Featured Would this be tithing?

no........

 

is it a tithe? no, but you are not required to give a tithe, so you can do that if you like.

 

I believe giving tithes and offerings are strictly between the giver and the Lord. Others should keep their nose out of it. Each person gives as lead by the Lord with a cheerful heart. I do not care what any other created being thinks of my giving.

 

Seems to me that if you do not love the others in your church enough to tithe and help them and the church, then perhaps you need to find a church where you do love others that much.

I see nothing in the OT or the NT that says you or anyone should be a colporter. Frankly, I see tracts as a waste of time, print, paper and money.

How do you feel when walking down a street and someone tries to hand you a tract or an advertisement?

 

I feel like feeding the tract to them for lunch.

 

I see nothing in the Bible that says the New Testament Believer is to tithe his or her money.

Perhaps you can enlighten me as to where that instruction is?

 

Where does the Bible say a tithe is to support the local Church? Where does the Bible say we are stealing from our local Church if we don't tithe?

 

You miss my point. If a person does not love his fellow Christians nor his church enough to give, then perhaps they should look for a place where they can love enough to give ... and it indicates what that person really believes is important ... IMHO.

Frankly, I believe a person's giving shows where their heart is and what that heart really loves. Where a person's heart is that is where they will put their money.

Are we told to love one another? Yes, we are and one way of loving is to help others by giving.

Frankly, I have found in my life that I cannot afford not to tithe. I see the 10% as a minimum and that giving really begins only above the tithe. But, that is me and my decision. Does God reward the cheerful giver? I think so, but not always in material ways.

The tithe teaches us that we can live on 90% and giving more shows us that we can live on less than 90%. I do have firm financial rules I live by and they have served me well ... at least I think so.

So I would say that Christ does not teach a tithe. He teaches more than a tithe.

 

According to the Bible, the first tithe was for the provision of the Levites because they had no inheritance in the land of Israel. That tithe was of the produce of the land and of the livestock.

Out of the first tithe, the Levites were to take a tithe to the temple. It was not the congregation that tithed to the Temple, but rather the Levite.

The second tithe was of food and was taken to Jerusalem and there it was eaten by the one tithing and his family. The tither was to share this tithe with the Levite also.

The third tithe, also a food tithe, was kept by the one who grew the food so he could feed widows, orphans, the Levites, and the foreigners in Israel.

 

I did not miss your point at all. There is no command in the Bible for the Christian to tithe his or her money.

If a person wants to take his money and help the poor, or to buy tracts to give to the lost, there is nothing in the Bible that says he should not or can not.

You should not look down on that person for his desire to spread the Word of God to the lost... even if it costs that person every penny he owns to do so.

 

One should support their Church. But why lie to the members, telling them God requires the tithe, when it is quite obvious He gave the tithe to another?

Furthermore, according to the passage in Malachi 3, the tithe was an ordinance. Ephesians 2:14 & 15 tell us that the ordinances written in the commandments have been abolished.

Tell the Congregation the need, or the goal if you prefer. Tell them to pray about it. Let them give out of their own hearts, not because someone else said "Give this much." God says we are to give as WE purpose in our own hearts to give, not as we are dictated to give by others.

If it truly is a need, God will see to it that it is met. Those who love the Lord and His Church will contribute to that end.

 

I agree. Tithing to the church is no one else's business.

 

That is your ... and my opinion ... primarily because we are Americans and are hyper-individualists. It would not be true in some cultures. I do not know how, as adults, we can escape our cultures ... but I have the feeling that we have taken individualism far beyond what God might like.

Can I give you examples. No.

Why? Because I am caught by our culture, just as you and most on the BB are caught.

 

How much of our lives does Christ want us to commit to him?

What did Christ say to the rich young man who came to him? He said give all.

Why?

Because the rich young man loved money more than the Lord.

I fear we Americans are guilty of the same as the rich young man.

As I said in an earlier post, Christ asks for more than a tithe, more than just money.

I didn't say there was. I am of the opinion that tracts are a waste of time, paper, ink, resources and money ... and annoy most who are handed them.

I do not consider handing out tracts in our modern society an effective way of "spreading the word". Other probably have a different opinion.

 

Who did Christ tell the rich young man to give to? To the Temple?

No!... to the poor.

While tracts may, or may not be effective in your area, they may be effective in the OP's area.

Did not God say that His Word would not return to Him void, but would accomplish its purpose?

If His Word is in tract form, and it is handed out, surely it will accomplish the purpose God intended for it.

 

I know what you mean. I lived for one year hopping from Greek island to Greek island on surveillance type work. Some of the islands were Lesvos, Kithra, Antikithra, Crete, Rhodos, Patmos, and Cyprus among others. The point is, theirs was not so individualistic. That pattern also holds for most of the countries of Southern Europe and the Middle East. It seems Northern Europe is more independent, but not so much as us.