HomeFeatureThe Prodigal Father    

Comments

The Prodigal Father — 11 Comments

  1. So it is true that we as a church have bank accounts swelling with money that is being used? I thought it is a lie when I first heard it.....it is true, we surely need to use it for the purpose it was collected, evangelism.

    (5)
    • Pascal, I can't say where or when, but I have sat on church boards where they did not want to take the evangelism money out of the evangelism fund to do evangelism because in the words of the treasure, "We have been safeguarding that money!" The treasure and some other elderly people on the board had lived through the depression in the United States during the early 1930s. They were taught to save everything in case of another depression. I understand that and sympathize with them. However, as far as the church account goes, the money in the evangelism fund was to be spent on evangelism depression or no depression. It was not earmarked for a financial disaster. It was earmarked for evangelism.

      (13)
    • Church financial accounting can become very difficult to understand and we need to be cautious about how we handle hearsay about them. William is talking about what is happening in some individual churches, so his comments should not be taken at a conference or "other" church level.

      There are a couple of issues here: At the church level, if funds have been set aside for a particular use then the church should be transparent about their use. Sometimes not everyone can agree that a particular evangelistic initiative is going to be effective. If agreement cannot be reached then the church needs to work together to ensure that the funds are used on a project where everyone is united.

      At the conference level, seeing the conference is an employing body, there are often legal requirements to hold sufficient funds to operate for a specified period of "emergency time"and to cover contingencies. Sometimes these legal requirements are misunderstood by the church constituency.

      If you as a church constituent have questions about church funds then it is worth directing your questions to the conference, asking for an explanation. I am not an accountant but I can read a financial report and can ask questions about large numbers that appear as items in the report. It is better to do this than to listen to assertions made by people who are driven by their own agendas.

      (10)
  2. Thanks for the message, spending your money wisely. Sometimes we have to spend money. It's not about money, but about making people happy. I spend money to celebrate my parents' birthday or prepare gifts for my students.

    (4)
  3. God cannot waste anything since His resources are without limit. He is no poorer when He blesses both the righteous and the evil (Matthew 5:45 KJV). Unlike us, God does not have to withhold from some in order to give to others.

    We on the other hand, hoard things for ourselves and our loved ones at the expense of others who we are told to care for (Psalm 82:3; James 1:27).

    Let us be faithful stewards with all that God has entrusted to us. Let our good works reveal that our faith is genuine.

    (6)
  4. The parable of the prodigal son is well known and application of the Fathers love for us is the purpose. Regarding church business. I have set on church boards for many years and am very familiar with differences of opinion and ways to handle the budget.

    (2)
  5. Thanks Williams, the message is timely and insightful. Now I have no more regrets for the funds I have spent on God's mission. Thanks knowing that all our funds both as individuals and as a church will be wasted if they aren't used for God's work when HE returns. Thanks and God bless u Williams. Amen

    (1)
  6. If I read the parable correctly, when the younger son asked for his inheritance early (while the father was still alive), the father divided to them his livelihood. That is, whatever was left after the younger brother had wasted his inheritance actually belonged to the older brother. "All I have is yours," the father told his older son. The father could order the fattened calf killed because he still commanded the respect of that older son, whose calf it actually was. He (the father) no longer owned anything. I guess these observations show the father to be even more generous than otherwise?

    (1)

Leave a Reply

Please read our Comment Guide Lines and note that we have a full-name policy.

Please make sure you have provided a full name in the "Name" field and a working email address we can use to contact you, if necessary. (Your email address will not be published.)

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>