Ed Young is certainly no socks-and-sandals pastor. As leader of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, presentation is just as important as the preaching - one of his recent projects was a series of style talks for Christian men on how to dress right.
He's also one for thinking outside the box – and on a pretty grand scale. No homebaking bring and share or curry lunch for the dads this Father's Day.
Rather, Fellowship Church hosted its very own luxury car show - the Father's Day Engines and Octane Motor Show – to treat dads to an "up close and personal look" at the world's "hottest" cars, trucks and motorcycles.
"Give your dad what he REALLY wants this weekend for Father's Day," was the church's honest announcement on its Facebook page.
Fun talks and events aside, the church is at its heart a church seeking to give real practical and biblical teaching on how to live right for God in the world today.
Young admits that Fellowship's latest teaching series – Tipping Point - is "provocative". After all, uttering the words 'church' and 'money' in the same sentence tends to trigger a nervous twitch in congregations but he's convinced people will experience the benefits of the 90-day tithe challenge.
At the centre of Tipping Point is the idea that giving financially to the church is part of what it means to put God first in our life, and that when we do that, it is inevitably accompanied by God's blessings.
And Young is so sure of that that the church is offering a full refund of tithes if participants don't experience that for themselves.
"Each of us has a unique opportunity to be a part of the incredible life change happening around us at Fellowship Church by bringing our tithes and offerings to the House," says the church.
"If you are not tithing already, the 90-Day Challenge is the best place to start. We commit to you that if you tithe for 90 days and God doesn't hold true to his promise of blessings, we will refund 100% of your tithe."
Underpinning the challenge is Malachi 3:10 – "'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple. If you do,' says the Lord of Heaven's armies, 'I will open the windows of Heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!'"
The focus of the challenge is on those who do not currently tithe 10 per cent of their income to the church but anyone willing to try it out is being invited to take the challenge today by signing up here
