question for those of you who tithe

[Anonymous]

I never really refer to the bible for stuff like that, I think ppl who follow the bible word for word are usually wack-a-doodles. I give money to my church so it can pay its expensives, not so Jesus doubles my money or anything crazy like that. I don't do ten percent but I give a decent amount, retirement and college savings first of course.

[Anonymous]

I think your bigger problem is convincing your husband. Anyway to condense your tithe and daycare expenses? 3K is huge.

[Anonymous]

Whenever I give more somehow more money comes in. example made a large church donation and then had a new client. superstitious? Maybe. I assume all the haters out there are very generous and give at least 10% to their non religious charities.

[Anonymous]

Also you can tithe your time , so its not just money

[Anonymous]

Tithing, at least in terms of giving 10%, is not biblical. If that's the number you want to use, great. But the Bible also says that we should give up everything. Are you willing to do that? In another verse, we are told to give according to our ability with no mention of the 10% rule. We give to our Church. I think it's important. But I hate when people pick and choose the parts of the Bible they use. If you're militant about 10%, are you also hanging out in a hut during your period?

[Anonymous]

First, I am Protestant so you understand my background. I believe in the OT and the New Testament, but I believe the New Testament fulfills the prophecy of the OT and then gives us an even higher standard.

To me, God gives/ gave me every gift I have; my intelligence, my marketing skills, my finance skills, my selling skills, my job, my salary, my ability to earn a living basically. I don't buy into a 10% tithe. As a matter of fact, I believe Jesus tells us to give what we feel is rightly due God. And truthfully, that is 100%. However, if our gift is given with a joyful heart in true worship, and it's the best we can do (the widow's mite comes to mind, the widow who fed Elijah with her last bit of flour and God provided more each day) God will bless us. No one promises it will be on Earth, but the important part of giving is to both honor God and teach us to rely on God to fill in the gaps.

An added benefit to giving is that it prevents us from becoming greedy or hard-hearted. I give as much as I can, and I wish it could be more. I do think God will use others to show you favor (ie, my sales will be higher, or my bills will be lower) because He does reward us both in this world and the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Bible says to tithe. I would tithe. Leave the college savings in God's hands. He will honor your decision to tithe. My parents have told me they tithed early in their marriage when things were tight, and over time, God multiplied their income such that college savings and other needs were not an issue. God always comes first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, I am Protestant so you understand my background. I believe in the OT and the New Testament, but I believe the New Testament fulfills the prophecy of the OT and then gives us an even higher standard.

To me, God gives/ gave me every gift I have; my intelligence, my marketing skills, my finance skills, my selling skills, my job, my salary, my ability to earn a living basically. I don't buy into a 10% tithe. As a matter of fact, I believe Jesus tells us to give what we feel is rightly due God. And truthfully, that is 100%. However, if our gift is given with a joyful heart in true worship, and it's the best we can do (the widow's mite comes to mind, the widow who fed Elijah with her last bit of flour and God provided more each day) God will bless us. No one promises it will be on Earth, but the important part of giving is to both honor God and teach us to rely on God to fill in the gaps.

An added benefit to giving is that it prevents us from becoming greedy or hard-hearted. I give as much as I can, and I wish it could be more. I do think God will use others to show you favor (ie, my sales will be higher, or my bills will be lower) because He does reward us both in this world and the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I give more somehow more money comes in. example made a large church donation and then had a new client. superstitious? Maybe. I assume all the haters out there are very generous and give at least 10% to their non religious charities.

[Anonymous]

I guess what I don't understand is why Jesus healed the sick and fed the poor, and yet so many modern evangelicals are against providing health for all. Instead, they give to their country club churches. A study done by the Aspen Institute found that the average US church spends just 3% of its budget on social programs, with over 70% of revenues goingto building and salaries and the rest to Christian education. Yet somehow they think their choices are moral.

I'm not religious, but one of the reasons that I live in the DIstrict is that I believe that I have a duty to help subsidize the poor, so I pay almost 10 percent of my income in taxes, which helps to fund public health and educational facilities for people who actually are poor. This is why I look at most evangelicals and think "hypocrites", and I think they are making poor moral choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I give more somehow more money comes in. example made a large church donation and then had a new client. superstitious? Maybe. I assume all the haters out there are very generous and give at least 10% to their non religious charities.

We've given many thousands of dollars to my church since I met the woman who became my wife 20 years ago. She's nice and all that and we spend about six hours a week at the church between services and other activities but my financial situation has been in steady decline for two decades now to the point where I worry about the next mortgage payment. I'm not a hater, maybe I just got the wrong wife.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question of those of you who tithe to your church or do other charitable giving--

Do you do it at the expense of college savings?

We make about $240K. Save for retirement. Have a $3K mortgage payment on a $450K loan (1 million dollar house).
Have saved $0 for college for our 3 kids (under 5). Tithe approx. $20K year. Get back 1/3 or so in tax savings.

My husband is very dedicated to tithing. I think we should be putting that money towards college savings. I recognize that his conviction to give the $$ away is very important to him but
still ??

What do you do?

When your children enter school, take the money you were previous using for daycare and plow it into college savings. Move into a less expensive house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tithing, at least in terms of giving 10%, is not biblical. If that's the number you want to use, great. But the Bible also says that we should give up everything. Are you willing to do that? In another verse, we are told to give according to our ability with no mention of the 10% rule. We give to our Church. I think it's important. But I hate when people pick and choose the parts of the Bible they use. If you're militant about 10%, are you also hanging out in a hut during your period?

Picking apart is EXACTLY what you are doing?
You do realize there are things in the Bible -- laws followed by the Pharisees -- that no longer hold up after the Crucifixion.
Sacrifices --- sacrificial lambs -- no longer necessary....Jesus became that Sacrifice....get it?
Boy are you twisting things -- no where in the BIBLE DOES JESUS SAY YOU HAVE TO HANG OUT IN A HUT DURING YOUR PERIOD.
You might want to learn the difference between what God and Jesus were saying in the Word and what was man's law and tradition.
BIG DIFFERENCE.
As for tithing -- Malachi 3:8-10
We tithe -- but I don't believe you are going to Hell because you don't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, saying things like "god will multiply your income if you tithe" to me, defeats the purpose of tithing. You don't tithe or do good works so that you get earthly rewards, at least in Christianity you don't. You could very well tithe and lose everything tomorrow and it wouldn't mean that God is punishing you or whatnot. This prosperity gospel bull has nothing to do with Christianity and irritates the heck out of me.

''

You're missing the point.

We don't tithe to get it back in blessings. We tithe because we want to give back part of what God has given us. The part "he will provide" is just to make it easier to believe that we won't miss anything giving it back.

I remember when I was a kid that my mom had the exact money to tithe that month and I wanted a costume for a recital. The amount was exactly the same. She apologized to me and explained it to me and we prayed together for God to do what was best for us and she gave back her tithe. Guess what? I got my costume for free. One mom from our dance class told the teacher she wanted to pay for another child's costume and the teacher mentioned I was not participating because I could not pay for it so her donation went for my costume. How cool is that for a 10 year old girl? God has never failed me!

I'm not trying to undercut your faith or your larger point, which I understand. I'm just saying that the language of the prosperity gospel is invasive and it manages to appear in a lot of conversations and sometimes I feel like screaming as a result. I feel like the attitude I hear from a lot of Christians is that God is some sort of adult version of Santa Claus and it bothers me. People who are not Christians seem to see it a lot more clearly than non-Christians, hence the snark earlier on this thread. Sometimes you will not get what you want, even if you are Christian. Sometimes you will not even get what you need (at least what you think you need). Bad things do indeed happen to good people, and sometimes they happen a lot, and Christianity doesn't deny this, in fact we should accept it and thank God for what we do have. Sorry this is purely my own pet peeve and is totally a tangent. I just needed to get it out.

And I completely agree. These types of Christians forget that Jesus never promised fame or richness to anybody. He promise to console those who suffer.

But also came that we would have life and life more abundantly...
Word also says He would supply all our needs ...
Does not mean that we will all drive Bentleys...but that we should not worry and that God is the source of our supply...
While I think people twist this so-called prosperity Gospel...it's just as bad for people to promote that God wants us all to be broke and busted and there is some kind of extra virtue in that...
It is just not scriptural and just incorrect
that does not mean we are all driving Bentleys..

[Anonymous]

" I give as much as I can, and I wish it could be more. I do think God will use others to show you favor (ie, my sales will be higher, or my bills will be lower) because He does reward us both in this world and the next."

Wow!