With the economy being the way that it is, and many of the 'helping hand' organization reporting that donations are down 20% and more, will we as SDA Christians, be any more inclined to donate additional resources during the holiday season or winter months?

Some of the organizations are those such as The Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, food banks, etc. It has been a news item as of late.


?????????

I should!

I am not sure if we will give *more* than what we did last year. But we certainly won't give any less.

I am giving food to the school that my son attends. They have a "pantry" to help families of students who are not able to eat as well as others on the holidays.

I give to the Salvation Army whenever we have furniture that we no longer need.

I've given quite alot to the SA this year. And have contributed to lots of charities.

pk

Ugh. Is it Christmastime already?

I donate at the 'office'.

The donations that will be way down are corporate donations. Many of those corporations invest profits in the stock market and donate a portion of their gains to charity. Since the market is doing so bad many of the corporations are not making money from their investments so they will not have any money to give to charity.

Certainly we should give no less and try to increase our giving a little... but not at the expense of the church.

What does that mean? Are the poor and those in need of assistance not part of God's church?

:You are on your way to church, tithe in hand, when you go by the local Food Bank and they have a sign out that says, "HELP OUT OF FOOD MANY WAITING". What happens next?

What happens next if it is your 'offering money'?

I think there are offereings that are to be for specific purposes such as tithe is for ministers etc but offerings can be for a variety of reasons and amounts. But I am sure some here will say that there is nothing sacred about where the tithe goes....but I think there are guidlines in the Bible and EGW writings but I think we should give to help every chance we can such as the Food Bank.

I can't give to everyone. And since I have stopped attending my church, I send my tithe directly to those missions I feel a connection with. In addition to those missions I also give to the local humane society.

It means if a person is in the custom of paying their 10% tithe and 5% offering, they should continue to do that and not decrease that amount to give more to other charities.

In order to give more to other charities one can do a number of things:

• Get rid of cellular phones that are not needed.
• Get rid of cable TV
• Go back to dial-up instead of DSL
• Get a more gas efficient car
• Go out to eat less often.
• Put off unnecessary purchases.
• Move to a less expensive residence
• Save home energy by using less heat or A/C

Sorry to hear you are missing out on quality fellowship with fellow believers. I am glad you are still here. I hope someday you will find a group of fellow believers that you can embrace.

Okay, you are walking to church, no car, you are barely above the standard of those who are waiting at the empty 'Food Bank', you have no other monies, just those for 'church'.

What next?

Say a silent prayer that God will send someone to help them?

Hmmmm....not much happening on this thread...have another sex thread...current sex thread going strong....end time predictions going strong....hmmmm...more later!