Acidosis:

stop acting like you dont understand christian principle. if you dont pay tithe, the bible call you ole, thief, robber, and you know what hell would gladly welcome you. If Bill gates give his whole worth and he refuses to accept christ, then m sorry. The kingdom of GOD is not by charity.
why do you think God releases the same rain that falls on every human?
let me tell you, bill gates, buffets tithes to any church is not accepted b4 God except they accept JESUS.

AGAIN STOP USING COMMON SENSE, it will fail you.

Wrong wrong wrong and my bible tells me so:
Gods Judgement is not by tithes show me where Jesus said none tithers will go to hell, I have shown you where Jesus said none Charity givers will go to hell
Matthew 25:31-46

New International Version (NIV)


The Sheep and the Goats
    31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’    40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

   41[b] “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ [/b]
   45[b] “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ [/b]    46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

@belabela:

Great post. I agree.  i just can't imagine how someone who calls him or herself a christian would ignore the needs of a fellow human in order to give money to a pastor, who, is this case, is presumed to be god's cashier.
What a perversion of the mind.

Did Paul not say that charity was the greates virtue?

debrief08:

Poster, Same thing is done in my church every quota records are presented and we vote on what charities to invest in.

Great. Which church is that?

I understand you do not fall sick and you get money from other areas. Why do you think this is happening just because you pay tithes? Do they pay tithes in Dubai? why are they so rich and have better life expentancy than Nigerians. Do Bill Gates, warren Buffet and Carlso Slim pay tithes? In fact i just read in the papers this morning that Bill Gates is giving another $750million to help in the work against fighting the scourge of AIDS.Why isnt there a known tither in the top 10 richest men in the world?

Look its simple,  in the bible they are some principles that say if you do A you would get B! No matter what you believe in! they are principles some call it God's promises,  and it didnt say Christain, Muslim, Jews, Gentiles or unbelievers,,,

Example: "In the Bible it says give and it shall be given unto you" thats why God blesses so many of those who are into Charity work. Look at David Beckham I cant remember the last time someone said they saw them in church compared to Taribo that owns a Church,  Look at countries like UK and US that give Aids to the poor! compared to Nigeria with all the oil in the world Am yet to think that we have handed £1bn to other parts of Africa unless theirs an agenda!


Thats why someone like Creflo Dollar always argue that if a Non believer could tap into such principles and become weathy why we believer take the right steps, Napolean Hill released a book in the 20s or 30s but they paid him to withdraw the book from the market, because its a book that coach you how to be wealthy and all the principles were taking from the Bible!

in the 70s and 80s Preachers, Pastors, Bishops all looked like the were suffering despite the fact they are spreading the Gospel but now things have changed, In the book called "the Secret" it says it starts in the mind and thoughts (in the Bible it says the mind is the gateway into our life) The book also said if you could imagine and see what you want you could have it, and if you go to the story of the Tower Babel, God first saw a completed city in the minds of the people of Babel thats why he stopped it saying "Gen 11:6 6And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

plaetton:

Great. Which church is that?

ECWA

THIS POSTER HAS SUCCEDED IN PLAYING WITH PEOPLE'S INTELLIGENCE, ITS NOTHING BUT A FABRICATED STORY, AND I SUSPECT THAT THIS GUY IS A MEMBER OF JEHOVAH WITNESS TRYING TOI SAMPLE THE OPINION OF WHAT THEY CALLED THE (CHRISTIANDOM)[color=#006600][/color]

cloud7:

THIS POSTER HAS SUCCEDED IN PLAYING WITH PEOPLE'S INTELLIGENCE, ITS NOTHING BUT A FABRICATED STORY, AND I SUSPECT THAT THIS GUY IS A MEMBER OF JEHOVAH WITNESS TRYING TOI SAMPLE THE OPINION OF WHAT THEY CALLED THE (CHRISTIANDOM)[color=#006600][/color]

OMG.
So with everything you have read on this thread, this is what your INTELLIGENCE tells you?.
Na wa oh.
Your deductive reasoning abilities are just amazing.

Stupid fabrication of the story. Even the bible says charity begins at home. Why go to build a school in Mali when there are people starving around you?

That is why my branch of Winners decided on opening a primary and secondary school strictly for orphans and the destitute. They get free books, free uniforms, a conducive learning environment complete with internet connection and computer facilities and free breakfast and lunch.

So when people talk of private jets and Covenant University school fees, I am not fazed because we also do what we do in other ways without making public broadcasts of it.

And I am happy to say that MANY churches also have their own welfare programs too. Those who condemn pastors for being wealthy make deliberate attempts to deceive the public because they never tell you other things that the churches do to make life better for many people. I know many pastors who are paying school fees for several people. I know a pastor who has given IT scholarships to several people. I know another who is running a soup kitchen that feeds 1000 people.

The lesson here: DO WHAT YOU KNOW THAT WILL TAKE YOU TO HEAVEN AND STOP CRITICIZING PASTORS!

That people have been referred to the bible(Deut.26:13-15 and Matt.25:31-46) to see how to give back to God, yet I still read selfish post about tithing being strictly for Pastors makes me confirm how gullible(for those in the congregation) and greedy(for those at the pulpit) we Nigerians are. Or do we believe these 'men of God' are God themselves. The issue of tithing for wealth shows our greediness for material things as oppose to heavenly things. For those fighting tooth and nail in support of tithing solely to the Pastors(Priest), what is the place of tithing in salvation. So for you guys, tithing is superior to LOVE(Charity) which Jesus came to show us and teaches us to show to one another.
Christianity the way it is practiced in Nigeria makes me think of just being a follower of Christ and not 'a Christian'.

@saka1122.
Thank you.

@stagger:
What makes my story a silly fabrication? You find it hard to believe that humans can do such a (unchristianly??)thing as to devote all thier church's surplus funds to charity?
I did not mention that the it was a Nigerian Church. Charity begins at home? Is that in the bible also? So all the NGO's and foreign donors to Nigeria should take their money and go home to their own countries?

I'm glad to know that your church is involved in charity. That is exactly what every church should be doing. The need is very great in Nigeria. Don't you agree?
All surplus church funds should be used to fund charities, not to buy private jest, fleets of cars and houses. The church is not, and should never be a private , for-profit enterprise. The church and all its money and assets belong to the people who make up the church.
The church and the community should have a symbiotic relationship , not a parasitic relationship as we often see in Nigeria. 
And please what is the address of this soup kitchen you mentioned above because I get hungry at times and may want to drop in to fillmy belle with some egusi soup and ebba.

Wao and wao@imaima. U said u hardly fall sick and in ur mind u tink ur tithe is wat has been protectng u my broda if moskitoes bite u. U go fall sick by force I'm not against tithing though I don't biliv in it cuz I'm not a religious fella. Ur tithe cannot rebuke anyting it will only manifest itself in the law of sowing and reaping I've told a lot of fellas this sevrali that God doesn't need anything 4rm us to bless us forget about this washwash ideology 4rm our pastors abi no bi the money dem dey take buy plane

facts:
1.TITHES WERE NEVER MONETARY, hence storehouse was used by mal 3:8 and not alter.
2. IF YOU WANTED 2 REDE EM MONETARY VALUE YOU HAD TO PAY 30%, Lev 27:31 (nlt) - "if you want to redeem the lord's tenth of the fruit or grain, you must pay its value plus 20 percent",
3.TITHES WERE 2 BE GIVEN TO THE PRIESTS, (but now that every believer is a king and a priest( rev 5:10) who do we pay to( a higher priest abii.)
4.JESUS NEVER ASKED HIS FOLLOWERS 2 PAY TITHES TO HIM,
5. THE APOSTLES NEVER ASKED THEIR FOLLOWERS TO PAY TITHES TO THEM,
6. mal 3:9 proclaims a curse under the law, gal 3:12-14 has set us free from every curse pronounced under the law,
7. ABRAHAM PAID A TENTH TO MELCHIZEDEK FROM THE SPOILS OF WAR ( Gen 14:8-20, they were never his own in the first place,
8. BOTTOM LINE WE ARE TOLD TO GIVE GENEROUSLY AND NOT OUT OF COMPULSION OR COERSION, ( 2 cor 8:13, 2 cor 9:7-10 ), however, we are told to give in relation to our income - 1 cor 16:2, thanks.

Everyone is repeating this concept of giving.
There is nothing strange or unique about it. Every religion emphasizes the spiritual importance of giving and sacrificing. The most important question is : To WHom are we directed to give?.
Tithe money given to a pastor is a Trust reposed on the pastor by the church community. He is scripturally and morally obligated to invest such money in the same community in the form of charitable works. In no way is he entitled to materially enlarge himself on such a Trust.
Those are the core issues of debate.

Do one even see any command called 'tithe' in the new testament/covenant which we are under today?i mean the new testamnet.This was a command that was given during the old testament and it was meant for the tribe of Levites who has no inheritance amongsts other tribes(Number 18:21,24).It was meant for their upkeep.
Coming to the new testament,our era today,christian were commanded to freely give from whatever God has blessed them with(2 corinthians 9:7;8:3 1 corinthians 16:1,2).The reason for the 'giving' or 'collection' as the bible puts it is to minister/help those who are poor in the church and even those outside(acts 4:34-35; 11:27-29).Nothing like like 10%(which is the actual meaning of tithe),rather it is what one proposes in his heart.But today what these so-called men of God do is to quote the old testament to exploit people and use these monies for self gratification like buying private jets,living in mansion,going for expensive holidays and what have you.They can not quote Jesus or any of his apostle to support this because they never sanction such practice.These people only take tithe from the old testament because this is the way they rip people of their monies.They should as well practice animal sacrifice and all other rituals/washings practiced in the old testament.Christ of course put an end to the law by which nobody can be saved when practice(colosians 2:14-16)

The conclusion is this:we are under the New testament(Jesus Christ) and not under the old Testament(the law of moses) under which tithe was commanded.we are to give freely and not under obligation for 10%(tithe).The money the church has is to help the poor and do its work within the confine of the Bible and not on luxury of few selected men.

The law came through moses but grace and truth through Jesus Christ,

@osicom na ur mama born u

@Dipwater thank you.i hail o

Some NL christians how GULLIBLE they can be. An believer, which he claimed , posted sometin to tell u how u ought not 2 serve ur God, & u r hia discussing wt him.

ImaIma1:
some pple pay tithes for d wrong reasons and wit a wrong mindset.its better not to pay it if u dont really believe in it.

with tithing, the devourer is rebuked 4 ur sake.tht means things like sickness and unnecessary bills dont come ur way. i bliv in tithing and bliv it or not, i hardly fall sick and beyond my salary, i get legit money from angles dt i cant imagine.

Idiotalk 101.0

plaetton:
Let me use this opportunity to tell a story.
A few years ago, I was to be the bestman in my firend's wedding. During the course of the rehearsals at his small anglical church,I met the priest, a simple middle-aged man. Although I am not religious, I found him to be simple, open-minded and accomodating even after I made my aversion to religion know to him. I was so intrigued that I decided to attend one of their sunday services.
After the service, the pastor was giving a monthly financial report to his flock. He revealed that for the previous month, after all their expenses(including the pastor's allowance or salary) that they had a surplus of abt $4000.
The pastor now asked for suggestions from his flock as to the best way to spend the surplus money. After hearing few suggestions, One of the church members mentioned that she had seen , on the internet, a picture of a very old dilapidated and run down primary school in Timbuktu, Mali . She suggested that that money be used to renovate and rebuild that school. Everyone agree and immediately a committee was formed to contact the school and see what and how they could go about the assistance. I was so thrilled, that I volunteered to be involved even though I was not a member of their church.
A few weeks later, it disclosed that abt $8000 was needed to to rebuild the school, so the church asked members to contribute in order to raise the additional sum.

Six months later, the school was rebuilt along with new desks for the pupils and i felt proud to be a small part of that great act of charity.
Although I did not continue to attend the church, that example would have been the best greatest motivation to follow the Christian path.

Mr pleatton. You did Good my friend.