Tithing - Make Way for the New

Tithing

There is a better way than tithing. A good friend of mine vehemently rejected the concept that “tithing is not for today”. His objection was based on the belief that the church would stop giving (at least to that level), now being "free" from their responsibility. The church would no longer be able to carry out its work with sufficient money that is surely required to do so. He would not be open to listen to the teachings that I SO wanted him to hear so that he could be blessed (and also stop the teaching of tithing). Of course his apprehensions are not what truth is based on (however well intended). Every common objection in the mind of believers will rise up loudly at about this time. Commit to reading to the end of this page and don't let the devil steal your blessing!


From her CD "The Celestial Realm", on one of her many visits to Heaven, Revelator Kat Kerr says this about tithing: “…the Father told me this: “If they tithe, I will bless them.” If they’re willing to give a small portion to Me, because My Word says to… (it all belongs to Him anyway. You tithe and you cannot out-give God). And then when you give offerings on top of that, especially when you have needs yourself, you absolutely overwhelm Him. You do, because you bless Him and bless Him, because He goes: “Look at them. Look at My precious child. They need things for themselves, yet they’re taking things from their own hurt, their need, and giving to others.” It blesses Him. The only thing that blesses Him more, are when people get saved on earth.”


God WILL bless a cheerful giver. If they tithe, their is a level of provision they can certainly enjoy, providing they walk in love and do not give place to the enemy. It is what most of the tithing church has been enjoying. Tithing is not sufficient though for what God wants to accomplish by grace in these last days.


The Lord led me to the following statement made by the Holy Spirit to Gary Carpenter in 1997...


"Sowing and Reaping is Sharecropper Faith. It is a valid level of faith to operate in and most people will never graduate from it. It has sustained My Church to this hour, but will never cause the massive transfer of wealth that shall be required to fuel the combines of revival that will occur in these last days. What I desire is Sonship Faith, where you know that you actually own the very fields you are working in. You are not a sharecropper in the kingdom of God. You are a son. All that is mine is thine."


This is how finance is preached in the church today. It is often followed by a more Spirit led approach in the preaching of other messages, but every service it ultimately comes back to taking up the tithe and preaching sowing and reaping as a means to God prospering you. You give to the Lord willingly, but the focus is put back on you and your blessing by means of giving. Don't run off yet! I'm just like you!


The Lord spoke to Gary Carpenter in 1996: "I am going to change the Church's mentality regarding Kingdom Finances from formula to relationship."


I started listening to a series on Kingdom Finance taught by Gary. These were teachings brought forth by God with the intent of setting His church free to enter into real prosperity with the motive of prospering the kingdom; and, having the added benefit of supernatural provision and the peace that comes with KNOWING that your needs are met. I really asked for truth because this appeared to be toppling the "foundations" laid by the church and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes at this point in life. The next day, I started to experience the "increase" of the seeds planted within me and it couldn't be denied! It was a "new" revelation of grace.


A prophetic message concerning tithing from another source..


"I know you have the question of your own obedience and tithing and your concern is heartfelt. Tithing was a solid requirement of the law of that day before my Son’s ultimate price on the cross. Since that time the laws of old have been abolished, and so it is with tithing."


And again...


"Do not be anxious about this ordinance of tithing and how it concerns the New Testament church. My Son paid the price for all, the law has been fulfilled and I see your heart and mind perplexed to have the right information. Both sides of this issue are correct; yet it is a matter of the heart. If your heart is pure towards me, you will be a giver and will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. If your heart is hardened and you need to be told, then that person will follow the letter of the law and tithe. I can use all things for my good pleasure. I know all and many that tithe without the heart, it is all in vain. True, there is the law of sowing and reaping, that is in place since the foundation of the world, but again it is a matter of your heart and if you lean of the voice of the Holy Spirit. There is now no condemnation if you do not tithe. This law has been abolished, yet in place of the required tithe is the issue of providing for all mankind and looking out and helping those who are in need. You must be My hands and feet to a hurting and dying world and if not you, who? My children need to be about their Father's business. I am not impressed with the large churches who say they serve Me only to fatten their own wallets and live in fine luxury. They exploit My people and are being led of the devil. This life on earth is not about your comfort, but it is about the eternal home in Zion and saving many from the fiery furnace of Hell."


The following passage is one of the scriptures that is often preached to justify tithing. It puts an element of "fear" in giving that is NOT the fear of the Lord. It implies that a curse will come upon you if you don't tithe because you're actually stealing from God!


"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts."
Mal 3:8-12


Have you ever seen anyone have a blessing so big they couldn't receive it come to a tither? Surely God's Word is true, but only within the context it is given.


An understanding of this scripture was given to Gary (given below), intended for the church. It is part of an overall revelation given for the Body to set it free and to prepare His Body for a presentation of grace for finances. It is given to help prepare the church for the great wealth transfer needed to fuel the great revival soon to come upon the earth.


“Keep in mind that this teaching came forth as a result of many hours of praying in the Spirit and not by the teaching of man.”

"In prayer, the Holy Spirit said to me (Gary),"The literal blessing that God wanted to pour out through the open windows of heaven was RAIN. This was primarily an agricultural society, and rain was a fundamental necessity for their prosperity. Had they repented and brought in all of the tithes and offerings with a true and willing heart, and God had poured down rain upon their fields, it still would have done them no good had they not already had seeds planted IN THE EARTH. The tithes and offerings were not enough to produce prosperity, only to cause the conditions needed for prosperity to come to them. They still had to have seeds planted IN THE EARTH or else all they would have reaped from their rain soaked fields would have been MUD."


Got your attention? There goes one sacred cow about tithing!


Gary sums up New Covenant prosperity as being encompassed in one scripture:
"Whatever He says, do it."!


If you love God, I know you won't argue with that!

(AA) Here's a “checklist” for the sincere believer :

You love God.
You want to give more than you ever have before.
You want to honor God's Word for His sons
You want to prosper, because it's going to take that to do these things
You want to maintain a pure heart throughout
You want to be free indeed


In order to do this, it will take a working knowledge (in your spirit) of God's supernatural ways, which are higher than our ways. Higher than the heavens are over the earth. Tithing for the New Covenant believer is not part of those higher ways. That is a formula based approach to prosperity that the natural mind can grasp. We're going to have to come up higher!


In subsequent messages, I'm going to post parts of Gary Carpenter's God given revelation on kingdom finance. It should cover every rising objection you have based on your knowledge of scripture. These objections sometimes die hard and it's going to take God Himself bearing witness to the truth for this to become real in your life.


But Abraham tithed!


Gary touches on all of the "sacred cows" which are misunderstandings of the Word that bring us into religious bondage and not freedom.


You might say that "tithes AND offerings" would encompass everything God might do with your finances and possessions, because your "offerings" might even take the remaining 90%. Dollar-wise, that might be true, but God wants to set us free from the very mindsets that keep giving and receiving completely in the realm of grace and supernatural provision. God wants to take the mixture out of the message that withholds the full measure of the blessing He wants to give (reference Plans, Purposes, & Pursuits by Kenneth Hagin, where Jesus speaks of "Exchanging Brass for the Gold". We only receive the full measure of His blessing when we fully line up with His Word.

If your heart is right you've got nothing to lose by considering these things prayerfully and giving God a chance to enlarge your understanding in the area of kingdom finance.

"The attitudes and motivations of your heart are much more important to your prosperity than the legalistic dollar that you plunk into the offering plate."
-- Dave Roberson (Gary Carpenter's pastor)

(Note from “Alive Again”) - I want to state that I don't "have all of this down". I bore witness to the revelation and so I share it with you all. In some ways, God is still calling me out of the wilderness. I think He is doing this with us all. I have heard subsequent precepts along the way to confirm these things and I have included some of that here. As the scripture states, we should "prove all things" and walk in that which is good and bears fruit. We must be teachable no matter where we walk or to what degree of spirituality we have attained.


Rest assured, if you just cut it off with a broad statement about "what you know", you'll miss out on the understanding God intended for His people to have regarding finance. We can stop agreeing with old mindsets and lay hold of the new ones that produce life. Be blessed...


Taken from: “Why Tithing Is Not God’s Best For Today”
By Julie M. Groves / September 2010

http://www.julieg.info/tithing/


I wanted to list a few of Julie Groves reasons for “Why Tithing is Not God’s Best for Today”. “Abraham’s covenant blessings (and Isaac’s and Jacob’s, for that matter) are never linked to his giving, either in the Old Testament or the New.”


“This ‘tithe’ was not given from his income; it was from the spoils of war, and appears to have been a voluntary action. “


“The priests/Levites who received tithes were not allowed to own real estate! (Num 18:20-24)”