I am so glad you asked that question! It's important to address this issue, because even most Christians themselves don't quite get it.Even with all the scripture in the word to back it up, most still don't understand God's economy.So, I'm going to help you now. As you well know, I am not a preacher. I don't ask anybody for any money, although from time to time I have been tempted to put advertising on my site, or install a " Tip jar" to help defray the cost of this site,and have resisted, because I want you to know that what I say comes from my heart, my love for you, my love for God.Motivation is very important to the way the public perceives what is told to them, and I wouldn't want anyone, for one moment to think that I have any Axe to grind, no affiliation I have to bow to, no hidden agenda,other than that which I have just stated.Mine is just Love.Love for you.Love for God.That's it. I would never recommend something to you, or espouse any doctrine that wasn't based solely and completely upon that which I know to be the truth,and that I haven't experienced for myself.So, when I say to you that the ways of God are right, I am not just mouthing(or in this case, penning) something someone else said that sounded good, I have been in the position where I wasn't so sure I wanted to tithe or give offerings to a ministry,either local, or through the media, even if I felt I knew a whole lot about them.Funds haven't come easy to me since I have been an adult, and every dime has to be accounted for, where I am concerned.It could be fair to call me a penny-pincher. It's not a name I like, but let's call a spade a spade. When I spend a nickle, you'd better believe that I know I am getting five cents worth of whatever it is, Or I won't go for it.Give me a coin,and I bite it.Hand me a bill, and I will hold it up to the light and make darned sure that it is as it should be.I will call a company to make sure I know what that three dollar charge is for, or they are going to be taking it off my bill! And that piece of currency had better have all it's watermarks and colors in the right place, or I won't take it, even from the bank! So, years ago,when the t.v. preacher started talking to me about tithing, and offerings, boy, was I a skeptic! And I noticed, they all do it, but they don't all do it in the same way.They all use the same scriptures, but some, that is all they do! Now, that got to be a huge bugaboo for me, because I couldn't believe they were all just driven by greed,so rather than just dismiss them all as charlatans, I began to investigate their claims.I jotted down the scriptures they used, chapter and verse,and looked them up, and yup, there they were, right where they said,and it was in the old testament as well as the new testament, from the old scary..."Shall a man rob God?"...right up to the "Give, and it shall be given back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together..." and so much more, that I had to take it as truth, because,hey! There is was in black and white and red! I got serious with God,got down on my knees and sought his face, and his spirit bore witness to mine that this was his will, and so I took a deep, scroogy breath, calculated ten percent of my income,and bought a money order,and sent it in,with the prayer that "Father God, you said in your word, to try you,and see if you would not open the windows of heaven and pour me out a blessing that I would not be able to hold.." and standing on his promises, I waited.Now, things got tricky here,because sometimes he does not give it back in money, but "In things that money cannot buy..." Not the old church " Indulgences" but blessings that can only come from God, because he arranges things, orchestrates things in such a way that it can only come from him. No man made miracles here, just plain old faith based true answers to prayer,just what I needed, just when I needed it,and way more than I ever could have asked, expected or anticipated could be possible to happen to me! The response I got from the Lord was so phenomenal,and blessed me and strengthened me so much, that I just couldn't stop talking about it to Yon son, who was a baby Christian,and like me, was leaning more towards saving his money, or better yet, spending it, than tithing and sending offerings, even though, like me, he was blessed by this preacher. I couldn't fault him for his resistance, because I had gone through the same thing, but I now knew for a certainty that God's economy of tithing and offerings, especially sacrificial offerings, were the only way to get out of financial problems, because you can't "out-give" God! Well,it took a lot of repetition, but after a while, I finally wore him down to the point that Yon son decided to give it a go, and the good Lord did not disappoint him, or me! We have never been so blessed as we have been since we have both been tithing,sending in the first-fruits of our increase,and making what offerings we could.Praise be the name of the Lord!
And, after all is said and done, what matters most to me, beyond the blessings we have received by being faithful to God, is the fulfillment of the great commission.There is nothing more important to me now than to help to take this salvation experience I have been privilaged to have,to all those lost souls, not only around this country, but to the rest of the world.And that is what my offerings and tithing goes for, not to send me statues or build glass cathedrals, but to take this gospel, this good news that the lost sinner can be saved, sins forgiven, families brought back together, and healings taking place,and hearts and lives be changed, to a lost and dying world. And that is the message being preached by my church.The message that they don't have to be burdened down by the sins of thier past, that they can be forgiven because Christ paid the atonement for all our sins, and all we have to do, is accept him and what he did,and it is gone, thrown into God's sea of forgetfulness.
Who knows how many souls have been saved, and all for only 10% of my income! I'll find out someday...on that grand and glorious resurrection morning coming for all of us! So, now you know what it's all about, and it's up to you to decide. Will you lay up treasure for yourselves on earth, that robbers can break in and steal, and moths and rust can eat away, or up in heaven, translating into immortal souls saved?
Time is marching on, and the time to make that decision is upon us all.
OUI?
Posted by: Kilter | April 21, 2006 at 05:46 AM
Posted by: FEATHERHEAD | April 21, 2006 at 10:48 PM