Prophetic Ministries Today

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you are to give all your tithes to the one church or ministry. What the Bible does say is to give unto God what is rightfully HIS! (Ref. Malachi 3:8) How do you do that? It is easy! If you are receiving revelation from God through a ministry or church, then you have found His Spirit and that is where He wants you to sow your tithes and offerings. Think about it: if God has chosen that person to speak through, do you suppose that might be where He would want you to give of your material things? If the minister is good enough for God, how much more should we be willing to bless him/her?

"Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel." I Corinthians 9:13,14

Here we find another commandment of the Lord that we can either obey or disobey. If the Lord has commanded those who preach the gospel to live from the gospel, then we need to support those who labor in this good news. What could be the punishment for not taking care of those who are laboring for God's word? Have you ever tried to find God after He has hidden Himself so well that you feel abandoned? In the day of the prophet Amos, a famine existed, but the famine was not of food or water but of the word of the Lord. (Ref. Amos 8:11,12) I am sure there were still priest, prophets and kings in that day but God was not speaking through any of them. Why? Because the people became close fisted and would not give the Lord their best. As a result, they were cursed.

"Your words have been harsh against Me," says the LORD. Yet you say, "What have we spoken against You?" You have said, "It is useless to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the LORD of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free." Malachi 3:13-15

Since the day the Lord had me start asking the people to give something of value for a prophecy tape, seemed to be the same day that I started fighting my flesh and the devil. You see, I was proud and I did not want to be supported by God's people. It made me feel out of control to depend on the people for my needs. I would rather paint houses or work at the grocery store than take money for preaching and prophesying.

I have really experienced the power in this verse of scripture that says, "It is better to give than to receive." (Ref. Acts 20:35) Believe me, it is much easier to labor in physical task and receive a regular paycheck than to earn your wages from spiritual labor. Once you have been humbled to depend upon the people for your livelihood, you realize that you have given up the freedom to do as you want and say whatever you will. You become much more responsible to the people God sends your way and will find yourself praying much harder for their wealth, health and sound mind.

These attacks are not our battles to fight; God defends His own. Andrea and I have tried very hard to do only what God has told us to do, and that is not always what others want us to do. I asked the Lord over and over again, "Why do we have to ask the people to give in order to receive." He has responded many ways, but each time He has not wavered in His reasoning. He once said, "Son, the gospel is not free; it cost me My life!" Another time He responded to my plea with these words, "Son if they have nothing invested in the word they receive, it will be worthless to them." On another occasion the Lord said, "The gospel is not free; it will cost you this life in exchange for life eternal."

At a time when I became very stressed over finances the Lord said to me, "Son, do not take this life too seriously, for this is not it!" After hearing the Lord's words so many times, I have learned to become very firm in the way we handle things in this ministry, for it is His ministry we are entrusted with. Now when we receive hate mail or rebukes for asking for the financial support, it just makes me more determined to preach the truth about the spiritual law of giving and receiving. In the exchange of spiritual things for monetary gifts, the devil has worked overtime on a large portion of God's people. The fact is the Bible is not a book of lies and it does fully support the spiritual law of exchange, although we need to make sure that we are supporting the church or ministry that is producing God's word and blessings. To give just to be giving does not always produce God's rewards and blessing.