Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Changes and Suddenlies



During one of our MANAGEMENT TEAM Meeting, someone suggested that MISSIONS should not anymore get 10% (or the tithe) of any local site at HLM.
The proposal was intended to gear the TITHE of all sites to the MAIN SITE of HLM.  Wow!
That was a SUDDENLY!

HUH?
- our main source of income to LAUNCH churches comes from the 10% of all SITES! Remember that without Missions, there will be no LAUNCHES!
- what will we now do?
- where will we now get the funding?
- is this a good idea?
hmmmmm ???
FAITH FAITH FAITH
IMAGINATION at WORK :-)

=========================
It would look something like this:  [note this is only a suggestion ... not yet finalized]
  • no more 10% from Sites / rather SITES Tithes to MAIN HLM.
  • 5th Sunday of the month will be MISSIONS SUNDAY, thus 15% of the sites regular givings will go to MISSIONS and a 2nd Offering all goes to MISSIONS -- 100%, since it is MISSIONS SUNDAY.
  • while -- the only one to TITHE BACK to MISSIONS will be the HLM MAIN.

We will have stronger NEW SITES as we apply the following in their TEAMS*:
  • never LAUNCH if there is no FUND built up by the LAUNCH TEAM.
  • the team must raise their resources aggressively.
  • the team must be trained to believe in God -- all the way!
  • the team must get at least 12 people / families to TITHE back to this new work.
  • the team must have a certain amount of money (declared) before they GRAND LAUNCH!
THE TEAM* -- the 5W's and Networks and Administration.

------------
RELATED ARTICLE / THOUGHTS on SUDDENLIES ...
(BORROWED)

The Suddenlies of God
One day Moses came to the mountain of God and out of nowhere “the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush”. Perhaps there are those that might have called Moses to be the deliverer of a nation in a more intelligent manner. A bush on fire in the back side of a desert? Not only that, but it was on fire but did not burn. It is written of Moses that he turned to see this great sight and “why the bush is not burnt”. When God saw that Moses turned aside, the Bible says “God called unto him out of the midst of the bush”. I don’t think he woke up that morning and had it figured out that on that day, God would talk to him and call him into a destiny that would change the course of history and do so by starting a fire in one bush, flames but no burning and then TALK to him from inside the bush!

Suddenly God appeared and in an unusual way. It was unforeseen, unexpected and without warning. This was unpremeditated on Moses part and there is no indication that he was preparing for this nor anticipating it.

When the Holy Spirit invaded the planet to begin to establish the rule and reign of the ascended King of Glory, Jesus Christ, it happened “suddenly”. “A sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind”. Those that were there were “sitting”. Not only that, “cloven tongues likes as of fire, and it sat upon each of them”. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was coming but withheld the details. The spirit of religion wants the details before the event.

This religious mindset has to control. It attempts to prepare people for the coming of God in some manner and then of course has all the controls in place to make sure it is inoffensive. In other words palatable and decent palatable and decent in the name of balance, just in case He shows up in a manner that is a bit different than expected. It is called playing God. Nobody can do God but God. Offending the Holy Spirit is not even considered. Then of course the writer of most of the New Testament, Apostle Paul in his defense before the Jews later on in his ministry had this to say; “And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, SUDDENLY(italics mine), there shone from heaven a great light round about me” Acts 22:6

He also was thrown to the ground and blinded for a few days. Who will be God’s counselors anyway?” Who is the one as it says in Ecclesiastes 11:5, that “knowest the way of the spirit”……….or the “works of God”.? One of the ways that God impacts the people of the earth is by sudden, unexpected manifestations of His power. He just shows up and decides to do things no one was prepared for.

Gentiles Receive The Holy Ghost It says in Acts 10:44; “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost FELL(italics mine) on all them which heard the word” Suddenly, during preaching, the Holy Ghost “fell”. That word means to come upon,to lie upon, to seize and to take possession of. Those with Peter were “astonished”. They were amazed but the greek is stronger than that. It means they were thrown into wonderment, out of their minds, insane at seeing this. It wasn’t just that the Gentiles received the Holy Ghost, it was the way it happened too. God decided to “pour” the Holy Spirit out then and there and in that manner.

The suddenlies of God are part of His handiwork in revealing His purposes when He decides to do it without warning and unexpectedly. While He is working in manifold ways by His Spirit to establish His presence and reality in our lives, He does reserve the right to show up when we least expect, don’t you think?