Tithing creates expectancy in the heart of a believer and triggers a relase of faith. I strongly advocate the practice of tithing.

Tithing and giving offerings releases the blessing of God, enabling us to bless the world. It’s not to make us millionaires. My point was that Christians who oppose tithing often plead poverty (I get letters all the time from such people, asking us to support this project and that project because they don’t have the money). Jesus taught more about money than almost anything else; simply because it comes down to whether we serve God or Mammon (the whole spirit behind money).

Sorry to have gone on a bit; thanks for the question. Don’t get hooked up on ‘prosperity teaching’; God wants to bless you so that you can be blessed and be a blessing.

Yet another nail in the coffin of a Christianity that has committed spiritual suicide by drifting away from the Word of God. They criticise us for our stance on things like finance (’prosperity teaching’) and then wonder why we have the money we need to extend the Kingdom into nations like Cuba (120 pastors supported fulltime). I gave up reading magazines like Christianity ages ago; it was so banal and ‘nice’ it actually offended me.

I am at this time nothing more than an outsider regarding the different strands of Christianity, so just an enquiry. Roger are you stating that the prosperity message is right because you have the money to spread your ministry (Cuba etc.)? I am told that by JW’s and Mormans all the time, yet surely you disagree that God is blessing them, because they have the finance to teach their messages? Obviously one of you has to be wrong, so do you not think it is dangerous to base your teaching on tithing on the basis of money you have to spread your word?

Although I find hyper dispensationalism to be quite unbiblical, no one I know doubts the dispensations of the Old and New covenants as Hebrews 8:8-13 tells us. Verse 13 couldn’t be more specific “In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
A lot of doctrine has been fulfilled in Christ and therefore not applicable to Christians in the same sense that the Old Covenant communicated it, it’s my opinion for what it’s worth that tithing is included. I’ve never read or heard a meaningful scholarly argument that proved tithing from the New Testament, that’s why many theologians are being honest about it. That said there must be Christian giving and if you decide to give 10% or more then that’s between you and God, it’s time Christians stopped being so stingy and pastors stopped using scripture out of context to try and get their parishioners to give, Christ give his all that should be reason enough.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to communicate with “This is exactly why we Spirit filled Christians”? I ‘m not familiar with any other type of Christian according to scripture, “Romans 8:9 Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” You either have the Spirit or you’re not a Christian. Unless you’re into the unbiblical idea that we have to speak in tongues, make animal noises, and fall around under some mass hysterical trance that I have so often seen masquerading as being filled with the Spirit. I apologize in advance if I sound a rather irritated, but my experience after being involved with the charismatic movement for 15 years is, that there are some folk out there who have never spoken in tongues; and as such would have been thought of as lacking in the fullness of the Spirit, only to prove that they had more biblical fruit and guts than our whole charismatic fellowship put together.

In Christ

Mark Robins

Perhaps this man you mention, needs further investigation. Because tithing in the Church first appears centuries after completion of the Bible.

Perhaps we should all seek the Lord on this important
subject again. We all tend to want to do the physical things to prove our spirituality But God doesn’t want our physical things, God want’s a Broken Heart and
a contrite spirit {1 sam 15.22}

Just a comment from another christian

I just want echo what Chris and Matthew have said. I was watching a Christian channel recently and David Pawson was on and stated that he could find “no evidence” to tithing in all of the New Testament.

The footage of Mr. Pawson was not recent by any means and perhaps he has since changed his viewpoint, but I felt so sad that so many are being robbed of the joy of giving and of an eternal truth that precedes the Mosaic law and is, as Matthew says above, endorsed by Jesus.

I am provoked, Trevor. I plan to write a few posts on my blog in response to this. Starting with the authority of God’s eternal word. As you rightly point out, how we apply the Old Testament is vitally important. If tithing is a principle in God’s word for any time, then it is a principle for all time. Unless you can show it was fulfilled by the cross, or set aside as a foreshadow of a new covenant spiritual reality - which you cannot.

The default for all God’s word is its eternal validity. We do not need a NT word to confirm OT truth (even though as Matthew points out, we have it.) We need specific NT clarification *not* to apply anything which God lays out in the OT…

See, I’m off already!

Is this some kind of misguided exercise in bringing freedom to people, doesn’t the scripture say, “you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32)?

Anyone who teaches the Word of God should make themselves familiar with James 3:1!