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Testimony on
Finance
When I was a little boy, my parents always
gave me a quarter to but in the offering basket at church every week
When I grew up and began working full time, I
had money taken out of my paycheck each week as a donation to the United Way.
Then when someone called asking us to donate to their cause, I would say “I gave
at the office.”
Many years went by and this was the only
giving of finances I participated in.
After Dianne and I were married in 1984, we
decided to attend church with the children. Giving was done on a pledge
basis—once a year the church would have financial campaign where they would
explain the financial condition of the church and let us know how much we as a
church body needed to give this year to meet our obligations and goals for the
new year. They issued numbered envelopes so we would not forget to give all 52
weeks. Without them, many who skipped a Sunday, would skip giving for that
week—only giving when they attended; kind of an entrance fee rather than an
offering.
Before 1991 our business was going pretty
well. We were paying our bills and food was on the table. However, the children
and my mother-in-law did refer to me as cheap. We gave to various charities as
well as our weekly pledge envelope.
After our encounter with God in 1991, we
accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Our lives changed and we no longer fit at
the church we were attended. We found a church that believed in the healing
Dianne had received. It is there we learned about tithing.
Ten percent was a big commitment for me. I was
used to $20 a week and our income was more than $200 a week. Using the old
pledging philosophy, I took our 1040 gross income and divided it by 52 to come
up with a weekly amount. Of course after deductions, this was not close to our
actual income each week. But it was considerably more than that $20 per week.
Then we heard a message about gross versus
net–do you want a gross blessing from God or a Net blessing. This got us
thinking and we went to one of the pastors and asked how much we should give.
When you run your own business and do not take a paycheck each week out of it,
there is no gross/net to figure on. He told us to ask God. Although this was a
good answer, I did not think so at the time. God didn’t talk to me and this
whole tithing thing was intellectual to me–I was giving out of a need to give
because I wanted to please God; I wanted to do what I was supposed to do to fit
in.
Then we heard a message on the message in
Malachi.
Malachi 3:8 "Should
people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! "But you ask, 'What do you mean? When
did we ever cheat you?' "You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to
me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all
the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you
do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will
pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it!
[Test me in this!] Let me prove it to you! Your crops will be abundant, for I
will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not shrivel before
they are ripe," says the LORD Almighty.
God was getting to us. Our heart was beginning
to take over and our giving increased.
In 1999 we felt led to form The Evans
Ministries and have a weekly fellowship (we had been meeting weekly with others
in our home ever since Dianne’s healing in 1991) as part of the ministry God had
called us to.
We were meeting for a number of months, but
nothing was opening up for us–we had our weekly meeting but doors were not
opening for us to go out and minister, to give the message God had put on our
heart to give.
I questioned God. I was thinking perhaps we
had not heard correctly. Then we received a check for $54,000 from someone not
involved with our weekly meeting. God had spoken and we knew that we knew we
were to continue on the path we were on.
Out tithing was easier at this point. God had
opened up a larger door at the college and I was receiving a regular paycheck.
We gave off the GROSS amount. On the business side, we began to give on the
checks being received from my computer consulting instead of on the estimated
income after expenses.
Then we heard a message about the difference
between tithes and offerings. When you don’t tithe, you are giving an offering.
This is what we had been doing for years. And without the tithe, the offering is
like seed planted on hard ground. The offering is above and beyond the tithe.
This was a new concept for us. Since then,
when we have those weeks when we do not receive a check, we give an offering.
When we see others in need, we give them our offering. We sow seed above and
beyond our 10%.
Since then, our lives have never been without
what we need.
We pay our tithe first, then we take care of
ourselves and our bills. There is always enough left over. We give offerings
above and beyond the tithe. And when things seem dark, when our ability to earn
is shaken, He always comes through.
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Extra work from book publisher when class canceled
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Full time appointment at the college when income low
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Asked to review books for major book publisher
when one summer class was dropped
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Asked to write a textbook after the temporary appointment was
finished
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Given additional Full Time appointments as we have needed them
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Had the insurance company on site in FL after
hurricane Charlie before anyone else, with
money, and completed the restoration a year before many others
As we obey His Word, He makes a way where
there does not seem to be one.
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