So you’re ‘po?
I get emails occasionally that complain about the previous series and transcripts being behind a paywall and the cost of One-on-Ones and/or the Masterclass – sometimes politely, sometimes contentiously – but the underlying accusation is that I am taking advantage of people.
I get being poor. I’ve been ‘po. Not poor, but ‘po — as in only having $25 a week for groceries, eating from the food pantry, and every meal a creative variation of beans or hamburger. We aren’t poor, now, but we still live simply, and do so deliberately. Even when we were ‘po, we continued to give our tithes and alms – a widow’s mite, for sure at times, but we still kept the disciplines. And this is why:
It is a biblical mandate that those who benefit from the teachers and preachers of the word are to provide for them:
“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages'” (1 Tim 5:17-18).
“The person who is taught the word should share all his goods with his teacher” (Galatians 6:6). To share, here, koinoneo, is to provide for. We see this in Philippians 4:15, where Paul writes, “And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared [koinoneo] with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone.”
They were partners with Paul in the gospel ministry through their giving. They were helping spread the gospel.
God is laying down a principle here that those who are blessed by the word of God through faithful teachers are to provide for the physical needs of those teachers as a thanksgiving to God.
This is a principle God first set forth back in the Old Testament, where the priests who offered the sacrifices in the temple received their food from the sacrifices. They were paid from the tithes that were brought by the Israelites. This is a basic, though often unknown and neglected, spiritual principle: Those who feed you spiritually should be supported by you financially.
Paul repeated this principle many times, such as 1 Corinthians 9. The whole chapter is instructive here, because Paul was being accused of trying to benefit from the Gospel at the expense of others: “If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we should reap material things from you? . . . Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? . . . Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.”
This is why you give a stipend to have a Mass offered.
You’re not “paying for” a Mass, and if you look at it in such a stingy, accusatory way you’re uninformed and ungrateful for the gifts of your own money, the priest, and the Mass.
At the beginning of my ministry I gave everything away for free; I spent hours and hours studying and many more in prayer. I wrote and produced it all from scratch. And I learned very quickly that what people do not pay for, they do not value.
Options
For those who cannot afford the Sacred Healing 12:30 Masterclass, I offer free weekly podcasts on innumerable subjects; the first and last of every podcast series remains public and free even after the series are over and those middle episodes become Premium Content and are placed behind a paywall. All the Premium Content is accessible at any donation amount at $10 or more. Hundreds of episodes are available to you for free or very little.
Click here and scroll to your heart’s content.
While all that is true, those who have been blessed by One-on-One Consults, and who are able, occasionally provide scholarships for One-on-One Consults. And there is a $100 discount offered in the Working Through Pop Quizzes email series on my home page in the second block and at the bottom of the page.
Specifically regarding the Masterclass: To get 15+ hours of video and instruction for $699 is more than fair. It’s easily worth $1500 -2000 just in the number of hours I put into studying for; training for in continuing education (expensive in itself); planning, filming, and producing the Masterclass, not to mention the sketchnotes and other workbook content that cost me $3000+. I am not complaining; I’m just showing you some of the less visible stuff that goes into such a thing.
That’s the long answer.
“Ask and you shall receive.”
Here’s the short one: if you cannot afford something I offer that you deeply desire, save your change and ask the Holy Spirit directly for the money. You are also a worker in His vineyard, in His “army,” and He will provide also for you. I have never asked Our Lord or Lady for something spiritual such as this that they did not provide.
On that note, I thank every one of you who have contributed and partnered with me – koinoneo – in my ministry of the word, financially and prayerfully. I am deeply grateful for your generosity and loyalty, and so are the others who benefit from our partnership together.
I LOVE YOU!