TheNewsGuru

Tag: Giving

  • New covenant giving – By Femi Aribisala

    New covenant giving – By Femi Aribisala

    “The only acceptable basis for all action in Christ is love”.

    What is God worth to us? Is he only worthy of a tithe of our income? Every Christian should be allowed to determine this for himself. Institutionalised tithing limits the generosity of a believer. Once we give 10%, we believe we have fulfilled all righteousness. But this limitation is short-sighted.

    Jesus says: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38).

    Therefore, we must not use the measure of a delimited tithe.

    Hardened hearts

    Jesus says divorce is not God’s will: “From the beginning, it was not so.” (Matthew 19:8). Moses only gave the law permitting divorce because of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews.

    The same thing applies to Malachi and the compulsion to give tithes and offerings. From the beginning, people of God were not compelled or threatened to give. Indeed, the insistence of pastors on tithes and offerings today is anachronistic. It is tantamount to putting Jesus’ new wine in old bottles which Jesus says is inappropriate. (Matthew 9:16-17).

    The Law of Moses was given to the Jews because they did not know the right thing to do. But in spite of the law, the Jews were still not inclined to give because their hearts were hardened. Therefore, Malachi called them robbers of God; and he threatened them with curses, the devourer, and the denial of blessings.

    However, the application of Malachi’s invective to believers today is insulting. The believer is a law-keeper, but Paul says: “The law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless.” (1 Timothy 1:9). Indeed, once a man makes it a law that you must pay tithes and give offerings, he has spoilt you for the gospel. He has already determined that you are a hard-hearted lawbreaker.

    But in the believer in Christ is fulfilled the promise of God: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.” (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

    The true believer no longer keeps God’s laws out of compulsion. But he or she says: “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8). Instead of the Law of Moses, God has now given us “the law of liberty.”  Accordingly, we no longer give because of “legal” requirements. The only acceptable basis for all action in Christ is love.

    New spirit

    How can you get a believer in Christ to do the right thing?  You do not have to do anything at all because a true believer will naturally do the right thing. A true believer will do the right thing because it is in his nature to do so. He gives because it is in his nature to give. Nobody has to compel or threaten him. Nobody needs to manipulate or bewitch him. Doing the right thing is the fruit of his spirit.

    When Samuel was explaining the dynamics of the kingdom of God to Saul, he told him that the Spirit of the Lord would come mightily upon him, and he would start to prophesy like one of the prophets. When that happens, he told Saul to do whatever seemed best to him for God would guide him. (1 Samuel 10:7). Saul would not need any man to teach him what to do: he would do it naturally.

    It is this dynamic that John was referring to when he wrote that believers have received the Holy Spirit and therefore no longer need anyone to teach us what is right: “You have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, in your hearts, so that you don’t need anyone to teach you what is right.” (1 John 2:27).

    Free will giving

    This was the case of  Abraham. When Abraham gave a tithe (tenth) of all his spoils of war to Melchizedec, a priest of the Most High God, nobody told him to do so. He did so of his own volition. The pureness of Abraham’s heart naturally led to his godly decision to honour the Lord with his possessions and with the first fruits of the increase in his resources.

    Where the Spirit of God is there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17). Even in the Old Testament, God only welcomed offerings not given out of compulsion. Thus, He instructed Moses: “Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze.” (Exodus 35:5).

    “Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.” (Exodus 35:21).

    In the construction and furnishing of the tabernacle, the people gave so willingly, they even gave too much: “The people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done- indeed too much. (Exodus 36:5-7).

    That is the giving that pleases the Lord; giving that derives from the abundance of the heart.

    Whole-hearted giving

    This principle of whole-hearted giving is amplified in the New Testament. Paul notes that: “If there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.” (2 Corinthians 8:12).

    However, many pastors ask their congregants to make pledges even according to what they do not have. They tell them to “stretch their faith.” 

    Such manipulation is anathema to New Testament precepts where compulsive giving is now out of date: “Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

    Should you give a tenth, a fifth, or half of your income? Decide for yourself between yourself and God. It is no business of your pastor.

    Tithing because of Malachi is tantamount to giving out of necessity. But the believer of today (the new creation) no longer gives because he is trying to avoid curses and the devourer. He gives because he loves to give. He gives because he wants to be like our heavenly Father. He gives because he loves God.

    This means he can decide to give this proportion of his income this month and another proportion next month. The decision is entirely up to him.

    Moreover, if he chooses not to give, God is not going to deny him His kingdom. He is not going to rain down curses on him. The devourer is not going to be let loose on him. The windows of heaven will not be shut against him. Let no one deceive you. A true believer cannot be cursed. You can only curse a believer who believes he can be cursed.

    Jesus says: “According to your faith will it be done to you. (Matthew 9:29).

  • VIDEO: American preacher, Creflo Dollar disowns previous teachings on tithing

    American preacher, Pastor Creflo Dollar, who is the founder and senior pastor of World Changers Church International (WCCI) and World Changers Church-New York, has disowned all his previous teachings on tithe and giving.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Pastor Dollar disowned the previous teachings, declaring that tithing is not biblical, while also apologizing to his congregation for the previous teachings that encouraged tithing.

    The clergyman who has been an advocate for tithing for many years, during a recent sermon in his church, the video of which is attached, admitted that all his previous teachings on tithing and giving were wrong.

    He owned up that he is still growing and urged his congregation to do away with his previous books, tapes, and videos on tithing. He stated that he has seen the truth now, and is not ashamed to contradict his previous messages.

    Creflo, who stressed that tithing is Old Testament teaching and no longer relevant for New Testament believers, cited Romans 6: 14 to buttress how Christians now live under grace and not the laws of the Old Testament.

    “I want to start off by saying to you that I’m still growing and that the teachings that I’ve shared with you on the subject of tithing were not correct. And today I stand in humility to correct some things that I’ve taught for years and believed for years, but could never understand it clearly because I’d not yet been confronted with the gospel of grace, which has made the difference.

    “I want to apologize because if it wasn’t for me going down that route, I wouldn’t have ended up where I am right now. But I will say that I have no shame at all by saying to you to throw away every book, every tape and every video I’ve made on the subject of tithing.

    ALSO READ || No tithing in the New Testament church – By Femi Aribisala

    ALSO READ || Pastor Adeboye insists tithing essential to make heaven, blasts critics

    “Why is this important, because religion is sustained by two factors; fear and guilt. And if there’s one subject that the church has used for a very long time to keep people in fear and guilt, it’s in that subject of tithing. And it has to be corrected now. I may lose some friends, preachers may not invite me no more but I think I already been through that so it doesn’t matter,” Pastor Dollar said.

    Watch video below:

  • Offering time, blessing time -By Femi Aribisala

    Offering time, blessing time -By Femi Aribisala

    “God forbid that where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, an offering should not be collected.”

    Send my message to your pastor. Tell him I said he is after your money. He cannot deny it. Pastors make merchandise of men by peddling the word of God. Peter says: “These teachers in their greed will tell you anything to get hold of your money.” (2 Peter 2:3).

    To be a successful pastor, you have to learn the tricks of the trade. This has nothing to do with preaching insightful and inspiring messages. Neither does it have to do with ministering to the spiritual needs of the members of the church.

    The pastor succeeds or fails according to his ability to pull a crowd and extort as much money as possible from his congregation. If he fails in these areas, he is not likely to survive for long as a pastor.

    The technique is simple but effective. He tells his congregants that for every naira they give, they will get a hundredfold return. Even those in debt are encouraged to get out of debt by giving out of their indebtedness,

    Pastor Paula White of Without Walls International Church, Tampa, Florida (U.S.A.) is a master practitioner of this money-grubbing technique. In her television broadcasts, she asks her audience to open their bibles to Psalm 66, verse 12. This reads: “Through the fire, through the water, God brought us out into a wealthy place.”

    Then she says: “God says he wants you to give me 66 dollars and 12 cents. Or you can give 6,612 dollars.”

    This is nothing but witchcraft.

    Money activator

    These are the voices of strangers who fleece the flock. Isaiah says: “They are as greedy as dogs, never satisfied; they are stupid pastors who only look after their own interest, each trying to get as much as he can for himself from every possible source.” (Isaiah 56:11).

    Pastors tell Christians that money operates like a “hair gel activator.” The promises of God proclaimed in their messages are sealed until a “seed offering” is given to activate it, Therefore, you are likely to see different members of their congregation suddenly get up in the middle of their sermons to throw money at their feet ostensibly to activate their deceitful messages.

    One pastor puts this imperative succinctly. He said: “Anointing without money is equal to annoyance.”

    This makes the offering-time the focal point of church services. Here, the pastoral imagination has run wild. Highfalutin names are given to the offerings to make men give several times on the trot. In one of those services I attended, three offerings are collected disingenuously in every service: one for “the Father;” another for “the Son;” and yet another for “the Holy Spirit.”

    Another pastor offered ungodly counsel to the poor: “If you don’t have an offering, borrow from your neighbour.” Never mind that the promise of God says the believer shall lend to many nations but shall not borrow. (Deuteronomy 15:6),

    Even though Jesus says when we give, our right hand should not know what our left hand is doing (Matthew 6:3); some pastors insist offerings must be held up for all to see, in the attempt to embarrass those not inclined to give, or those inclined to offer notes in the smaller currency denominations.

    In one church I attended, the pastor proscribed altogether the giving of offerings in the smaller currency notes. “My God is not a poor God,” he declared. On another occasion, he required that money be collected for the visiting general overseer in only pounds or dollars.

    One popular convention requires everybody in church to dance forward, one by one, to drop their offerings on a tray placed strategically in front of the pastor where he can observe exactly how much they are giving. This is designed to intimidate them into giving more than they would like to. It also serves to embarrass those who cannot give and stay behind,

    At other times, they constrain their members to make public vows and pledges. One pastor admonishes his members: “Pledge more than you have; stretch your faith.” When the time comes to redeem the pledge, he will hit you with Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 which says if you make a vow and do not redeem it, God will destroy the work of your hands.

    Blessing time

    One technique is to take the offering early to ensure that people do not leave before the money can be taken from them. But sometimes this strategy backfires; the rich often come late.

    In one of the services I attended, the pastor noticed that some of the wealthier church-members came in after the offering had been collected. So, he insisted it should be collected again. The reason he gave was a classic. He said: “I don’t want anybody here to be denied the blessings of the day.”

    Of course, his god only blesses during offering times.

    Yetunde Olanrewaju came up with what I presume is a parable, She said one day, a swarm of bees descended on a church while a service was in session. The people panicked and started running out of the building. But the pastor was up in arms: “Wait, wait, please wait,” he pleaded to no avail, “We haven’t yet collected the offering.”

    God forbid that where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, an offering should not be collected.

    Pastors have a free hand to be as honest or dishonest as their conscience permits. This ensures that financial impropriety is widespread in churches and Christian ministries but buried under the carpet.

    Charlene Animashaun was the head of the money-counters in her parish, While the offering was still being counted, the new pastor sent someone to collect a certain amount. Charlene sent word back that the count was still incomplete. The protocol was to document the amount and lodge it in the bank, That way, withdrawals would have a paper trail.

    But the new pastor would not be denied. He barged into the counting room and reminded all and sundry he was now the pastor. “What the pastor demands, the pastor gets; no questions asked.” He grabbed the money with the warning that his authority should never be challenged again.

    Charlene got the message and quietly resigned her position as head of the money counters. Thereafter, she resigned from the church itself.

    Soul traders

    The plan was to have churches in our area come together one Sunday morning and go “prayer-walking.” We would evangelise as we go. But there was a logistical problem. If we would not have services in our churches that Sunday, how would the offering be collected?

    Someone said, we would meet briefly in our churches just to collect the offering and then assemble as planned. But then another problem arose. Which churches would those converted to Christianity be asked to attend? A genius had a ready solution: “At the end of the exercise,” she said, “we will sit down and share the souls!”

    “Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver,.. horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.” (Revelation 18:10-13).