Featured Christian giving

Excellent list. I have nothing to add except to say 'nice job.'

 

Matthew 5
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

 

Good job indeed!
I might just add 'regularly' to the mix (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

 

One passage I love is the contrast shown in the following verse:

Ephesians 4:28 NLT
[28] If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

There is also this rarely quoted passage in Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 NLT
[14] "Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. [15] You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don't, they might cry out to the LORD against you, and it would be counted against you as sin.

I was once told in a church that being paid weeks or even a month later for work done has always been the way. I’ve never seen this passage taught in any church. Yet, the spirit of this law is more important than tithing.

Another rarely quoted passage in Deuternomy about an alternative use for the tithe:

Deuteronomy 14:24-27 NLT
[24] "Now when the LORD your God blesses you with a good harvest, the place of worship he chooses for his name to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe. [25] If so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place the LORD your God has chosen. [26] When you arrive, you may use the money to buy any kind of food you want-cattle, sheep, goats, wine, or other alcoholic drink. Then feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and celebrate with your household. [27] And do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.

 

I wouldn't add anything, I think it's a very comprehensive list.
However, I would encourage you to re-read 1 Corinthians 16:2, and take another look at its context:

" Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
2 Upon the first [day] of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as [God] hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by [your] letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem." ( 1 Corinthians 16:1-3 )

It looks to me as if the church at Corinth was taking up a large collection for the poor believers at Jerusalem ( Romans 15:26 ), which is why they were laying up in store on the first day of each week, waiting for Paul to arrive.


May God bless you richly.

 

It's a good point, but I don’t think they really missed it. The list was just focused more on how to give, that is, on attitude. Discussion on Christian giving can be extended much further if addressing the questions to whom, why, where, when, what to give.

 

Righteously?

 

Acts of the Apostles 5:1-10 KJB
"But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias....why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost....And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?...Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost"

 

Well looking through the lens of "love one another" there is (and I realize this) a measure of hypocrisy if we are disobedient with no reconciliation with another or other wounded Christians i.e. when we return to Our Father a measure of what we have received we make an assumption that all is well between Him and I when it is actually not so with me and the brethren (one or many) and should, if possible, reconcile with my brother, sister...

 

As we consider these verses, consider how church leaders apply them. Do they receive our offerings to the Lord, and then distribute them outside the local church, or do they take care of themselves first? We all need to ponder and give more to others sacrificially. The widows mite?

 

Acts 5:3-4 NLT
Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. [4] The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

It wasn't the lack of giving as some may try to emphasize, but the lying which was the main problem.

There are other things to be said about this passage as well, but I know rlvaughn gets upset if people sidetrack even a small amount.

 

Yes, I was thinking of using something like "unhypocritically" to draw out the idea.

 

On further thought it looks almost if Our Father is saying to put someone else before Him. To go and reconcile FIRST with the brother/sister then come back with our gift to Him.

But then if we do this and try to reconcile we ARE putting Him first.

 

Luke 21:1-4 NLT
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. [2] Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. [3] “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. [4] For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”

The two coins were lepta. One interesting thing I found was that even though it was all she had, I don't think it was even close to a tenth of the income needed to survive.