Ben Mayes is the Executive Leader of Finance and Shiloh. He has served at the Church and School for over ten years. Ben leads in everything financial at the Church and leads one of the best Christian schools in the nation, which serves students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade. He has a wealth of financial knowledge, coming to the Church from the business world where he worked for Ernst & Young, a public accounting and auditing firm; Southwestern Energy Company, an oil & gas company; and, most recently, The City of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

I am extremely excited about the opportunities that my church has before it this Summer.  Summertime is when many of our ministries kick into high gear for their busiest and most fruitful time for ministry.  This is also one of the best times of the year to get personally involved in ministry in a hands-on way and I can’t wait.  These ministries are intentionally designed to connect our church with the lost and unsaved in our communities, and these ministries will allow our volunteers to impact lives for eternity.  However, these opportunities do not come without a cost and that cost is in both time and money.

The costs in dollars for these opportunities is paid for by the Ministry Budget of our church and this budget needs the continued, faithful support of every one of us throughout our Summer Program of Giving.  From Memorial Day to Labor Day, our weekly budget need is $287,500.  When you are home this summer, please give faithfully of your tithes and volunteer to help with any one of our summer ministries.  When you are out of town, your routine giving is essential to the success of the ministries that continue while you are away.  We have been blessed much as a church, and we have a responsibility to bless others in return.

These past few days have been a real time of reflection for me personally.  Through several graduations and a wedding anniversary – God has reminded me how very short life is – like a vapor, a mist, or grass – here today and gone tomorrow.   And I have become very aware that since life is short that I need to be very busy about the good works of God that He has me here to do.  We are here this summer to complete God’s good works.  I do not know why the almighty God and Creator of the universe has chosen to use us to accomplish His good works; but He has, and we need to get busy. God has also reminded me that everything we do during this brief life on earth impacts how we spend eternity and potentially where others may spend eternity as well.  We need to be doing things that matter for eternity and that is why our church needs you.

During these tough economic times, we need to also be the Church.  We need to help each other; we need to help our neighbors; we need to volunteer more than ever; smile more than ever; and be more generous than ever. We can accomplish much together.  Every one of us matters!!  From the smallest gift to the largest gift – let us be found faithful during these days by giving sacrificially of our time and treasures to touch lives and honor our God.

According to God, we are here to love.  Not much else really matters.  So, Church, let’s get busy loving others to the glory of God this summer and always.