a few intresting facts of tithing & more

I found these things to be interesting from the book I am reading The Hole in The Gospel written by Richard Stearns.
So i am posting here.

It is important to put the American Church in perspective. Simply put, it is the wealthiest community of Christians in history of Christendom, How wealthy? The total income of American church goers is $ 5.2 trillion. It would take just over 1 percent of the income of American Christians to lift the poorest one billion people in the world out of extreme poverty. Said another way, American Christians, who make up about 5 percent of the church worldwide , control about half of global Christian wealth: a lack of money is not our problem.

So as wealthiest nation of Christians in the world, how do we do on tithing our income? Here is the bad news. If we define tithing as giving 10 percent or more of our pretax income to the church or to nonprofit ministries, only about 5 percent of American households tithe.
If we look at "born again" Christians in America ( those who claim to have made a personal commitment to Christ), the number of tithers improves to 9 percent.
For "evangelical Christians," those who claim their faith has the greatest influence on their life and conduct , still only 24 percent tithe. Given our relative wealth, might the remaining 76 percent not be "robbing God" as defined- and condemned - in the book of Malachi? Listen to the words James used to address wealthy first century Christians who hoarded their money to spend on them selves.
Listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted , and months have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days... You have lived on earth in luxury and self- indulgence. You have fatted your selves in the day of slaughter. James 5: 1-5

So if we are not tithing, how much are we giving? The average giving of America church members in 2005 was just 2.28 percent of their income, about 75 percent lass than the biblical standard of 10 percent. But this is just the first part of the equation . If we look at where the money goes after it is received by the churches, we find that just about 2 percent of it goes to over-seas missions of any kind, weather evangelistic or to assist the poor.

The Bottom line is that the commitment that American Christians, the wealthiest Christians in all history, are making to the world is just 2 percent of 2 percent _ actually about five ten-thousandths of our income. In simpler terms, that amounts to about 6 pennies per person per day that we give through our churches to the rest of the world - six pennies!

Here is what would happen if we all paid our tithe -- that is , 10 percent of our incomes instead of the 2.5 percent we actually give: we would have an extra $168 billion to spend in funding the work of the Church worldwide!!
If every churchgoer tithed, we could literly change the world.

Now i know that big numbers are hard to put into perspective, so let me help.

• $168 billion the extra money available if all American churchgoers tithed.
• $705 billion amount Americans spend on entertainment and recreation.
• $179 billion amount spent by teenagers ages 12-17
• $65 billion amount we spend on jewelry
• $58 billion amount spent on state lottery tickets
• $39.5 billion total U.S - government foreign assistance budget for the world
• $31 billion amount spent on pets
• $13 billion amount spent by Americans on cosmetic surgery
• $5 billion total Overseas ministries income to 700 Protestant mission agencies, including denominational, interdenominational, and independent agencies.

I found this all to be very interesting, but a little sad though.

Anyway we do not need to let what others do or don't do bother us. We only answer for our selves. And we know what we do with our money rather it is used wisely or not, and if we give to the Lord or not.

I also wanted to mention that tithing is not the only way we give to others and to the poor by no means. I believe there is many, many of us that give to our local missions, worthy charity's, and organizations liked World Vision and so on. So i would say that some of his info was wrong. But i guess he was just going by the facts of tithing to the churches.

I don't believe most churches use the tithe money wisely anyway. So i would say it is no surprise at all that so many people to not tithe to their church. I am sure they feel there is lots more worthy places for their money to go.

And if you home church like us then you would not tithe at a church anyway. We set our 10 percent aside here at the house. And use that to sponsor a child through World Vision, give to the local missions, and other worthy causes that come to our attention. I am so happy we have that to be able to help as we do. Of course we need to feel that all of what we have is God's, and be willing to freely give of that as well if needs arise.

Well i guess that's it till next time. As always i enjoy hearing your comments.

In Him,

Mae

Where do dreams come from?

If any one can answer this question for me I would so grateful for it.
It often annoys me when I have a bad ,or just plum crazy dream at night.
And I am like where and how could I possible think about just things at night while I sleep?
How does these things get in to our heads?

But what really upsets me is when my kids have bad and scary dreams that wake them up at night crying or scared.
Then i have to clam them down and pray with them.
For me when i have a bad dream i can wake my self up or just start praying in the dream, but my kids do not know how to do that.


Just recently my 5 year old had been bothered with bad dreams, so when i put him to bed i would pray that he would not have bad dreams. So far he has not been bothered since.
So i am glad that we do seem to have power over them that way, but i am still wondering how we get them in the first place.



It seems to me satan must have some what control of our minds at night, and mess with our thoughts. But of course not any more control than what God gives him, and nothing at all that harms us.



Of course often times with children they can be effected by bad dreams because of things they watch on t.v or movies. That is sad when that happens.
In that way it is something that we bring upon our selves though. If we watch bad, and violent things, we pay the consequences for it.


That is one reason why I am so dead set against anything bad, scary, and violent; rather in movies or computer games.


Anyway just my thoughts and ramblings on dreams.

If you have any thoughts you would like to share on dreams, then please do!
And if you can answer my question about where dreams come from, then that's even better!

I love hearing from my readers!!

In Him,
Mae

more about the book

I have been continuing to devour up every page and every word of that book The Hole in The Gospel.
I am at about the half way mark now.
"WOW! WOW!" Is all i can say.
I feel the author (Richard Stearns) has done such a good job at presenting us the most needy, suffering, and destitute of our world, and then presenting us the role that God's people are to play.
In the back of the book is listed many ways that one can help these most needy, and suffering. How any common person, me and you, can help. Even in a small way.

I feel for my self i have been fairly in the dark about a lot of what he has talked about in his book. Since we do not have a T.V. , we do not hear or see a lot of things going on. It has been a great awaking to me. Don't get me wrong I do believe i hear a lot, but just did not realize how grim some places and some lives really are. I mean like all the time, not just when an earth quake or such happens.

Some places he talked about in Uganda have so little water that the moms and children have to carry it from a few miles away. They spend several hours a day doing this every single day! Can you imagine doing that?
There would be no time for schooling, hardly time for cooking and other basic necessities that should be done every day.
And most of the time, the water that is hauled is not even fit to drink. But they have to drink it, because that is all they have. Then they are plagued with worms, and deadly diseases. Most children do not make it to their 5th birthday.
Also while carrying this water, women and young girls are often attacked and raped.

Talk about heart breaking to read such stuff. But it is true and it is happening daily.
And we need to know this.
Boy do we need to be ever so thankful of our abundance of water.
And do we ever need to be praying, "Lord here I am", "How can I help?"
"Use me Lord to help those needy and hurting."

I challenge you today to find this book at a book store or on-line, and read it.
I am sure you will not be same.

Well i will share more thoughts as I read.
In Him,
Mae

The Hole in Our Gospel

Have you heard of this book? The Hole In Our Gospel
I just received this book in the mail free as a gift for helping World Vision.
It is written by Richard Stearn's (World Vision President).
Boy is it ever a good read.
I am only part way through, but just love it. I have a hard time putting it down.
It is a major eye opener to our world's hurting, needy, poor, and hungry.
My opinion is that every one needs to read this book.
Here is what is written on the back of the book.

What does God expect of us?
Is our faith just about going to church, studying the Bible and avoiding the most serious sins - or does God expect more? Have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it?

Ten years ago, Rich Stearns came face-to-face with that question as he sat in a mud hut in Rakai, Uganda, listening to the heart breaking story of an orphaned child. Stearn's journey there took much more than a long flight to Africa. It took answering God's call on his life, a call that tore him out of his corner office at one of America's most prestigious corporations _ to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world.

The Hole in Our Gospel, is the compelling story of a corporate CEO who set aside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change his own life. He uses his journey to demorstarte how the gospel -- the whole gospel --was always meant to be a world- changing social revolution,a revolution that begins with us.

It is a very easy read i feel, though the book is big ( about 300 pages). But don't let the size put you off!
I am not sure where you can buy a book, since mine was just sent to me in the mail. But i suppose you could get one at a Bible Book Store, or maybe any book store for that matter.
Also may be at the web site www.worldvision.org

I am sure you will hear more of this book as i continue to read it.
If you have read the book I would love to hear what you thought of it, and how it has moved your heart.
In Him,
Mae

more radom pic.s of 2011 so far

Clayton in position and ready to be pulled by Daddy on the 3-wheeler!! Oh what fun in the snow!! Our snow didn't last long, we really had to take advantage of it!!

Nathan proudly showing off his snow man.

Anna posing for her photo!

I thought this made for a pretty picture. Our tire swings in the snow. This is just behind our house.

Well i hope you enjoyed the recent pictures from our neck of the woods in Texas!

In Him,

Mae

radom pictuers of 2011 so far

OH Happy children!! Here is Nathan 10, Clayton 8, Samuel almost 6, and Sarah 3 1/2.

Daddy did up Sarah's hair in pigg tails. How cute!

Sarah pulling Anna in the wagon.

Clayton practing his panio lessons, with sweet Anna by his side!

more 2011 snow pictuers

This is our snow in Feb. Above Sam is on is huge ball of snow!!

Sam getting ready to be pullled the 3-wheeler!! They all took turns doing that and having so much fun!!

Sam with a litttle snow ball while it was still coming down.

So we do get snow in Texas! It just does't last that long though, and doe not come with the really cold weather.

Mae

pictuers of snow in Texas 2011

This is pictuers of our snow in January. Above is Nathan dressed in his Daddy's cover-alls, keeping warm. IT is COLd in Texas!!

Sarah at the back of our house surrounded with snow.

Sarah happly showing off the snow man the boys made.

More pictures will come later.

joking/lying

To me so may jokes run so close to lies that I can't stand it.
Now i know there is many jokes that are just plain funny and no lie included.
I don't mind those as long as they are good and clean.
But i have seen to many jokes that are really a lie; but since it is done in a joke form then it is called a joke and not a lie.
So then it is suppose to be ok.
Not for me though.
So i have a rule at our house, unless you immediately say after the supposed joke that it is a joke, it will be considered a lie. And will receive the appropriate correction for a lie.
I have been told a "joke", but took it as the truth and pass it on to others only to find out a day or more later, "Oh I was just joking about that."
I am like, "no, that is no joke, that is a lie."
Lying should not be justified in no way or form.
GOD hates lying and we should too! (Proverbs 6: 16-19)

No wonder there is a place in the Bible that talks against joking or jesting.

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becometh saints;
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Ephesians 5: 3-4


Well i guesss that about sums up my topic on lying.
Bottom line, LYING IS WRONG. GOD HATES LYING.
Our children need to know that from a very early age.
And us parents need to set that excample.

In Him,
Mae
I love hearing your comments!

When parents lie

What's worse than children that lie?
It's parents that lie to their children.

Here is a little story that i recently heard told on a music and ministry DVD. I for get the reason or the lesson being taught through the story. But the man shared this incident that happened between a girl and her mother which is suppose to be a true happening.





This little girl was coloring and had colored on the wall.
Her Mother comes into the room and sees what happened.
She asks her little girl,' Did you color on the wall?"
Her daughter replies, " No mommy."
Then the mom lets her know that she knows she did it and that she should not lie.
Then the girl asks her mom how she knew that she had lied.
The mom tells her, "Every time you lie, a light comes on your fore head."
The girl reaches up and touches her forehead.
Anyway then at another time the Grandma is watching the girl,
Again she has colored on the wall.
The Grandma asks her, " Did you do this?"
The little girl puts her hand over her forehead then answers her Grandma, ''No Nanny I did not."



(I for get the exact ending of the story and I am not sure how that was used in the man's lesson he was teaching.)

The story is kind of cute except for the fact that, the Mom totally bold faced lied to her daughter.

I wish the girl had been smart enough to have replied to her mom, "Oh so that is why a light just came on on your forehead?"

I bet that would have made the mom grab at her forehead!! That would have been to funny!!

I do not see why that mom felt she had to lie to her daughter like that for. Talk about setting a good example huh?

There seems like there would have been many other ways to handle that.



Parents watch out, i think this happens more times than you realize. A child may ask a question that is over their head at his/her age, or ask for something you don't want to give them at the moment, or want to go some where you do not want to: in all those cases in may be so easy to lie to get out of it. But don't!! Take your time think of another answer.


Then their the traditional lies. It is just a traditional so people do it with out thinking.

Like the Santa Clause, and the Tooth Fairy.

But it is still lie.

And lying is wrong.

We all know the 10 commandment well: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Exodus 20: 16

But do we just teach it to our children, yet think it is ok if we don't personal keep it?

We also need to keep in mind that God hates lying. And what He hates, we also need to hate!

16) These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him.

17) A proud look,a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.

18) An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift running to mischief,

19) A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discard among brethren.

Proverbs 6: 16-19



24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25) Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Ephesians 4: 24-25

If we call our selves God's children then lying should not be apart of our lives.
It is NEVER RIGHT TO DO WRONG!!
In Him,
Mae

When our children lie

I am sure this is something every parent at some point has dealt with.

It seems by nature that children lie, for one reason or another.

I wish that children were born perfect! Oh how much easier our role as parents would be.
But that was not God's plan.
Children are born by nature selfish, thoughtless and so on. Then they are to be taught and trained by their parents to have good godly characters, and attitudes.

But i must say not every child lies of course.


Children lie for various reasons, sometimes to get out of a punishment. ( this often happens if punishment is to hard: when that is the case it is so sad)



Other times to get out of doing something. ( for some reason my one son has lied about brushing his teeth when he had not: I am wondering why would you lie about something like that? When i asked him why he lied about it, his reply was,"I don't know.")



Other times it may be for the simple reason that they can lie and do to it see what they can get away with.



Also it can be done to defend another sibling ( in that case that means there are 2 kids or more lying; the offender and the offender's supporters)


For what ever reason that children lie; it needs to be caught immediately and stopped. Of course though, i know that is easier said than done.

It is not always easy to catch lying.

What i find really hard is when 2 kids come running to me at the same time and tell two different stories over a spat or incident that they just had, and i have to decide who is lying and who is telling the truth.
They both vehemently say that they are telling the truth and that the other is lying.
So what am I to do, who am I to believe?
In a case like that i have corrected both, and also sometimes just let it go too.


Then there is the situation that you come in to a room and say find something broke or tron up or something else the miss.

You start asking each child in turn if they done it. And each one replies they did not.

So the your like, "ok, i know one of you did this, who was it?"

Again the answer from all is, "I did not." (sometimes they may accuse each other for the miss deed, or stand up for each other and say they do not know who did it.)

So then what ? You know some one is lying, but who?

My mom has said in a case like that she has corrected all of them, even if it meant 4 or 5 kids!

That way she got the guilty one, though she never knew who it was.

And that taught the children that it will do no good to lie because they will be corrected just the same. ( but that can not always fix the comradeship that can exist between siblings; that was strong in my home growing up with my older brothers, they would always protect each other)



One thing i think may help with some children to over come lying is loosing the parents and other siblings trust after they have lied a time or two.

Not having anyone trust you more can really hurt.

I tell them since you have lied we can not believe you any more, we do not know if you are telling the truth or just another lie.

Then they have to build back that trust.



I am certainly not great in this area of nabbing the liars in the act and getting them to stop, but i am trying and I know it is so very important.


So dear moms do not give up, keep on the guard watching for lying. Guard friendships and what they watch. Set a good example. One day you will have it conquered!

In Him,
Mae

talking about lying

In the next few post I will be talking about lying.
I know, not such a nice topic. But an important one just the same.

The titles of the post will be....

When children lie
When parents lie
Joking/lying

Lying is wrong no matter who does it or for what reason it is done. Sadly it is something that seems to come natural to children ; they will lie to get out of trouble, or lie to get what they want and so on. But they have to be caught in the act of lying and trained not to lie.

Even sadder is when adults lie to each other, and parents lie to their children. It seems when children are not cured of their lying when they are young, when they are adults they can become seasoned liars. Lying can become second nature to them. And when they profess to love and obey God and still do this; well it is right out sicking.

What i don't like is that joking and lying can go hand in hand sometimes. And i am left wondering, "Ok, was that a joke or a lie?" Sometimes lying has been excused because the person would say, "oh, i was just joking." Hmm? Something is wrong here. No wonder the Bible has warned against joking or jesting.

So anyway i will be talking about that and more in coming posts.

I would love to hear your comments on this.

In Him,
Mae

somebody is one!!

I can not believe a whole year has passed since our last sweet baby girl entered this world and in to our arms!!
But it has been.
And our sweet Anna is now one year old!
She has been walking since 11 months old.
So she is all over the place and in to every thing!!
I have always liked that mine have walked early because then they can entertain them selves better, though it can mean for more trouble!!
Now here comes training.
Just because she can get it doesn't mean she can have it. ( oh the fun part begins!)
I have never been good in the early training, but i know how so very important it is.
I tend to let mine getting bigger and out of control and then try to suddenly make them good, or wonder why they are not good!!
So my goal for this dear one is that i start early and do it right!
She already knows what "no" means.
You tell her "no" when she is about to grab something, and she pulls back her hand and looks around. But if she can tell nothing will happen she will proceed to grab that item.
So this is the crucial time.
We need to make the most of it!!
I have learned if you let little things slide that they soon turn in to BIG things.

So Happy One Anna!!
We love you more than anything!!

In Him,
Mae


P.S Don't froget i love your comments!

snow in Texas again and gardening

Yep, we got snow here again.
We woke on the 4th to a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground, and it was still snowing.
In all we got about 5 inches.
The kids had so much fun.
Their Daddy even constructed a makeshift sled to pull them on with the 3-wheeler. Boy they thought that was the greatest!!
Yesterday it started to warm up and started melting the snow. Now it's all gone except for a little in the shady areas. It didn't last long, but the kids had a good time any way.
I know i so need to post pictures. I will put it on my to do list for this week or weekend.

So how is gardening going here with our last cold snap and snow?
Well i think i may have been a little to quick to say it was time to plant here.
Yes we did plant some things, and yes we always do at this time of year.
Except this year seems to be different.
I just walked over to the garden to see how the things fared through the snow.
The onions look ok, little droopy, but should pull through fine.
The little broccoli, and cabbage plants though look like they were froze!
The greens we had in from fall time also looks like they may have been froze this time.
Though the collard greens may pull through.
We will have to replant the broccoli and cabbage plants.
Looks like this year planting may have to be a little later.
Seems like every year can be different that way.
I know last Feb. we had snow on the 12th, so we had to wait for that to melt and our garden to dry a little before planting the potatoes which usually is done on Feb. 14th.

So that's how our gardening looks for now. Got to take one day at a time. Never know what one day from the next will be like here in Texas!!