The obvious context of Paul's admonition to the Corinthian church was their conduct in their assembly. Yet that principle applies throughout the Scripture to many areas of our "normal" life. The Tabernacle furniture was to be kept in "order" (Exodus 39-40; Leviticus 24), the Lord commanded Hezekiah to put his housein "order" before he died (II Kings 20:1), the wise preacher was to "order" his words into powerful proverbs (Ecclesiastes 12:9), Luke was commissioned by God to "set forth in order" the events of Christ's life (Luke 1:1), Paul organized one of his main journeys into "order" (Acts 18:23)—well, perhaps the gist is clear.

Paying the Bills

This portion of our "order" comes fairly easily! If we don't pay the utilities, or the mortgage, or the car payment . . . "things" get a little tense. It should come as no surprise that the Bible admonishes us to "owe no man any thing" (Romans 13:8), especially when augmented by the many principles of property ownership, indebtedness, etc., in the Old Testament. Keeping our financial obligations met is very important for our testimony and our faithfulness to God's Word.

Stewardship Order and ACH Help

Most of us are fairly "orderly" when it comes to exercising our responsibility to support aspects of the Kingdom. We usually write a check on a regular basis to our church (normally each time we get a paycheck), and we know that this kind of order is important (I Corinthians 16:1-2).

May we suggest that the same "order" is very helpful to those secondary ministries that you support? ICR is deeply appreciative of those who co-labor with us on a regular basis. The banking world has made money transfer very safe and effective. You can take advantage of that "order" by designating an amount to be sent to ICR electronically. We could not function effectively without your help. Regular contributions help enormously. If you would like to explore that possibility with our ministry, write "ACH" on your response envelope.