Quote:
Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast
I bring tithing to this forum however, because I do see many suffering under it's bondage - and that needs to be addressed. If they choose to tithe, so be it - but Believers ought to know what tithing in the Old Testament really was, and to understand what the church has turned it into through the centuries. People also need to understand that the idea of tithing resulting in a financial windfall, which is another fallacy I often heard preached, is also not Biblical.
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NFNL, great points.
Reminds me, in principle, of my final years in the LC program. I just knew deep within that things were wrong. Very wrong. Yet, while I remained inside the system, I was in a fog, and could not see clearly the many reasons we were not blessed by the Lord..
Sometimes I meet with a large community church, which is Pentecostal. They
stress tithing weekly, using the verses from Malachi to put fear into their people, "
Why ye rob God?" But, no one has gone back to study tithing. If the matter is troubling within, then we should seek the Lord, and study the word closely, and not be "fogged" by the minister's teaching.
Is there any indication in scripture that tithing was giving 10% of your income to the church? Are the O.T. offerings also types of financial offering that should be duplicated in the church?
NFNL, you spoke of those "
suffering under bondage," and I do believe that none suffer more than those precious saints who continue to believe that God has not healed them because they have not sufficiently "sown seeds" of money in order to reap their own healing. While I do believe God is our Healer, what do we say concerning those who "rob widows," the most vulnerable of God's people.
Apostle Paul says, "we are not like
the many,
peddling the word of God," and "not walking in craftiness nor
adulterating the word of God." How do we justify the enormous salaries and bountiful perks of our so-called leaders?
Recently I read that one ministry took in $90M/year, with numerous cars and homes for all the family members on the "staff," yet justified the enormous amount by boldly declaring that "we give 10% to the Lord." Why not give 99% back to the Lord, as it appears that Paul and the other Apostles did?