YOUR TITHE, YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE: an open letter to the CHRISTIAN
Dear Christian,
The issue of tithe and tithing came heavy as a burden on me two days ago. I had to wake up very early to check out some of the scriptures that were laid on my hearts. The scripture is Leviticus 27:30-32.
I don’t know why, but since I heard that testimony of the man that asked God to take 90% of his earnings and give him only/retain only 10%, I have been wondering why some people have such benefits/measure of faith. Then as if that was not enough I was listening to and watching Dr Richard Roberts (Oral Roberts's son) on Television when he shared three things that his Dad taught him that changed his life.
1. God is our only source
2. Plant your seed with focus
3. Expect a miracle.
It became clear that God was saying something. Considering the LAF meeting on Sunday and the nature of our contributions, it occurred to me more than ever that I have a responsibility of advising you of the nature and warn you of the dangers and consequences of unfaithfulness in tithing.
In Malachi 3:8-12 God made it clear that some people rob him of His tithe and offerings... However, he said if only we can be faithful in our tithe, we should challenge him and see whether he would not open the windows of heaven...I was wondering why God should be assuring us of benefits if we have been unfaithful, when tithe is really not ours but God’s, and why should you say to a thief, if you can only stop stealing my money, I will give you more that you can contain. It was only then that it occurred to me that tithing is one of the grace boosters. Faithfulness in tithe and offerings can bring untold blessings in finances and also in other areas of our life.
Paul in (Ephesians 4:28), was saying that let he who stole steal no more, and that such should go and work or labour. In early times, then and now, the offence of stealing is punishable by imprisonment, however, God’s assurances of open heaven is actually, assurance of grace. Grace in blessing that you do not deserve but that it’s given to you in any event for faithfulness in obedience. There are also some 7 other promises of unbelievable blessings, but that is not the essence of this piece.
Furthermore, what I have discovered from revelation is that God loves those who dare him. The 3 Hebrews boys (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego dared to pay what I call ‘a tithe of their life’ to God. They refused to deny God of prayers and allegiance to Him. They had made up their minds to give that time to God as a tithe of time and life. It was not difficult for them to say to the King...we will not bow down to you, whether we die or not, is not the question, we must obey the God who can save or may not save us. I love that. Is your conviction about God heart-deep? If so, you should be able to say to the Landlord, Mortgagor-bank, the so called necessity of life, that, you will have to give what is God to God first, before thinking of the Caesars of this world. What you will find is if you give God what is God, God will ensure that Caesar is paid his due back to you. What you should not do is to fear the demands from Caesar and then steal what belong to God to pay Caesar. That would amount to stealing from Peter to pay Paul!!
Esther did the same thing, she tithe her time, life and food for the saving grace of the whole of the Jewish race. Every great person in the Bible has done this one time or the other, and the rest has become history. What part of history would you belong to?
Do not let your spouse deny your family of the benefits of tithing. Don’t accept. Its better to disobey him than disobey HIM. Jesus said if your hand or eye would cause you to miss the dividends of salvation, cut or remove it. It is better to fear him who can remove the armour, rather than fear him who put it on. Remember Ananias and Saphirra. How I wish one of them could have disobeyed the other...
Now, the question always after someone has taught about giving or tithing and offering is, oh they want our money again...before now, I would probably want to be defensive and say, No, we don’t want your money, it’s just for your sake. But now what I have discovered is that I have a God given task to teach this and ensure, that starting with the leaders (LAF) ITS THE RESPONSIBILTY OF THE PASTORS TO TEACH THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. It is not your money! I also need to advise you that God not only commanded tithing, but he also gave out the reasons for the tithe. God wanted tithes so that the storehouse would not lack and therefore meet the needs of the priests and all the workers in the sanctuary. The money was not going to be taken to heaven, but it’s going to be spent on earth and on the workers in the house and to meet their needs. So I am not embarrassed to tell you that your tithe and offering are used to pay the mortgage/rent of the church building, Sunday school stuff, allowances and salaries of our workers and the maintenance of our well-being and charity works If you stop paying not only would you be putting their welfare at risk, you will also be offending God.
So, after all said and done, it is very important that you re-affirm your determination to pay your tithe. Now pay your tithe, but if you have been unfaithful, God still loves you, but you now need to add 20% to it. If you think you can’t be faithful, you can start a standing order now. I am directing you to pay your entire tithe this month, and add the 20% now or instalmentally.
God loves you; He wants you to pay your tithe.
Pastor
The issue of tithe and tithing came heavy as a burden on me two days ago. I had to wake up very early to check out some of the scriptures that were laid on my hearts. The scripture is Leviticus 27:30-32.
I don’t know why, but since I heard that testimony of the man that asked God to take 90% of his earnings and give him only/retain only 10%, I have been wondering why some people have such benefits/measure of faith. Then as if that was not enough I was listening to and watching Dr Richard Roberts (Oral Roberts's son) on Television when he shared three things that his Dad taught him that changed his life.
1. God is our only source
2. Plant your seed with focus
3. Expect a miracle.
It became clear that God was saying something. Considering the LAF meeting on Sunday and the nature of our contributions, it occurred to me more than ever that I have a responsibility of advising you of the nature and warn you of the dangers and consequences of unfaithfulness in tithing.
In Malachi 3:8-12 God made it clear that some people rob him of His tithe and offerings... However, he said if only we can be faithful in our tithe, we should challenge him and see whether he would not open the windows of heaven...I was wondering why God should be assuring us of benefits if we have been unfaithful, when tithe is really not ours but God’s, and why should you say to a thief, if you can only stop stealing my money, I will give you more that you can contain. It was only then that it occurred to me that tithing is one of the grace boosters. Faithfulness in tithe and offerings can bring untold blessings in finances and also in other areas of our life.
Paul in (Ephesians 4:28), was saying that let he who stole steal no more, and that such should go and work or labour. In early times, then and now, the offence of stealing is punishable by imprisonment, however, God’s assurances of open heaven is actually, assurance of grace. Grace in blessing that you do not deserve but that it’s given to you in any event for faithfulness in obedience. There are also some 7 other promises of unbelievable blessings, but that is not the essence of this piece.
Furthermore, what I have discovered from revelation is that God loves those who dare him. The 3 Hebrews boys (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego dared to pay what I call ‘a tithe of their life’ to God. They refused to deny God of prayers and allegiance to Him. They had made up their minds to give that time to God as a tithe of time and life. It was not difficult for them to say to the King...we will not bow down to you, whether we die or not, is not the question, we must obey the God who can save or may not save us. I love that. Is your conviction about God heart-deep? If so, you should be able to say to the Landlord, Mortgagor-bank, the so called necessity of life, that, you will have to give what is God to God first, before thinking of the Caesars of this world. What you will find is if you give God what is God, God will ensure that Caesar is paid his due back to you. What you should not do is to fear the demands from Caesar and then steal what belong to God to pay Caesar. That would amount to stealing from Peter to pay Paul!!
Esther did the same thing, she tithe her time, life and food for the saving grace of the whole of the Jewish race. Every great person in the Bible has done this one time or the other, and the rest has become history. What part of history would you belong to?
Do not let your spouse deny your family of the benefits of tithing. Don’t accept. Its better to disobey him than disobey HIM. Jesus said if your hand or eye would cause you to miss the dividends of salvation, cut or remove it. It is better to fear him who can remove the armour, rather than fear him who put it on. Remember Ananias and Saphirra. How I wish one of them could have disobeyed the other...
Now, the question always after someone has taught about giving or tithing and offering is, oh they want our money again...before now, I would probably want to be defensive and say, No, we don’t want your money, it’s just for your sake. But now what I have discovered is that I have a God given task to teach this and ensure, that starting with the leaders (LAF) ITS THE RESPONSIBILTY OF THE PASTORS TO TEACH THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. It is not your money! I also need to advise you that God not only commanded tithing, but he also gave out the reasons for the tithe. God wanted tithes so that the storehouse would not lack and therefore meet the needs of the priests and all the workers in the sanctuary. The money was not going to be taken to heaven, but it’s going to be spent on earth and on the workers in the house and to meet their needs. So I am not embarrassed to tell you that your tithe and offering are used to pay the mortgage/rent of the church building, Sunday school stuff, allowances and salaries of our workers and the maintenance of our well-being and charity works If you stop paying not only would you be putting their welfare at risk, you will also be offending God.
So, after all said and done, it is very important that you re-affirm your determination to pay your tithe. Now pay your tithe, but if you have been unfaithful, God still loves you, but you now need to add 20% to it. If you think you can’t be faithful, you can start a standing order now. I am directing you to pay your entire tithe this month, and add the 20% now or instalmentally.
God loves you; He wants you to pay your tithe.
Pastor
Tayo
ReplyDeleteHow can you dare talk about tithing when you do not even define it correctly? Look at Leviticus 27:30-32 and 14 other texts which describe the CONTENTS of the HOLY biblical tithe. Although money was common in Genesis and essential for sanctuary worship, money is never a tithe-able item!
Malachi 3:8-12 is used to scam the New Covenant Christian church using and Old Covenant conditional promise which only applied to Israel. God commanded Israel NOT to share its covenant with us Gentiles and Gentiles who attempted to bring tithes to the sanctuary were to be killed. Read Numbers 18.
In Malachi 1:6-14 and Neh 13:5-10 the priests were stealing the tithes and God cursed them. Have you ever read Nehemiah 10:37b? It flips the traditional interpretation of Mal 3:10 upside down. Why would God tell the people to bring ALL the tithe to the Temple when 98% of those who needed it for food were in the Levitical cities?
The vast majority who tithe only pad the pockets of dishonest preachers and you know it. Only the success stories are paraded.
Hello Russell
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my writing on Tithing. I must say I found your reply absurd and wholly 'standing on its head'...lol. You have deliberately selected scriptures whilst choosing to give your own interpretation to this very simple time bound, time tested doctrine and command of God. I struggle to see any of your citations of scriptures as in alignment on the issues I raised. Tithe is simply 10% of our income, then and now. As we are no longer in the age of trade by barter or flocks and herds, it would have been an herculean task to bring in the cows, rather than the money. I will ask you to read Malachi 3: 8-11 carefully and meditate on the words, carefully ensuring that all stereotypical religious trench digging is taken off your mind. God will reveal the interpretation to you, and the fruits will abound to you. Cheers
Tithing is a very sensitive topic; everyone seems to have their own interpretation of tithing. Its unfortunate some disreputable men of God (pastors) have given some people the ammunition not to want to tithe based on how they have gone about the use of church finances.
ReplyDeleteThe question is…..
1. Should someone who has experience church money used for personal gratification be blamed if he decides to stop tithing?
2. Is it okay if you decide to give your tithe to needy people like motherless homes rather than giving the church you worship? I know it says in Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the store house, that there may be food in my house".
What can we say about people like Bill Gates of Microsoft that gives so much money to needy people and other needy organisations, R&D, etc but do not actually give to the church. How can he be described? a tithe payer or a tithe thief?
As for me I caught the revelation of tithing in 2006 and since then I noticed I have never lacked. The more I tithe the more I get. This is my own personal testimony about tithing
I know it can be very difficult but once you catch the revelation it becomes very easy. I pray for his revelation for us all Amen….
Tunde
ReplyDeletethat was brilliant.i NEED NOT ADD ANYTHING. In answer to your two questions:
1. The guy need to be counselled, not blamed. Tithe is a command from God. No matter how is used by the Priest. They will answer to God, not man. If the priest stole God's money, then he can also answer to man(law). But no one should use that as a reason for not tithing.
2. You have answered it, yourself.
What our friend was saying is that the tithing as a doctrine was for the Jews only, and Gentiles should not tithe...I found that very dangerous.
Tithing... mmmnnn a very interesting one. As someone who has argued on the left and right of this issue. Coming from its dark side to its light this is what I say to people.
ReplyDeleteTry it and come back in a few months time even if you do not have faith in it but as you try it, have a tete-a-tete (speak forth into your tithe) with the good lord as you tithe. I 'caught the bug' in 2007 on my 'way to my own Damascus' and I have always dwelt in abundance. By abundance, I mean I have never known lack in all strata and I say that giving God all the glory (Ko ni mimose ni nu o!)
Interestingly Pastor, it was this same testimony of Pastor Adeboye that swung it for me. At the beginning of this year, I prayed that God this is how much I would like to tithe at the very minimum. Knowing my earning capacity at the time, the devil teased me that you would be mad (and the flesh kind of got startled) so I wrote a cheque in faith and yes God has come beyond good and the next level is to be in a position where reverse is the case. 90% for God and 10% for me, but even the 10% would still be beyond my imagination. That is the goal. Not one man has outgiven God, not one. Having said that, a few so called men of God have really abused this and this is what really flames the argument of some people.
On a bit of deviation though Pastor, is the onus on the Church to question the source of a man's tithe. Is this a baseless argument or their are moral imperatives we all just ignore for convenience sake. I would like you to enlighten us on this as well. As for whether tithe should be paid or not, I think for most Christians the nayers have lost the argument both in the physical, intellectual and may I add in the spiritual.
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ReplyDeleteAs referenced in one of the comments above, tithing is a sensitive issue. However let’s see what the Bible says and also share our life experiences.
ReplyDeleteThe New Testament does not make much reference to tithing in the same way as the Old Testament; tithing was one of the tenements of the law. An offering presented to the Lord, which he in turn returned to the Levites because they did not have an inheritance along with the other tribes of Israel. They in turn were to offer to God a tenth of what they had received, which was reckoned to them as their own offering, Numbers 18 vs. 23-31
In Matthew 23 vs. 23, we also see where the Lord Jesus also referred to tithing as a part of the law. It is a part of the law, that is my conclusion from this.
We as believers through Christ are not under compulsion of the law. Acts 15 vs. 28 - 29 tells us explicitly which aspects of the law we are instructed to keep. "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: "You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood from meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things" The reason for this ordinance being communicated was because there was some controversy as to what aspect Gentile new believers were expected to keep. It was a response to Acts 15 vs. 5 “Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”
In further studies of the New Testament I noticed that when offering was referred to, it often was referenced in respect to meeting the needs of others. There seemed to be a requirement to ensure that there was no lack within the body of Christ, Acts 4 vs. 34-35 "There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." Note: "there was no needy person amongst them" & "distributed to anyone as he had" need.
2 Corinthians 8 vs. 16 to 9 vs. 14 talks about giving; In vs. 12 of chapter 9, it refers to the service of giving as supplying the needs of God's people and also describes it as an expression of thanks to God.
I think it is more important for us to ask ourselves how do we want to thank God, how do we want to express appreciation to God, is it with 0%, 1%, 5%, 10% (taking a leaf from the old as a standard of bare minimum but not as under compulsion), 20%, 25%, 50%, 90%, 100%. I see our offering as a way of saying God, this is the least I can do to say thank You Lord, to master my flesh for You. It is easy to say we love & revere God but in our giving we can really show it that we do. Show me your faith through your works.
Galatians speaks a lot about being careful not to come under the law again. Galatians 5 vs. 3 "Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law." When we start observing one law then we are obliged to keep the whole.
Does this mean that the law of the Old Testament is completely irrelevant in our lives, definitely not, it is the letter that kills - the ordinances but the Spirit gives live, meaning let us understand the inspiration behind it, the spirit of giving, the heart, God is after your heart, He wants your heart. In turn He will bless you.
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ReplyDeleteIn giving 10% of my earnings to God as an expression of my appreciation of God, reverence and honour of Him. I have not known lack.
ReplyDeleteLet your giving be an expression of your thanks to God. Also let us reason, we go to the Church building, we sit in the warmth of the Church, our children get fed there during recess, we use electricity and various other amenities there. The church needs to be maintained, mortgage paid, we also need to free up our pastors to attend to the word and prayer, they receive phone calls through all hours of the day, their families need to be provided for, they need to be provided for.
When we look at the spirit behind the law, where did the tithes go, it went to the Levites as their wages for the work and they in turn took care of the tent of meeting.
I would just like us to rightly divide the word of truth. I really can't claim to have all the answers on this one. In my experience it has been that I have seen increases, blessing, interventions which I believe are as a direct result of my tithing and giving. However I have seen distortions like a website which referred to an atonement offering, for me that flies directly in the face of Christ and His blood which is and forever will be the only atonement & appropriation for my sin. Therefore I urge us to search the scriptures in context and widely with guidance of the Holy Spirit to come to an understanding that is true and wholly divine on tithes and offerings. For lack of space and time, 2 Corinthians 16, Galatians 2 in addition to the scriptures referenced above that refer to giving. I urge us to reference them all and study them and ask for divine illumination. The word of God and the Spirit will never contradict each other and it is important we go by what the scripture says.
We should also be sensitive to others who have a need amongst us and try to see how with our offerings we can help them. To allow our Church environments to be places where people feel loved & welcome whether you are rich or poor. We should always remember to ask God to bless those who want to give but do not have.
*1 Corinthians 16
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ReplyDeletePS: apologies for the many deletions, seemed to encounter errors with workings of my PC. I hope we can rightly divide the word of truth on this issue in love without offending each other.
ReplyDeleteCheers, L!