Encouragement. Take Two.

So, I log on to Crusade's "Staff Web" today to see if there is any news I need to be aware about in the Crusade world. There's a section that answers a frequently asked question from staff members. There's a new question each week. I had to laugh to myself when I saw the title of this week's topic:

MPD During a Difficult Economic Time

[MPD = Ministry Partner Development - what we're doing right now with developing our ministry partner team of people supporting us prayerfully & financially.]

Thanks God for thinking of us in our last post and giving us encouragement with this article. You are amazing! :)

-J

p.s.....If you're curious what the article is about, here it is. [There's a quote that I love that I put in bold/italics. Ellis said that same thing at our new staff training]:

Question

A staff member asks:

"Food and gas prices are up. Many homeowners are in trouble with their mortgages. The dollar is falling overseas. How would you encourage staff members who need to raise support during these troubled economic times?"

Answer

This is not the first time we have faced a challenging economy as a ministry.

During the 1970s and 80s, we lived in a period of rapid inflation, we were in a recession, mortgage rates were increasing drastically and gasoline was scarce due to the oil embargo.

Christy and I were living in New England with a 7% loan on our home. Then I transferred to California where the interest rate on our mortgage doubled to 14%.

During difficult economic times we need to keep a proper view of what is true -- that God really is in control.

I love what my friend Ellis Goldstein says, "From the beginning of eternity, God's net worth has remained constant." None of this has taken Him by surprise -- He still owns everything.

Raising support in today's economy is challenging because many ministry partners are feeling the impact as we are.

But God has blessed this ministry with incredible partners. Our donors are committed to God's work, advancing His Kingdom and the staff members they love and support. They are not rushing out to drop their giving.

In fact, giving to staff members is up about 2.3% compared to this time last year, while overall giving to the ministry has remained about the same.

That tells us that during this tough time, our ministry partners see the importance of continuing to support you, our staff members, while project giving is down slightly.

I would encourage each of you to look at I Chronicles 29 where David talks about how wealth and honor come from the Lord. Also look at II Corinthians 8 where Paul talks about the generosity of the Macedonians.

These two chapters help give a Biblical frame to this discussion and keep our perspective on God's timing, not our own.