Rev. Sola Adesope | March 7, 2025
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Thank you
It’s been so wonderful to have all of you here for our Winter Tabernacle Meetings and our Ministers’ Meeting this morning. Thank you all for coming, and may God bless each and every one of you. Our fellowship means so much to us. This is one way to know the Apostolic Faith: we are, like Brother Ted Friesen wrote in his song, “Together, Together, Together.” We are one.
Considering this is the very first meeting that I will stand before you, I want to use this opportunity to say a big “thank you!” Thank you for all your prayers. Thank you for all your support. We feel those prayers—not only myself, but Tolu would want me to say “thank you” too, and our children. Thank you so much. It’s a great privilege to serve God with all of our saints all over the world. To the wonderful group of ministers who are here this morning, and the many around the globe who are joining through the live webcast or the video archive, thank you for being a part of this.
Agenda
We have four different sessions for this ministers’ meeting. With God’s help, I will take the first and the last sessions, which will be “The Role of a Minister” and “Questions and Answers.” Brother Bill McKibben, our pastor in Seattle, Washington, will take the second session on “Financial Stewardship,” while Brother John Baros, our pastor from Medford, Oregon, will take the third session on “Church Services and Their Purpose.” This year, we printed copies of the slides in case you want to make notes. For those who are not here, the slides and the document produced by the Board of Directors will be posted on Ministers’ page of our website.
We will have ten-minute breaks between sessions one and two, and between sessions two and three. There will be no need for a break after session three, just as Brother Darrel did it last year (I’m still hiding under “just as Brother Darrel did it”). We plan to finish by 12:20 to give us time to walk to the Fellowship Lodge, where we will be able to have lunch and a great time of fellowship together. All your spouses are invited to join us for lunch, and we will also have an opportunity to say thanks to all the people who prepared the meal.
Until the Lord returns, I think part of my responsibility will always be to talk about who a minister of the Apostolic Faith Church is. This information is not new. There will be nothing you hear this morning that will be foreign. This is still the same old-time Gospel. In fact, Brother Earl Phillips taught on exactly this topic in this same place about twelve years ago. In addition, Brother John Musgrave has taught about the same topic that Brother John Baros will speak about, and Brother Darrel and Brother Bill spoke about “Financial Stewardship” back in the 80’s and 90’s, under Brother Carver, Brother Dwight, and Brother Darrel. We are thankful to God that we can maintain the same standard all through the years.
Scriptural foundation
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” – John 15:16
“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.” – 1 Timothy 4:6
“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” – 1 Timothy 4:12
Part of that verse from 1 Timothy 4:6 says, “Keep the brethren in remembrance of these things.” That is the reason we have gathered here: to remind ourselves of the very same things. This information is not foreign to us. We have learned them over the years. We know who we have learned them from. We just want to continue to remind ourselves of this wonderful heritage that the Lord has given us.
An Apostolic Faith minister
We are called by God. An Apostolic Faith minister is not self-appointed. We do not go out and start telling everybody, “I should be a minister.” We learned from Brother Darrel that if someone does that, it is the very reason he should not be a minister. We are called by God, not by ourselves. No one here became a pastor by writing to the headquarters, submitting their CV or resume, and saying, “Look at me! Am I not good?” No, that is not Apostolic Faith. We do not submit resumes. John 15:16 says, “I have chosen you and ordained you.” This is a calling. We all must be able to point back to times in our lives when God called us. First out of sin, and then into deeper consecration.
For me, I can point back to the 2022 Watch Night service in Pullman, Washington. We were into the early hours of January 1, 2023, just enjoying a wonderful time of fellowship. The Spirit of the Lord was falling at that Watch Night service, and I just began to consecrate my life. I started praying, “Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee. Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my heart, it is Thy own; it shall be Thy royal throne.” I forgot anybody else was even there and I lost control of myself in prayer. It was all about God.
After we got home, my wife said, “It seemed like God was dealing with you at church. It seemed like God was taking you somewhere, and you were on a journey with God.” I said, “Well, I don’t know what is ahead, but I was just laying it all on the altar.” I remember singing on the altar, “Wherever He leads, I’ll go.” I never knew what I was singing about.
As Apostolic Faith ministers, we all must constantly put our lives on the altar. Not only when we’re called, but every single day, as ministers of this great Gospel.
After some email exchanges, Brother Darrel told me, “I need to come see you.” He said he wanted to talk about the future of our church. I thought, Why does he want to see me? Brother Darrel, talk to the Board about the future of the church. I replied to him, “Okay, I’ll take a flight to Portland.” He said no; he wanted to come to Pullman. So I said, “I’ll drive to Portland.” He said no. I said, “Let’s meet halfway,” but he said no.
Brother Darrel insisted that he needed to drive to Pullman, and he did on May 15, 2023. He came with Sister Debbie. As soon as he dropped his suitcase, he said, “Let’s take a ride.” So the two of us took a ride. I can show anyone the place where I was driving when he said, “Here is a letter for you. You are the man.” I said, “Which man?” This call was a struggle for me. But I remembered my consecration from Watch Night, barely five months before. All had been laid on the altar.
We all have a time in our lives when God called us, but the call does not stop there. Every single day, we must put our lives on the altar. We must say, “Lord, wherever You lead, I’ll go. Whatever You want, I’ll do.” I still feel that way today.
We are called. It is a privilege and it is also a great responsibility. We must pass on the torch as brightly as it was given to us. Our ministry is not only about preaching; it is about how we live our lives outside the pulpit. That affects what we can preach and teach. Brother Darrel told us many times, “If you do not pray, don’t give a Bible teaching in your church on ‘Prevailing Prayer.’” Your saints will know that you are hardly at the altars. If they don’t see you at weeknight services, don’t come behind the pulpit and say, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is . . .” (Hebrews 10:25). The book “The Heart of Yale Lectures” says that we cannot separate our character from our message. We can say that they are separate, yet they are one.
An Apostolic Faith minister is a friend of the Bible and knows our church history, doctrines, traditions, and practices. An Apostolic Faith minister also knows what practices or traditions can be changed, and is not one who would fight the pastor over something unimportant. For example, in Anthony Village, Nigeria, we still use an old hymnbook called “Collected Gospel Songs,” which is great. Here in Portland, during tabernacle meetings we use one hymnbook and a different one for services in the sanctuary, and even another one for Tuesday services in the chapel. An Apostolic Faith minister is not one who would fight the pastor over trivial things such as choosing which hymnbook to use. We keep the main thing the main thing.
An Apostolic Faith minister mostly learns vicariously. That means we need to watch. I worked as Brother Soyinka’s secretary, and one day in the 90’s he came into the office on a Saturday and said, “From today on, go drop your clarinet and follow me to the Sunday school round table conference.” He told me, “When you get there, learn. Watch. Don’t get there and raise up your hand and be teaching the elders.” Nobody taught me how to make announcements; I learned by watching. You will see how your pastor does something, and then you do it the same way. If you are a minister and the pastor is on vacation, don’t do something vastly differently while he is gone. That tells the congregation, “I really want to make sure the saints know the pastor is not doing a good job.” That is assuming a role that is not yours. That is not an Apostolic Faith minister. We keep in the middle of the road.
There are lessons learned that are from experience. Wisdom is gained over time and passed down to us from older ministers. Remember that the basics matter. We need to stay grounded in the foundational principles to ensure effective ministry and leadership.
Sermon structure
Read Scripture first. Brother Earl Phillips gave three rules for starting your sermon. He said the first rule is: Read your text. The second rule is: Read your text. And the third rule is: Read your text! There are many theoretical and practical rationales for why this is important. If you start by talking at length about something that has nothing to do with what the Lord has laid on your heart, that is where the mind of your congregation will be. One exception is if you are a guest minister; we’ve always been taught that in that case, you can begin by quickly delivering greetings from your home church. We’ve also been taught by Brother Darrel that it is important to repeat where the text is from, especially for a Bible teaching. If we only give the Scripture location one time, some may miss it, so we say: “Again, I am reading from . . .,” and then everyone can follow along.
Keep sermons concise. A short sermon is better than one that is too long. In the United States, we typically suggest about thirty minutes for a Sunday morning devotional service, but it could be less. We suggest a maximum of twenty minutes on average for an evening evangelistic or revival service. It’s better to leave the congregation wanting more than wishing the sermon were over ten minutes earlier. We’ve been told, “Don’t circle the plane.” If you were on an airplane, how would you feel if it kept circling the airport instead of landing? Just land the plane! We’ve also been told to avoid rambling or “filler content.”
Listen to feedback. It could be from a spouse, a friend, or a fellow minister. Brother Earl Phillips once said that Sister Sylvia gives him the most feedback on his sermons. He also said, “When Sylvia starts scratching her head, it means ‘Earl, you’re going out of bounds.’” When I heard him say that I wondered, Can Brother Earl go out of bounds? All of us must be accountable. We need people we look up to that we can ask, “Please, let me know what I could do differently to improve.”
Encourage, don’t discourage. Preach messages of hope and encouragement. You can preach a message about Hell positively. In fact, we heard some of that yesterday. Hell is in the Bible, so you can preach a message about it. Jesus preached about it even more than Heaven, but the Bible says God is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). Hell was not meant for man; it was meant for the devil and his angels. Give people hope! We did not pay them to be there; they came out of their love for the Gospel and the nudging of the Holy Spirit. Once they have come, why would we tell them, “None of you will go to Heaven; you are going to Hell.” They need hope.
This is a lift-up Gospel, not a beat-down Gospel. Brother Darrel told us that the saints are beaten down all week long: they were beaten down on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. When they come to church, the last thing they want is another minister beating them down. They want to be lifted up. Even though the Word of God might challenge them, it should be an inspiration to pursue holy living and to reach higher heights and deeper depths of the Gospel. It should not be a rod, as if we would get to the pulpit and start whipping people. No way! We encourage and do not discourage by preaching messages of hope.
Purposeful opening and closing. Most people will remember how we start and how we end our sermons. Illustrations can be very useful here. Many things can be useful in a sermon, but we want to be especially intentional about how we open and how we close. There are practical, theoretical, Biblical, and theological rationales for why this is so important. For one thing, the ending is what people will take to the altars. When Brother Earl Phillips preached, at the closing he would look around and ask inviting questions. “What will you do about this? God wants to help you this morning.” I love that. Extend an invitation to both the sinners and the saints, because the saints also want to pray. The closing is a crucial part of our sermon, and we should never neglect it.
Engage the audience, avoid distractions. Again, don’t go too long in your sermon. I’ve heard some people say, “You folks need to preach longer.” The problem is, here in Portland, some people drive almost an hour to be at service. Some have brought their children. If it is a weeknight, those kids have to go to school in the morning. Many of them are going to work the next day, and some in big cities may need to leave home around 5:30 a.m. to be early to work. If I am a pastor who is privileged to be in full-time ministry, working from the comfort of the parsonage, I should be sensitive to what others are dealing with.
Avoid preaching about specific individuals’ problems from the pulpit. That is dangerous. There are some ministers who want to know too many details about the lives of their congregation members. Personally, I only want to know what God wants me to know, because the moment we know more about a situation, we are mostly precluded. This can also hinder our bond as believers. If you know too many details, then the moment you preach about a related topic, somebody will say, “That was what I told the pastor yesterday.” We want to avoid that.
If several inspirations come late in the sermon, save them for the next time. I heard this from Brother Dwight: “Don’t take all the fishes from the ocean in one day, or else when you go back the next day, there’ll be no more fish.”
Stay within your role. I once heard a minister at his first opportunity to preach on a Sunday morning. In the sermon, he barely scratched the surface of his topic. Then he said, “This is part one of the sermon. I will give you part two another time.” Well, that was what he intended, but he was not the pastor so that was not up to him. It’s a sad story: I never heard part two, and it has been more than twenty years! We all have roles; stay within yours. Don’t take church problems or issues to the saints. They do not want to hear about that. The saints want to be lifted up. They want to hear about Jesus.
Basic do’s and don’ts when preaching
Preach the Gospel, not personal convictions. Stick to Scripture, not personal opinions or preferences. We read in 2 Peter 1:20, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” Don’t get hung up on one thing so that it is the only thing you preach about. If you are always talking about the ladies’ hair, why are you looking at ladies’ hair all the time? Let’s be careful.
Take the shortcut to Calvary. Brother Nolan gave us this advice, and it is true in anything we do. When we testify, if we have not talked about salvation, we have missed Calvary. When we preach, whatever the topic may be, we always take people to Calvary. That is where it all starts, that is where it continues, and that is where it will end. It is possible in a sermon to take people to Calvary and then lead them away again. We don’t want to do that; we want to leave them at Calvary. The Lord will help them there.
Watch the clock. Keep track of time and avoid overly long sermons. Preach a twenty-minute sermon in about twenty minutes. Don’t preach a twenty-minute sermon in forty minutes. Length does not equate depth or impact. Remember that Paul preached a sermon on Mars Hill with just 260 words. Abraham Lincoln’s best-known speech was one of his shortest: The Gettysburg Address. It was less than three minutes and just 272 words. With that, his work was done. Brother Carver said that if you don’t feel the Spirit on your sermon in the first minute or so, make it very, very short.
I love Brother Carver. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about Brother Ray and Brother Carver. I was told that when people were preaching and Brother Carver would start saying, “Amen, amen. God bless him,” that was great. But when they heard Brother Carver start saying, “God help him,” that meant it was time to close their Bibles! We have to do what Paul did: he took the shortcut to Calvary in every single sermon. He preached Christ crucified.
Be mindful of speech habits. Avoid repetitive phrasing or filler words that distract. If you constantly say, “Umm, umm, umm,” people will know you as “Umm Umm Preacher.”
Stay focused on your message. Avoid getting stuck on a single topic. That is called “hobby-horse preaching.” When that happens, the topic people tend to get stuck on is almost always a minor one. But when you preach about Calvary, there is so much you can cover.
Don’t preach personal convictions as doctrine. Avoid pushing personal opinions on non-essential matters. I’ll use the “Collected Gospel Songs” as an example again. I still have that songbook and I love the songs! When I watch our saints in West and Central Africa or in Southern and Eastern Africa, I love to sing with them from that book. Yet, I must not think that it is the only hymnbook that should be used everywhere. If you are a pastor and you arrive somewhere new, don’t take away all their hymnbooks and say, “I want ‘Collected Gospel Songs.’”
Don’t put hands in pockets or cross your legs. These habits can be seen as casual or distracting. They may suggest to listeners that our preaching is something casual or common for us, when actually it is a humbling experience.
Avoid excessive use of “I.” The focus should be on God and His Word, not the self. This is true even when we give illustrations or anything else. If at the end of our sermon people have learned more about us than about Jesus, may God help us.
Don’t criticize other Bible versions or churches. We focus on our ministry. We do not tear others down.
Avoid political issues. We preach the Gospel, not politics. This is serious. During the last election in the United States, I attended an event for professors and staff of the university where I was working at the time. I heard some of them discussing how their churches had broken apart because their pastors had taken political positions and preached from the pulpit about politics, party membership, and whom people should vote for. One of them asked me, “What about your church?” I laughed. I said, “We are not broken up. We are strong.” They asked me, “Why?” and I said, “Because we preach Christ crucified.” We lift up Jesus! We do not lift up political parties. That is dangerous. I am yet to see a single church where everyone belongs to one political party. Even here in Portland, though nobody here has told me and I have not asked about it, but I can almost tell that people are in different political parties. We leave that to them and God. The moment we get into politics, we divide.
Be cautious with prophecy. Avoid giving certain dates or making speculative claims. Matthew 24:36 says, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
Don’t rely on questionable sources. Avoid quoting or elevating radio talk shows or celebrities and their unverified claims. Talk about Jesus! Talk about what He has to offer. I know that our young people may connect more easily when we mention a sports personality or other popular topics, but we need to be careful. It is a fine line before we have gone too far. If you do mention something secular as an illustration, move on quickly and talk about Jesus.
Our purpose is to lift up Jesus. We have been taught many times that we don’t want people to leave a service exclaiming, “Oh, what a preacher!” If that happens, we have failed. For musicians, if people leave a service saying, “Oh, what a voice!” that is a failure. We want people to exclaim, “Oh, what a Gospel! What a Savior!”
Preaching is to cause people to fall in love with Jesus, not with the preacher. Be careful of preachers who are always calling attention to themselves. All attention should be on Jesus. Jesus said of Himself, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). Put Jesus as a signpost for people to see. The moment people call attention to themselves, they cause others to fall in love with them rather than Christ. That is a dangerous place.
The prayer life of a minister
The importance of prayer. Prayer strengthens preaching. Our preaching is only as strong as our prayer life. Without prayer, a sermon is just words, lacking Holy Spirit power. We need to lead by example and we must earn the right to preach on prayer by being a person of prayer. It is very important.
Prayer in personal life. There has to be time for personal prayer and meditating on the Word of God. Prayer time with family is very important—with your spouse, or alone if you are single. A consistent prayer life will be evident in our preaching. It is also important that we pray because it is in our hearts to do, not just because people are watching. We should pray with the workers and saints in corporate prayer meetings whenever possible and for as long as possible. We should pray as we work, as we travel, as we counsel, and as we do all the work of the ministry. In other words, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.”
Prayer habits for ministers. Being in the prayer room is a habit. Although it can vary around the world, a good minister will strive to be in the prayer room about thirty minutes before meetings. If we ministers do not prioritize prayer, the congregation will not either. After every meeting, let’s spend time on the altars, including helping seekers. A good minister of the Apostolic Faith is a good altar worker. Someone shared with me that Brother Earl Phillips said, “We don’t want to pray to be seen, but we want to be seen praying.” We want the saints to know we are praying, and it’s also good to pray out loud to encourage others. Let them know that God answers prayer.
Praying publicly. When closing in prayer, don’t preach another sermon. People want to pray. Encourage sinners and backsliders, but avoid long-winded prayers. In the mid-service congregational prayer, please leave room for the preacher’s message. Let’s not get in the habit of praying for ten minutes and taking all the “fishes” that the preacher wanted. Don’t preach a sermon when you have been asked to pray a congregational prayer.
Ministerial practices
Praying for the sick. Pray for the sick with much humility. We must not be arrogant; the power for healing is not in our hands but at Calvary, in the Blood of Jesus. When praying for the sick, especially ladies, we do not put our hands on their shoulders or anywhere else except their heads. Brother Darrel said, “Lay your hands lightly.” Think of how much care ladies put into their hair; don’t ruffle a lady’s hair or anyone else’s hair. Remember, healing is not in our hands.
When you pray for the sick, I will suggest you keep that second hand behind your back so it is not flailing around. I like to put the oil on the individual’s forehead, then put that same hand behind my back and lay my other hand very lightly on their head. Don’t shake them around or touch them—especially a lady, because if you are accused of something, what will you say? God help us. Respect personal boundaries. We pray in faith, not by force. Don’t go to pray for ladies in a private setting by yourself; go with other ministers or elders.
Brother Earl Phillips and Brother John Musgrave showed us how to pray for the sick. [A photo shows Rev. Earl Philipps and Rev. John Musgrave laying hands on and praying for a young woman.] This photo is from one of our old magazines.
Setting and respecting boundaries. Boundaries can show our integrity. Boundaries are needed for dealing with everyone, but especially those of the opposite gender. Don’t counsel people behind closed doors or dark rooms. Don’t be a hugger to everyone. I know someone who will hug anyone he sees, including ladies. If you want to hug a lady, hug your wife. Hugging your family members is also okay.
As much as possible, keep your hands to yourself. This will save us from a lot of trouble. We don’t want to be accused of doing something inappropriate. Sometime ago, someone pointed to two people and asked me, “Is that his wife?” and I said, “No.” The next question was, “Why is he holding her hand like that?” This cannot happen. If a lady is not your wife, daughter, or family member, you cannot hold her hand that way.
It is best to sit with your spouse or family members in church. Don’t go sit with another person’s wife, while her husband is by another man’s wife. This is confusing. If a new pastor comes to that church, he will wonder whose wife is whose.
Handling conflicts. Remember to follow Biblical principles. We do not want to compromise our unity. Ministers should never gang up against their pastor. If one minister goes to another saying, “Look at what the pastor did . . .,” little by little they start building momentum against their pastor. That is a dangerous place to be. There’s no blessing in ganging up on your pastor. By the grace of God, I can say I have never been a part of ganging up against any of my pastors, and I’ve had many in my life.
Pastors should also be careful not to gang up against a fellow pastor. When necessary, it is best to report a deviant pastor to leadership—it could be a district superintendent or leaders at headquarters. Pastors should also administer and welcome constructive feedback.
Church attendance. We lead by example in church attendance. Attend all church meetings and support all church events as much as possible. People notice commitment. Be active in your worship: pray upon arrival, sit up front, say “Amen” with sincerity, share your testimony, encourage the faithful, and do all that God would have us to do. Avoid rebuking the dedicated attendees for others’ absence.
Advice for pastors. The church belongs to the people. It is built by their tithes, labor, and dedication. When I was sent to Portland, I arrived at a church that had been here for 118 years before I came. It was built by faithful people; I cannot get here and then beat them down in my preaching.
Let us lead with love. Win the love of the saints—especially the children. Brother Earl Phillips said to pastors, “If you want a church to love you, love their children. Then, the parents and grandparents will love you.”
We had about four young kids under the age of ten in Pullman, and they all wanted to be pastors. They would sometimes ask me questions like, “Is this shoe okay? Could I wear this as a pastor?” That is good—we need more pastors! Don’t dominate the church; love them, inspire them, and train many to become leaders.
Brother Nolan once told me, “I took a chance on many young people.” He did. He started many of our veterans here in preaching. Let’s take a chance on our workers too. Let’s not think that only we can work in the Gospel.
Don’t rush change. Respect traditions; only make changes when necessary and after giving it much time and prayer.
Don’t make the church about you or your own family. Don’t close the church down just because you and your spouse are on vacation. It’s not your church; it is the Apostolic Faith Church. If you need help, tell your district superintendent or your director what you need. They can send a minister.
Build trust. Keep confidences, because once trust is broken, problems spread quickly.
Obtain leadership approval when it is needed. Don’t just tell someone, “I will make you a minister,” before you have approval from your leaders. Always talk to the headquarters leadership or your district superintendent before you approach anyone about becoming a minister. Even if that person has the call of God, check in first. You may not know what the headquarters knows.
Stay positive. Avoid portraying pastoral life as a sacrifice; it is a privilege and a blessing.
The importance of unity. We are united. We will endeavor to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). We will stand together as ministers, shoulder-to-shoulder. True blessings come from our oneness. We are humble as we pray for one another and pass on the torch of unity to the next generation.
At a ministers’ meeting in 1989, Brother Carver said, “We must not be satisfied with the easy street. We must say, ‘God, send a revival.’ And let’s pray that God will do it tonight, and tomorrow night, and every time in our churches everywhere. There have been some signs of that. There has been some moving. God has been working.” I couldn’t say it better than Brother Carver.
Thank you
Thank you so very much for being here. Thank you for your labor of love. God bless you “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).
Rev. Bill McKibben | March 7, 2025
Download the presentation slides.
Welcome and agenda
We’re glad you’re here this morning. In this session, we hope to discuss prudent and Biblical financial stewardship. Our purpose is to prepare ministers to answer the call for pastoral service, thrive while serving, and prepare for their future retirement should the Lord tarry.
First on our agenda is “Our Call to Stewardship.” After that is “Gain vs. Godliness.” Then, we will talk about managing the tension that comes with finances. Finally, we will go over some practical tips before the closing thoughts.
Our call to stewardship
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10)
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)
The first thing to remember—and you can even repeat it with me—is this: God owns it all. Let’s say that one more time: God owns it all. You might be on the top of the mountain or the bottom of the valley, but God owns them both. We need to ask ourselves, “Who owns it? Is it mine? Is it yours? Is it God’s?”
When I was transferred to Los Angeles, California, to be the pastor, I came from a very small town and had never lived in the city. My wife and I were a little fearful of the place. About six weeks after we arrived, we went out one Saturday morning in front of the parsonage, and our pickup truck was gone. Someone had decided they needed it more than I did. I remember thinking, Welcome to the city! Isn’t it great? We chuckled about it a little bit, but I can remember the feeling of violation. I thought, What? Somebody stole it right out of my driveway? It had a dead battery, and they still stole it. The police told me it was probably parted out and gone for good. That evening, I was standing in the back bedroom of the parsonage, looking out the window, and I remember saying, “Lord, they stole Your truck.”
Well, we went through some hassles, but the truth of the matter is, I had used that truck in the previous pastorate to do some work, and I wasn’t going to need it in Los Angeles. Also, we got the insurance settlement for the truck, and I used that money to pay for my first ticket to Asia! So, God has a plan in all of it, because He owns it.
Peter spoke about living to the will of God. God has a big plan, a really big plan. We’re invited to be a part of it, but we must live to His will and not to our own. Paul echoes those same kinds of ideas about stewardship and accountability all throughout his writings.
Some people might be surprised that we don’t run to the excesses of the culture around us. We don’t need to have the latest and newest of everything, do we? I’m not suggesting that we don’t buy quality items. Of course we do. But we are going to give an account, and we live like it.
The Bible says that we will face the judge of the living and the dead. Each one of us has been given different gifts, and we are called to serve one another with the various gifts that God has given us. Jesus brought out this idea of being faithful when He talked about the parable of the steward. We all know the Lord is coming, right? And we all know that He is going to ask us if we were faithful, right? We’re the preachers. We know this, right? Well, we are supposed to.
Gain vs. Godliness
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:6-10)
We will always deal with issues of gain versus godliness, and this is not something new. In 1 Timothy 6:1-5, Paul warned Timothy of those who were teaching something different than the truth. He went on to outline the places where this could be observed. These men had pride, disputes, envy, accusations, and assumptions about others. Then he told Timothy that they were “supposing that gain is godliness” and he said, “from such withdraw thyself” (verse 5). Paul was not speaking of us, but there are preachers today who will suggest that gain is godliness. The Scriptures are very clear on this matter. Paul warned against it saying it is not the truth. Godliness must be our first aim, always. That is what we preach and teach.
There is a natural outflow of godliness, which is contentment. God has promised to supply all we need. How often have we quoted, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19)? Knowing that God is going to supply all our needs, we have to ask ourselves this question: “What are my needs?” God did not promise to provide for all our wants. Nor did He promise to provide for all our “greeds.”
There are many places around the world, some of which we visit or come from, where people are just thankful that their basic needs, food and raiment, have been met. However, in the Western world, we live in a measure of affluence. Affluence is not usually a friend of grace. People don’t tend to pray more when they have more. They tend to pray more when they have less. I’m not suggesting that we all go back to having less, but I am suggesting that we all pray more. The heart of the matter is that seeking gain is not godliness, and gain without contentment is not the Gospel. We must fight against seeking gain, because that is the spirit of the world.
Concerning contentment, the Apostle Paul said, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). My wife and I used to tease about this verse, because we transferred a number of times, moving back and forth between states. We used the word play here to say that we needed to learn to be content in whatsoever state we were in: California, Washington, or Oregon.
Being content is more than about physical location. When you move, there is a lot of adjustment that happens. I remember that about a month or two after we moved to Seattle for the first time, a sister asked my wife, “Well, are you all settled in?” God bless her, she meant the best. However, we have three children. They had changed schools, we had changed jobs, we didn’t have a dentist, my wife didn’t even know yet where best to buy groceries. Of course, these are not things we tell the saints. Instead, we learn to be content in whatsoever state we find ourselves. Paul learned how to abound, and we can too. He said, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound” (Philippians 4:12). Don’t you love to abound? Praise God! Isn’t He good to us?
We must also, like Paul, learn to be abased. Ut oh. There are times when we say, “God, I don’t know why You sent me here!” I’m dramatizing a little bit, but really, we are all human, aren’t we? We may not show our concern publicly, but at least privately there are times when we wrestle. That’s okay, we are learning.
Here is a real-life example. In my first pastorate, there was a minister who helped me. He was a retired bookkeeper who at that time was seventy-two. He and his wife had raised four boys in the Gospel, and two of them are ministers today. He used to get up and testify, quoting this Scripture: “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). Then he would say, “God, it’s time to slaughter another cow.” I loved this brother’s attitude of contentment. He had had a lot but was now retired and had little. His attitude was, “Lord, You can take care of this; just kill another cow.” God can take care of you. God can take care of your people. He is God; He will do it! Those who have riches are tempted to trust in that.
There is a warning for us in 1 Timothy 6:10, which says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” This Scripture tells us that there is a danger of becoming overwhelmed with greed. The person who does this errs from the faith. Money is not, in and of itself, evil. But covetousness and greed are where evil finds its root.
An interesting thing about money is that you don’t have to have it to covet it. There’s a famous story of a wealthy man. I didn’t take time to dig into the details, because my only point is for you to ask yourselves this question: “How much is enough?” This wealthy man was asked how much he needed to have. His answer was, “One more dollar.” The point was that whatever he had was not quite enough. That is a very human tendency. Wherever we are in life, whether we have a lot or a little, the problem is thinking, If I just had this, if I just had that. We can wrestle with that personally. We can even wrestle with that in our church. We might think, If we just had one more . . .
We need to teach our people to be content, too. Of course, we want to strive to do our very best for the Gospel, and our very best with what God’s given us as good stewards. However, let’s remember that God has entrusted some with five talents, some with three, and some with one. The issue was not the amount; the issue was faithfulness. The issue was stewarding.
Covetousness is infectious. In any culture, at any age, in any country, no matter what the financial status is, covetousness is just like a virus. We measure ourselves among ourselves. People say, “I just wish I had what they have.” Social media does not help us here. We don’t want to see things and say, “Oh, they went on that vacation! They did this! They bought that!” Pretty soon we would begin to measure by something other than God’s Word. We, of all people, have to measure by God’s Word.
As a banker, I came across a couple of examples of covetousness, and I will share one quickly. Once, I walked into the staff lounge where all our tellers and the like took their breaks. There was a young mother in her twenties—we’d hired her as a teller—and she was weeping. Now, this wasn’t at church; this was a place of business, but I asked, “Are you okay?” She said, “Yeah, I’m okay. I just wish I was home with my kids, but . . .” And I said, “Well, no—no job’s worth . . .” She said, “Oh, my husband likes toys. We have a boat, and we have a jet-ski, and we have an RV, and we have a big truck, and I had to go to work so we could make the payments on those.” I’ll never forget the look on that woman’s face. I would have liked to have had a word with her husband, but he didn’t go to my church, so I couldn’t say anything to him.
I’ve seen just the opposite also. There was a couple where over the years, the wife was never content. The house was not big enough, the car wasn’t new enough, and there was always pressure for the husband to work overtime, and then to take side jobs, and on and on. Finally, the man just gave up that he could ever please her when it came to material things, and that marriage fell apart. Those were people in our church—not from my congregation; they remain anonymous. In summary, godliness with contentment is great gain. We want God to help us exemplify that wisdom.
Managing Financial Tension
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward” (1 Timothy 5:17-18).
For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:9).
Now we will talk about the dialectic. That’s a big word which literally means “tension” (the pull of a couple of things together). Webster’s dictionary defines dialectic, this tension, as “any systematic reasoning, or exposition or argument that juxtaposes opposed or contradictory ideas and usually seeks to resolve their conflict.” It’s a method of examining and discussing opposing ideas.
When you’re in the Scripture, and this happens sometimes, the Scripture gives you two ideas and both are true, and they have to exist in tension.
There are two Biblical principles that are in tension when it comes to finance. The first one is that the workman is worthy of his work. What God has called you to do is worthy work. It’s a calling from God. Jesus Himself said, “For the workman is worthy of his meat.” Don’t misunderstand the worth of what you do; it’s valuable work. However, the other principle, which is in tension with this one, is that we shouldn’t be chargeable to anyone. Let’s address this.
We read in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” This is in reference to Deuteronomy 25:4: “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.” Paul also referenced this verse when trying to vindicate his own ministry. He said, “For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?” (1 Corinthians 9:9). Paul declared, as Jesus did, that this work is worthy of honor and support. This is very clear.
However, Paul told the church at Thessalonica, in one of his earliest letters, “So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:8-9).
Here, Paul is in essence saying, “This is worthy work and worthy of support.” He is also saying, “But I’m going to work, because I’m not going to be chargeable to you.” We find this again in 2 Thessalonians and in 2 Corinthians. Paul was declaring that he wouldn’t be chargeable to the saints; he wouldn’t unduly burden them.
I am responsible for our work in Asia, and I can remember talking to a pastor over there some years ago—it doesn’t matter which country it was. He announced to me how important it was for him as a pastor to pray. His little congregation had about twelve people in it at that point. I told him, “You need to find a job.” He said, “No, I need to pray!” I said, “You need to pray, and you need to find a job.” We can’t go to the treasurer of our church expecting them to give us more support when there are only twelve people in the congregation. They had a building to support—it was little, but even so, it was a building, and they were a small group. I told the pastor, “You can’t be chargeable to them. You can’t burden the saints in that way.”
We understand Paul’s heart in this next example. In 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10, we read that he said, “For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:7-10).
The Apostle Paul did accept generous support when it was given. There’s no question about that. But he also worked alongside Aquila and Priscilla. He made tents to support himself and others. The Apostle Paul showed disciplined economic behavior.
I am reminded of a brother who was in a church that I pastored, and who later became a pastor. He would tell his kids, “Whenever you go somewhere, just remember, the pastor doesn’t pay. You pay for him.” I remember thinking that was really gracious of him. However, we don’t want to start expecting that. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. In fact, in another church where I pastored, there was a brother who always wanted to take us out. Finally, I told him, “Brother, you don’t get to pay every time.” I said (and maybe this was my ego, but I hope not), “No. Sometimes I get to pay when the four of us go out.” There needs to be a balance. We must have disciplined economic behavior.
As I was thinking about the heart that Paul had and this whole idea of disciplined behavior, I couldn’t help but think of Brother Harold Barrett. Years ago, he ran a painting business here in Portland, and he volunteered as an usher and as a watchman at the campground gate. He also got involved in working with the merchant mariners and bringing those people to church. Eventually, he went to Korea as a missionary. His story is well-known in our work, but what most people don’t know is that on the nights when there was no church, he often picked up people from the ships just the same. He would take them to his home where he and his wife, Sally, would entertain them (and they weren’t giving the bill to the church). In fact, it was on one of those nights that Brother Carver went to their home, and pulling Brother Barrett aside, asked, “Harold, would you and Sally like to go to Korea as missionaries?” He said, “Yes!” He didn’t even ask Sister Sally, because he knew her heart.
The next question Brother Carver posed to him was very simple. He said, “Can you find your own way?” They did. Some things haven’t really changed. In 1993-1994, Brother Barrett, who by time was an older man and widowed, came through our little town and talked to me about Asia. He asked the question, “Would you like to go?” Well, I remember thinking, Yeah! But you’d have to talk to the Superintendent General, you know, and . . .
A few things transpired that year. Brother Carver retired, Brother Dwight Baltzell was appointed, we transferred to Los Angeles . . . and then Brother Barrett came back. He asked, “Would you like to go to the Philippines?” I said, “Well, you’d have to talk to Brother Baltzell.” He said that he would, but I also called Brother Dwight. He is sitting here today, so maybe he remembers this. I asked him, “What would you think?” His first words to me were, “Well, let’s check with your assistant, Brother Tom Lambert, and make sure things are okay there in Los Angeles where you are.” (We did that, and everything was fine.) His next words to me were, “But the church can’t pay.” I thought to myself, That sounds like Brother Carver. It wasn’t that Brother Dwight was trying to be harsh. He was just trying to keep things balanced. He couldn’t let this young guy get ahead of himself, thinking the church was going to pay for him to fly all over the world and do all sorts of things. It is not like that. I told Brother Dwight, “No worries. If you say it’s okay that we can go, we’ll go.”
The Barretts lived in Korea for twenty years and never drew a salary over three hundred dollars during that entire time. They paid for their own travel back and forth to camp meeting every year. How could they be chargeable to the saints? The saints at that time in Korea were very poor. They were just beginning the churches there, so that was their heart.
Paul didn’t eat without paying. Even with his authority, he wanted to be an example. We need to be examples to the saints around us. Not only of being willing to work but also being moderate and doing things well. Remember that Paul said to the Philippians, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:7). God may require you to pay your own way to Korea or to the Philippines. At least I got to fly. The Barretts took an old Liberty ship, and it took them thirty-seven days. Sister Sally was seasick the whole time. Most people don’t hear about that part of the story.
Let me give another example. This last year, I had the privilege to be in Brooklyn, New York, as a guest preacher. After church, my wife and I went downstairs, and they were having a scholarship lunch. They have a scholarship fund in honor of Brother Leon Dicks, the founding pastor, that helps the young people in the church. Everybody donates to it, and there were some people who were collecting the donations. They brought us a meal, and it was wonderful. They asked which dessert I wanted, and I chose one, not knowing my wife had already told them I wanted the other kind, so I got two desserts. We visited, talked and had a great time. Then I got up and some asked, “Where are you going?” I said, “I’ve got to pay for our lunch.” They said, “You’re our guest!” I didn’t want to insult them, so I sat back down. However, a little later, I kind of sidled over to the donation table and paid for our lunch. We want to be an example. We don’t want anyone to think we are trying to take advantage of our position. We just need to be careful.
There are literally hundreds of examples all across this room of people who manage their finances well, who are willing not to be chargeable, and yet also understand the honor that goes with our work. We have to find balance and discipline. We cannot allow ourselves to burden the flocks that we serve. It’s a privilege to serve, not something we deserve, but a privilege. At the same time, we need to be graciously thankful when we receive some support. We thank God for His provision, whether it is a parsonage or transportation or some of the saints taking us out to dinner. We need to be thankful while content to work with our own hands.
Here is another example from Los Angeles. When we moved there, our daughter was in high school, and the school she would be attending required an application fee of $400.00. I remember this example well, because we didn’t have the $400.00. I had quit my job so we could transfer from Woodlake to Los Angeles. Of course, our sixteen-year-old daughter was saying, “Well, what are we going to do?” I said, “Well, we’re going to pray.” We began to pray, and the Lord began to answer. It was quite fascinating. One of the brothers from our previous church called me and said, “That certain item that we’ve been talking about, do you still have it? Do you want to sell it?” So, that was $100.00. Then an older brother who I’d never met, but who was in the Los Angeles church, passed away. I was asked to do the funeral, so I drove clear up to Englewood to do it. While I was there, I talked with the funeral director, who I had never met. He asked how I came to Los Angeles, and I told him what we were doing there. We rode together in the hearse to the cemetery and did the graveside service. After driving back, we got out of the hearse, and he handed me an envelope. In it was a $100.00 check from the family for doing the funeral. God bless them. I looked behind that, and there was a $200.00 personal check from the funeral director. I looked at it, and there was a little note that said, “Keep doing God’s work.” I went home to my daughter and laid the checks right out and said, “This is what happens when you pray.” Sometimes we have to work, and sometimes we have to pray, and sometimes we have to work and pray. And it’s okay to do that.
Another time, when our son was young, I remember that we were at the table, maybe on a Sunday afternoon, eating dinner. I just proclaimed, almost teasingly, “You know, we’re rich.” My son, being who he is (he’s forty now, but he was little then), scratched his head and looked across the table at me quizzically. Then he went on, “Oh, I get it, Dad. You’re talking about Spiritual!” Well, it’s not a bad lesson to teach our kids that we’re rich spiritually and that it’s not just about money all the time.
We need to look to God to supply our need, because He will. We need to rejoice when God provides, because the Scriptures say in Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” If you’ve got sorrow over your finances, you can rest assured that you probably don’t have God in the middle of them. They are not supposed to bring sorrow to you. Even though today, we can look on our apps and see where we are financially each day, that may not be to our advantage. It may create more sorrow than good. We may be better charged by leaving our phone apps closed, and just praying and working.
Practical Tips and Application
This leads to our next topic of practical tips. There are many resources available these days for financial management. They’re everywhere! There are books and videos, and these days, many of them from Christian authors. You can go to our own Ministers’ Manual on pages 217-220 and 232-235. There are some practical tips there. Most of these principles are easily found in Scripture. They really are.
Spend less than you earn. An example that I used in my very first ministerial training presentation, back in the 1970s-80s, was from one of those early Christian authors. That author said that he had a pastor come to him after retiring and ask how he should invest his money. The author asked, “Well, how much money do you have?” The pastor said, “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” That was quite a sum in those days. It probably is today, too. The author asked him, “How did you save $250,000 when you never drew more than $10,000 a year as a pastor?” That is $58,000 a year in today’s numbers. Still, that’s below the poverty level if you live in Seattle, by the way. Do you know what the pastor said to him? “I always spent less than I made.” That’s it. The key is: “I always spent less than I made.”
This is not rocket science. Just because the government spends trillions more than it has, doesn’t mean you can—not Biblically. This is true for our churches and for ourselves, personally. It’s countercultural. It’s not what the world teaches. However, we really need to spend less than we make, because God said He would supply all our need. If we are spending more than what God has supplied, then apparently, we are spending more than our need. You can say, “Ouch!” if you want. I know. Spend less than you make over a long time and invest the money wisely. Pay attention and steward well what God has entrusted to you.
Avoid debt. Really, for anything other than appreciating assets. Even then, you need to be careful of debt’s grip. Scripture tells us in Proverbs 22:7, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” When you borrow or you lend, it changes the nature of the relationship between you and the other person. I have told folks, at least in my district, when they want to lend money back and forth to each other: “Don’t do it; just give them the money.” If you give the money to a borrower, there are no strings attached. If they never pay you back, it’s between them and God; you don’t have to be burdened. If you can’t afford to do that, then why are you lending money? However, that’s my thought. I am just giving you some advice.
Save. When our kids were young, we had three jars. You’ve probably heard of this. One of them was the savings jar. One of them was the tithe jar. One of them was the spending jar. Literally, if you save regularly, there are less emergencies. It’s amazing what happens when you have an emergency fund.
Here is something I always ask people: “When is Christmas?” Help me. When is Christmas in Boston? The 25th of December, in Boston? Okay, let’s see, what about in Chicago? When is Christmas? Oh, December 25. What about Port Angeles, Brother Wayne? The 25th! Every year, why do people get in such a panic? They say, “Oh no, it’s Christmas. We’ve got to buy this and that.” Then they’re still paying for things five months later—paying high interest.
We just replaced the roof on the church in Seattle about eighteen months ago for $40,000. It wasn’t an emergency, folks. It’s a roof. It has a lifetime. So, I called Portland and—no, I didn’t. You know better than that, right? I did not call Portland and ask headquarters to pay for my roof. We’ve been saving for that roof for years, and we just paid for it. Okay.
Take advantage of employer matching funds. I had employees who would say they couldn’t afford to save the money so that my company would match that money. I would just scratch my head and say, “You don’t want to take your company’s free money?” It’s because they weren’t disciplined enough to set aside five percent of their salary. We’ve got to have better discipline than that, folks. We all do!
I told you we had those three jars. I teasingly told my daughters, “If you will honor God, if you will live on less than you earn and save a little for emergencies—if you learn to follow these three principles—you will be some husband’s princess.” Then I realized that was a little misogynistic. That was picking on the women a little bit, because I found out that not all men know how to manage money either. Some men need to learn those same principles so that they can be leaders on their own. So, save, honor God, and live on less than you earn.
Diversify. The Scripture very clearly says that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. There’s a whole story about where that proverb came from, but it really comes from Scripture. Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 says, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.” The wise man was saying, “Be careful; don’t put all your money in one place.”
Budget. Now, this is not a swear word. It is not; you can say this, and it doesn’t have to stick in your mouth. You can say, “Budget.” I had a congregation where when I used this word once, I could see some of the sisters, the wives in the church, just go “Ugh.” Then I realized that was because in that particular church, there were husbands who were very autocratic with finances—they were very harsh about spending. So, I thought, Okay, let’s find a different way. We called it “a spending plan.” A budget is not a strait jacket, it’s not a noose. It’s just planning; it’s just being wise. You do have to communicate with your spouse if you have one. There are more marriages that come apart over money than over anything else. You’ve got to learn to talk about it, and you need to think long-term, and be realistic.
Pay attention. I had a pastor friend who had been a successful salesperson. While I entered the pastorate as a young man, he had entered the pastorate as an older man. He had raised children in the Gospel, and later he retired. He served in my church as a retired minister. On a Wednesday night during Bible study, he got up and quoted Proverbs 27:23. It says, “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.” He said, “I was not diligent to take care of my flocks. I should have listened to Brother Bill twenty years ago.” He said that in front of his own children and everything, because he didn’t have a lot when he got toward the end of his life, because he didn’t pay attention. So just pay attention! Money and finances are not the most important part of marriage or ministry, but if you don’t pay attention and handle them well, they can be a downfall of either or both. It can ruin a marriage; it can ruin a pastorate. We have to pay attention.
Work while you are pastoring. When I was about to go out to my first pastorate, Brother Dick Taylor gave me some advice. I’ll never forget it. He was a wonderful preacher—practical, down to earth. He was a successful pastor. He worked hard as a painter, but he also invested in some property along the way. His advice was, “Don’t kill the goose,” and he told me a story about a pastor who sold the home that he and his wife had lived in. Over the next ten or so years, slowly but surely, all the money from that house went to his kids, and other things as well. At the end of the ten years, he had nothing. Brother Dick told me, “You’re giving up the best earning years of your life. If you want to help your kids, that’s good, but they can still work.” He was very practical. So, his advice to me was, “Don’t kill the goose.” That phrase comes from an Aesop’s fable, “The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg.” In the fable, a man got the golden egg and spent it. Then being greedy, he thought, If I kill the goose, I will get all the eggs. The only problem was that he killed the goose and there were no more eggs.
Brother Dick also said, “We need to be wise with the income God has given us, with the assets God has given us, and the blessings to which God has entrusted us.” In our case, my wife and I rented out our house. Over the years, that rented house helped pay for our kids’ music lessons. One time, it helped pay some extra costs when we moved so that I wouldn’t have to go right to work in the new pastorate. It also helped to pay part of the college costs of our children, and Lord willing, it may help with retirement—if we’re ever allowed to do that. (That wasn’t supposed to sound quite like that, though!
So, don’t be afraid to work while you’re pastoring. It’s not an insult. Until the last few years, I worked in almost all our congregations.
Be giving. Of course, we need to keep a balance of things. Don’t be afraid to be giving. Some people say that the New Testament doesn’t teach tithing, but in reality, Jesus calls us to an even higher standard. He said, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38). Wouldn’t you love to be the one who gave all the time?
We are learning
Here is the last real-life example for today. When Brother Carver first asked me to pastor, he called me into the office behind the tabernacle on a Friday night. We talked, and of course one of the things he asked about was my finances. I told him, “Well, we have a little family, we have a house, and there’s a little mortgage on it.” I also told him, “We have two cars, one is paid for, and the other one we have a little bit of a loan on it still, but we don’t have any other debt besides that.” He said, “Okay.”
Concerning the car, when I went to buy it, my wife and I had already talked about it after looking at several others. We had looked at one car in particular, and then we looked at another, and they were both fine. However, one was a little sportier, a little nicer, it had a sunroof . . . you get the idea. I really wanted the nicer one. My wife said, “I can be happy with either one.” So, we bought the nicer car and put half down, planning to pay it off early in a couple years. It wasn’t a bad financial decision, except that the amount I still owed on the car ($2700.00) when I sat in Brother Carver’s office was the difference between the two cars that I could have bought.
When I went home, the Lord talked to me and said, “I was trying to help you.” We made it through: we paid off the car, we went out and pastored, and whatever. But I remember thinking, God’s usually working ahead of us, trying to help us, if we’ll just listen. That’s like Brother Lee’s example the other night: “I’m trying to help you here.” I liked the car; it was nice, we drove it, and we sold it eventually, but I would have much rather been able to look at Brother Carver and say, “We don’t owe anything.” You can take that however you want.
Brother Carver said once, “We should not say, ‘We have learned,’ but ‘We are learning,’” and we are.
Summation
Don’t ever mingle personal funds and church funds. Just don’t do it. It’s not legal, it’s not ethical. We need to be extra careful never to bring financial reproach on ourselves or on God’s work. It will ruin our reputation and the reputation of our church.
If you need help, don’t be too proud to ask or learn. I had a pastor tell me once, “I don’t know all this language about budgeting and all that.” He said, “I can tell you how to fix a shower or how to lay a course to bricks, but . . .” I said, “Well, let me teach you,” and I did. God will help us if we are willing to learn.
Here are the points you need to remember from this morning: God owns it all and godliness with contentment is great gain. Also, this is worthy work. We thank God when we can be supported, but we don’t want to be a burden to the saints, so we must balance that tension all the time. In addition, spend less than you earn, save and diversify, avoid debt, and be wise with your income and assets. Finally, don’t be afraid to work, and last, but not least: be giving.
By the Headquarters Board of Directors | March 7, 2025
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Question 1: We are hearing a few pastors call their spouses “first lady” during services. Is this now a trend in the Apostolic Faith Church?
Response 1: It has never been the Apostolic Faith practice to refer to our pastors’ wives as “first lady,” nor is there a Scriptural basis for doing so. That designation may be appropriate in the political world, but not in our church work. The strength of a pastor’s wife is demonstrated by her “ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (1 Peter 3:4). When a person is appointed pastor, his spouse is not appointed as his assistant. This is true even when the spouse is also a minister or in a position of other leadership within the church (Sunday school superintendent, music leader, etc.). It is usually not helpful for the pastor, his wife, or the congregation to put the pastor’s wife in the spotlight or a position of vulnerability. Rather, there is wisdom in protecting one’s wife from the public eye at least to some extent, though it is not necessary or even possible to do so entirely. The works of a virtuous pastor’s wife or any church leader stand on their own merit (see Proverbs 31:10-31) without her expecting or needing a title of “first lady.” The love, appreciation, and honor we show our wives in private and in public speaks volumes to our wives and to our congregations.
Question 2: Is it true that the Apostolic Faith formally appoints assistant pastors for branch churches, and makes such an announcement publicly?
Response 2: This question is addressed in the Minister’s Manual under the topic “Associate Pastors and Other Ministers” (p. 352). In the early days of the Apostolic Faith Church, there were such formal appointments as Assistant or Associate Pastor, but they proved to be mostly counterproductive to the health and unity of the church. For about four decades now, we have not had a policy of appointing assistant pastors. It has served the church well to have one leader in a church—the Pastor, who is humble, serves the needs of the saints, and submits to his/her leader and the headquarters. We have a large contingent of ministers in the Apostolic Faith organization who labor in supportive roles but are not actively pastoring. Most of our congregations in the Apostolic Faith work have a ministerial staff of one or more ministers who assist the pastor in leadership duties at that location. We typically refer to these individuals simply as “ministers.” When a title is needed (such as for business cards), we use “associate pastor” (a minister who is active and ordained), “associate minister” (a minister who is active and not ordained), or “youth minister.” We suggest that branch churches follow the same pattern.
The title a minister bears does not dictate who leads the meetings on the rare occasions in which a pastor must be absent. We do not operate by seniority, so it is acceptable for a minister who is not ordained to run meetings in the pastor’s absence, even when an ordained minister is on staff. We operate by doing our best to discern whom God has appointed to a certain role at any given time, rather than by a system of tenure. At the Portland headquarters, there are a number of active, ordained pastors but no one bears the title of “assistant pastor.” If there currently is no official assistant pastor in a branch church, we recommend against appointing one.
Question 3: Can a pastor use a minister from another church, or someone who used to be an Apostolic Faith minister but left our fellowship, to officiate (e.g., lead in prayer or preach)?
Response 3: This question is addressed in the Minister’s Manual under the topic “Denominational Characteristics” (p. 327). The Apostolic Faith organization has a number of denominational characteristics that set us apart from the majority of religious organizations in the world today. We are not ecumenical in our practice because we choose not to identify ourselves with those who hold differing positions on what we consider to be key aspects of our walk with God. The policy to not invite non-Apostolic Faith Church pastors or ministers to fill any kind of leadership position has been a guardrail that protects us from much confusion and disunity. It has also helped us maintain the Bible doctrines and standard of holiness.
One of the most significant characteristics differentiating us from other Christian denominations is our doctrinal position. Our beliefs are founded on a literal interpretation of the Bible, and we strive to affirm and uphold the fundamental teachings of New Testament faith. This includes a definite born-again experience, victory over sin, a second work of grace (entire sanctification), and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Even when one from another organization purports to believe the same as we do, we still do not invite that person to fill our pulpits. We do not hold worship services in conjunction with other denominations or invite ministers from other churches to come and teach in our services in a “sharing of pulpits.” We avoid affiliation with ecumenical religious associations unless doing so is a government requirement. However, this would not preclude us from praying publicly when invited, at events such as university baccalaureates, community Christmas celebrations, city council meetings, or other community events, as long as we are allowed to pray freely without constraint.
We cherish the Gospel that was handed down to us by the pioneers of the Apostolic Faith work, and we have no desire to compromise any part of what we have received. We have been commissioned by God to earnestly contend for and pass on to the next generation the faith which was once delivered unto us (Jude 3). Our prayer is that as we uphold the doctrines, practices, and denominational characteristics that have always distinguished this organization, others will be inspired to commit their lives to God, challenged to a deeper walk of holiness, and motivated to seek God for the promised infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Question 4: Is it allowed for Apostolic Faith ladies who are workers to use hair extensions?
Response 4: The admonition to be temperate in “all things” includes being moderate in one’s appearance and attire. We know that extreme or ostentatious clothing, hairstyles, and general appearance are not appropriate for followers of Christ. However, we want to be careful in defining what is extreme. We are careful not to beat our ladies down. This is very important. We have many Apostolic Faith ladies who are very faithful to this wonderful Gospel. Some ladies are no longer able to grow hair, and other ladies have shared with us how they are dealing with health issues (e.g. cancer and hair loss). I heard of a sister who had a massive loss of hair due to a traumatic close shave with death. Of course, we have many sisters and young ladies who want to look nothing more than modest and decent. Many of these sisters use modest hair extensions. The list goes on about legitimate use of hair extensions that do not call attention to oneself. Our organization does not have a policy against wearing such moderate extensions, with moderate length and no odd colors. On the other hand, imagine an African lady wearing a red, yellow, or green hair extensions. That will immediately draw attention to her. We don’t want that. As workers, we want attention to be on Jesus Christ and not on ourselves. We know many of our sisters who wear hair extensions and you would hardly ever know because it blends with the color of their hair and is not overly long.
The “Appearance/Modesty” section of our Minister’s Manual says, “Fashions change with each generation, and what is appropriate and modest for believers in one era and culture may not be appropriate and/or modest in another. However, the Biblical principles regarding godly appearance are timeless. . . . In the New Testament era, Paul noted to Timothy that immodesty is marked by adornment that is elaborate, extravagant, excessive, or expensive. He instructed godly women to adorn themselves “not with broided hair [gold weaved in braids] or gold, or pearls [referring to jewelry, ornaments], or costly array, but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works” (1 Timothy 2:9). Decorating themselves with jewelry in an ostentatious manner was a common practice among non-Christian women of Paul’s day, and he was pointing out that those who professed faith in Christ should refrain from such practices” (p. 99-100).
Question 5: Is dancing accepted in traditional wedding receptions or any part of our weddings?
Response 5: The short answer is no, not in Apostolic Faith weddings or receptions, whether they take place in our churches or away from our churches. While we acknowledge there were occasions of dance unto the Lord in the Old Testament (including David in 2 Samuel 6:14), there were also occasions of dancing before idols (including Israel when Moses was on the Mount in Exodus 32:15, 19). New Testament references to dancing are very few and include dances of celebration (at the return of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:25) and provocation (Herodias in Matthew 14:6). Where celebratory dancing occurs in the Bible, the focus is consistently on worshipping God. Additional information about our church’s stand on dancing can be found in our Minister’s Manual: “No indication is given of dance occurring within the New Testament church, and neither Jesus nor His Apostles allude to dancing as a method of worship. In fact, there are only five references to dancing in the New Testament (see Matthew 11:16-17; 14:6, Mark 6:22; Luke 7:31-32; 15:22-25), and none of these passages have anything to do with congregational worship. Dancing, even under the guise of worship, appeals to the baser instincts of human nature. . . . and therefore has no part in an Apostolic Faith church setting” (p. 224).
Paul wrote, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Dancing is not edifying or spiritually helpful to the dancer or for observers since the focus inevitably is on the body of that dancer rather than upon God. In that sense, public dancing detracts from helping us better appreciate the mystery of unity that exists between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32), of which Paul wrote when speaking of marriage. We encourage our newly wedded couples to honor God by abstaining from public dancing. We understand that some cultures endorse dancing that involve husband and wife, and such dancing may connote endearment to each other. In such cultures, we still do not endorse public dancing because of the reasons we offered above. Such dancing may be appropriate for a husband and wife in the secluded privacy of their home—completely away from the public eye and never published on social media.
Question 6: Issues of women wearing trousers/pants in the United States is causing a lot of saints in my district concern, and there is already some division and misunderstanding. Please, I need help in addressing this. What is our church’s stance on this?
Response 6: Our church has always taught both modesty and moderation as a part of the holiness movement from which we grew, and we continue to do so. Those principles are well documented within Scripture but are also enculturated and so must be properly imported into the various cultures where we have churches. The way in which we do this should be governed also by moderation. A recent Apostolic Faith magazine article quotes Philippians 4:5 and states, “Some have suggested that the word moderation in this text could also be understood to mean ‘sweet reasonableness.’ . . . When we become Christians, a change happens that begins to make us sweet and reasonable. We live in a world where tension and extremism are common, but Christians live differently. God has transformed us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son, so our lives are filled with moderation, gentleness, and patience.” We are called to proclaim the Gospel with these traits, and as such we do not have a harsh, unbending rule against women wearing pants/trousers, particularly when the activity in which they are participating is not modest or safe when wearing a skirt or dress. Some types of employment now require women to wear such for the same reasons, and we do not condemn our sisters for such. We teach clear differentiation of the two Biblical genders and condemn the blurring of them as taught in Deuteronomy 22:5, but do not use that Scripture as justification to forbid trousers/pants, as that is not what it actually teaches. (See the Minister’s Manual pages 101 for further explanation.) Modesty is exhibited in dress but is also influenced by deportment (behavior) and ultimately must come from the heart. There are some who follow the “rules of dress” perfectly, but their deportment sends a quite different message. We must focus our efforts on transformed hearts and character, building godly individuals (both male and female), and helping them to become reflections of Jesus.
We must remember as leaders that “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” We must not major in minors. We teach and encourage modesty or moderation for both men and women, but we must not devolve into being the “skirt police” or “beard patrol,” destroying godly folks over trivial matters. As ministers, we may also take some inspiration from our Minister’s Manual, which says, “Pastors may wonder how to deal with concerns regarding appropriate attire. It may not be wise to address a whole group of workers, such as the choir or orchestra, in order to correct a matter that actually concerns only one or two individuals. We also should be mindful of the fact that there is a difference between a thoughtless (or even somewhat careless) attitude regarding appropriate attire, and a spirit that is resistant to the Biblical principles of modesty and temperance. As pastors, our goal is to teach the Biblical principles, and encourage everyone to be sensitive and open to the instruction of the Spirit in the matter of modest dress” (p. 101).
Question 7: Is it appropriate for women to wear pants to church music rehearsals?
Response 7: It is not appropriate. Although we cannot speak to every church on every occasion in every place (including the United States), the practice in our churches around the world (and in the United States) reflects our sisters’ wearing skirts/dresses to church and to choir/music practices and other church activities. There could be times, such as work projects (painting, landscaping, etc.) or youth camps (climbing, sport activities, etc.), when some ladies wear pants/trousers as they are modest for those activities. We are well aware of countries where specific job-related tasks require ladies to wear pants, and we do not go against such. However, we ask our workers who are ladies to not wear pants to music practices or any of our church services. We also request that men do not wear athletic-type shorts in these venues. In order to more directly address this concern, we encourage anyone to watch the February 26, 2025 Music Rehearsal held in Portland. The rehearsal was webcast live without any foreknowledge from members of the choir and orchestra. You will notice that they are permitted to dress casually, but none of them ever consider dressing contrary to what has just been stated. In fact, it is never even necessary to remind them to dress appropriately for church practices.
Question 8: What can pastors and ministers do to protect those in our congregations who are facing challenges from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? Could we create a form to educate ministers on what to do?
Response 8: We all understand that issues related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement could be very sensitive and emotional, especially when we put faces of loved ones in the conversation, which will be the case if a member of our congregation is involved. We care deeply about our saints and do all we can to help and support them spiritually. In fact, all our board members have had a lot of experience with either being immigrants to the United States or pastoring people who are immigrants to the United States. Unfortunately, many issues in our society today, especially immigration enforcement, have become political and divisive. Rather than join in any campaign that could potentially cause division and set our church up as participating in a political campaign or something that would cause disunity, we will rather take a Biblical stance that commands us to love the people around us. Hence, we encourage our pastors and workers to continue to show the love of God and support members who are immigrants and are affected by immigration enforcement orders of the federal government. We know some families in the church who have benefited from such pastoral love and care and are now lawful permanent residents and citizens of the United States. Hence, we encourage our pastors and ministers to continue to show the love of God. In addition, rather than creating a new form to educate our workers about immigration enforcement, we already have our Church Volunteer Handbook that has sections on “Safety and Security” as well as “Emergency Procedures.” The handbook contains pertinent information that we encourage pastors, ministers, and all workers to read and be familiar with.
Question 9: Why is it that in Portland, retired leaders like Brother Darrel and Brother Dwight still officiate, while in many other areas of the work, previous leaders are not allowed to preach or officiate again?
Response 9: First, we must understand that we are not political parties that seek to dismiss previous leaders and their work. We are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). It was never the policy of world headquarters to preclude retired leaders from participating in the work at whatever level the retiree’s leader deemed best. Brother Loyce Carver preached after he retired. His two predecessors (Sister Florence Crawford and Brother Raymond Crawford) passed on before retiring. We thank God that we can still benefit from Brother Dwight and Brother Darrel preaching here in Portland. They are still effective, and we thank the Lord for them.
Short of moral failure or gross insubordination, effectiveness rather than age is the criteria when it comes to using retired pastors. In writing to Titus, Paul made no mention of age when he wrote, “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (Titus 1:5–9). If a minister at any age fails to meet those criteria or becomes ineffective, it is okay to lovingly suggest that he or she step aside from preaching and/or officiating. We encourage current leaders to work with retired leaders and we also encourage retired leaders to be flexible and understand that current leaders may not operate the exact same way they operated. In all, we preach and live sound doctrines, submit one to another, and lift up Jesus, who will draw all men unto Himself (John 12:32).
Question 10: Is it okay for Apostolic Faith workers who are males to wear braided, locked, twisted, or very long hairstyles?
Response 10: No, we do not endorse our men workers wearing long hair. “We uphold Paul’s conclusion that a woman’s head covering is her long hair” (Minister’s Manual, p. 97). Similarly, we do not endorse our men workers wearing braided, locked, or twisted hairstyles. These styles (braids, locks, twists) are impractical with short hair, and as such would be excluded under the admonition for men to have shorter hair compared to women and for all to avoid extremes in style and color. On page 137 of our Minister’s Manual we read: “Our personal appearance should be a credit to the Gospel message we proclaim. We should dress appropriately for the House of the Lord, and make sure that we are clean, neat, and well-groomed, as representatives of God himself.” Again, a good Gospel worker does not call attention to himself or herself. We want people’s attention to be on Jesus, the focal point of the Gospel message.
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