http://www.goingtojesus.com/text/books/tithesandofferings.pdf
(The Tithes & Offerings book was published after the following blog)
Look at these questions I’m getting on Isaiah 58… amazing timing! Think we have a book that could help??
I don’t know that I really have anything on the current Isaiah site that has tithes, so they must be finding old articles or tracts.
God’s people need such help – it’s like the new birth… the confusion is so great, where do we begin?
Gary
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Pastor John:
Are we suppose to give a seed offering every Sunday to the Pastor or Speaker because the word was great and the anointing was great?
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If the word and the anointing were truly great, you could ask that man the same question, and he would tell you, “No, you are not supposed to do that.”
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Why are we giving seed offerings?
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Without at all wanting to seem frivolous or sarcastic, I humbly would ask you, and the family of God everywhere, the same question. Why are you doing that, dear friend? Jesus does not want you to do that, and certainly not every week.
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What does it represent?
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This is going to sound sarcastic, too, but please believe me, that this is from my heart. It sounds to me as if you are being hounded and oppressed for money (“in the name of the Lord”, of course. It always works better that way). That being the case, what the “seed offerings” you are being asked to constantly “sow” can only represent the greed of the people who have taught you.
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If we give our tithes and offering every Sunday and then they ask for a seed offering every Sunday wont that hurt your congregation?
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My congregation is grieved that our brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering through such nonsense. Of course it hurts the congregation, and it also hurts the minsters who teach it.
The whole body of Christ is in a mess because “truth has perished from the land.” I hope you survive what you are being taught. I know that Jesus loves you; stay very close to him and he will not let you feel bad about refusing to be robbed.
I am in the final stages of my new book, “Tithes and Offerings”, and it will answer your questions, and much more. Please stay in touch, and you will know when it comes out. I will send you a copy at no cost to you.
May God richly bless you, not the men who are pressuring you to bless them.
Pastor John
PS I am adding the following correspondence which I received at the same time I received your welcomed letter. I hope it helps you understand more fully where I am coming from.
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When relating the two words Tithe and Offering. Does anything other than money (cash) qualify as an offering in the ministry?
I know that your tithe is 10% of your gross income. But what I need to know is concerning the offering in the church. Could it also be volunteered time or working in the ministry without pay?
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It is difficult to respond in clear, simple terms to our brothers and sisters, like yourself, who are still trying to serve God within the corrupt religious system of Christianity. Our words don’t even mean the same thing. To those still inside Christianity, “receiving salvation” means “being born again”, but to us out here in the light, “receiving salvation” means to be judged worthy of eternal life at the Final Judgment. To be a pastor in Christianity does not mean that a man is a pastor in God’s eyes, and to join one of Christianity’s sects has nothing to do, really, with being in Christ. The baptism of the holy ghost, within Christianity, can at best be described as a spare tire, an optional addition to a child of God’s faith, but in God’s kingdom, the baptism of the holy ghost is how one becomes a child of God to begin with. Jesus’ baptism is not a spare tire; it is the whole car. It is the very thing he suffered and died for us to have.
The biggest problem for me in answering your very simple and good question is that I hate to see any child of God volunteering to do anything for the religious system that Jesus abhors, especially volunteering to be a part of Christianity’s ministry. In all sincerity, my friend, the very best answer I can give you is only to echo what the Spirit is already telling you, in your heart: “Come out of her, My people, so that you do not partake of her sins, and then receive of her plagues.”
Your very humble servant in Christ,
Pastor John