• Posted by Peter Smythe
  • On 25 May 2007

  • Filed under Miscellaneous

Giving


After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade the Jews and Greeks. (Acts 18.1-4, NASB)

When we follow the Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys, we see that though he received the revelation of all ages, the mystery of Christ, he continued to work to support himself while proclaiming the Gospel. He only stopped working when he received sufficient offerings to get by. Here in Acts 18, he went back to work once he had exhausted the monies given to him by the Philippians (Phil. 4.14-20).

The essays and podcasts on this site take quite a lot of time, study, and prayer (kudos to the wife), I’ve continued on with my day job. Though we could file for tax-exempt status and become “professional” ministers, we’ve decided against it, at least for now, because of the immense amount of paperwork and government intrusion involved. And, frankly, there’s something freeing about staying out of the “ministry” environment (personally, I abhor the thought of sending out direct mail).

Paul writes in many places that those who sow spiritually should reap materially. For instance, in Corinthians he writes:

If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? (1 Corinthians 9.11, NASB)

If you get a lot out of our materials and you’d like to support this site, you can make give via the PayPal button located above. Your gift will, like in the Apostle Paul’s case, free us up to do the necessary study and prayer to continue on with the articles and podcasts. As my Bible school friend would always say, “God Speed to you.”