Berkshire Holiness Fellowship

07/19/2023

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07/14/2023

01/28/2023

Our Financial Policy

A genuine work of God may use money, but it is never dependent on money.
It is dependent only on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Where any work is dependent on money, it is not a genuine work of God.
Jesus' ministry was dependent only on the Holy Spirit.
He did accept gifts of money from His followers for His work (Luke 8:2-3).
But He never asked anyone at any time for money and He never made His financial needs known to anyone but His Father.
This is the way that any ministry that honors God will work even today.
Jesus was the first physical "Body of Christ" on earth.

Today we in the church are called the spiritual "Body of Christ".
And so we seek to follow the example that Jesus Himself set for us in the matter of finances, during His earthly life.
We do see that the disciples made others aware of the needs of the body, so we will be posting about different projects that God has led us to work on.

We only place an offering-box at our church-meetings, for those who wish to give - secretly, cheerfully and voluntarily - for the work of the Lord. We have received everything freely from the Lord and we give it all out to others freely.
This ministry certainly requires money, and as we seek the kingdom of God first, God will supply ALL our needs always.

We do not judge other ministries who do things differently from us. But this is the way God has led us. We have sought to follow the example of Jesus Himself - the first "Body of Christ" on earth.
And so when people ask us whether they can give to support this ministry, we ask them to go through this checklist first:

1. Are you a born-again child of God? Do you agree with our doctrinal statement as given here: bit.ly/BHFFBWhatWeBelieve
It is a great honor and privilege to support the work of God on earth; but that privilege is given only to His born-again children (3 John 7).

2. Do you have enough money for your family's needs? Are you sure that your giving will not put your family under any financial strain? You must take care of your family's needs first (See Mark 7:9-13 and 1 Tim.5:8). Our Father in heaven is very rich and He (like any rich earthly father) does not want any of His children to starve or suffer in any way, just because they gave Him money for His work.

3. Do you have any large debts to repay? If so, do clear those debts first. God wants His children to live restful lives, free from all debt. We must first give to Caesar what is his, before we can give anything to God, because God does not want us to give Him Caesar's money, or anyone else's money (Matt.22:21; Rom.13:8).
(Note: A mortgage is not a "debt" (in the meaning in these verses), because the house is an asset that you possess that is equal in value to the loan taken. For the same reason, a car-loan is also not a debt - provided the vehicle is insured for the value of the loan taken).

4. Do you have a clear conscience? Have you done your best to be reconciled with those whom you have hurt in any way? God will not accept any offering from anyone who has hurt someone and still has not apologized to that person (Matt.5:23, 24)

5. Are you giving freely and cheerfully - and not under pressure from any man or even from your own conscience? God loves cheerful givers, not reluctant givers. He does not want gifts from those who give under pressure, or who give in order to fulfill some obligation, or who give merely to ease their conscience, or who give in order to get some reward from Him in return (2 Cor.9:7).
Please bear with us as you go through this checklist. We are seeking to follow the example and teaching of our Lord Jesus in financial matters.

Giving to Berkshire Holiness Fellowship

After having carefully considered all the above points, if you still feel you want to support this ministry, then please message or email us at [email protected]
Thank you for reading this. May the Lord bless you and guide you in your personal life - and in your giving.

01/28/2023

What We Believe (Short Version)

That the Bible (66 books) is the inspired and infallible Word of God, the sole and sufficient guide for our life on earth.

That there is one God eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His humanity, His perfectly sinless life, His substitutionary death as an atonement for our sins, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the Father, and His personal return to the earth for His saints.

That all human beings are dead in sin and utterly lost and that the only way their sins can be forgiven is through repentance and through faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, whereby a person is born again to be a child of God.

That justification is by faith in Christ alone, the evidence of this being good works that glorify God.

In baptism in water, by immersion, after regeneration, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In the necessity of being filled with the Holy Spirit continually in order to have power to be witnesses for Christ - by life and by word.

In the resurrection of the righteous to eternal life and the resurrection of the unrighteous to eternal damnation.

01/28/2023

Who am I?
I am Zach Durso, the Administrator for Berkshire Holiness Fellowship. I was saved around December 2005. I spent the first 17 years of my walk with Christ making a lot of mistakes, visiting lots of churches, trying to figure out all of Christendom, being just a pew sitter, ruffling some feathers, ruffling a LOT of feathers, and trying to fulfill God’s will in my own way.

I became depressed and a bit hopeless during those years, thinking that I was never going to have my stuff together enough to be used by God. I spent almost as much time as I had before Christ, with Christ, and I still had no clue if God had an actual plan for me, or what that might be.

In late 2021 I felt God say that I was done with all of that. That I wasn’t a ‘babe in Christ’ anymore, and that I did know Him, that He did have a plan and a calling for me, and that I needed to grow up, finally put away my anxieties, my plans, and trust Him completely to guide me daily into what He has for me to do.
I prayed, did a few ‘trial runs’ of bible studies, and after hemming and hawing, consulting God and trusted friends, I accepted that I had been called to at least preach and teach, to serve in hospitality, and practiced preaching to very close friends.
I still consider myself to be ‘in training’.

In late 2022, some wonderful friends offered to let me rent space in their building to begin Berkshire Holiness Fellowship. It’s definitely a work in progress, but I do hope that you come and fellowship with us, study with us, worship, serve, and rest in God with us.
I love meeting new family members!