Faith Promise Giving Flipbook

Biblical Principles of Grace Giving 99 to keep from becoming complacent and take God’s blessings and provisions for granted. Yes, there were times my family could have used our mission offering on ourselves, but we didn’t, and my wife and I were in agreement that if God supplied it for us to give to missions, we better be faithful in giving it for missions. Through it all, he supplied our needs. Participating in Faith Promise giving has taught me, in a practical way, so much about the faithfulness of God and how important faith is in our Christian service. We can say we believe in faith, but in exercising faith, when all is said and done, more is said that done. For 50 years I have preached, taught and practiced Faith Promise missions giving. For a number of years, I have traveled full time from one coast to the other teaching and helping churches launch a Faith Promise program. Five years ago, Dr. Bill Johnson, asked me to consider writing full-time for International Christian Publishers. But there was a caveat, there would be no guaranteed salary. I would have to raise support on my own. My wife reminded me this was what I had been preaching and teaching. I am delighted to say, God still has not failed me. He has as continues to supply our needs and my Faith Promise offering. It is not trite to say, “You cannot outgive God.” Faith Promise giving can be practiced by anyone capable of exercising faith, but faith must be exercised freely. God calls on us to voluntarily trust and try (prove) Him. Fifty years ago, I made a promise to God that as He supplied my mission offering, I would return it to Him. I have kept my word, and He has kept His. Dr. Dubose has been a longtime pastor in Florida and Texas. He works with International Christian Publishing, Texarkana, Texas.



Chapter 12 “A Personal Testimony About Faith Promise Giving” By Pastor Mike Withem, Ranson, WVA Our story begins approximately 38 years ago. We were a very young church. In fact, we had just organized and no longer had the financial backing of my former sending church or the churches that had supported our church planting effort. While that was kind of a “scary” time for us, especially for me, God provided our needs and we were somehow able to make it on our own. It was about that time, or shortly thereafter, that God began to deal with me concerning our church’s need to give more to missions. We had benefitted for five years from the mission giving of our supporting churches, and it was as though God was saying to me, “It’s time for you to begin reciprocating!” I will never forget how I struggled with that burden, at least initially. I said, “Lord, you know my heart, and you know the hearts of our people. You know that we would love to give more to missions, but, Lord, the money is just not there!” And it wasn’t! You see, we were already giving 10% of our tithes and offerings to missions, and we needed every penny of the remaining 90% to just pay the bills. I asked, “Lord, we would love to give more to missions, but how can we?” It was then that God laid it on my heart to look into the possibility of introducing faith promise missions to our church. While I had heard about faith promise, I had never been a part of a church that practiced faith promise missions giving. Consequently, I didn’t know that much about it. So I began doing some research. A made a few phone calls, gathered some literature, but most importantly,

102 Faith Promise Giving I began studying the Biblical basis for faith promise giving. While I was desperate to find an answer to our dilemma, I didn’t want to lead our church into something that was not Biblical. However, the more I studied God’s Word, the more excited I became. I became excited because for the first time in my pastoral ministry, I began to realize that our missions giving did not have to be limited by our ability to set aside a certain percentage of our church budget, whether it be 10%, 15%, 20% or whatever. I began to realize that by trusting God and tapping into His infinite resources, there was no limit to what we could give to missions. I am reminded of what Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 8:1-3, “Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.... For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;” Did you notice the words “beyond their power”? That’s what faith promise giving is all about. It is about giving “beyond” our “power” or our ability to give. How is that possible? It is possible because God is the One doing the giving. We are merely channels. After much study and prayer, I made the decision to introduce our church to faith promise missions. I will never forget our first faith promise missions conference. The previous year our church had given approximately $2,000.00 to missions. At the conclusion of that first conference, when all of the faith promises were totaled, our people had promised to give just over $ 6,000.00 to missions during the coming year, and that was totally over and above our regular tithes and offerings. As you can imagine, I was elated. I think any pastor would be pleased with a church that could triple its mission giving in just one year, and that’s exactly what God enabled us to do. That was approximately 38 years ago. What has happened since then? I wish I could say that we have continued to triple our missions giving each and every year, but, of course, that is not the case. However, two years ago (2017), we set an all-time record with over $255,000.00 being given to missions! Also,

Biblical Principles of Grace Giving 103 during the past nineteen years alone, our people have given over $3,424,000.00 to missions! We are now the sending church for six missionaries. We also support an additional 42 missionaries on a monthly basis. Now you must understand that our church is not a large church. We average about 150 in attendance on a typical Sunday morning. Not only are we not a large church, but most of our members are “blue collar” workers, which means that we are not a rich church. Where does the money come from? You got me! Of course, ultimately, it comes from God. The increase that we have seen in our missions giving is only part of the story. Because of the emphasis that we have placed on missions over the years, our church has experienced many more of God’s blessings. For example, every time our missions giving has increased, our general fund giving (tithes and offerings) has increased as well. Some pastors are hesitant to introduce faith promise missions to their church because they are afraid that it will hurt their church’s general fund giving. We have proven this to be a needless and ungrounded fear. In addition to increased general fund giving, God has blessed our church in recent years by enabling us to complete three building additions, which include a new youth & Sunday school wing, a new foyer & office complex, and a new sanctuary. All three of these building programs were totally funded by special offerings from our people without any incurring debt whatsoever. During this same period of time, God also enabled us to hire a full time youth pastor, a part time secretary and a part time administrative assistant. What does all of this have to do with faith promise missions giving? I’m convinced that all of these blessings are directly related to the emphasis that we have placed on missions over the years. This reminds me of Paul’s words to the church at Philippi recorded in Phil. 4:15-17, “Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.... For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.... Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.”

104 Faith Promise Giving As I prepare to conclude this testimony, let me say that I have talked with many pastors who are having the same struggle that I had some 38 years ago. They have an overwhelming desire for their church to give more to missions, yet their general fund budget is already stretched to the limit. The money is just not there! Is that where you are today? If so, I urge you to prayerfully consider introducing your church to faith promise missions. If you are not familiar with the Biblical basis for faith promise giving, take your Bible and with an open mind begin a serious study of your own. If God convinces you that faith promise is the way to go, then schedule your first faith promise missions conference and begin what I believe will be an incredible and exciting journey of faith for both yourself and your church. For more information, contact... Pastor Mike Withem First Baptist Church P.O. Box 336 Ranson, WV 25438 304-725-8078 (Office) 304-433-0345 (Cell) [email protected]

Chapter 13 Faith Promise at Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church By Pastor Peter Thompson Overton, Texas God has done amazing things for missions through our church since we have adopted Faith Promise Missions Giving. He has increased the faith of our people, provided for the general fund in a greater way, increased the desire of our church people to reach lost souls, given our church people a desire to bless God’s workers in a greater way and made our church more generous in general. The increase in faith is evident in the way that our people have trusted God for their faith promise offering. Our mission giving has increased four times over what we were giving without Faith Promises in a matter of a few years. As the people have seen God provide they have become more willing to trust Him in personal issues, church issues and even government and country issues. Our people who were constantly shaken by the events of the news before are now likely to rely on the Lord during times of trial. God has used Faith Promise as one of His tools in bringing that attitude about in our church. As the people saw God provide Faith Promise offerings for mission work, they began to desire to give to God even past that. Those that were tithing before are giving more to God, understanding that He can provide all of their needs. Some who were not tithing began to tithe. Besides the extra giving, God seems to bless our general fund because of the work that we are

106 Faith Promise Giving doing to further the gospel around the world. A church that was always struggling financially before is now thriving in the area of finance. Faith Promise has taken our people’s eyes off of self and focused them on the work for the Lord that is going on around the world. As a result, their desire to see people that have never been to our church saved has increased greatly. The people have participated in soul winning courses desiring to know better how to speak to the lost world about Christ. They have begun shifting conversations in their daily lives to spiritual things. Their Facebook presence has turned from self to God in an effort to reach people through Facebook. Some of the people are carrying tracts with them to hand to people in the drive through or at the grocery store. They rejoice greatly when they hear about people on a mission field being saved and baptized. When mission reports come in, they actually read them, to see who was saved and who was baptized, as they feel they have had a small part in those salvations and baptisms. Since we have implemented Faith Promise more of our people have been in contact by letter, email, Facebook and text with missionaries around the world. They desire to bless those workers by encouragement, prayer and their personal possessions and funds. Talk of a place for missionaries to stay while doing deputation work in the area has arisen. This church used to only care about what was going on in these four walls and now they desire to help other churches and other missionaries in any way that they are impressed by God to do so. Pleasant Hill is so generous now. Food drives, toilet paper drives, special offerings for seminary students, Christmas bonuses for the missionaries, and raises for their pastor are common occurrences by which nobody is surprised. Our church is gaining, quickly, a reputation of giving and helping. Jesus said people would recognize His disciples by their love. This church exhibits that love on a weekly basis. Faith Promise has played a big part in this development.

Biblical Principles of Grace Giving 107 Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church is a far better church in every way because of Faith Promise Missions, but more importantly, because of God’s work through Faith Promise Missions among our people. I would encourage every pastor to look into Faith Promise Missions Giving as a way to give more to missions and a way to increase the faith and work of their churches.



Chapter 14 You Can’t Outgive God By Brant Lane, Macedonian Missionary Service, Somerset, KY My wife and I have been giving by faith for over eleven years. I did not learn the principles of faith promise giving until some godly men working with Macedonian Missionary Service shared it with me. They challenged me to look at II Corinthians 8:1-6 and II Corinthians 10:15-16. I began to study these scriptures for myself and I began to ask myself, do I give by faith? The conclusion that I came to was that out of obedience to God’s commands, I give my tithes and offerings but that was not giving by faith. I’m to walk by faith and not be sight, but sight giving was the only giving I was currently doing for the Lord. II Corinthians 8:3 said the churches of Macedonia gave to their power and beyond their power. Verse 8 is where I was, giving to my power (tithes & offerings). But to give beyond my power that was going to require faith. So, I prayed—Lord lay on my heart what you would have me to give above my tithes and offerings and I promise that I will give it—still trusting you will meet my needs. God gave my wife and I an amount, so we began to give to missions by faith.

110 Faith Promise Giving Let me share this story, when we were attending a faith promise conference in Texas. It was February 2019, at this conference that God laid on my heart two of the missionaries who were attending. One was a missionary to Des Moines, Iowa, and the other to Flagstaff, Arizona. The Lord made it clear that we were to promise to give $100 to each missionary per month. So, my wife and I began to give. Now, in order for this story to make sense, I need to add a few more personal details. I am a missionary who raises support to do the ministry God has called me to do and I was the one preaching this conference. It is also noteworthy that my home church does not practice faith promise giving as a church body, but that did not stop us, and many others here from giving each week by faith. This is what is unique about faith base giving—it’s between you and the Lord. Back to the conference in Texas—in my heart I’m not preaching just to the congregation about giving by faith but I am asking God to increase my faith. God, during this conference, challenged me to give $200 more a month, basically $50 a week to missions above our tithes and offerings and current faith promise giving. So, my wife and I started giving. It is a blessing to give to the Lord’s work. God, again, stood behind His word—Luke 6:38, Give! And it shall be given unto you. We were not watching for God to give back, but when He did we sure noticed it was from Him. Some nine months later God did some amazing things. In November I was preaching a faith promise conference in Newport, Arkansas, and a family gave me $200 for a love offering. Christmas came and a family member from Hartford, Conn, sent a check to the ministry for $200. Victory Baptist Church, right after the first of the year chose to support our ministry with $200 a month. My daughter, who was supposed to go to Japan for a bible project during the Olympics, got her $200 deposit back because the trip canceled. We got a check for overpayment from the insurance company for $173. It might as well have been for $200. Later that year in Alabama picked up our ministry for $200 a month. To God Be the Glory!

Biblical Principles of Grace Giving 111 God has many names, but as you begin your journey by giving by faith, there is one you will become very familiar with—Jehovah Jireh. This name means “My God Provides”. Every time that God gave back that’s what would come to my mind—My God— Jehovah Jireh—The Great Provider. The need to reach people with the gospel will always be the greatest need in our country and the world. In order to make a difference today common people like you and me, who are ready to make a difference, need to be ready to walk by faith and become uncommon among the common.



Chapter 15 “What If...” Jonathon D. Smith, Associate Pastor Sublett Rd Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas In Matthew chapter 17 Peter was asked by those that received the money tribute if Jesus paid taxes (in this case the temple tax) and Peter quickly answered in the affirmative. Afterward, Jesus immediately had a discipleship moment with Peter. He addressed the issue and explained ultimately that taxes should be paid to the kings of the earth lest they should be offended. Jesus then tells Peter to cast a hook (not a net) and take the first fish that he catches, open its mouth, take the coin out of its mouth and pay the tax for both of them. This act was not part of Peter’s work or trade, this was the kind of fishing any boy or girl with a pole, line and hook could have done down at the local pond or creek. The money he got out of the fish’s mouth was completely beyond what Peter would have normally calculated or anticipated in his weekly or monthly “net” profits. Peter experienced a firsthand “money miracle” indeed. Don’t be confused though, what Peter did in following Jesus’ command was without argument an absolute act of faith! Now, lean in just a little and let me ask you a question. If Jesus did a miracle to provide money above and beyond what Peter had expected in his regular income to keep from offending the kings of the earth how much more will God provide for the work of reaching the lost? I guarantee you that God is infinitely

114 Faith Promise Giving more concerned with the Gospel going to those who have never heard than whether kings are offended! I have practiced Faith Promise Missions Giving for over 30 years and there is one objection to it that I hear more than any other. Those who have taught Faith Promise Missions Giving have all experienced the same push back. There are many that genuinely struggle with one specific concept. The hurdle they can’t get over is often the idea that the Holy Spirit will speak to their heart, give them an impression concerning a specific amount that they should give whether regularly or as a onetime offering. I will generally will not argue with those that have this difficulty because I can honestly say that I have struggled with this myself. Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying that people don’t hear from the Holy Spirit about specific amounts. What I am saying is that if this is keeping you from practicing Faith Promise Mission Giving it shouldn’t. There is another way to do it that is just as much by faith! This conversation is worth having and if nothing else it will help some see this from another viewpoint. What if you made a line by line budget that by biblical wisdom and good stewardship met all of your financial planning, obligations and needs (including your tithe and offerings) and then you promised to God that whatever came to you above and beyond that for the next year you would give to the work of global missions? This isn’t giving out of one’s abundance because you would still be giving what you don’t have. In reality you would still be letting God give through you what He would not give to you! You would still be acting as a channel of blessing. This would take a great deal of faith wouldn’t it? Can you imagine what God could do? What if you had a long lost uncle that died and left you a million dollars that year in his will, would you keep your promise? What if an investment you made was more successful than you ever imagined that year? What if you received a raise that was totally unexpected? What if the government gave you several stimulus checks that you didn’t need that year? Would you have the faith to keep your vow to God?

Biblical Principles of Grace Giving 115 To those who stumble at the idea of receiving a specific amount from the Holy Spirit this is a way of practicing Faith Promise Mission Giving for you. What is stopping you now? What if you did what Peter did and just gave what comes to you unexpectedly beyond your expected income? Is it possible that you haven’t seen God open the windows of heaven in your life because you would have just consumed it upon your own desires? No more excuses! You can do this! What if you let God do a “money miracle” in your life for His Glory and for a cause that will have an eternal impact? Jonathon Smith grew up as a Missionary’s Kid in Toronto, Canada. God called him into full time ministry while he was going to college at Liberty University. Jonathon graduated from Texas Baptist Institute & Seminary in Henderson, Texas and is now working on his Doctorate. He has been a Pastor at Sublett Road Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas for 30 years and Co- Founded CityReach International where he served as president for 15 years. Jonathon loves doing evangelism and missions. He has been on 50+ mission trips and traveled to 20+ countries engaging in gospel ministry of all kinds. Currently he has a growing passion for helping Bible-less people groups and those getting God’s Word to them in their own language! He has been married to Jill since 1996 and has two children Allison 19 and Matthew 14.



Chapter 16 Now What? Do you want to make a difference for Global Missions? This is your opportunity to become involved in the greatest enterprise on earth. Do you want to be a part of reaching the world with the gospel and sending out missionaries globally? This is your time in history. You and your church can be blessed and be a blessing, too. You can have the resources you need, God said “He would supply all our needs. Philippians 4:19, But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. What is the Next Step? Go to your church and challenge it to send out a missionary to some faraway place. Inform them about unreached people groups around the world; there are at least two thousand Bibleless people groups in the world. Your church could adopt one, as Lifeline Baptist Church has, for the purpose of introducing the Bible and the gospel to them. We are only a small church plant but we have a great heart for missions and evangelism. I remember when we had our first faith promise giving conference in our very first church plant in Mississauga, Ontario. We had invited Pastor Mike Withem to come and teach us about Faith Promise. The Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church made faith promise commitments of $50,000 our first year. We learned a lot that year, and God used us to make a difference world-wide.

118 Faith Promise Giving Whatever we do, we must do it now, for the gospel of this Kingdom must be preached into all the world, and then comes the end. How do we fund this kind of a project? We don’t have any resources. We are not able to do this! You are so right; you are not able. But God is able. It is in our inability that we discover the unlimited resources of our God. Philippians 4:19 says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” We trust Him by faith and we launch out in His grace. It is called “Faith Promise Giving”. By faith ask your church to have a Faith Promise Giving conference. Ask someone that knows the principles of Faith Promise to come and share with your church or your small group and teach them biblical principles on how God supplies when we have no means— how God gives when we have nothing to give. Why do we need to try Faith Promise Giving? For years I heard about how some churches were giving great amounts of money for missions and sending out missionaries globally. I wanted my church to be blessed like that, too! It was my opinion for a long time that my church had to be large and rich to be involved with Global Missions. My thinking was all wrong. God blesses small churches as much as he does large ones. It is according to the size of our faith that God works, not according to the size of our church attendance or membership or bank accounts. We need to experience Faith Promise Giving in order to increase our faith—to increase our vision. The most compelling reason for Faith Promise Giving is the dire need for preaching the gospel into all the world. Someone once said, “God’s world rescue plan includes every Christian”. It is our duty to go out and tell the world how Jesus came to rescue us from sin’s penalty. We have a duty to witness world-wide. The resources that God supplies enables us to do what He commanded us to do.

Biblical Principles of Grace Giving 119 There are at least one billion Hindus that are unreached—and at least one billion Muslims that have resisted the gospel—and one billion Buddhists that need enlightening. If this is not reason enough to want to do something that makes a difference, then your heart is cold and needs an infusion of fire from the Holy Spirit. Our Indifference is Pathetic Charles Stanley in his book, Confronting Casual Christianity, writes: The severest sin of Christians is a numbing lack of concern, an anesthetized attitude of, “I don’t care. I’m in the fold. Why should I concern myself? Is it a wonder people are rushing headlong to perdition? While you read these lines, thousands are perishing, “dead in trespasses and sins.” Do you feel that indifference? I have felt it and it is not pleasant. It is downright inhibiting. We must rise above it and begin asking the Lord, “open my eyes that I might see”. It takes ‘seeing’ things the way God sees them before we can rise above the indifference. Rising above indifference happens when we have a revival of heart, mind and soul. We have had many missions’ revivals and were blessed greatly. A missions’ revival is where we share the principles of Faith Promise Giving and have missionaries come to challenge our hearts for global missions. It is exciting. Let’s rise above the indifference and get all excited for souls everywhere. We would love to help you have a Faith Promise Giving conference. May each one of our readers be moved by God’s Holy Spirit to increase their faith. May we all reach more people for Christ in these very troubling days in which we live. There is no time like the present to make a difference wherever you can.



A Division of BTC Publications Winter Haven, Florida