Evidence for God from Science

does tithing have to be giving to a church or church project? does it have to be to help people? or any charity? e.g.: environmental; animal welfare?

Prodigal Son wrote:does tithing have to be giving to a church or church project? does it have to be to help people? or any charity? e.g.: environmental; animal welfare?

Tithing supports the church (feeds the priest, allows the purchase of needed materials and such) and the money that is left over is used to fund projects such as charitable events and missionary trips. The money must be used to sustain and advance the church's mission, anything else is wicked.

really?

Prodigal Son wrote:really?

Really. Tithing is to sustain the priests and keep the church building intact and to promote the Word of God. It shouldn't be used for luxuries or lining the pockets of the wicked.

i don't really like that idea. i've found some environmental groups, animal welfare organizations, and child welfare organizations i am interested in. giving to the church isn't as appealing to me.

here's a cool article which supports giving outside the church: http://cnview.com/on_line_resources/tru ... part_2.htm

No one ever said you couldn't give to both...

i have weird feelings about giving to a church. i don't know why. maybe growing up catholic...they always passed the basket around and everyone watched to see how much you'd put in. defiance maybe. who knows.

I believe tithing can cover donating to needy as well as the church.
but then remember the church is the people not the building.

Prodigal Son wrote:i have weird feelings about giving to a church. i don't know why. maybe growing up catholic...they always passed the basket around and everyone watched to see how much you'd put in. defiance maybe. who knows.

Prodigal... Tithing is what is upon your Heart. It is like this, Your Preacher gives food to you! Food for the Soul that is. Everyone around you are in that same family (like a big Potluck). However Money is needed to get the Food. In Return you not only get food for the Soul but get blessed by God because that Food gives out Returns in your Life as you bless others.

I want to add more sorry . This can also be an example of your Marriage. If you do not give food to your Wife and Child (Spirtual Food for the Soul) then they in turn cannot bless others with that Food that you have given. Reminds me of a Song "The Circle of Life" (well at least that particular line )

i suppose you are right, my friend...how annoying!

You guys are running in circles! First of all, tithing is an OT thing. What God asks and requires of us now is everything!!! Completely biblical, but not going to look verses up now! ( I'm getting so lazy about that!) Get this, you can even give... what? less than ten percent? No way! Get out of here! Shouldn't it be more? Nope! It need not!

Like I said, tithing is an OT thing, and if we offer all that we have up to God today, we are fulfilling the tithing principle. I have, however, found that God blesses my finances when I give to my church. He "punishes" me if I don't, weekly. Financially, that is. How much you give and where you give it to all depends on where God wants it, which He should reveal specifically to each Christian.

As for nonChristian or even Christian organizations, I have donated to both as a type of tithe in the past, and all of them ended in God telling me to not give to that particular place. One of them was a Christian organization for drug addicts, (a lot of them homeless, I think,) to recover through grace and faith. Amazing stories I'd hear about the people there, (addicts who upon conversion immediately were freed from the addiction and more,) but God communicated for me to stop giving to them. It turns out that many other Christians were also stopping their donations to them at that exact same time, and it seemed to be an obvious chastisement of the organization for reasons I don't care to explain right now.

But God has led me to give weekly to my church and as said even "punishes" my financial situation if I don't. The past two weeks have been pretty tough because the lady to whom I hand my donations to on Wednesdays, (she handles them herself,) hasn't shown up! God is telling me I need to get it to her even if she doesn't come then. We'll see where this goes in the future.

The problem I've found with organizations is that they can support people and things you wouldn't agree with as a Christian. I gave regularly to the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action Alliance, and duh! they donated some of their proceeds to help elect democrats who wish to save trees and kill babies! I had to refuse them any further upon learning of this and tell them my priorites just weren't the same as theirs. I think I once donated to a foundation for dying kids' last wishes, but then came to see that there were so many more important things to help with. I don't need to send a dying kid to Disneyland, I need to send them to church!

So the key is to make sure it's God's will. The poor will always be with us, as Jesus stated, but their souls won't! But then you are to clothe them and feed them in addition to teaching them about God. So who do you give to? How do you know where your money will be most needed or have the best benefits? Ask God, the one to whom all the money and food and houses and clothes belong to. He'll know what to do with it!

But then don't forget that everything you "own" is up for giving as a form of a tithe. Why just money? Why not that shirt over there? Or how about the computer you want to replace? Donating things we are done using or donating things we would otherwise keep using can be like tithing too. God says that He wants us to give back to Him willingly all that He gives to us. Lately He's been speaking to me of the car He gave me, reminding me it's His and not my own, and that He can take it from me at any time or give me one in it's place I don't like nearly as much. That is the nature of NT "tithing". Everything belongs to God and everything is up for grabs. And of course that includes time and energy. It's all one package now!

kateliz wrote:Lately He's been speaking to me of the car He gave me, reminding me it's His and not my own, and that He can take it from me at any time or give me one in it's place I don't like nearly as much. That is the nature of NT "tithing". Everything belongs to God and everything is up for grabs. And of course that includes time and energy. It's all one package now!

Funny you should bring up the car. About 8 months ago I went to a weekend retreat at a nearby bible college where one of my cousins was attending, and I drove my very recently finished project car. I spent a lot of time on it, and was very happy with the results. It looked great too.

Well I learned very quickly that a bible college campus hosting a youth (age 12-18 ) retreat is NOT a car-friendly environment. Upon arriving a guy dressed up as an old granny sat on my fender with his giant foam butt! Then there were kids scouping snow off every flat surface as the afternoon sun was melting the prior night's snow which made for great snowball fights. And the worst was a basketball hoop and backboard attached to an actual telephone poll near the parking lot of all things - a telephone poll! And hyper kids seeing how far the might be able to hit the hoop from.

Anyways, in the end the car and I came out with not a scratch. In hindsight it was God saying "I've given you this and I'm glad you're so happy with it. Good call on coming for the weekend and don't forget that even the car is mine - it's by my grace that you have it." Lesson learned.

(and the secondary lesson - take a winter beater to colleges and youth retreats!)

...democrats who wish to save trees...

hey, i like trees!

I am beginning to love my car. I find myself staring at it every time I walk by it, critically analyzing it and approving of it. I look at other cars on the roads and tell myself that my car is cuter than all of theirs, especially if it looks like mine. And it hit me a little too hard when one of the visors' springs snapped and I had to take it down. Also when, while inspecting one of my very sad rusty spots, I found I was able to poke my finger through and make a hole! But I didn't care when my brother dented up my license plate by backing right into me. Just a few crinkles! I've also named it "my blue baby." Not a good sign! I need to lay it on the altar of my heart and break my strong attachment to it. That's a work in progress as of yet!

Sonny wrote:hey, i like trees!

I've hugged them before. And more than once. I guess you would have to call me a tree-hugger! One of those times was with a Redwood in California. I pressed myself against it while staring up at it's giant height swaying in the breeze, with me swaying with it. It was a pretty cool experience, actually! Another time the tree was in the shape of a giant cross, (purposely, just for clarification.) I had tears of joy from that one! But then probably at least two other times I hugged just an average tree out of fondness.

I once had the opportunity to strip an apple tree of all it's bark. Man, was that cool! I thought of how geniously God made the creation and of our relationship to Him as the Branch, through which His sap should flow to hit the light and form fruit! Just under the bark was a thin layer of the apple tasting sap. And when you peeled off the bark, (the tree was chopped down in it's prime,) you had this... peeling noise. I really got into it! And I did it all for fun. Just call me crazy; I know I deserve it!

You might get a kick out of this, Sonny: I was donating to the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action Alliance at the same time I owned stock in a big energy company! But that's another story.

Now what were we talking about here? Oh, right, tithing! Ooops! Garbage this if you want.

Prodigal Son wrote:
i have weird feelings about giving to a church. i don't know why. maybe growing up catholic...

That's inapplicable, because all Christians are expected to tithe, not just Catholics.

Prodigal Son wrote:
they always passed the basket around and everyone watched to see how much you'd put in.

It embarrasses you if you cannot afford to donate a lot of money?
I doubt God would mind if one tithed $10,000, 10 cents, or 10 beans as long as the believer tithed what he could from his heart.

Prodigal Son wrote:
defiance maybe. who knows.

Sounds like you have a long way to go in your journey with God.

Dan wrote:
Tithing supports the church (feeds the priest, allows the purchase of needed materials and such) and the money that is left over is used to fund projects such as charitable events and missionary trips. The money must be used to sustain and advance the church's mission, anything else is wicked.

that's what tithe is supposed to be used for, but unfortunately, many clergymen launder money for themselves, especially some televangelists.
When it comes to proper use of tithe, the Roman Catholic Church probably has the cleanest record today.

kateliz wrote:
I've hugged them before. And more than once. I guess you would have to call me a tree-hugger! But then probably at least two other times I hugged just an average tree out of fondness.

As Ann Coulter once said:

"I take the biblical idea. God says, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.' "