Do they
insist that you are stealing from
God and He will not bless you if
you are not a faithful 'Tither'?
It is
good for us to give and help the
needy. It is wonderful to support
ministers and programs that reach
out and preach the gospel. I
believe this is what Jesus wants
us to do!
However,
if a preacher spends precious
time convincing you that you must
leave 10% or more of your
earnings in his collection plate
or God will not bless you and
receive you into the Kingdom...
GET OUT OF THERE!
The
'tithe' is not mentioned in the
New Testament. The 'tithe' was
required and taught in the Old
Testament.
PLEASE
LISTEN...
I am NOT
telling you not to tithe, as a
matter of fact, God may place it
upon your heart to give more than
a 'tithe'.... A 'tithe' means
1/10th. The Lord may want you to
give more! Depending on your
ability and with what you are
blessed.
I am
saying that this is not
scriptural to carry it to the
lengths I have seen. It is, in my
opinion, a way to 'grow' the
church and provide larger
salaries for the preacher and his
programs. Build larger churches,
spend more money on themselves
and their programs. How much goes
to the widows, orphans and the
misfortunate, I don't know. The
'tithe' was never supposed to
make the preacher rich!
Remember:
The tithe was for the widows,
orphans and the needy! Not for
preachers to buy airplanes and
multi-million dollar homes!
I heard
one famous, popular TV Preacher
one Sunday morning... He said,
"on the interstate, a small
car passed him, it was in bad
shape and smoking." He went
on to say that there was a bumper
sticker that read, "GOD IS
MY PROVIDER" or something
close to that. This rich, TV
Preacher went on to say that
"if that's all that person's
God could provide, he didn't want
anything to do with his
God." That is a paraphrase
and may not be exact but you get
the idea!
I never listened to him again
with any confidence. I only
listen now to see what kind of
'trash doctrine' he is preaching.
By the way, his congregation
applauded him when he made that
horrible statement!
Be
charitable and help all you can.
Let it come from the heart and
the Holy Spirit, not from a
money-motivated, rich TV Preacher
or ANY preacher! Especially, DO
NOT GIVE ONLY IN HOPE OF A LARGER
RETURN! The rich TV Preachers use
that con to separate you from
your money! It's good to support
your church but it is also good
to help needy people directly! Do
you have a friend or family
member in trouble? Help
them first
then support the church and their
programs.
You can
help people directly, you don't
have to give it to the church (or
any organization) and let them
distribute it or build bigger
structures or increase salaries!
You can help people directly. Try
it! It really gives you as lot of
joy to see the less fortunate
being helped. AND.... Yes, that
is to be considered as good or a
better method of tithing... in
the doctrine of Jesus.
During
my lifetime, I have been up, I
have been down. I've experienced
both sides of the 'charity'
issue. I can promise you this...
Giving and receiving are both
mind expanding, humbling and
rewarding for both parties. The
person on the receiving end can
see God at work and the person on
the giving side can enjoy a
reward that is not only honored
by Jesus but an immediate joy in
knowing that you have helped one
of God's creatures, whether it be
a human being or an unfortunate
animal.
Give,
yes, give but don't buy into some
con man in the pulpit. There are
many honorable men-of-God who
represent truth but there are
some pretty evil devils lying to
you too. You be the judge.
Hope
this message helps in some way.
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