Money Is Gone?"
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us praise Him for He is greatly to be praised! Without Jesus and the sacrifices He made, we would be a people that had no hope, most miserable. We would be doomed to spend eternity in hell. We wouldn�t have power over sickness. The broken heart couldn�t be mended and those in bondage could never be set free. Yes, let us praise Him and take just a minute to say to Jesus, �I love You and thank You Lord!� I get excited about this Jesus that I serve. Praise God, the mere mention of Jesus can make me cry, can make me laugh, can make me start speaking in tongues, can make me run, can make me dance, can make me shout! My Lord Jesus controls my every emotion! Oh you might call me a fool, but I want to be a fool for Jesus. You see, I can look around, I can look back and I can look ahead and see that it�s because of HIM that I am still around. It�s because of Him that my family and I can enjoy walking in health. It�s because of Him that my family has a place reserved in Heaven. It�s because of Him that I can still preach with a fire and anointing that grows stronger in adversity. That brings us to the title of our message � the Holy Spirit gave it to me months ago and I�ve waited for the exact time ordained by God to put it down on paper. I got to share a bit of it some months back and I have truly been tried ever since. I don�t like to preach concerning money because so many folks don�t hear in the Spirit and the flesh gets offended. I have truly been tried � I�ve walked it, I�ve lived it. My family has walked it with me. The title of this message � �Can You Preach When The Money Is Gone?�
When God started this ministry in 1998, the only money I had was the $27/month that I made as a prisoner. Through much prayer and guidance by the Holy Spirit, through the Word I was assured that God would always provide. Well, the ministry has grown and continues to grow. I�ve been instructed to expand our boundaries even more, in order for the Gospel to reach more. My flesh man doesn�t know how, but the Holy Spirit in me says, �Just trust.� As I have meditated on that I think of a story my wife sent me about Moses. God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. I really don�t think Moses sat down and did the math for the task he was to undertake. You see, the people that God sent Moses to lead out of Egypt (bondage) numbered about 3-1/2 million. Now, to provide for these people it would take 15 tons of food per day and 2 freight trains each a mile long to deliver it. Moses didn�t have super-stores and no-limit credit cards out there in the desert. He only had his trust in God! Let�s continue on the math part� To prepare the food it would take 4000 tons of firewood per day and 2 more mile-long freight trains to deliver it. The water needed would be 11 million gallons per day and a tanker freight train almost 12 miles long to make the delivery. There was also the task of crossing the Red Sea. It took a space 3 miles wide crossing at 5000 people wide in order for them to cross in one night. When I think of this I know that Moses totally relied on God! God took care of those people�s needs daily. I look back at all God has done in our ministry and our lives and that with all of God�s promises! That is why I can �STILL PREACH WHEN THE MONEY IS GONE.�
Kim and I totally rely on God. We have had many financial hurdles thrown our way. In April 2001 Kim left a high-paying government job. Why? To be obedient to God. We have had expensive bills pop up right and left that had to be paid. We had over $13,000 in taxes to pay this year. Because I am a convicted felon our vehicle insurance has busted through the roof. I�m not even home to drive and have a spotless driving record, but yet our insurance is outrageous. Everywhere we turn it�s $200 here, $300 there and our income and offerings have fallen constantly. Yet we look around and see how God has kept us and our children healthy. I used to buy aspirin and Pepto-Bismol and such � now I�ve learned to totally rely on and trust God. I don�t buy those things because we stand on Isaiah 53:5 and I Peter 2:24. We know that each month we�ll be able to pay postage and make copies because God will provide. Last year we had a nice comfort zone in our ministry account, but when God said �Give!� we gave without question, until it was gone. You see, the Word has convinced us that Jesus and the Apostles didn�t sit back on a fat bank account.
They didn�t trust in gold and silver! The disciples went out with what they had on and that�s all. They didn�t have to have money to preach! They didn�t have to have gold watches to preach! They didn�t have to have expensive suits to preach! They didn�t have to have a Mercedes with ice cold A/C to ride them through the hot desert to preach. They didn�t have earthly retirement plans and IRAs. They gave their all to God for the preaching of the Gospel. Anything they had they divided it and shared it for
the spreading of the Gospel. Why? Because they knew everything belonged to God. They knew that nothing they could see, touch or obtain belonged to them. It all belonged to God and was provided for the preaching of the Gospel. You see, I�ve got a little something in common with those apostles. Like them, my security is not in the material things and finances of this world. I don�t stand because of
those things. I know that I only stand, and enjoy the Light, because of God and His tender mercy. (Luke 1:78-79) God sustains me and this family, and I know that without total dependence on Him I will fall. (I Corinthians 10:12) I have learned not to trust in money, not to depend on the vows of any man or woman, and not to lean on what understanding I have, but to put all these things in God. (Proverbs 3:5) A brother recently asked me if I still had �Amazing Grace� in me. He knew my battles. I stepped up to sing and the Holy Spirit took over the very first step into the aisle. I was humbled and broken and that�s a place I want to stay. That is where God can use me for His glory! That is why �I Can Still Preach When The Money Is Gone!�
I in no way compare myself to Job, but I often think about him. The tribulation he went through. But Job knew everything belonged to God in the first place. (Job 1:21) That�s why Job stood when everything came against him. I think about Paul � he ministered mightily all the while he earned a living with his hands and gave his offerings away. The little widow that had only a mite to give � she gave out of her need, not her abundance. All these push me on to preach. Each month I get a report of what offerings come in. I am humbled because the faithful have only included our pastor, and an inmate whose $10 is like 1000�s on the outside. This month he gave out of his need $15, and another brother sent all he could, 10 stamps for a tithe. When Kim tells me these things or I read their letters I am brought to tears. These are the ones that truly sacrifice to help spread the Gospel. Many inmates write that have no money, yet they reassure us with their testimonies and prayers. Many powerful testimonies have come this way � I�ve witnessed healings, families reconciled � God is doing a work and that�s why this ministry will continue. As I consider how people think Kim to be foolish, the Holy Spirit reminds me of John 12:26b: �If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.� For those of you that are stuck on gender that means women too! I am blessed with a Godly wife with discernment and many other gifts working in her life. She has a heart for God and His ministry. This family is committed to the Lord. (Psalm 37:5) We don�t worry about tomorrow. (Matthew 6:34) We enjoy the peace and joy of God like the world can�t understand. (Philippians 4:7) We know that God began this ministry and He will finish the work in it and us. (Philippians 1:6) All of these with the call, anointing and ordination of God from the foundation of the world is why �I/WE CAN STILL PREACH WHEN THE MONEY IS GONE!�
As I close I want each of you to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your hearts concerning your finances and God�s work. I�m not talking about sending your money to us, but wherever God directs it. I get mail weekly from ministers begging for offerings. They shouldn�t have to and we won�t, because God will always make a way even if we have to sacrifice something. So often people hold back their tithes in their home churches to do other things, or simply don�t pay them at all. In Malachi 3:8 the Word of God comes clearly, �Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.� That�s not all � those that withhold from God have a promise (vs. 9), �Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.� For the obedient and repentant there is another promise in vs. 10. I challenge you to turn there and read it now. Some of you have stole from God for something extra for the house, a vacation, a car or truck, for some material thing. Everything belongs to God, but He only asks for 10% of your first fruits. That�s 10% of what you had before Uncle Sam and everyone else took a piece. God�s 10% first. I challenge you to start giving God what�s His and to give offerings out of your need. Sacrifice for God and watch the windows of Heaven open on all that pertains to you. When you or your child is sick you can put God�s Word to work and forget the doctor bills. Live obedient lives before God and watch God! I can testify that God has never let this family do without, this ministry will continue, and our God is a healer. He is all of that to us not because we are super righteous or something like that, but because we trust and obey! Soon I will come before you in boots and jeans and you will see (if you stay and listen) that because of the obedience and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, �I Can Still Preach When The Money Is Gone!�
God bless each one of you � I love you and look much forward to reading your letters. You are my family and my heart�s desire is for you to receive all that God has for you. God loves you, you are important � each of you are a VIP to us and God.
In Christ, Bro. Don George
We would like to personally invite each and all of you to visit our church, House Upon A Rock Tabernacle in Jamestown, KY. It�s located at the junction of Hwy 55 & 1058 on the edge of Russell County, near Lake Cumberland...
�A church that�s alive is worth the drive!�
