06 August, 2021

FAITH FRIDAY :: Preparing for Christian survival.

 I was just sending a reply to AFA about government legislation & LGBT issues...asking what the Christian Community really needs to focus on as Prophecy becomes reality.  It is always on my mind.  

How hard do we fight?  

Where do we put our tithing dollars?  

We have many ministries, including churches and global organizations, and the income we use to donate is getting harder to find.  People all over the world depend on US charity to exist.  Persecution will bring more need and less resources.  How do we prepare for that reality?

I have my thoughts.

This problem is why I started Working Together (WT) many many years ago.  The poverty GOD put into my life showed me the problems that were going to become important in the future.

  • One big issue is the fact that non-profit status has become a tool of Satan to silence the church.  -  I like to point out that GOD took care of His church before non-profit status.
  • Another big issue is that the government is struggling.  It wants more tax income.  One of the main tax-free groups are non-profits.  I suppose that government rule will reach the day when only church-related groups will be forced into tax-paying status, but until then they will have to eliminate all tax-free options just to include the church.

Many understand that the tithe is the first thing to go away in a financial crisis.  We just don't seem to do what GOD requires of us unless forced somehow.  The tithe is one act of faith that shows us what GOD is capable of doing and shows Him we trust Him to keep His Word.  This action is what provides for the church, for its ministers, for its congregations, for its poor.  I vaguely recall hearing sermons that said the church already doesn't tithe.  What will happen when global crises start happening?

As jobs go away just because we are Christians, what will the church of these unemployed people do to help them?  This won't be a small benevolence check, provided once.  I see the need for permanent systems to be created to meet the growing needs of persecuted people, people who never ask until they are desperate, people who look for GOD's provision in other places, people who struggle with their faith when there isn't anyone to be found who will help them.

We all think the "Body of Christ" is our back-up plan.  We believe GOD will use them to help us.  We look to our church as a final resource.  Unfortunately, none of these prove true when the hard time comes.  

I call it a "bottleneck" problem... and the church office is the bottleneck.  The people in the pews can't access the entire church with their needs because (I think) the staff desire all the resource access for their own programs and plans.  There is no established way for the people in the pews to reach the whole church, they have to go through the staff, and there is generally no mention of those things at regular services.

I have to admit I haven't been able to go to regular services for a number of years... things may have changed, but I doubt it, especially with the lockdowns.

I also know that some Christian crowdfunding platforms have tried to meet the needs of the people of faith.  Faith Launcher, which I tried, died and was sold to another platform, which is trying to act as a church fundraiser.  I don't have any information on how successful they have been.

I know that, in my poverty, benevolence funds had limits from $5 to $25, and programs like the Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul had limits for different needs.  In times where persecution involves everyone in the church, the needs will be ongoing.  We are not ready to help each other in those kinds of times.

If everyone is poor, will we be ready to share?


My solutions were multiple but (alas!) I couldn't find the funds to get started.  Over so many years and hard times, different efforts, being too weak to ask or do at different times, being homeless and without the necessary resources to operate, looking for GOD's source, trying to find His Plan for WT.  It's a much bigger problem than anyone realizes.

I think the problem is we think GOD's approval is attached to our abundance.  I suppose that is a natural attitude.  We see the abundance of JOB, but not the faith and provision of the poor and ordinary faithful.  When someone like me asks, especially if I am a stranger, my poverty says to the church that GOD is not blessing me... I must be living in sin.  :-)

My point is that the people who have supported a church for entire lifetimes are expecting that church to help them when they have a need, someday.  I don't think the church will be able to meet those needs.

And that is why we have to change.

We have to prepare... somehow.

In creating a farm for food, we are expecting GOD to do miracles when the time comes and we depend on Him for our survival.

In creating businesses we are preparing jobs for our people.

In building up our Missions, we are creating an emergency process.

In organizing our properties for group needs, we are making places for others to live and work and remain a part of our community.  


No one knows what the future holds, but prophecy tells us the path to the Antichrist will not be good.  We can see our own nation becoming something we don't recognize as good, free, brave, or Christian anymore.

One of the things I use to compare the time it takes to prepare is the growth of a fruit tree ::  It can take ten years before it has the fruit you want to harvest to eat.

How long do we have to prepare?




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