Archive for the ‘Tithing’ Category
Eating Sacred Cows by Graeme Carlé. Hey there everyone! I stumbled across a fine little book today, authored by Bible teacher Graeme Carlé. It was first published in 1994 and remains one of the best concise publications explaining the biblical tithe in very easy to understand language, and why it really has no place amongst Christians today and has been completely misrepresented by the bulk of mainstream organized religion!
Graeme serves the body of Christ in the capacity of a pastoral figure; however, as this book illustrates, Graeme demonstrates an effective understanding of the difference between common-practice hierarchical leadership structures and big-business style religious organization compared to the simple yet profound kind of loving fellowship we see in Scripture. Graeme’s approach does not concern itself with the various methods by which Christians choose to meet together, but rather emphasizes the organic quality of the Church and I love the way this book brings out a better understanding of the Old Testament tithe and shows that, in reality, it was essentially a three to five week holiday intended for THE TITHER HIMSELF and his family to enjoy.
Graeme will show how the modern doctrine of tithing is so far removed from what Scripture so basically and clearly presents that you will shake your head and wonder how on earth things got so twisted up as they are in most church organizations today! This book is truly unique among the many other books available concerning this subject and it can easily be read in one setting!
My only slight disagreement with the author is in one very small paragraph of the book he makes some comparisons of the Old Testament Temple and Levites to modern-day churches, worship leaders and ministers. Even so, this mention does not come across as legalistic or even necessarily “hierarchical” and it’s clear his view is simply meant to show that ministry is intended to functionally serve the body of Christ out of love, not as lords over the body, but as fellow workers together for God’s good purposes.
This is a beautifully-written book and, as I mentioned before, very easy to read and comprehend. If you want to understand how biblical tithing worked during the Old Testament period and then see how the New Covenant affords a much different way to look at giving, take the time to read this excellent book and then share it with a friend! Hope you like it!
One of the email newsletters I subscribe to sent me a link the other day to a great (and also disturbing) video about Nigerian millionaire preachers, which are most often viewed by the masses as celebrities. These preachers regularly use their status to manipulate impoverished congregants to give their money in tithes and offerings in exchange for the promise of God’s financial and eternal blessings. Yet while the poor so often remain poor, these rich preachers only get richer and continue to drive around in their fancy, luxury cars and expensive houses. They perform impressive miracles, but sometimes those being healed are actually the preacher’s own staff members and are not sick at all before-hand and even those who are reportedly “healed” refuse to give their testimonies to the media and the ministry will not provide confirmations of those healings even though they claim numerous confirmed reports exist. Even sadder is the fact that it seems just as many leave sick that came to be healed. Sound familiar to anyone?
You’ll see in the video how many of these preachers even have large body guards and security staff, titled “God’s Household Enforcement”, and people have actually been beaten for trying to photograph the ministry’s office buildings or for asking too many questions! In any given city there may be hundreds of “churches” and the prosperity gospel is the most popular doctrine of the day… You’ll see, in the video, how these preachers actually teach their ministry staff that “God is a game, and a very easy game to play…” In the one excerpt the preacher talks about how many people come to church because they want answers for their problems so the ministry needs to give them something to entice them to come in and the end result means lots of money for the ministry.
The following article was published in Charisma Magazine a few years ago and the segment below was published on another blogsite I happened upon today while searching for something. I thought I’d go ahead and post it. I have a few friends who still love listening to the prosperity teachers on television and believe they can do no wrong… Either they have forgotten about or perhaps do not know that even the father of this false doctrine denounced it before his death! Have a great week everyone! -Dave
Kenneth Hagin’s Renouncement of Word-Faith Teachings
Here is the link to Kenneth Hagin’s renouncement of the “Word-Faith” theology right before his death. It is significant, since he was viewed as an authority and called “Dad Hagin” from the leaders of the movement. In addition to the prosperity message, he also taught that it is NOT God’s will for anyone to be sick. To read the article go to the “Archives 3/07/08″):
Chrisma Magazine:http://www.charismamag.com/fireinmybones/Columns/show.php
Before he died in 2003, the revered father of the Word-Faith movement corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes with their message of prosperity.
Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven.
Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence.
by David Y.
This last week I took a trip with my wife to Seattle to visit family. While we were there, we took a day trip up to beautiful Mount Rainier National Park to enjoy God’s creation. It was simply amazing! If you ever have the chance to visit the Seattle area in Washington, I encourage you to try and make a trip up to the mountains. They are simply spectacular and Mount Rainier is especially a sight to behold.
That was one of the highlights of our trip, as well as the joy of visiting my mom who as been recovering from a recent hip surgery and is doing awesome (thanks everyone for your prayers)! Another “highlight” of our trip (and, yes, I’m being a little sarcastic) was attending church with my family. I only make it home to visit my family every few months (sometimes longer), but when I do, mom likes all of us to go to church together.
Now, bless her heart, she means well, but I must tell ya that I’m not a big fan of her church. Nothing really in particular, but I suppose that right there is also the reason… It’s just a stereotypical religious organization. Of course my family doesn’t see it that way I suppose. To them it’s pure awesomeness (hehe).
We walked in and took a seat. A few moments later the service started and everyone hopped up on their feet to sing (on cue I might add). For a moment I felt like I was in an airplane just before take-off, watching the stewardess explain how to work a seatbelt; The worship leader started out by saying, “Come on everybody, clap your hands like this,” as if no one had a clue how to engage this strange new activity called hand-clapping.
Recently, I was sitting down with some friends at dinner and the topic of tithing came up… This is a subject I haven’t revisited too often since stepping away from the traditional weekly church routine, so I noticed that I had to think a little bit to remember some of the details. Since I know others are still exploring issues like this, I thought it might be beneficial to post some information on the subject again. The article below is from a website humorously called “Ban Preacher Greed.” It is aptly named “Tithing Truth In A Nutshell.” This is a decent primer of the subject. If you are interested in this topic, I encourage you to also visit my tithing site tithing.truthforfree.com, where you can find lots more articles, audio messages, freely downloadable ebooks, and other information on the subject of tithing. In my opinion, the best book I’ve ever read on this subject is written by my good friend Russ Kelly called “Should The Church Teach Tithing: A Theologian’s Conclusions About A Taboo Doctrine.” How’s that for a long title?! Ha! Well, I hope you find this article useful. God bless!
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