When it comes to ministry and money, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer. Look over these examples. Where do you fit? What fits you? Most importantly, how is God telling you to handle this?<\/p>\n
Ministry By Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia begging him, \u201cCome over to Macedonia and help us.\u201d (Acts 16:9-NIV)<\/p>\n Like Paul, for most of us, it\u2019s not about money. Perhaps you also hear voices of women calling for help in your sleep. So when you speak, it is about answering the vision God has given you – not collecting your honorarium.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s something about Paul\u2019s \u201cministry fees\u201d you\u2019ll want to remember: Paul\u2019s first contact and convert in Macedonia was Lydia, a businesswoman to the rich and famous of Philippi. She not only made sure Paul met her influential clientele, she provided for him financially.<\/p>\n God has called some of us to ministry by faith. We receive a vision, step out and go to Macedonia – or Paducah – and God provides a Lydia in the person of a supportive husband, a sponsor, or maybe a financial bequest.<\/p>\n Ministry By Making Tents <\/strong><\/p>\n Paul\u2026 went to Corinth. There he met Aquila with his wife Priscilla and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue\u2026 (Excerpts from Acts 18:1-4)<\/p>\n A few years ago, I encountered an elderly but spry widow woman preaching the Gospel outside Jerusalem\u2019s Joppa Gate. She told me that she has preached on 7 continents and that her ministry is self-supported – by selling cosmetics!<\/p>\n God has called some of us to minister by \u201cmaking tents\u201d or working with our talents to support our ministry. Right to the Heart of Women eZine\u2019s main sponsor, Jubilant Press , is one such \u201ctentmaker ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n Ministry-For-Hire<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c…for the worker is worthy of his support.\u201d (Matthew 10:10)<\/p>\n Jesus said it. We believe it. But even so, this area can be awkward to talk about.<\/p>\n Kathy Collard Miller\u2019s book, The Complete Guide to Speaking Professionally , addresses the subject of ministry-for-hire. Here is a small excerpt:<\/p>\n \u201cMost people do not understand the expenses that a speaker has. There are costs like office supplies, telephone charges, dry cleaning, specialized clothing, automobile expenses, printing costs, and mailing costs. Though we may speak for only one hour at an event, a lot more time and energy is expended to do that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most awkward part of fees, obviously, is actually discussing them with the meeting planner. If they do bring it up themselves and ask, \u201cWhat do you charge?\u201d I respond by asking, \u201cWhat do you have available in your budget for the speaker?\u201d If they respond with an amount that is more than you usually request, you can cheerfully say, \u201cThank you very much.\u201d If it is less than you usually request, you can say something like, \u201cWell, I usually request such and such an amount. Is there any way that you can raise your budget?\u201d You must decide whether you are willing to take the lower fee.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough this is indeed an awkward part of our ministry, talking to knowledgeable people and seeking the Lord’s guidance will give you greater confidence in determining your fees.\u201d<\/p>\n Rebekah Montgomery<\/strong> is the editor of Right to the Heart of Women e-zine, a publisher at Jubilant Press, and the author of numerous books on spiritual growth. <\/em>\u00a9 Rebekah Montgomery 2007.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on www.crosswalk.com<\/p>\n When it comes to ministry and money, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer. Look over these examples. Where do you fit? What fits you? Most importantly, how is God telling you to handle this? Ministry By Faith During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia begging him, \u201cCome over to Macedonia … Continue reading “If They Pay You to Speak, is it Ministry or Business?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}