Vince Deagler

hi everyone.  it has been a while since i last posted anything, but this morning something caught my eye.  our senior bible study is working through the book of exodus.  in chapters 35-40 we have the story of the construction of the tabernacle.  what jumped out at me is the problem the builders encountered in chapter 36.  the story begins in chapter 35 where moses directs the people to bring an offering to the lord for the purpose of building the tabernacle.  he specifically emphasizes “whoever is of a willing heart” (35:5).  then in 35:21 we read how the people responded.  but the full extent of their willingness to give is not seen till you get to 36:5-7.  there it says the people were bringing more than enough to complete the task and they actually had to be restrained in their giving.  WOW!

there are 2 reasons this jumped out at me.  the first deals with the “why” behind their generosity.  what is it that compelled them to give so much?  i can’t help but think they were overwhelmed by god’s grace.  if this were true, how could they not respond in this way?  let me explain.  they recently had been enslaved in egypt.  god had miraculously delivered them from this bondage via the plagues, the parting of the red sea, and the drowning of the egyptian army.  in addition, when they rebelled at mt. sinai by making a golden calf and proclaiming it to be their god, god had forgiven them.  as i understand new testament giving (often called grace giving) this seems to be the heart of the matter.  in fact paul points to a similar pattern in the churches of macedonia  (see 2 corinthians 8-9).  specifically they first gave themselves to the lord (8:5), they gave willingly from a cheerful heart, even begging paul to allow them to contribute (8:4, 9:2, 9:7), and they gave beyond their ability so that the need was fully met (8:3, 9:12).  

a second reason this problem jumped out at me was the fact we as a church are in the midst of budget season.  no one has to tell you things are tough these days.  you already know that.  well that’s true here at prescott too.  as we contemplate the upcoming year, we are seeking to be good stewards.  we are carefully evaluating our spending plans for next year.  please pray with us as we do this evaluation, we want our plans to reflect gods will as much as is humanly possible.

lest i end on a down note, allow me to mention a closing thought.  i went into vocational ministry on january 1, 1980.  i am completing my 32nd year in ministry.  i have been through this before.  god is good, so are his people.  when god is working within you, when you have experienced his grace in real ways, it is easy to understand why ancient israel gave so much…why ancient macedonia gave so much…and how god will supply our needs today.  if you are a part of our church family, pray with us about this.  if you are in another congregation, you may be facing similar circumstances so i would encourage you to get informed and involved.  if you’re not a part of an active christian community you don’t know what you’re missing, so i invite you to check us out.  thanks for reading.  blessings.  vince