The Offering Plate

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BishopSEH

Guest
#1
#1
Greetings fellow members of Christian Chat, i.e. CC.

For those that do not know I am Bishop SEH. I serve in full time vocational ministry, that means I preach and teach the Word of God reaching out and making and training Disciples for Christ. While this forum does not resemble any common format of a church it does very closely match what we call a Bible Study. People come here and spend anywhere between 1 and 100 hours here a month.

As with any ministry, it costs real money to keep it going. In a traditional bible study things like books, study guides and the mortgage and light bill would have to be paid for in order to keep the bible study going. While most do not want to think about what it costs to keep this site here, there is a price tag. This site costs $3000 a month, which let me tell you is a very small sum, to keep this site running.

People behind the scenes work 60 and 70 hour work weeks so that you and I can come and share our perspective of the faith and to help raise up men and women to advance the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior. While your first priority in giving is your home church, support of missions, which this site qualifies as due to its international foot print, is also good and Godly.

Recently, I added CC to our International missions offeratory. My prayer is that, in time the church where I serve will be able to meet all the needs of this site but until then, your help is greatly needed. Let's be honest, times are hard. Which means times are hard for this site too. If you love being here and posting here then exercise what the Bible calls, cheerful giving.

Let me be clear, I do not work for this site. I receive no compensation for writing this. I just believe in what this site is all about. I encourage you to remember the widow's offering in Mark 12:41-44. Jesus noticed the giving of the poor widow and held it up as an example for us to follow.

This site has my support, does it have yours? Below is a link where you can donate. It doesn't matter if its $1 or $1,000,000, giving is done out of love for the Lord and to advance His Kingdom. So the next time you are going to get a Starbucks or some fast food but decide instead to stay in and post here, why not invest that amount here?

http://christianchat.com/donate

May the Lord bless your giving.

In Christ,

Bishop SEH
 
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BishopSEH

Guest
#2
#2
I was thinking after I made the OP. I listen to Christian Talk Radio. While I love Christian Contemporary Music I love being informed more and that what AFR (American Family Radio) does for me. They give me news and events from a Christian viewpoint. Now twice a year, because they are listener supported, they have what they call "share-a-thon". In order for AFR to stay on the air (they are on 148 stations as well as dish network and they also broadcast via the internet) they have to raise a couple million twice a year.

AFR is fortunate that their listeners are loyal. Twice a year they hit their goal and because of that they don't have to spend the year asking for donations.

That brings me to this site. The Admin here are very quiet in regards to their needs for keeping this site up and running as well as making it better through upgrades and simple maintenance. Well simple to someone that understands computers and software and such things. I could not begin to do this as I am barely functional as a point and click user. The Admin here have a couple of places where you can donate but they don't shove their need in your face.

As I said in the OP it takes $3000 a month to keep this site running. That's $36,000 a year. If we, who use the site don't help in keeping it up, that means the site's owner has to pay the bill. The average american makes between $25,000 and $40,000 a year. The odds that one person can afford to maintain this site as well as their own cost of living is pretty slim. Most that can would not bother even starting a site like this.

In checking the active membership I notice that there is just over 5000 active members. If each person donated just $7.20 once a year this site would be paid for each and every year. I went out and got fast food with my wife tonight. The bill was over $18. By giving up eating out just one time I can donate enough to cover 2.5 people's donation. And that's just giving up one fast food meal a year. So, can you, will you, give up one meal loaded with fat and salt that will do your body more harm than good for that opportunity to help something truly worthwhile?

In Christ,

Bishop SEH
 
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