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How much are you supposed to put into the collection plate? Obviously my first visit, it was tempting to put less in, but something said if I can give more, then you don't rob God, and you give honestly and earnestly.
I couldn't afford anymore, so I gave what I could.
Brother, is not about how much but about the heart. Remember that the poor widow only gave a penny but gave more that all the rich men.
__________________ If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend. Augustine
Notice the way I didn't give any percentages or actual figures?
I love the phrase when it comes to Christmas time when you receive presents, "it's the thought that counts", it's a wonderful sentiment, but it seems to have been abused by givers to spend as little as they can.
I like to think it's meant for those who are without themselves, but give as much as they can. I had some relatives who weren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, they had nothing, but they would do anything for you. That's what it's about for me.
But I digress.
I guess on the collection plate, I have to give as much as I feel I can give, which sounds like a poor answer, but makes huge sense to me.
I think the way I mean, you shouldn't be asking how much you can save, but how much you can give?
A New Testament Christian isn't required to pay tithes. But, we are encouraged to give to help someone that is in need. You're still righteous before God if you tithe or not. So, if you want to give, then give. But, if you don't want to give, then don't.
If I go to a new Church I may not give anything until I'm sure of the doctrine that they teach. I believe that its better not to give than to support a Church that may teach poor doctrine.
There are churches— I'm not saying yours is one of them —like the church of Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22) whose spiritual condition is so deplorable that Christ isn't even a member let alone in charge. He's depicted outside churches like that banging on their doors trying to get someone's attention to let him in. Not even the pastors and their staffs are rightly associated with God. You certainly wouldn't want to support a church in that condition.
RE: How much are you supposed to put into the collection plate?
Before giving a single penny to any church, I would insist that you first verify that the Bible's Christ is even in their neck of the woods.
An "expert witness" can be defined as: A witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially (and legally) rely upon the witness's specialized (scientific, technical or other) opinion about an evidence or fact issue within the scope of their expertise, referred to as the expert opinion, as an assistance to the fact-finder.
You would think that most Chris-tians would readily agree that when it comes to testing the validity of someone's claim to have Christ that Almighty God would certainly be an unimpeachable expert witness. But no, it rarely works out that way. It has been my own personal experience that Chris-tians almost always, and with scant few exceptions, throw out God's testimony and rely upon their own feelings instead. That is a very dumb thing to do.
†. 1John 5:9 . .We accept human testimony; but God's testimony carries more weight because it's the testimony of God
According to God's testimony as an expert witness in all matters pertaining to His own son; Chris-tians without eternal life are, in reality, quite christless.
†. 1John 5:11-12 . .And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the life, does not have God's son.
And according to Jesus' testimony as an expert witness in all matters pertaining to his own religion; Chris-tians who lack eternal life abide in Death, and in grave danger of the wrath of God.
†. John 5:24 . .Truly, Truly, I say unto you; those who heed my message, and trust in God who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already transferred from Death into Life.
Pew warmers who refuse to believe that it is necessary to possess eternal life in order to possess God's son, insinuate that the Bible's God is a dishonest person of low moral integrity who can't be trusted to tell the truth.
†. 1John 5:10-12 . .Anyone who does not believe God insinuates that He's a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about His son. And this is the testimony: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His son. So whoever has God's son has the life; whoever does not have the life, does not have His son.
People passing themselves off as Chris-tians, while not currently in possession of eternal life, are faking it; they're actually unbelievers. Note the grammatical tense of the "have" verbs in these next passages as they relate to belief. The verbs are is in the present tense; not future indicating that believers are already in possession of eternal life right now, in this life, before they pass on— no delay, and no waiting period.
†. John 3:36 . . He who believes in the Son has eternal life
†. John 6:47 . .Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
†. John 5:24 . . I assure you, those who heed my message and trust in God who sent me, have eternal life.
†. 1John 5:13 . . I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Believers then, as Jesus testified in John 5:24, are in absolutely no danger of retribution. And why is that? Because eternal life is a kind of life that cannot die; therefore, it is invulnerable to the wages of sin.
†. Rom 6:23 . .For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life.
All of The Lord's sheep have it.
†. John 10:27 . . My sheep heed my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish
†. John 17:2 . . For you granted him authority over all people that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him.
According to Jesus' own personal prayer; Chris-tians lacking eternal life neither know him or his God.
†. John 17:3-4 . . Now this is eternal life [as opposed to human life] that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
In summary: churchians who do not possess eternal life, are: 1) christless, 2) dead, 3) in grave danger of eternal suffering, 4) not Jesus' sheep, 5) know neither Jesus or God, 6) do not trust God, 7) do not accept Jesus' testimony, 8) do not accept God's testimony, 9) do not heed Jesus' voice, 10) do not follow Jesus, 11) are not among the people whom God gave to His son, and 12) are unbelievers.
The status of unbelievers is very grim.
†. John 3:36 . .Whoever believes the Son has eternal life, but whoever disbelieves the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
So then, if you're confident beyond a reasonable doubt that the pastor and staff of your church are in the right-now possession of eternal life, then the dollar amount you pitch into the collection is insignificant. The really important factor is to make sure your giving is whole-hearted. If you're giving money to a church simply out of peer pressure and/or the call of duty, then you are definitely not being whole-hearted in your donations.
†. 2Cor 9:6-8 . . Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Just as an experiment, look around you at the congregation next Sunday and count the number of cheerful faces you see when the plate is passed around.
And I strongly recommend you avoid schemes like the so-called Faith Promise which is a means of pressuring people into pledging money they don't have and then expecting God to somehow come up with it for them.
†. 2 Cor 8:12 . . For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, rather than according to what he does not have.
And never forget that the money in your pocket is yours; and no church has an eo ipso claim on it just because you're a Chris-tian; e.g.
†. Acts 5:4 . .While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control?
You know, Ananias and Sapphira were under no obligation to share the sale of their property with a church. But when they decided to do so, they pretended to give all of the sale price, when in reality, they kept some for themselves.
Peter didn't reprimand them for keeping some of the money, nor would he have reprimanded them had they kept it all. It was their pretense that cost them their lives; which leads me to my final point: Always be honest in your giving; and that includes how you report it to the IRS.
C.L.I.F.F. /
Last edited by Webers_Home; 23rd September 2009 at 12:23 PM.
Give what is in your heart. Remember, that a church isn't a bank either meaning they shouldn't be making you feel bad if you can't give that day or for a temporary period of time.
__________________ Sola Scriptura is Eternal Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation, 2 Peter 1:20. "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams (October 11, 1798). Roe vs. Wade - 45 million **Proverbs 6:16-17 - states that there are seven things that are an abomination to the Lord; one of them is the shedding of innocentblood. The B.O. Must Go! Huckabee in 2012
when i first learned about tithing, i was already an adult. had never heard the term before. the church i grew up in never mentioned tithing.
but as an adult, i went to a church where i came to find that most of my church family tithed. upon finding out what tithing was, i felt bad that i "couldn't" tithe due to my husband being out of work, but i figured, well, the Lord understands. i can't give 10%, i just "can't." so we gave what we could.
then i read a missionary book (our church distributes stories submitted by missionaries from our church every year in the form of missionary books). one of the stories was about an African woman, Busiswe, who came to Christ through the missionaries' teachings. Busiswe was extremely poor, and she had a little boy who was very ill and in the hospital. doctors told Busiswe that the only way her son would survive is if she had nutritious food to give him once he came home from the hospital. in the months that the child was in the hospital, Busiswe had managed to save 13 cents (which was evidently quite a lot of money to her, and enough to provide nutritious food for her boy for a time).
then, her church started an alibaster offering (an offering taken to help build more churches). Busiswe prayed about how much to give and felt the Holy Spirit gently urging her, "Give all you have, Busiswe." Busiswe was deeply grieved in her heart, for if she gave the money she had saved for her son, surely he would die. she cried out to God, "I can't, Lord. i just can't." but gently the Holy Spirit kept after her, until she finally cried out, "Okay, God, i will trust in You and give everything," and she gave the whole 13 cents.
a few days later, the missionary's secretary took ill and had to return to the States. the missionary prayed about who he should hire to replace the secretary, and God laid on his heart to hire Busiswe. the pay for the job was $20 a month (or something like that, i can't remember for sure). but it was an incomparable fortune to Busiswe, and her son came home from the hospital and she had plenty of money to buy him nutritious food, and he lived.
i was crying after reading about Busiswe's selfless sacrifice. i was deeply convicted of my own selfish heart and the need to give more to the Lord. so we started tithing, and, exactly as it says in Malachi 3:10: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
and sure enough, after we began tithing, bags of groceries just showed up on our porch. we received an unexpected check in the mail (on several occasions) when we were wondering where we would find something for supper that night. God blessed us abundantly.
just thought i'd share the Busiswe story. i've never forgotten.
__________________
J E S U S ...
the Way, the Truth, and the Life
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Do you think that God wouldn't have helped Busiswe if she hadn't given her money to the Church fund?
I hear stories like these every time I watch one of the TV Churches have a fund raiser and it makes God look like a God that won't help anybody until they give every last cent they own to a "worthy project."
The truth is that God is our father. And, He is a father that provides for His children regardless of their circumstances. Jesus said to give and it will be given to you, and Paul said the same thing as he was receiving an offering in Corinth for the Saints in Jerusalem.
2 Corinthians 8:12-15 (Amplified Bible)
12) For if the [eager] readiness to give is there, then it is acceptable and welcomed in proportion to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.
13) For it is not [intended] that other people be eased and relieved [of their responsibility] and you be burdened and suffer [unfairly],
14) But to have equality [share and share alike], your surplus over necessity at the present time going to meet their want and to equalize the difference created by it, so that [at some other time] their surplus in turn may be given to supply your want. Thus there may be equality,
15) As it is written, He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little did not lack.
Blessings,
Alan
Last edited by Mister_Al; 25th September 2009 at 02:06 PM.
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