PROVERBIAL CHRISTIANITY

                                       PROVERBIAL CHRISTIANITY  

    This is a message that may be hard to swallow, but it's based on
scripture. Christianity in America has been gradually changing over
the past 50 years. Because of the gradual aspect of change, few people in the church world are aware of the change and the consequences that may follow. Mixed in, and making the changes more dangerous, are the carnal egos and personal agendas of some leaders.

    Anyone who professes to be a Christian should be a follower of Jesus Christ and MUST follow His teaching. His teaching in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John MUST be the guidelines and practice to follow. These books have His words. No other books in the bible have His words. There are the words of kings, prophets, disciples and others, but none of these people are Jesus Christ. While the Epistles are important, they do not contain the words of Christ. For the most part, they are cultural guides as people enter into the practice of Christianity.

    There have been two major problems introduced into Christian  churches and congregations. Most church people have no idea of these growing problems. A sermon based on one or just a few verses of scripture usually will not reveal the problem. That is especially true if scripture is taken from the Book of Proverbs. Christ did not speak the words of Proverbs, and you must understand exactly who did write this book. The book has much wisdom and good advice, and is certainly of value. But, you must be careful to understand the difference between a carnal writer's advice and the very words of Christ.

    Sometimes one word in a verse of Proverbs which, by and large, is good advice, is EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF CHRIST'S teaching in the four books of the gospel. I'll get to that word and other examples shortly, but first we need to examine who is writing this advice in the book. Many of the proverbs were written by King Solomon. We are told he was the wisest man who ever lived. He was wise, as indicated by his decision on the mother of a child. But there is much more you should know about this wise man. After he was anointed king, he set about killing all those in the court and leadership who had opposed his being king. This you will find in 1 Kings 2, where the closing verse 46 states in part, "Thus the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon." His fame spread, and people said (1 Kings 4:31), "For he was wiser than all men." Note carefully, they said he was wiser than all men. He was not wiser than the Son of God. He obtained great wealth, but fell victim to carnal desires--a large herd of horses, and hundreds of wives and concubines. The women worshiped strange gods, and this was Solomon's main undoing. Even the wisest man 
cannot be blameless and equal the Son of God. It was Solomon's 
excesses that caused God to split the Jewish kingdom.

    Not all of Proverbs is attributed to Solomon, and little is known of
some of the other writers such as Agur and Lemuel. Not one of these
writers wrote with the knowledge and wisdom of Christ, and their writings do not make up the Christian manifesto. If you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, you are not a Christian unless you carefully follow Christ's teaching. While the proverbs contain some good advice, they are not Christ's rules.

    We have three types of ministers. Each relies on a certain aspect
of the bible. Some ministers stress the epistles, especially the letters
of Paul. This results in confusion, because some of Paul's directions
to newly established churches deal with cultural differences. Some of
the problems from this includes such things as the use of color, which
has separated some denominations from others.  Another problem is
forbidding women to be pastors or church officers. Women's leadership
in the church began way back when Moses, Aaron and Miriam were
selected by God to lead His people. Remember, the Jews are His original
people. You (and some pastors) need to study a little history so you don't make these types of mistakes. God appointed man to be the leader of a household, not a tyrant (Yes, I'm familiar with that word). If you know anything about the primitive years of world history, you should know why He made that appointment. God constructed men to be physically stronger and better able to protect and lead a family. It was not because man was wiser. 

    Some ministers teach strongly from Proverbs. This is basically advice
on how to live for success and to please God. The Pauline teaching
creates confusion and separation. Proverbial teaching creates violence
separation. Ridiculous, you say? I direct you to Proverbs 6:16. "These six
things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him." The 
problem here is the use of the word HATES. Jesus Christ was sent by
the Lord to instruct and heal. Christ NEVER used the word Hate. He
described various sins, but covers each and all with His shed blood.
In fact, He said just the opposite of hate. Matt. 22:39 states, "And the 
second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If you don't
know the First Commandment, it is "You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Christ
taught only LOVE, never hate. It's unfortunate the writer of Proverbs
6:16-19 used the word hate because God and Christ are the opposite
of hate.

    Ministers who like the word hate use passages such as I quoted,
and add their own pet hates such as homosexuality or other sex related
situations. I have heard several such ministers, and they really get
into ranting and raving. They don't rave about infidelity (some are
guilty of this), theft, or, worst of all, (6:19) "A false witness who speaks
lies, And one who sows discord among brethren." They equate same
sex marriage with dirty sex and ignore the need for companionship,
especially among the elderly, and the program benefits that are
available only to married couples. These ministers either don't know
the Word of God, or they are deliberately using an emotional appeal
to gain vigilante or mob support. 

    These antics, such as the West Baptist congregation and others, are
driving a wedge between actual Christians of the bible and professing
Christians who are ignorant of the bible, following a pied piper. If you
aren't aware of Christ's teaching and listen and follow this false
teaching, you are in deep trouble. God expects you to study scripture
and understand His Son's teaching and sacrifice.

    At least part of the general public has realized the difference between
Christ's teaching and this Proverbial teaching. The growing result is a
black eye on Christianity. It is difficult for a minister of Christ to convince
someone that the hate proverbs aren't Christian rules. You'd be surprised
how many non Christians know a lot about the bible, and have decided
they want no part of the hate cult. And folks, that's exactly what this
type of teaching is--a cult. It is separating Christians in the church by
forcing them to take sides on the issues. If the pastor preaches hate,
you're expected to grab hold of the rope and yank. So much for love.
As Christ once said, (John 8:7) "He who is without sin among you, let
him throw a stone at her first." All sins are equally bad and may be
forgiven. 

    So, why not teach the hate verses? They are part of showing you
not to do things and, like most of the bible, are there to encourage you
to use your mind and reason. The church today is full of people who
are self righteous, believing they have all the truth. In reality, they have
little truth. If you doubt this message thus far, turn to John 3:16, "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Now, one
last word about hate. Turn to Matt. 5:44 for the last direction from Christ
about hate. "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in
heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust." If your speaker or pastor
talks about hate, ask him about these verses. This is Christ speaking,
not just a man.

    You have a choice. You can follow Christ in love, or you can base
your hatred on the few verses of Proverbs written by a man who became
the victim of tremendous success and wealth. If your choice is to join
in the muck racking of the Proverbial Church rather than the true
Christian Church, at least refrain from calling yourself a Christian.
It's difficult enough to win souls for Christ with all the wrong teaching
by some "Christian" leaders and churches. Remember, when you
accepted Christ you pledged to follow Him, not King Solomon. Your
Christian walk will either be accepted by the Savior, or you will be
rejected as warned in Matt. 7:23. "And then I will declare to them,
'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."'

    Be careful who you follow, because you will answer for your actions. You should have a personal relationship with Christ that supersedes any relationship with a mere man, no matter how famous he may be in the "church" world. You do have a choice.

Rev. Walbear 

HOME FRONT

                                                   HOME FRONT

    We pay homage to our servicemen and women on Veterans Day, and rightly so. There really isn't any way to compensate them for disabling injuries or loss of life. We overlook some very important citizens on D-Day also, because they represent what we called the Home Front in world War II. These are the mothers, wives and children who remained at home while the soldiers were far away fighting in strange countries. For every soldier missing at home, there were many at home living a life of hope and fear.

     While we don't hear the term Home Front nowadays, we still have those people at home missing a son, daughter, husband or wife. Today there are many more women in military service than in World War II. The impact on families can be devastating. Having the servicemen and women away from home is bad enough, but there are other negative aspects today. You don't really understand the problems and heartaches these veterans and their families go through to sustain your freedom. I especially reflect tremendous ill feeling towards Americans who have been financially successful and renounced their citizenship. They made big bucks in the safety of our country while the soldiers put their life on the line. To me, these people are guilty of treason, not to mention they are cowards. Thank God we didn't have these greedy "citizens" during that war.

    I don't want to digress from my message subject, but I believe God is not smiling down at them. Some of these financial whizzes claim to be Christians. Folks, before you open your mouth to claim you're a believer in Jesus Christ, consider what, if anything, you've ever done according to His teaching. Even those on the Home Front sacrifice for all Americans and the free world. Now let's consider the continuing sacrifice and loss by those on the Home Front.

    Veterans during World War II didn't lose their homes because they
couldn't afford mortgage payments out of their meager pay. As recent as the 1950s, a G.I. received only $78 a month. The total was more if he was married, but it still was a pittance. Today, the banks pay no attention to the veterans' financial hardship because of service, and move in to foreclose, sometimes illegally. Veteran assistance is woefully slow, and homes are whisked away. Small businesses are allowed to fail. The congressmen and congresswomen seem paralyzed to do anything. Except, they can follow our mostly inept military leaders in cutting on-base services, family allowances and military pensions. What are the generals interested in? Women's hair styles, tattoos and other incidentals the enemy may not like.

    During the late 1950s and early 1960s, returning veterans were spit
on by civilians. Many of these vets were vets only because they were
drafted into service. Their lives were interrupted by losing at least two
years for a life threatening, poor pay job. Today it is even worse,  because a very small portion of the population has anything to do with the military. When soldiers come home with disabling stress, they face poor care and shunning by the public. Some care by the Veterans Administration is good, but some care is life threatening bad. I know this from personal experience. The major problem with management rests between the top and bottom. This is where middle management people take the easy way out. Get good pay, and only do the minimum to keep the money and benefits coming in. This is also the internal rot of many corporations. Like professional sports, when your team is a loser, you are fired only to be selected to manage or coach another team. There are good generals, but many received their stars by being a skilled politician. 

    The home front today is different than that of World War II because
our military leaders and congress people discovered a way to subvert
universal service (the draft). Today the military is taking advantage of
reservists and national guardsmen. These are people who either have
signed up to protect citizens within our national borders, or soldiers
who have already served in active duty. There are two reasons our 
leaders have done this: these are people already trained or experienced,
and is less costly. Money seems to rule everything in America except
consciences.

    The National Guard was created to serve citizens in the United States,
not on foreign soil. Many of these troops are vital parts of communities
and have families with children. Taking mom or dad away from the family to serve in a foreign country does absolutely nothing positive for America. What it does is prevent the expense of maintaining a regular army that was created to defend our country and to preserve freedom. It also removes the need for universal service, which excuses most Americans from ever having to serve our country. It also removes most Americans from pledging their very lives for others who choose not to actively support our freedom. Not everybody can serve in the military, but everybody does have the capacity to serve their country. Paying taxes is the easy way out. I appreciate the occasional "thank you for your service," but it is a VERY occasional salute. It does not carry over to spouses and children.

    Christians may argue that God does not condone war and we should
not want to kill other people. I never served with a soldier who wanted
to kill anyone. We serve to prevent killing. And, to those pacifists who
look down upon war and soldiers, there is plenty of scripture to define
God's directions about war. Going all the way back to the first book of
the Old Testament, God directed His people to war. In Joshua we are
introduced to the Commanding General of God's army. God's army may
be invisible to us, but that's only because we aren't high tech enough
to understand the spiritual world.

    The loss of a soldier causes never ending grief to the family and
presents all kinds of problems for those within the family circle. The
problems cover all aspects of life, not just the loss of a person. There
will continue to be a need for soldiers and armies until Christ returns.
Humans without a real commitment to Christ--even though they claim
to have faith--continue to wax worse and worse with greed and ego.
Money and power are their goals, and many use Christianity and the
church as a stepping stone to achieve their goal. Many American leaders have the same goal as leaders in other countries. Their explanation of freedom is a rigid set of rules and regulations to support their variety of freedom--a dictatorship. Note carefully these foreign leaders use religion to fuel their desire to rule. 

    Because of our development into impatient high tech people, we have lost the value of research. We tend to believe almost anything if the presenter knows what we prefer. This is bad enough in politics, but more troubling in the church. We have few church leaders, including pastors, who are willing to preach facts from scripture instead of just going along with the flow of pretending "faith" leaders. Satan uses these "big mouths" to inflame and divide people. Things never change because humanity doesn't change. Man wants to be better and different than others. The same applies in the church. Christ did not lay out a bunch of rules--He kept it simple. All the denominational rules, and division by skin color are man's ideas. If only the church would accurately teach the four gospels, the division in America would not exist. Then, maybe, Americans would not be at war with themselves and the home front wouldn't be necessary.

Rev. Walbear

THANKSGIVING at STRAWBERRY RIDGE

                            THANKSGIVING at STRAWBERRY RIDGE           

    We've had many interesting Thanksgivings, but one stands out as the best and most joyful of all. It was not planned in advance, a fact that supports good things sometimes defy planning. When my wife and I were married we immediately moved in to my family farm. It was located at Strawberry Ridge in Pennsylvania. Wild strawberries did grow there, but the area is not known for that delicacy. One thing that identified the farm was the large paintings on the side of the big, red barn. Two white horses were rearing, facing each other, with a large eagle overhead in the middle.

    Strawberry Ridge was the name of a rural village about a mile  down the road. Until the end of World War II, it was a busy place with only a handful of houses, but a group of businesses that served the agriculturally dominated area. It had a milk receiving station, a feed mill, a general store that handled everything, a railroad freight station, a church, a hotel and a former one room school converted to a polling place for the township. There was regular railroad freight service, and the village was located on a slight ridge with a four corners crossroad. While there were larger villages in the area, Strawberry Ridge was a center of local farming supplies and needs. There was no other milk receiving station nearby, and farmers hauled their milk daily to the receiving station.

    During the war years, schools dismissed students at  1pm., right after lunch. This was to make the children available to assist on the farms. The war effort required an increased production of all kinds of agricultural products. Both boys and girls helped with the farm activities, but the boys were introduced to field work and other tasks at an earlier age than usual. They learned the trade and were the first generation to make the transition from horses to tractors. Because the war effort required tanks, airplanes and mechanical equipment, new tractors were not available. Neither were new cars available until the war's end. People got used to shortages of all  kinds. Some things like tires and nylon stockings were scarce.  Almost everything was rationed, and after the military, farmers were  next in line for scarce commodities.

    By the time of this Thanksgiving, the war was long over, and the 
transition to modern farming was well underway. Now that labor saving equipment was available, most farmers, like us, stepped up the volume of activities. Some took outside jobs or pursued a professional career along with maintaining a farm. My work in the ministry was put on hold, as I accepted a position with the Department of Agriculture. It was an opportune time, because the national management of crops was beginning. I later moved to the newspaper business as a writer, editor and photographer.

    My wife managed the business and work of the farm, and still managed to continue her education in the ministry field as well as becoming qualified to serve as a magistrate. The combination of  our long work hours and outside jobs did not leave much recreation or holiday time. We spent some pretty sparse Thanksgivings. During my military service years I didn't take holiday leave. There were younger men who needed the down time at home worse than I.

    The Thanksgiving I'm writing about here seemed to follow the usual pattern, with extra work on the farm as animal chores were in the winter mode. That meant more time for feeding, watering and cleaning bedding areas. We didn't have off farm work this day, but needed the extra time to catch up on projects. We had purchased items for a bountiful meal, but it looked like we wouldn't have prep time for the main dishes. That all changed with a phone call early in the morning.

    We were just getting underway with chores when the call came from friends who lived about 50 miles away. This family--husband and wife, and son about 10--became friends with us because of their  interest in dairy goats. Among our 200 head of livestock were dairy cows and dairy goats. The goats were special because we began our herd with national champion does from the Sandberg Estate. They set production records, and gave us international sales and recognition. Our friends--the Mosher family-- had visited our farm  several times and were interested in our operation. They were also Christians, and we enjoyed our scriptural discussions. 

    The Moshers were observing Thanksgiving alone, and thought it would be a good idea to invite us. It was a wonderful idea, but we knew there weren't enough hours in the day for us to do all the chores and make the round trip of over two hours. We thanked them for the invitation, and they had visited often enough to understand the rigors of wintertime chores. Then, they came up with a super idea. They could pack up all the goodies, including the turkey, and bring the feast to us. They didn't have the time constraints as we did.

    It was a sort of reverse invitation, but having most of the dishes 
prepared ahead of time meant we could even have the meal close to the normal desired time. Wow! Did we ever accept their offer, and we moved briskly into the chores. We weren't quite done with the work when the Moshers arrived, and Skeeter assisted Mary Lou in making the final preparations. We added some of our planned menu, and we had a scrumptious meal. In addition to the Moshers, we had a young lad
staying with us for the holiday vacation. We were six very thankful
people.

    Joy abounded, as we enumerated the many things each of us had
been blessed with, including the great fellowship of Christian friends.
Instead of watching football after the meal, we could exchange stories
and events in our lives for which we were thankful. The fellowship was
actually better than the bountiful meal. What had begun as a possible
drudgery day with the prospect of eating on the fly, ended with happy
conversation and a visit that included time with the animals.

    What I have come to know as I've gotten older is that we take God's
blessings for granted and only "see" the big events in our lives. When
I deviated from a bells and whistles message at a gathering some years
ago, a self righteous impersonator (he thought he was a Christian) urged
me to speed up my message. The Holy Spirit disagreed with him, and I
followed the Holy Spirit's leading. We should all be thankful for the many
everyday "small" things we don't miss until these functions are lost. It
is then we become aware of how much God gives us and how often we
just accept these blessings without appreciation. Happy blessed
Thanksgiving everybody.

Rev. Walbear

BUSINESS OR SERVICE

                                                                              BUSINESS OR SERVICE

    In America, we think of accomplishing things through business or services. The explanation of business is easy to understand, but service gives us a more complicated situation. Usually we receive
services for a fee. That is the equivalent of a businessman's bill. A fee is just another word for a bill. You pay a doctor, a dentist or a financial adviser a fee. Some fees are absolute, according to  cost of material needed for work performed for you. It's really not  much different than wages paid a carpenter, or the cost of a bus or  taxi.  We can summarize this by concluding that a business purchase and a service fee are much alike, right?

    Actually, no. There are some services you may receive that do not have a charge or fee. While some firemen have a salaried job, there are many volunteer firemen that receive no pay. There are
care givers who are volunteers with no pay. These people work because of compassion and because they do want to make the  world a better place. Since everyone needs the necessities of life, most people work at a job (business) or as a professional skilled to perform certain tasks. A military person does receive pay for his service, but that service carries a penalty none other does. He pledges his/her life. We can't put a material value such  as money or goods on a person's life. Jobs in business and
professions need to provide pay because they are based on the carnal world, not the spiritual world. 

    Now we need to look at a specific type of service few people understand. We go to church services, wedding services, funeral services and baptisms. These should be carried out as services
for the Lord. Are they, or are they part of a job? Is there a salary involved? Is there a stated fee for a wedding or funeral? It is almost impossible to find a situation where a salary or fee is not required. After all, everyone must have a means to live, especially if a family is part of the mixture.

    There are some Christian denominations whose clergy sustain themselves and their family without any salary or fees. They may accept a collection, but can't rely on regular income from their service. You might say they work for free. You may also say that isn't possible for a pastor of a church. Of course there are many ministries on radio and television that collect very handsome income and have paid staff as well as speakers. In America, there really isn't much choice if you desire to serve the Lord or are called to His service. Everyone has to make a living.

    We can dissect these two situations and see how the flow of  money has a huge impact on Christianity in America. But, before we do, let's look at scripture. In 1 Thes. 2:9, the Apostle Paul is
reminding the church he did not receive financial or material support for his work there. "For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden
to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God." Paul was carefully pointing out they actually did work day and night. Paul and Silas preached at night, but in the day they labored to earn their living. Paul was a tent maker. Paul accepted absolutely no pay, fee or tithe. He demonstrated that he was beholden to no man or organization. He depended on God and the earthly skills he was given. He had a marvelous education and was a skilled speaker, but he was only God's man.

    We talk about a person receiving a "call" from God to become a minister or pastor. Some say they answered a call, others enter ministry work because of influence from relatives; I have been told
the ministry beats working, and there are many other reasons given by those working in the field. In times past, men devoted their lives to serve God and became monks. They spent their time in study
and worked to sustain themselves. Some denominations require priests to practice celibacy. We see how this sometimes doesn't work out. Some denominations have established regulations for
pastors, priests or bishops. The defining test for ministry service exists at the priest or preacher level. The church needs many types of workers to support the preachers-teachers, and they should be
able to make a decent living doing their work. Now, to the level of the preacher, things become more interesting.

    If you profess to be a Christian, you have a model given you for the selection of priests in the four gospels. Christ did not administer any tests and established no rules except to follow His teaching. The apostles were not an easy group to teach, and He lamented many times about their inability to understand. Things haven't changed, and many pastors today don't seem to have a clue. Rather than work together to teach Christ's message, many pastors push the rules and regulations of their denomination. These tend to separate Christians and enable Satan to diminish God's work. When I was hospitalized, I talked with people of many denominations. I found members of some "Christian" denominations would not even discuss scripture because their denomination had the only truth. If you are Holy Spirit led, you should be able to read or study anything. If you won't do this, it is a sure sign you belong to a strict denomination. Any group that fits this mold is a forerunner to a cult. A cult is a group of believers who are "entranced" by a charismatic leader who they follow as their "pied piper." This is how we get church organizations such as the Westboro Baptists, or the groups in Waco, or the Jim Jones people who perished in South America.

     This troubling trend continues today on two fronts. One brings forth the mega churches where offerings are gathered in bushel baskets. Some of these churches combine Christian basics with
Islam teaching. They are opposites, so you understand Christianity has been sold out. Yet, the money pours in, and when you check the teaching of the lead pastor, you find he doesn't even know scripture, let alone understand it. But, he usually has an "emotional" push that registers with his followers. I watched a service where the pastor led his congregation in song, and the entire service was dominated by singing and dancing. I saw the faces of the younger people, and they had no idea why they were doing it. Praise is important, and this type of praise goes all the way back to David in the Old Testament. But praise does not replace study of scripture, which is work. If you don't know scripture, you won't be able to follow Christ's teaching. His teaching is found in just four books, the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The organized church is not concentrating on this teaching. Our national leaders seem totally unfamiliar with these four books.

    While money seems to dominate the larger churches, business, as in the carnal world, frequently dominates the local and smaller  churches. These groups usually operate with budgets established
by the church board. Teaching frequently gets short changed because of a variety of programs including music, drama, missions, dinners and various other undertakings. None of these are wrong, except where time spent as opposed to scripture study results in little actual learning of the word. Both the congregations and pastors are at fault, but there is constant pressure because of funding needs. The church board usually controls the money, and frequently considers itself to be the
 representative of God. One board told the pastor he could live on a smaller salary because he received considerable fees for performing weddings and funerals. He refused, and left the congregation. Some church boards consider a pastor's salary is a charitable gift. Charity means love, and their action is anything but love. This is the opposite of the mega churches where money is lavished on the pastor.

    Many Christians don't seem to understand pastors are only the "front" man for tithes and offerings. The actual recipient is God, from whom all things come. Pastors at local and small churches face a very difficult decision when it comes to salary and benefits. If they are truly called, they must decide on the direction of the ministry and place teaching the word as first priority. Most congregations don't
want a lengthy teaching service. Some people fall asleep. This is a double problem for the pastor. It could be the sermon is too dull, or it could be there aren't many real Christians in the congregation.

    If the pastor can't stir up the congregation or faces a money  problem, the validity of his call may come into question. Disciples and early church leaders did not serve for monetary gain or standing.
Times have changed, but principles of Christ haven't. If a pastor is called, he must understand his life will not be easy. Satan works very hard to discourage and defeat called pastors. I know of not one, but many instances where a faithful pastor had to decide to leave a congregation or was forced out. Church boards contain some elite community leaders and professionals who consider themselves
superior to their pastor. After all, they are very successful in their occupation, and their position materially should give them the decision making role. Right? This couldn't be any further away from
the truth. Business is commerce. Religion is God. I knew of an elderly pastor in Wisconsin whose church had mostly elderly people. They eventually died, and the church was virtually empty. No one wanted a bible teaching old man as pastor, so he continued at that church. Every week he prepared his teaching sermon in the event he would have a congregation. He believed he was called, and remained  faithful to that call. He existed on social security, and served as an example much like the monks of old. He could spend his time in study and good works.

    For some pastors, it becomes a decision to stand up for Christ's teaching, or to conform to the wishes of a congregation or church board. If the decision is to stand for the teaching, the minister will
probably have to seek a different occupation, at least part time. If he has a family, this is serious business. Challenging denominational rules is daunting. Starting anew is difficult because most people want some emotional stimulus. When a minister takes the highway to teach the gospels without attempting to gather a congregation, you can be assured money is not an issue. Today Christian ministries and churches are pushing the envelop to collect money. Radio stations seek donations in return for crediting the giver. It's also a give and you'll be blessed with a big cash gift. 

    We have been misdirected in the use of the word charity. This type of giving is mostly recognized as helping the poor. Because of this meaning, much of the giving is resented, and considered a gift to those with serious social deficits--especially laziness. This attitude destroys the real original meaning of charity which was and still is love. If your gift is not given with love and without resentment, you may as well keep the money or material. God knows your heart, and He will mark the Book of Life or discard the entry. It's your choice. God always gives you the initial choice.

Rev. Walbear