This is not my “new year resolution,” it is my new year restitution.
For too long have I robbed God of my time, treasure, and talent. I need to give back, or more appropriately, not waste the precious resources that the Lord has given me to steward.
TIME
I, along with Mandy, have decided to start a home ministry. We know several people who feel abandoned by church or they simply cannot make it there and are effectively shut-ins. We are meeting twice a week at someone’s home for discipleship and fellowship. This is a new venture and I have never done anything like it before. After months of prayer and conviction, I do believe the Lord has been preparing us for this.
Not everyone will approve, but I can provide ample Bible doctrine to demonstrate the legitimacy of this ministry. That being said, we have left our long-time “local church” home to focus on this ministry. This is the way it was done in the New Testament. It is the way it was done for centuries. We have not “abandoned the Body of Christ,” but we seek to expand our exposure to other members.
Our focus is to grow in the word of God through discipleship, exhort the brethren through fellowship, and witness to the lost through any (reasonable) means necessary.
I have wasted far too much time on frivolity. It is time to stop stealing from the LORD and spend more time focusing on obeying His commands and going about His work.
TALENT
I have spent many years learning about secular things, like movies, music, sociology, sports, and other lesser pursuits. I want to use my brain power for the LORD! When I think about the hundreds of non-Christian fiction and non-fiction books that I have read, I feel like I have wasted the potential to learn so much more about Jesus Christ and Church history (though I did incorporate a lot of the latter in my academic studies).
I have the gift of teaching. I have the desire to teach. When I am not teaching, my spirituality suffers greatly. That is one of the primary reasons that we are starting the home ministry. Believe it or not, some folks actually enjoy it!
I also enjoy posting things I have learned on Facebook and on my blog. Of course, it often ends up in debates and arguments. This is actually very frustrating for me (and goes back to wasting my time). I try to post evidence based facts and my interpretation of data (going back to my sociology training again), and it ends up stressing me out and actually does cause me an immense amount of discomfort when people show genuine animosity toward me.
I want to use my social media platform to teach, not fight and argue. So, just a head’s up, I will not be engaging like I used to. I will post things I find interesting and I hope you will find it interesting as well. If you have an issue or question, feel free to message me or block me.
I want to use my gifts and talents for as many things as I can, whether that be studying, teaching, ministry, and even business.
TREASURE
I have several irons in the fire. I own and operate a tallow skincare business and a book writing/editing/publishing business. We have tried being good stewards with the modest profits we have been granted by God.
This has been a really big year for us in reliance on the provision of the Lord God. It is not at all hyperbole for me to say that we have been essentially living bill-to-bill. I have taken to asking the Lord to pay our bills for us, because we certainly have not been able to do it on our own.
And he has! We have dropped nearly all of our excess bills, rarely eat at restaurants, and every single time I worry about a remaining bill, I ask God to pay it and the right amount of money comes in at the right time.
Of course, we would LOVE to get to a financial comfortability level so that we do not have to worry whether or not we will have car insurance or gas to drive, but the Lord has shut many doors for us to keep us where we are, while still making sure we are okay. It has been awhile. It has been trying and turbulent at times, but we are where we are because God wants us to be here…and that is okay.
We are working on being better stewards with little so that we can continue to be good stewards if the Lord blesses us with much. After all, the earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof. Praise his holy name!
TL;DR
I want to stop stealing from God. I do not know how much time we have left, but I need to redeem it. I do not know how many talents I can use for Him, but I need to invest them more wisely. I do not know how much (earthly) treasure the Lord wants to give me, but I need to worry more about the treasures I am laying up in heaven.
I need a lot of prayer. My family needs it as well. I appreciate those who have read this far. I covet your prayers and support this and every year.
God bless!
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