives me the shivers thinking of that night. It was great."
"In church," Fuhrer said, "people had learned to turn fear into courage, to overcome the fear and to hope, to have strength. They came to church and then started walking, and since they did not do anything violent, the police were not allowed to take action.
"(East German officials) said, 'We were ready for anything, except for candles and prayer.'"
Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount were Fuhrer's primary motivations, but he also drew inspiration from German pastor and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer as well as Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fuhrer said King "prepared and executed this idea of nonviolence, peaceful resistance, in a wonderful way. Then it became our turn to apply the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount here in Leipzig."
A few years back I became aware of a Pastor named Vince Antonucci. I follow his blog, I have read (and highly recommend) his book and I am eagerly awaiting his next book.
Vince's latest venture is to start a new church in Las Vegas. This church is not targeting the tourists, and it is not targeting your 'normal church attenders'. This church is targeting those people that work on the Vegas Strip. That includes dealers, hotel employees, dancers and everyone else that earns their income by entertaining the tourists.
As you can imagine, trying to meet the needs of this segment of the population requires a VERY different kind of church. They need to offer services at non-traditional times, to offer support groups that meet around the clock and to have a place people can identify. Because of this, they need to be able to start their new church in a building rather than a school or other space only available on the weekends.
They have found a space and have the budget to rent it, but they need help with the renovations. Specifically, they are looking to raise $50,000, and that is where you and I come in. They are not looking for someone to donate the entire amount (although I am sure they would take it). Instead, they are looking for 500 people that would be able to donate $100. Click on the image above to learn more and to donate to Verve
If you have read this blog much then you know that Mary and I are involved with Crown Financial Ministries. Crown is a 10 week small group Bible study that teaches Biblical financial principals. One of the 10 weeks covers the subject of giving.
Today Vince Antonucci posted a blog entry about giving that I think is worth reading. In this post he offers an observation that I have missed over the 10+ years of leading Crown.
"we're challenged to excel at giving. Not just to give, or even give generously, but to excel at giving generously, to be great at it."
He goes on to say that
"And the scary part, for those of us who don't excel at giving, is that we're taught that this is the test of whether our love for God and others is sincere"
Now, I firmly believe that you should start by giving generously to your local church, but you should not stop there. If you have a problem with giving to 'religion' then you should start giving generously to something or someone in need (and you should work to find a church that you can give generously to).
Does your bank statement show that you excel at giving (1 Timothy 6:18-19)?
"Crown Financial Ministries®, founded in 1976, is an interdenominational ministry dedicated to equipping people around the world to learn, apply, and teach biblical financial principles…and help ignite True Financial Freedom around the globe."
Back on September 23rd I had a post titled Get A Guaranteed Return On Your Vegas Investment. That post was about Verve, a new church starting soon in Las Vegas. Well, Shepherd of the Hills church in Porter Ranch, CA has committed to matching any donations made to the Verve Venture Capitalist Campaign in December. So, if you are looking for a place to make an end of year tax deductible donation, click on the image above and become a Verve Venture Capitalist.
