yesterday was quite an experience at West Ridge Church. Brian spoke about money. in fact he is doing a 3 week series called “FEARLESS” all about trusting God with our (His) money.

Brian was bold yesterday and talked about the tithe, giving regularly, starting with the first fruits, etc.  made people a little tense. i thought the lady in front of me was going to walk out. could see anger in her face. i had never seen the family before, i assume they were guest.

at the end of the sermon, Brian showed two large buckets filled with money. he challenged anyone with money (the folding kind, no change) to give. THEN, he invited anyone with need to come to the bucket, put both hands in and grab whatever you can, no questions asked. can i just say WOW!

here is a smattering of stories:

and btw: the angry family got lots of money, returned to their seats crying.

my wife saw a lady at WalMart later buying groceries, she told the clerk she had just gotten the money at church to buy groceries.

one African American gentleman, sitting with a pile of money on his lap, just weeping. i prayed with him afterward. he had not been to church in years. happened to pick WRC this weekend to begin his journey back. he told me, “i’ve been under hard times lately.” when i left 45 minutes after the service he was still sitting there crying.

one lady, who was about to lose her house, needed $700.00, she walked away able to pay the mortgage.

in one service the buckets ran out of money. families went to the front and started writing checks and handing them out with no names attached, just an amount to bless others. below is one of those stories.

here’s an email the pastors got this morning: “I want to thank the gentleman that walked up to me during the second service and gave me the money after it had run short. I am so sorry I didn’t thank you then. Even among my West Ridge family, I wanted to get out of line so badly. Standing up there visible to all was so terribly difficult. I remained, however, for my family. I will honor your sacrifice by ensuring that it is wisely used. When I have a job again, I vow that I will once again help other people as I did before losing my job. I will help with the same heart that led you to help me. I will never forget how this layoff has impacted me personally and my family. The lesson will not be lost. God bless you for helping my West Ridge brother.”

some comments: “i’ve never seen anything like that in church” “that was amazing” “that was truly the church this morning”

on top of that WRC helped CAYA hand out over 800 turkeys on Saturday. a men’s group did not attend church Sunday morning handing out 200 turkeys and trimmings to families.

imagine what would happen in the church if we gave like that everyday. would we need all this government stuff we complain about. let the church be the church, let the people rejoice and your taxes would go down.

thank you God for daily bread, and a church that get’s it!

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