"Tithing & Stewardship" | "What's All this about Money?" | "Tithing & Breast-Feeding" | "Marijuana & Money"

Cathedral of Praise: TITHING

$$Money & Marijuana??

**What do the two things have in common other than their color??**

Certain drugs, including **MARIJUANA, have a unique characteristic that other drugs such as alcohol do not share.

The effect of small amounts of alcohol are noticeable from the onset by the imbiber. He first feels a warmth or a glow. Each added increment increases the "high" produced by drinking, until he eventually reaches the maximum point of a stupor or sometimes death.
In CONTRAST, a certain amount of **marijuana is required in order to chemically trigger a reaction in an area of the user's brain. There is a line that has to be crossed-over, or the drug will have NO effect. On the other hand, quickly consuming mass amounts of marijuana does NOT increase the intensity or duration of the immediate "high." "High" is simply "high." If anything, the OVERSUPPLY takes the sharpness or vividness away from the initial "high." **By the way, we are against the use of marijuana, even in glaucoma cases. I just wanted to get your attention. <grin>

The Analogy is This:

Tithing, or the lack thereof, carries a spiritual dynamic with it: blessings and cursings. Some people "tithe" on their net income (i.e. after taxes & deductions). Ten percent of your net income does NOT meet the definition of the tithe. Tithe means "tenth", or more particularly, a tenth of your gross income. If a person "tithes" 9½ percent, HE IS STILL UNDER THE CURSE; the 9½ is of NO EFFECT. It may benefit the church, but it does NOT please God, nor benefit the giver.

On the other hand, the SURPLUS over ten percent IS NOT A TITHE--it is an offering.

GOD ONLY REQUIRES TEN PERCENT!!

YOU DON'T OFFER TO GIVE TITHES---YOU OWE THEM!!

There is a parallel in Exodus 38:26 in which God asked the people for redemption money of one half a shekel per individual:

Each person over a certain age was to bring approximately 88 cents (some scholars say 15 cents) to the sanctuary. Those who brought less were cut off from God's people. It was FORBIDDEN for rich people to bring MORE than a half-shekel. ONLY an AFFORDABLE minimum was required or allowed. Somewhat like tithes, the silver half-shekels were used in the building of the sanctuary. Although this "half a shekel" of redemption money is not a tithe, the idea is that God requires a MINIMUM. Not meeting the EASILY obtainable minimum carries with it a CURSE.

Tithing is the ONLY place in the Bible where God challenges us and says, "Prove Me now herewith ... IF I will not open you the windows of Heaven ..."

Tithing is linked to the SUPERNATURAL.

Any NATURAL carnal man can give 9%.

!When you give 10% you cross over the line into the SUPERNATURAL realm!

?Does that mean that an unsaved man can be blessed by tithing? Possibly, but the main point is:

!YOU as a born-again Christian CAN be blessed by becoming involved in this Bible principle!

!Tithing is NOT a hard thing!

God does not ask you to do that which you are unable to do by His grace. Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

One of the FEW things that Jesus commended the Pharisees for---

--was the fact that AT LEAST THEY TITHED (Matt. 23:23).

He added that they had omitted the weightier things. One thing Jesus is saying here is that TITHING IS A BASIC FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPT that anyone in the Kingdom of God is able to do. We should then move on to the weightier things without ever outgrowing the BASICS of tithing, or leaving it "undone".

Tithing is an Act of RIGHTEOUSNESS!

It is something that springs forth from having Jesus, the Lord our Righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu) within our heart.

Abraham tithed to the priest, Melchisedec (king of righteousness). RIGHTEOUSNESS was reckoned unto him for his faith in God's PROVISION.

NOTICE--Tithing did not make Abraham righteous! He tithed because he was ALREADY righteous!!

!!How much more sensible it is that we should reverently tithe to the Lord our Righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ!! We are talking about New Testament doctrine (Hebrews 7), not just the Old Testament alone.

!The New Testament says that the Law is good!

Tithing which was before the Law (Abraham came before Moses) is such a good idea that God chose to include tithing in the Law.

When Christ dwells within, we fulfill the law. ?HOW??

--BECAUSE JESUS KEPT THE LAW. He didn't come to break the law, or to destroy the law, or to eliminate the law. The Law-Maker is not a hypocritical "law-breaker." The verse that says that Jesus Christ is the "end" of the law--means that Jesus was the purpose of the law, and Jesus is the 'performance or performer' of the law.

The Law was the means to the End, that is, Jesus, Alpha & Omega, the Beginning and the END. Jesus is the logos, the written Word. He is therefore the LAW and GRACE.
The Law, and the Prophets, and the N.T. are that Word, which INCLUDES THE PRACTICE OF TITHING contained in the Word. If one abides in the Word, and the Word abides in him, that person will tithe.

?Have you ever met a rebel who actively teaches against tithing?

Unfortunately, I have met many. The Lord says to them, (Matt. 5:19) "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, AND SHALL TEACH MEN SO, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

To those who say that "tithing is done away with" I say: Did God throw some sort of foolish brief tempermental tantrum in the Book of Malachi that caused Him to call His people robbers of God? Did he curse them upon a whim? NO! God is not fickle like us. God changes not. The Lord is still angry with God-robbers today!

Are the Ten Commandments still in effect today? If you say "No", then which ones are okay for you to break? Is not stealing forbidden by the Ten Commandments? Can a man rob another man today? Don't you suppose that a man can also rob God in this modern day we live in? I know so.

I have also heard it said that tithes are only to be received by the Old Testament LEVITES, not by gentile preachers. To that I say, if we are ALL a royal PRIESTHOOD of believers, how much more are those men who have forsaken a secular profession for the service of our Lord worthy to receive priestly sustenance through the vehicle of tithes.

I have heard people say, "I tithe the way I FEEL THE SPIRIT IS LEADING ME." !!Wrong!! They are again confusing ALMS with tithes. You Don't need to wait for a specific 'divine leading' to do that which is already put forth in the WRITTEN Word.

An individual is in reality CONVICTED to tithe, NOT LED.

<>FOR EXAMPLE:

If God were to convict you to take out the garbage, you know that the garbage must be taken out in the future day by day, NOT just when you 'feel a leading'.

<>Those who say they must be 'led to tithe' are saying in essence that they give only on EMOTIONAL IMPULSES.

Tithing must be SYSTEMATIC, not based on EMOTION alone.

<>You don't always feel like going to work or paying your debts, but you do it anyway.

<>At your job you both work and are payed according to a schedule, therefore, you should systematically release 10% of your salary back unto the Lord Who blessed you with employment.

<>You maintain your home finances in an orderly timely fashion based on this steady cash flow. The maintenance of God's house should be no less organized.

Let's test the 'emotional' giving theory to see if it can equal the tithe:

Let's say that a man makes $400/week. About once a month, when everything is looking 'rosy' he has an emotional impulse to throw $100 into the offering.

Admittedly, $100 is a lot of money to some people, myself included. He has an impression that he has sacrificed a lot, but tithing is not a sacrifice, it is a DEBT.)

At the year's end, he will have given a total of 12 x $100 = $1,200.

!!However, if he had tithed the proper $40/week, the year-end total would be 52 x $40 = $2,080 !!!

!!WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! --You can see the superiority of disciplined tithing, compared to emotional giving.

False teachers who themselves do NOT so much as even GIVE A DIME say:

---that we should NOT talk about tithing, because God requires 100% from us anyway. (Such a stance is a manifestation of "false humility".)

My question to them is:

If God requires everything, why do they then get so angry at men who stand behind pulpits preaching that God only requires a mere 10% ?

Some folks say that the preacher ought not to know how much the people tithe

--based on Matt. 6:3: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:"

WRONG!!

That verse is talking about ALMS. Read the continuation in verse 4: "That thine alms may be in secret ..." Alms are offerings, not tithes.

It is a minister's DUTY to preach about tithing because:

He wants his congregation to be blessed, not cursed.
It is his job to preach whatever is in the Bible.
Carnal human nature is against giving, therefore, we need to be taught how to give.
God will rebuke the devil on behalf of God's people when they tithe.
Should not those who minister spiritual things to us partake of our physical things?
Tithing is a healthy self-discipline, a subset of stewardship.
Our conscience tells us that the tithe is God's property, not ours.

"Reasons" for NOT Tithing:

Ignorance of the Truth ---(My people perish for lack of knowledge.)
Fear --------------------------(God hath not given us the spirit of fear.)
Rebellion --------------------(... is as the sin of witchcraft ... & stubbornness ... as idolatry)

There are no other reasons for not tithing, and the three above are INVALID.

#1 and #2 are ELIMINATED by sound preaching and Bible study.

A person who has a problem with #3 has a BIGGER problem than the curse in Malachi 3:9. Sorcerers and idolaters will suffer a fiery fate.

The following word may be 'offensive,' but here goes----

<>!!A person who is not faithful in a little cannot be trusted in much!!

<>!!A man that is a poor steward with his own money is not fit to be a steward over other people's money!!

<>!!Those who don't tithe are excellent future candidates for the "MARK OF THE BEAST". Get it straight while you can. Walk in the LIGHT, while there is yet LIGHT!!

You say that you have financial problems? God has the solution.

!!TITHING will get you out of the RED and into the BLACK quickly!!

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