Before I begin, I would like to state the following:

1. God manifests Himself in three forms - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. One God; three manifestations. Carnal man can never understand this mystery because God's ways are not man's ways.

2. Christ has been on the earth from the beginning as illustrated by the encounter between Abraham and Melchizedek; and also the fourth being seen and recognized as the Son of man in the fiery furnace by king Nebucadnezzer, who himself had some encounters with God, even though he did not know God. There are a few other illustrations to back this up.

Christ even told the Israelites that even their father Abraham was happy when he met Christ. Some pharisees attempted to do Him harm when He said this, saying how could someone who was barely 30 years old claim to be greater than Abraham.

If you believe Jesus is of God, then you must believe His words concerning being omnipresent


3. Abraham recognized His divinity and paid tithes to Him as a mark of honor even when tithing was not a law. Giving Him a tithe of the spoils was a mark of honor, love and respect.

4. The love of money makes people want to hold tight to cash, will ensure that they find it difficult to give, and is characterized by giving grudgingly. The Bible is totally against the love of money.



WHY THE PREAMBLE

We need to be very clear that the ability to give is a sign of the honor and love you have for God. A tithe is only a small fraction of what love for God will drive you to give.

People will give with joy, according to their level of understanding only, and will not feel constrained for God loves a cheerful giver. Building the faith of the congregation will ensure that they get to a level where every amount given comes from depths of joy.



IS THERE DELIBERATE DECEIT IN THE WAY TITHING IS PREACHED?

Firstly every three years, your tithe is meant to be given to Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled. Deut. 26:12.

I have never heard any preacher ask his congregation to give the tithes to these recipients in the third year. Is it that the pastors do not know this verse of the Bible, or is it simply convenient to deprive these recipients of the little joy which should have been set aside for them? These are poor helpless people whom the Bible has provided for, yet they are being robbed blindly.


Secondly, there were many classes of workers in biblical times, yet no field worker was ever asked to bring tithes. Field workers get paid salaries, so there was money in those days, yet God did not request their money as tithes. Rather, farmers were the primary target of tithing.

Thirdly, Christ lambasted the Pharisees who were very faithful in tithing farm produce while ignoring weightier matters of the law. It seems we still have Pharisees in our midst, though in this context, they don't care much for farm produce; they prefer the raw cash. And of course every class of worker has been drafted into the tithe bracket; even new born babies. The weightier matters of the law? Modern day Pharisees simply gloss over these.


Fourthly, Ezekiel 34:2 says "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?"

Let Ministers of the word dwell on this in all good conscience. Note that this verse of the Bible is also rarely preached about.



CONCLUSION

If ministers teach the congregation and build their faith, more members will give offerings acceptable unto God, and not the offering of Cain. People do not need to be cajoled to pay tithes as many of these tithes will be rejected since they are not given with a cheerful heart. Let the people mature to the extent of eating the meat of the word and doing the needful, then the fear of God will prevent people from bringing any tainted offering or the proceed of crime into the house of God.

To show you how much God abhors tainted offerings, the Bible even says when you bring your offering unto God, and you remember that you have issues with your neighbor, you should first go and settle with your neighbor before coming back to present your offering. Nowadays unfortunately, many do not follow this word and some people even go as far as bringing embezzled money to church, and this is contrary to the word of God.

God loves a cheerful giver, so give according to your understanding. The more you know, the more money becomes a servant to you.

Tomorrow fp

Hmm park here Okada

Well said.

Fp loading. Lalasticlala

An2elect2:
If you did not condemn the practice of giving tithe in this dispensation you said nothing. Is it so hard to accept we are no longer under the law? And tell people so? Why should they tithe at all?

Thank you for your contribution. Inasmuch as you may feel a certain way concerning tithes, let us not be quick to assume that we know it all. Let us see what the Bible has to say concerning this issue.

In the new testament, Matthew 23:23, Christ Himself said -

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

Christ spoke about two things - Tithing and weightier matters of the law ( which are judgement, mercy and faith), and He insisted that the scribes and pharisees ought to have done both, meaning Christ endorsed tithing, so we cannot discard tithing.

Now what was being "tithed" is up for discussion, as none of the disciples was recorded paying tithes, not even Peter when he had his record-breaking catch, probably because none of them were farmers. Besides, there seems to be no proof that employees were ever mandated to pay tithes.


That said, giving offering towards the work of God is very important and pleases God when it is done with a cheerful heart. Members of the early church even sold everything they had and brought to the church, and it was distributed to each member as each needed, such that there was no difference between those who did not have and those who had. This was done out of love for the gospel and respect for God. It was far more than the little 10% many complain about.

The way one gives should be dictated by the way he loves his God and wants to honor the Almighty. Also if it is argued that the modern day tithing should be accepted as it is and we accept that from the ministers, then we must accept it fully and also include the tithes for the Levites, strangers, fatherless and widows in the equation. They must also be allowed to benefit from everyone's tithe throughout the year of the tithe which is the third year of tithing.

WHEN DID THE NEW TESTAMENT BEGAN? IS IT BEFORE THE CROSS{DEATH} OF JESUS OR AFTER THE CROSS?

An2elect2:
The tithing Christ endorsed here was the tenth of their farm produce to the Levites and this was still binding until His death. Christ's death put an end to the law. No more do this and do that to blessed. It is now Christ living in us How simple

And now who would not want to help the needy cheerfully? Who would not want to assist genuine ministers of the gospel? Who would see a brother or sister in need and turn his back?

When we put the horse before the cart, the gospel first we would not worry about who is not giving because we would always have people moved by God's Spirit to give

While we are in agreement concerning ministers feeding the congregation with the raw word, I do not accept that tithing is redundant. It was preached by Jesus and serves as an avenue for farmers to honor God. Offering on the other hand is a great way for others to honor God. Remember the widow's mite?

bloodofthelamb:
WHEN DID THE NEW TESTAMENT BEGAN? IS IT BEFORE THE CROSS{DEATH} OF JESUS OR AFTER THE CROSS?

What I do know is that everything Christ said is law and will come to pass. Christ supported tithing of farm produce as well as selfless giving like the widow who gave all. The substance of my write up is that some have abused the spirit and letter of the law on tithing for personal gain, while conveniently sidelining some of the legitimate beneficiaries of tithe.

grabdbull:



While we are in agreement concerning ministers feeding the congregation with the raw word, I do not accept that tithing is redundant. It was preached by Jesus and serves as an avenue for farmers to honor God. Offering on the other hand is a great way for others to honor God. Remember the widow's mite?

Please where did Jesus preach tithing? There are so many threads here that have been created to debunk the tithing lie why don't you check them out and stop this manipulation of God's word to say what you want it to say. Nawa ooo

An2elect2:
Please where did Jesus preach tithing? There are so many threads here that have been created to debunk the tithing lie why don't you check them out and stop this manipulation of God's word to say what you want it to say. Nawa ooo

Hello sis,i have been following you for some time now and I bless the name of the Lord for His Grace upon your life for these glorious truths He has revealed........Do you listen to DR Sunday Adelaja?...what do you say about his teachings?

owoleola:
Hello sis,i have been following you for some time now and I bless the name of the Lord for His Grace upon your life for these glorious truths He has revealed........Do you listen to DR Sunday Adelaja?...what do you say about his teachings?

Hi
Nopy never heard of him. Does he have videos on YouTube?

Will see if I can get anything about him, let me check...

Yeah just seeing he was accused of sexual sin. Denied and later admitted. Saw a video of him about the difference btw sons and children of God (not watched yet) and oops I saw another one that brought back memory of his video I watched recently exposing the false miracles in Christ embassy, my bad I didn't take note of his name!

Can you remember some of his teachings? So we can see if they are sound?

watching the "sons and children" video

An2elect2:
Hi
Nopy never heard of him. Does he have videos on YouTube?

Will see if I can get anything about him, let me check...

Yeah just seeing he was accused of sexual sin. Denied and later admitted. Saw a video of him about the difference btw sons and children of God (not watched yet) and oops I saw another one that brought back memory of his video I watched recently exposing the false miracles in Christ embassy, my bad I didn't take note of his name!

Can you remember some of his teachings? So we can see if they are sound?

watching the "sons and children" video

Yeah,he's good,his teachings are sound......and he's got a lot of them on his youtube page,do check for ''sunday adelaja official'',and emmm....he's got a page on faceebook......''movement against deception in the church''.

owoleola:
Yeah,he's good,his teachings are sound......and he's got a lot of them on his youtube page,do check for ''sunday adelaja official'',and emmm....he's got a page on faceebook......''movement against deception in the church''.

Okay. He seems like a breath of fresh air from the sad norm. Will check him from time to time, thanks!

An2elect2:
Please where did Jesus preach tithing? There are so many threads here that have been created to debunk the tithing lie why don't you check them out and stop this manipulation of God's word to say what you want it to say. Nawa ooo

Thanks for your contribution. Pls go through what you have written again - you are elevating threads on nairaland above the Bible. You should not be quick to accuse one of manipulating God's word if you do not even know God's word and the verse where Christ talked about the subject matter.

Mathew 23:23 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

In this verse, Christ talked about two things - tithes and the weightier matter of the law. For the avoidance of doubt, He went ahead to say the scribes and Pharisees should have done one, and not left the other undone.

Except anyone says he knows the spiritual things more than Christ, then you will recognize than Christ taught them that they ought to tithe and ought to observe the weightier matters of the law. He tells you that law, judgement, mercy and faith are weightier than tithing, yet you should tithe.

If you have gone through my earlier posts on this thread, what I am against is the twisting of the practice of tithing to favor a certain few to the detriment of others.

In my view, tithes, which is just 10% of farm produce is even minuscule compared to the widow's mite or what you can do for someone you love. If a family member needs help, you can give him your entire salary and even borrow simply because you love him, yet Christ has said the summary of the gospel are to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and might, and secondly, love your neighbor as yourself.

Talking about the anomalous way tithe is preached nowadays does not preclude the fact that God loves a cheerful giver.