As you well know our church was burglarized in the dark hours of August 5th or 6th. The first thing I
want to do is assure each of you that no personal information was taken. I erroneously said that our
main church computer was taken, but that was proven to be wrong. The computer, and all personal or
private information, is safe. The church safe was stolen, but it had very little cash in it and I’m sure the
thief/thieves were sorely disappointed when and if they got it open.
“What kind of person will steal from a church?” you may ask. That is a very good question. You see,
there are a lot of people who would steal from the Lord. First, obviously, is the people who will break in
and literally burglarize the facilities. Every church I have served has, at one time or another, been
robbed under the cover of darkness. Unfortunately, most of them were related to drugs or alcohol;
sometimes to youthful shenanigans.
Then there are those who come for a handout when help isn’t truly needed. This happens far more than
people realize. You’d probably be surprised at the number of phone calls we get on a weekly basis from
people offering fraudulent stories of hardships and sickness in order to get some money. We have
several effective ways of weeding them out (like offering to go with them to purchase groceries or to get
a prescription filled. The dishonest ones never want that. And…we never give cash). But sometimes, we
will get fooled, anyway.
There is a third type of person we don’t like to talk about: Those who withhold gifts to the Lord.
Malachi 3:8 says ““Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing
you?’ “In tithes and offerings.” We sure don’t like to read that, do we? But please know that God does
not want us to give out of fear or under duress, but from a heart of love and thankfulness. But it is also
a token of obedience as well. Before we look down on some folks, we need to take stock of our own
heart.
We should pray for those who would break into a church or lie to a church in order to get money.
Perhaps the Lord will soon trouble their hearts and, just perhaps, they can repent and turn to Him. But
we need to pray personally for a generous and selfless heart for ourselves.
Say good things about your Savior and His Church on the Bluff
want to do is assure each of you that no personal information was taken. I erroneously said that our
main church computer was taken, but that was proven to be wrong. The computer, and all personal or
private information, is safe. The church safe was stolen, but it had very little cash in it and I’m sure the
thief/thieves were sorely disappointed when and if they got it open.
“What kind of person will steal from a church?” you may ask. That is a very good question. You see,
there are a lot of people who would steal from the Lord. First, obviously, is the people who will break in
and literally burglarize the facilities. Every church I have served has, at one time or another, been
robbed under the cover of darkness. Unfortunately, most of them were related to drugs or alcohol;
sometimes to youthful shenanigans.
Then there are those who come for a handout when help isn’t truly needed. This happens far more than
people realize. You’d probably be surprised at the number of phone calls we get on a weekly basis from
people offering fraudulent stories of hardships and sickness in order to get some money. We have
several effective ways of weeding them out (like offering to go with them to purchase groceries or to get
a prescription filled. The dishonest ones never want that. And…we never give cash). But sometimes, we
will get fooled, anyway.
There is a third type of person we don’t like to talk about: Those who withhold gifts to the Lord.
Malachi 3:8 says ““Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing
you?’ “In tithes and offerings.” We sure don’t like to read that, do we? But please know that God does
not want us to give out of fear or under duress, but from a heart of love and thankfulness. But it is also
a token of obedience as well. Before we look down on some folks, we need to take stock of our own
heart.
We should pray for those who would break into a church or lie to a church in order to get money.
Perhaps the Lord will soon trouble their hearts and, just perhaps, they can repent and turn to Him. But
we need to pray personally for a generous and selfless heart for ourselves.
Say good things about your Savior and His Church on the Bluff
Bro. Tony