Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

possible."
ministers'
within the range of possibility. In the Tither's Cor
ner of two weeks ago we read of a pastor's family
who out of a salary of less than $3,000 and parsonage
are giving two tithes to make this possible. Subtract
two tithes and the income tax on the balance, then
subtract the result from your income after your giv
ing to benevolence and taxes, and how much have
you left A layman tells us in last week's Tither's
Corner that he estimates there are 25 families with
incomes of $20,000 in the church. That seems like a
wild guess to the writer who deals in smaller figures,
and I almost hope for their sakes and ours that it
is not so because Jesus said such incomes are dan
gerous. ' How hardly shall they that have riches en
ter into the Kingdom of God!" but "With God all
things are The safety valve in such in
comes is not the tithe but multi-tithes. An analyst
interviewed several hundred alcoholics, and found
a large percentage of them were college graduates, a
larger number high school graduates, a small per
centage in the lower educational brackets, but of
these the great majority were the descendents of
rich parents. Dare you take that risk Those Israel
ites who thought to store up manna for a rainy day
discovered that it bred worms and stank, and it still
does. But God has established a bank for surpluses
in Heaven where neither moth or rust can corrupt
and confidence men have never held it up, or swin
dled a depositor. "He is idle who is not doing his
best."
Idle money comes under the same condemna
tion.
SHALL WE MAINTAIN OUR INTEGRITY
An integer is a whole number as opposed to a
fractional or mixed number. To disintegrate is to
break up the completeness or integrity of a sub
stance. The Budget system was adopted in order to
integrate the whole giving of the church. Some folks
sincerely believe that if the budget system were
given up, more money would be given. They want to
pick and choose the objects they will support. Maybe
they do not like to give to the Widows and Orphans
Fund. A young minister dies in early life, having
spent his life and all his funds serving the church for
a mere subsistance (or less) wage. His widow out
lives him by forty or fifty years struggling to sup
port and educate small children, and ends up in her
old age scrubbing floors in an office building (an
actual case). Does the contributor who refuses to
have any
of his contribution used in her support or
for the pension fund $600.00 per annum,
think God will think more of him and reward him
because he gave all his contributions to missions
Every fund on the budget is a necessary one neces
sary to the complete work of the church, whether
Seminary, College, Aged People's Home, or even the
Covenanter Witness. I suppose when Moses was col
lecting materials for the tabernacle, there were some
who insisted that their contribution would all be used
to gold-plate the wings of the cherubim. Let the poor
folks supply the badger skins dyed red. They did not
realize that those red badger skins were a necessary
prerequisite to the Mercy Seat. I have seen a guest
scrape all the cherries out of the jam and leave the
juice for the home folks. I have known folks to ask
for white meat only though the fowl was small. Let
the others eat the dark meat. Jesus saw guests edg
ing quietly toward the best seats at the feast. Why
did they do it To feast their ego Or to appear more
January 12, 1955
worthy in the eyes of the other guests One guest
or deceived.
they did not fool, for God is not mocked,
They seem to have reminded Him of animals He had
once seen rushing violently down a steep place four
feet in the trough. He had far more admiration for
that little fellow at the foot of the table who chose
that place. Jesus Christ has sovereign control of all
contributions directing where they shall be used.
What disposal do you suppose He made of that poor
widow's two mites Were they used for the Chief
Ruler of the Synagogue's salary, or to pay the door
keeper, or were they used to buy a new mop-stick
for another poor widow with a sore back who
scrubbed the Synagogue's floors Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my breth
ren, or sisters, ye have done it unto Me. She cast in
all her living with no strings attached.
MACEDONIA IS READY, WHAT ABOUT
CORINTH
We believe that the Church is able, and is will
ing to raise the whole Budget, and the additional
$5,000 for the extra missionary to Japan, if they
were convinced that all would cooperate. Topeka con
gregation is now without a church building of their
own, but are planning to build in the immediate fu
ture. They are also without a pastor to spur them on,
but they are not without laymen leaders. On Decem
ber 12 they contributed $139.04 to the American
Bible Society. Then it was proposed that a special
collection and pledges should be made on December
26 to help raise the Budget plus the $5,000.00. This
was to be in addition to the regular collection which
also covers the annual contribution to the budget.
The giving that day was as follows :
National Reform Association $106.04
Building Fund 515.00
Synod's Budget (special) 608.00
General Fund 183.95
1412.99
Unpaid pledges to Budget (additional) 428.00
1840.99
This was a laymen's movement. If we have any of
those $20,000-per-year-income people, they have been
quite silent about it, but we have several widows.
If it were just a matter of $5,000.00 for Japan
it would be over subscribed within a week, but this is
in addition to the full budget, and it is no use to buy
chimes until we have built the main structure clear
to the belfry. So let's GO.
GLIMPSES . . .
Cont'd, from page 18
Lsubach's Program for 1955
Frank C. Laubach and his literary team, who teach the
illiterate to read, started their 1954-55 program December 5 in
Pakistan. After eight weeks they are to go to the southern
Sudan, then across south Asia to Netherlands New Guinea,
ending with a month's work in Korea. There are on the team
Dr. and Mrs. Laubach, Phil Gray (artist), Richard Cortright
(linguist), Mrs. Richard Cortright (secretary), and Mrs.
Baity, a writer associated with the World Health Organiza
tion. Their object has been, as they have gone from country to
country, to teach a simplified method of reading and arrang
ing for this to spread from one to another, so that people of
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