It’s been a few weeks since my last post on Out of Ur, so I wanted to take a moment to update you on some of what’s been going on. First, travel season has resumed. By Thanksgiving, I’ll have spoken in fifteen churches in eight states this fall. I enjoy the opportunity to get to…
Author: Tim Deatrick
The Ministry of Giving: Part One (2 Corinthians 9:1-5)
I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your…
The Donor’s Bill of Rights
The Association of Fundraising Professionals has developed a Donor’s Bill of Rights as an ethical standard for not for profit organization fundraisers who solicit gifts. Does your church or favorite charity employ these standards?
Financial Transparency (2 Corinthians 8:16-24)
“But thank God! He has given Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have. Titus welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact, he himself was very eager to go and see you. We are also sending another brother with Titus. All the churches praise him as a preacher of the Good News. He was…
The Maui Wildfires
One of the churches I have the privilege of working with is Hope Chapel, located in Maui. I was able to communicate this week with them, and yes, the need is great. Here is an excerpt from an email I received from Jim Franks who serves as the Church’s Executive Pastor: There are many ways…
What Are You Doing With Your Surplus? (2 Corinthians 8:11-15)
Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. Of course, I don’t mean your giving…
What Pastors Wish They Were Better Prepared For
An excerpt from recent Barna Research on the decline of job satisfaction among Pastors asked respondents what they wish they had been better prepared for in seminary. As I reflected on the data, I realized two things. First, some of the items mentioned were not concerns when I went to seminary, such as technology or…
No Greater Example (2 Corinthians 8:8-10)
“I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches. You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could…
Three Ways the Macedonians Exemplified Generosity (2 Corinthians 8:3-7)
“For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action…
One Explanation for the Decline in Church Attendance
Here’s an interesting article from The Atlantic about why “Millions of Americans Stopped Going to Church.” One of the fascinating insights Jake Meador offers is the shift in emphasis from church as the locus of community to a focus on individuality. In other words, church used to be about “we” and is now about “me.”
