MORTGAGING GOD

Churches face same economic crisis

EURweb.com -- The mortgage crisis that has affected millions of homeowners across the country also has swept up some church buildings in its foreclosure grasps.

In Miami developers say they plan to tear down a church to make room for more profitable townhouses if somebody doesn’t purchase the property in the next three weeks

Grand Lutheran Church in Fort Lauderdale closed its doors three years ago. It’s one of a number of religious properties, some of them bank foreclosures, that are plentiful, but stuck in a commercial purgatory, according to the Miami Herald.

Potential buyers -- mainly other churches -- are being shunned by lenders due to dwindling collection-plate revenues and fears of having to "foreclose on God' if the economy deteriorates further.

"It's like selling the family home you grew up in when your parents move to Florida or Alaska,' Ross Agosta told the Herald. She is diocesan spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, adding that "It's emotionally upsetting. These are places where people got married. They baptized their children there."

Last month, the Catholic Church there closed down 13 struggling parishes throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Most of those church buildings are now for sale, said Mary Ross Agosta, the diocesan spokeswoman.

The niche market and architectural features of religious properties mean quick sales are tough -- even in good times. Often, churches are located in residential neighborhoods, preventing their sale as commercial property. Moral concerns also limit their use for commercial purposes even when a would-be buyer is found.

Monica K. Henson and Rayford D. Jackson were recently united in Holy Matrimony during a beautiful ceremony held at Parklawn Assembly of God. The nuptials were officiated by Pastor Walter F. Harvey. (photo by Harry Kemp)

Anointed Thoughts

	Weekly Scripture Reading Monday: Hosea 1 Tuesday: Hosea 2 Wednesday: Hosea 3 Thursday: Hosea 4 Friday: Hosea 5

God is faithful

God is faithful. I know it may not be a very profound academic statement laced with the grandeur of literary flare, yet that is the summary of this week’s article. God is faithful.

The holiday season always evokes a variety of emotions for me. I can remember several different Christmases when I would get a really awesome toy I would pass the freshly unwrapped gift to my father because the box warned that, “some assembly was required”.

My father, who was generally not a complainer, would open the box and examine the contents then lightly knit his eyebrows and mumble to my mother, “I don’t know why you always have to buy these erector sets.” Even though I heard this exchange almost annually, I was too young to know what an erector set was and after all, mama didn’t buy my toys, Santa and the crew made them. I knew this because he ate the fried chicken we left for him…yes fried chicken…you can’t eat cookies all night and still have energy-but that’s another article.

So for the next few hours after the grand opening my father assembled the toys. I think we should be gracious about assignments like that. The elves did all the hard work and got all of the pieces fabricated, painted and in the box. There is no way they can get every child in the world a toy if they have to do assembly too! Besides, the North Pole team always included a direction sheet in English, Spanish, Chinese and French along with pictures to help parents do their meager part.

While my father was drilling the training wheels on or connecting my Coleco Vision, (yes young readers, there were arcade games before PS3, X-Box, and Wii) or attaching the cut-able hair that would “grow back” when you pushed the button to the head of my hair dressing doll with matching stand for the plastic curling irons and rollers; my mother would be cooking and I would be playing with the dolls and battery operated toys that the elves had already put together.

Both my mother and I had moved on from the moment under the tree and forged ahead with our own priorities for the day. We knew that after a few mumbles, twists of the hex wrench and turns of the screwdriver, I’d be enjoying the toy and smiling just as widely as the kid on the box. We trusted that the job would get done.

Dear reader, can I assure you that God knows you and the concerns of your life. Trust that as you are moving and doing the things you are called to in your everyday life, God is working behind the scenes to accomplish a great and perfected work not only for you but through you. While waiting on my toys, we did not know when but we always knew that they would eventually take shape. We never gave up. God takes the pieces of our lives, no matter how difficult and he puts everything together. All we have to do is wait.
Although very mechanical, my earthly father would sometimes have a few “extra” screws or bolts that he was convinced we “really didn’t need”, but God is so good that he never misses anything. God is faithful! No matter what you face this week or how difficult it looks, never forget the faithfulness of God to accomplish much with little and get you to your expected end. Never give up. God is faithful!