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Be Bold, but No Naussicans

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By Dan Amos

It’s been three years since we put together a “regular” budget. Since then, we’ve had retirements, transitions, and the weirdest one of all, COVID. But we have presented to us for a vote a budget that says, “Be bold.” It’s well within our means, within our current giving, but it makes some choices about where to invest our effort.  There are no fictional Naussicans or allegorical starships from the Ecclesiastes 11 passage I spoke on several weeks ago. Instead, I’ll highlight a few of the significant lines in the new budget.

Kids’ Ministry is at the top of the spreadsheet. I don’t know why—it has always held that position in my memory. But it is appropriate, as one of the first efforts of rebuilding has been creating a space to care for and disciple children. There’s a little extra for curriculum and more for leadership development and volunteer appreciation. There’s a new line for family discipleship resources, reflecting the need to equip parents to lead and grow their families. There will also be a much needed upgrade to the playground.

Common Ground Student Ministry is continued at the same amount, including funds to supplement for the 2022 Challenge Conference trip to Kansas City (funds for the 2021 summer trip were unused).

The budget provides a robust investment in Adult Ministries, increasing funding for Men’s Ministry, and showing the emphasis on improving efforts to provide targeted support to adults. Similarly, there are new lines for College and Senior Ministries. Lastly, there is a new line for leadership development to empower our volunteer leaders.

The Worship Ministry budget has an increase mostly for providing the tools to enable growth and the continuation of serving with excellence.

One big, surprising decrease is in our utilities, where our telephone system is getting a technological upgrade that saves thousands of dollars.

Lastly, there are some adjustments in the personnel budget. The bold move is to fund a part-time Youth Ministries Director. We are looking to hire a dedicated leader for our Student Ministries to support the volunteer team who have kept things going for the last couple of years through extraordinary times.

As I was scrolling down the budget, I overlooked one item of great significance. The Holistic Outreach budget includes $10,000 for Local Missions. As we reach out beyond the borders of the oasis, Elim, these funds will help us tangibly partner with other Christians in the area in missions such as Care Net.

With this budget we can try many things, casting our bread on the waters and giving a portion to seven or even to eight. We don’t know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether all will do equally well.

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Every Word that Comes from the Mouth of God

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By Beth White

Right now, I’m reading a book about interacting with kids. It’s called When Children Love to Learn, and it’s a collection of thoughts shared by different people who have taught children in some capacity. My personal reason for reading the book is to gain inspiration as I try to homeschool and parent well. Going through it, though, I found something that I thought related to us as students of the Lord.

                In one chapter, author Susan Schaeffer Macaulay explains that a well-meaning teacher will often ruin a lesson for their student. Worried that a story in itself is not enough, they will either provide their own interpretation or present the kids with a neat moral. She says, “We do all children a massive disservice when we ‘chew’ over the material and ‘spit the pulp’ out for them. People reject the secondhand results of someone else’s efforts. No . . . let the children remember because they took it in themselves. Let them think their own thoughts about it. Let them respond.”

                Reading this, I thought about how we as adults are also constantly force-fed somebody else’s thoughts about the Bible. We listen to our favorite podcasts, we read a devotional crafted specifically for us by someone going through the same stage of life, or we do a Bible study. But do we ever just read the Bible?

                It’s easier to read about the Bible than it is to read the Bible itself, but that is the one thing above all else that we need to be doing. Trust in your ability to hear from the Lord. He is not a tricky God, and He doesn’t make himself hard to find. In fact, what Jesus says is that “everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:8).

                You don’t need somebody else to prechew the Lord’s words for you and pass along what they think is the main point. You, like a child, have a working mind and a heart capable of responding to the Holy Spirit’s touch. Get your nourishment directly from the source. If you are interested in learning from others, that’s great; there are some good teachers who have important things to say. But please don’t neglect the simple practice of reading through the actual Bible, with prayer. Allow God to surprise you as you seek His face directly and invite the Holy Spirit to be your teacher.

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