Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills - Page 3

RandyWayne · #21 08-09-2008, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holinesspk

I give to the church where God put me. Your first priority is to your church. Organizations are extra, Tithing is not......

Isn't the local church an organization?

Wouldn't giving that money to someone in direct need have a higher priority than to the local tax-exempt organization known as the local congregation?

What if you don't agree with how your local church is spending its income?

jaxfam6 · #22 08-09-2008, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTULLOCK

This is something that I was thinking about the other day. On AFF, we talk about not tithing if that is sin or not. There is a lot of talk on her whether tithe is a 'candy stick' that preachers use inorder to line their own pockets or carpet their houses. The thought I was pondering the other day is this-would God rather you not pay your debts (bad stewardship) so you can make your tithe payment?

I know that God wants us to be good stewards with our time and money. Often times nowadays with the housing issues, credit crunches, high energy costs and job cuts it becomes very, very tough. I have not experienced this issues a whole lot in my life. But I wonder what God would rather have from us the tithe or us to pay our debt?

What do you think?

Have always paid my tithes and always will. Tighes have always been paid and God has always made a way for the bills to be paid also.

LadyCoonskinner · #23 08-10-2008, 12:24 AM

[QUOTE=RandyWayne;561330]Isn't the local church an organization?

Wouldn't giving that money to someone in direct need have a higher priority than to the local tax-exempt organization known as the local congregation?

What if you don't agree with how your local church is spending its income?[/QUOTE]

Randy, I was taught that once I gave my tithe, it was out of my hands. I did what the bible told me to do and that was give my 10%. Where it went from there was out of my hands also.

There have been many times in my life, both married and single, that I paid my tithe and God has blessed me in return.

Once comes vividly to my mind. My husband was teaching school and only got paid once a month. Well, we got paid and first thing we always did was take out tithes out first. Well, we did and we only had about $100 to get us through the whole month. We also had a 6 month old baby who needed diapers and formula. Well one day we had a family in our church call and tell us that they were having a really tough time financially and we decided to have them over for supper. (I always kept extra food around) Anyway, during the day the Lord began to deal with me about giving money to our friends who needed help and so I prayed and asked God that if it was HIM and not me, who is a sucker for a sad story, to also deal with my husband. So, I prayed and went about my day. Came home began preparing supper and my husband came home and said he needed to talk to me, and told me what the Lord had dealt with him about and it was what HE had been dealing with me about. So we wrote them a check for 1/2 of what we had left, leaving us with $50 for the rest of the month.

When they came over and ate, we gave them the money. WE went to bed that night thanking God for blessing us with the ability to help someone else.

The next morning I got up and got dressed for work and was running out the door and it wouldn't open very easy, like it usually did. I pushed pretty hard and got it only partially open and looked down and there sitting my porch was was a case of diapers and a case of formula. I sat down in the door way and began to cry. My husband heard me and came running, and then when he saw what was going on, he sat down and cried too.

Brothers and Sisters, you cannot outgive God.

I know you are probably thinking, "Oh yeah, she's a pastor's wife, of course she's gonna think that way." I thought that way LOOOOONNNNNGGGG before I was ever in the ministry.

God will bless you if you obey HIS word. He says 10%, so I give at least 10%. I know that it belongs to HIM anyway. He gave it to me, and He can take it away. He gave me the job in the first place and He can take it away. All that I have belongs to Him. God is a Good God.

holinesspk · #24 08-10-2008, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyCoonskinner

Randy, I was taught that once I gave my tithe, it was out of my hands. I did what the bible told me to do and that was give my 10%. Where it went from there was out of my hands also.

There have been many times in my life, both married and single, that I paid my tithe and God has blessed me in return.

Once comes vividly to my mind. My husband was teaching school and only got paid once a month. Well, we got paid and first thing we always did was take out tithes out first. Well, we did and we only had about $100 to get us through the whole month. We also had a 6 month old baby who needed diapers and formula. Well one day we had a family in our church call and tell us that they were having a really tough time financially and we decided to have them over for supper. (I always kept extra food around) Anyway, during the day the Lord began to deal with me about giving money to our friends who needed help and so I prayed and asked God that if it was HIM and not me, who is a sucker for a sad story, to also deal with my husband. So, I prayed and went about my day. Came home began preparing supper and my husband came home and said he needed to talk to me, and told me what the Lord had dealt with him about and it was what HE had been dealing with me about. So we wrote them a check for 1/2 of what we had left, leaving us with $50 for the rest of the month.

When they came over and ate, we gave them the money. WE went to bed that night thanking God for blessing us with the ability to help someone else.

The next morning I got up and got dressed for work and was running out the door and it wouldn't open very easy, like it usually did. I pushed pretty hard and got it only partially open and looked down and there sitting my porch was was a case of diapers and a case of formula. I sat down in the door way and began to cry. My husband heard me and came running, and then when he saw what was going on, he sat down and cried too.

Brothers and Sisters, you cannot outgive God.

I know you are probably thinking, "Oh yeah, she's a pastor's wife, of course she's gonna think that way." I thought that way LOOOOONNNNNGGGG before I was ever in the ministry.

God will bless you if you obey HIS word. He says 10%, so I give at least 10%. I know that it belongs to HIM anyway. He gave it to me, and He can take it away. He gave me the job in the first place and He can take it away. All that I have belongs to Him. God is a Good God.

AMEN!!!!!

holinesspk · #25 08-10-2008, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaxfam6

Have always paid my tithes and always will. Tighes have always been paid and God has always made a way for the bills to be paid also.

And yet ANOTHER example of God fulfilling His promise to those who put Him first. You cannot ever go wrong with putting God first.

Hoovie · #26 08-10-2008, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Hoover

How do you arrive at these intended usages of the funds?

Would it not stand to reason that we accept not only the Old Testament commands to tithe, but also the accompaying definitions for it's purpose and usage?

Really, I am just asking... not wanting to debate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by holinesspk

I know your just asking. Buut I guess I dont understand what you mean in your second sentence. What do you mean?

Oh. In another post you mentioned "Tithing is given to run the church. Pay the bills, pay the pastor, pay for improvements, put into the building fund, etc. That is your reasonable service. Giving to widows does not replace your tithes."

While this sounds reasonable (if you can verify it's dispersal) is there a biblical precedent for it's use as you describe? I believe we have precedent for it's use to assist widows, and our support of the same is identified as true religion in the New Testament.

jaxfam6 · #27 08-10-2008, 08:57 AM

"What if you don't agree with how your local church is spending its income"
RW

"Randy, I was taught that once I gave my tithe, it was out of my hands. I did what the bible told me to do and that was give my 10%. Where it went from there was out of my hands also." LCS

I watched as my sister and her husband put thousands of dollars into a church where the pastor abused the money. They finally left and went elsewhere to church but for me the damage was done. I started to become skeptical. I was still a teenager. I asked my sister once how they could do that. She told me that we are taught by example to pay tithes. That once it is in the storehouse it is the ministries problem then. If the ministry abuses the money God will take of them. As long as they did what they were supposed to do that was what God looked at. It was not their job to police the ministry that was up to God. Once they got tired of it they finally went someplace else. (I think it has more to do with once they finally realized they could go elsewhere and still be saved)
God has always taken care of their needs and much more. They one a home, travel the country with his job, pay their bills, help their children with college, families, help others, etc. God even brought my sister through a battle with cancer and she is now 4 yrs plus cancer free. God is good but more than that He is FAITHFUL.
I learned from them and my mother that if I paid my tithes and gave in offerings that God would take care my needs. He always has. Not always the way I want but he always meets my needs and then some.
If there are widows in need, or orphans, or homeless people and you think your church is not doing enough then start something in your church to do more. If no one else wants to join you do it yourself. But that is not your tithe in my opinion that is offerings and sacrifices, even seeds that you are sowing. Stop policing your ministry, if you are not happy with them then move on.

OnenessWoman · #28 08-10-2008, 11:52 AM

I have had times where I have paid tithes and God has blessed me and met every single one of my needs even when things seemed impossible.

AND

I have had times where I have NOT paid tithes and God has blessed me and met every single one of my needs even when things seemed impossible.

GraceAmazing · #29 08-10-2008, 12:50 PM

I don't know that I have an opinion in regards to the original question, but I will say that I believe in tithing and I think it is something that we should do as Christians.

However, that being said, trying to explain the rewards to a new convert who is already broke financially, has to pay child support, has to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe because now they are being taught they should (it's a lady) and this person is already stretched beyond their means anyway...that's a tough job.

Not saying we shouldn't tithe, just that it's hard to explain.

We give faithfully...and some weeks it's hard, but we give and then God gives! We can never seem to outgive him!

Aquila · #30 08-10-2008, 01:24 PM

My family had been faithful tithers for many years. Then things went absolutely nuts financially. We kept tithing....we drained all our savings and almost lost our house. It wasn't until the pastor himself told us not to tithe and to take care of our needs. Had he not done this...we'd be under a bridge today.

I've since gone through periods of being able to tithe and not being able to tithe. God has blessed us tremendously regardless. There isn't any such thing as a magic percentage. It's about a relationship with the Lord.