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Nothing’s Changed for 2000 Years

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Found a Baylor University survey on USA Today. Read it here. There were various statistics that were mentioned but one stuck out to me below:

Widows and widowers are some of the biggest tithers, with 17.6% giving 10% or more of their income to the church, compared to 8.6% of non-widowed people.

Of course, the heretical tithing burden is not the focus here. It is irrelevant under the grace of freewill giving in the New Testament. But this reminds me of the corresponding biblical passage.

Mark12:41-44
Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

Now there could be a number of reasons why widows are still giving more than everyone else. One, could be that they have a huge life insurance inheritance. Two, could be the depression that they have no one to spend their money with any more, so why not just give it away. One thing is for certain, their purposes in life have evolved into something greater than themselves.

Thousands of years later, and the widow with two mites is still a relevant example for us today. Either way, we can say for certain that these statistics just prove that nothing’s changed for the past 2000 years.

Foreclosure, Tithing, & Guilt

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Just read the blog on reuters that addresses the God before mortgage crisis in which people would rather tithe than lose their house. Consider my post a continuation from the last post. The author stated on Reuters how he had trouble finding anyone who would give their name and publicly announce that they are foreclosing on their home so that they can continue to give to God.

I find that very interesting, cause normally tithers are very bold about their life long decision to tithe. If they think their tithing decision is truly making God happy, then people are always more than willing to share their story and give their name. Even as they foreclose their house, usually feelings of persecution usher into their minds as they strain and stand up to do God’s tithing will, amidst their crisis. You will never have trouble finding a name or a person who tithes, but finding a name from a tither who is foreclosing on their house, now that’s like pulling teeth.

It’s not as if he couldn’t find these people. No, he could. They just wouldn’t give their names. This is interesting indeed. Granted losing your house is embarrassing. But why all the embarrassment if you are doing what is right by tithing? Unless, these people truly do think that their decision is foolishness. What does the bible say?

Psalms 37:21
The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives.

This is where these people are stuck. They know that what they are going to do with their house is wrong, but on the other hand, they feel that not tithing is wrong as well. I feel bad for these people. I really do. It is sad to me. Besides the fact of what this is doing to their family, it is said at what the world sees. The world doesn’t care about whether you tithed or not this Sunday. Not that I care what the world thinks in the wrong way, but God does call us a light on a hill for a reason.

What a testimony. We talk about a God who paid the debt for everyone, but we show them our stubbornness to pay our own financial debts. How is God glorified through your financial negligence, but honored through your tithing? You cannot justify one over the other. There are many people out there who are in legitimate debt that they cannot afford to pay. I understand that, so i am not talking about those people.

Through it all, my guess for why nobody wanted to share their name in that news article is because people know what they are doing is not right, but they use tithing as a spiritual quest to appease their guilty conscience. People need to stop tithing & get out of debt.

God Before Mortgage

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Here’s a news article written by Nick Carey that I read on Reuters. The title is, “For many U.S. Christians, it’s God before mortgage”. I have quoted and commented on certain portions of this news article below.

While millions may lose their homes during the worst housing slump since the Great Depression, some devout Christians among them will do so in part because they will not give up tithing. . .

you will find some people for whom obedience to God comes second to none, . . . For those people, a contract with God is worth more than their home

Milton Sharp, a home ownership specialist at NeighborWorks, an umbrella group of 230 nonprofits, said for many borrowers tithing is “mandatory and not a discretionary item that can be cut.

Granted, people have been poor stewards of their finances, and have made bad decisions to get into homes that was a risk for them to afford later on. But to say that your contract with God carries more spiritual weight than your contract on earth is ridiculous. Remember the context of the quote, “give unto Caesar’s what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s”? Here is the passage:

Luke 20
Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test Me? Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?”

They answered and said, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The answer is that giving to God is not more important than paying your taxes. Your purpose on earth is just as much pay your bills as it is to give to your church. People get mixed up when they think that God is asking for a denarius, or the dollar, or the yen or the euro. Sure, we give money to the poor, to our church, or to hurricane victims; but money is not what God is seeking. Unfortunately, thousands/millions of tithers are caught in the mindset that God is one big tax collecter sitting up in heaven counting the pennies that you owe Him. It makes me wonder about the order of wording in that passage. Notice Jesus says first, “render unto Caesar’s what is Caesar’s”. I don’t know. I’m not a greek buff, but if Jesus did state it in that order, I wonder if He had a reason to state “give to Caeser” first.

“Often it’s the folks who can least afford it who tithe,” said Regina Grant of the Atlanta Cooperative Development Corp.

Isn’t this an interesting statistic. I don’t understand it really. These people are tithing and are expecting the windows of heaven to open. Obviously, the windows aren’t opening, but they are still tithing. I admire their faith, sincerity and boldness towards the promises of the tithe.

This reminds me of my tithing testimony. My parents had 8 children, and my father was basically the only one working. He had a blue collar job, and was sending all the kids to a private school. My parents were faithfully tithing every week, but let me tell you, the bills and credit cards were piling up. We were the least that could afford to tithe, but yet we were tithing. My parents believed in the promises and curses of the tithe. They were suckered into this mystical Old Testament curse, and did not adhere to basic stewardship principles. You cannot be in debt and afford to give. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot be a slave to debt and expect to serve other causes with your giving also.

“I made an agreement with the Lord 30 years ago and I have tithed ever since,” said the woman, who declined to give her name in an interview. “Nothing could persuade me to give that up. My relationship with God comes first.”

All these twisted lies of the tithe. I’ve heard many say that the tithe confirms our relationship with God. Somehow, by tithing we are declaring God over our lives. As if the tithe was the literal cross of the Christian life. I guess it is true, the tithe is the literal cross of many misled Christians. Unfortunately, we don’t think Jesus paid the price and fulfilled all the old laws, so we feel that we have continue carrying the burden of the old testament on our shoulders. There are burdens that we have to bear in the New Testament, but the tithe is not one of them. We are to take care of the needs, help the poor, and supply for the saints. Sacrificial giving is important and commanded, but 10% minimum requirement is not a command for the Spirit-led Church.

People really believe that God will be happy if they tithe even though they can’t pay their bills. Why would God be happy that you defame his name through financial negligence? In one of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 25, He tells how God would despise the servant who gives 100% back if we act upon poor stewardship principles. God will not reward you because you sacrificed your house. God is not smiling just because you are faithfully tithing. In fact he may punish you because of your poor stewardship.

Even if your house and mortgage was a financial mistake, paying your mortgage is one of the most spiritual decisions you can ever make. There is no spiritual difference in writing a check to your church or writing a check to your bank. Just because your check goes to a church does not sanctify your poor stewardship.

In closing, Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. In financial hardship, the easy way out is to simplify what Jesus said and exclude Caesar. But Jesus didn’t insert the clause, “in case of financial hardship, only give to God”.

Top Verses That Televangelists Won’t Preach

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I must say that in my research for these verses, I have become convicted of my neglect of the poor and needy. I never before realized how many rebukes there were in the bible for oppressing or exploiting them. There were many more verses in the bible that I did not mention here.

I want to tell you that these verses are not here to prove that being poor is more godly than being rich. There is nothing wrong with being rich. John D. Rockefeller’s philosophy was to earn as much as you can and give as much as you can. And I particularly like that philosophy. I just don’t like wolves cloaking themselves in the sheepskin of God’s “anointed” and using that to prey on the weak and helpless.

Proverbs 22:16
He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich will surely come to poverty.

This is a great one to start out with. He who gives to the rich will be poor. Wake up, people! The only reason why these Televangelists are rich is that a sucker is born every minute. They aren’t rich because they’ve worked hard, or received money from the sky. They are rich because you give to them. I don’t mean to simplify all of God’s financial blessings in this manner, but their riches is a matter of simple addition, and your poverty is a matter of simple subtraction. There is no devil that cast a voodoo-like spiritual curse on your finances. And there is no cupid poking them with financially blessed arrows. You give to them and they become richer. Plain and simple.

1 Timothy 6:6-10
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

Plain and simple. Televangelists’ desire is to be rich. I don’t want to argue about their true motives and hear that you think their heart is pure. I don’t want to hear it. They’ve fallen into a snare.

Luke 12:15-21
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’

So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’

But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Matthew 6:19-21
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The thing is for prosperity preachers is that their riches is their identity. Without their riches, they lose their identity. Preaching prosperity and riches is their purpose in life, and defines them. Without it, nobody would know who they even were? They’ve become somebody because of their riches, not because of Jesus Christ.

James 5:1-5
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

These televangelists are complete frauds. They have taken from people and have suckered them into giving so that they can live on earth in pleasure and luxury. I don’t understand how anyone can be without a guilty conscience when they live in their mansion by financial sacrifices that others have made.

Think about it this way. If your grandmother gave half of her tiny social security check every month so that you could have more and she could have less, how would you spend that social security check? Would you even be willing to spend it? Would you feel guilty buying those diamond cuffs while your grandmother sat home with nothing?

Job 24:9-10benny hinn wants your money
Some snatch the fatherless from the breast and take a pledge from the poor. They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

This one is priceless. I swear if the conviction of taking a pledge from the poor does not make you think about TBN then I don’t know what will.

Isaiah 10:2-3
To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless. What will you do in the day of punishment, And in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? Without Me, they shall bow down among the prisoners, And they shall fall among the slain.

Doesn’t this remind you of the wolves in sheep’s clothing waiting to prey on the weakest

Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.

Matthew 23:14
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses

What? You think I’m Lying. What demographic of people do you think gives the most to TBN? It’s poor old women. You are probably are used to this passage because it proceeds to talks about tithing next, but you are not used to hearing the rebuke for the burden on the poor.

Malachi 3:5
And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.


Isaiah 3:14-15

The Lord stands up to plead and stands to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment With the elders of His people And His princes: “For you have eaten up the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses (mansions). What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the faces of the poor?” Says the Lord GOD of hosts

Amos 4:1
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!”

You don’t think God was referring the these two bovine’s do you?


Zechariah 7:10
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor.

Luke 6:20
Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.

Hmm, I’m not used to hearing the word blessed and poor in the same sentence from those televangelists.

2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor

Becoming poor just doesn’t make sense to these televangelists, so this passage is definitely not on the preaching list.

Do you have any more verses to add? I know there are more out there, but i’m just one man searching for them.

Shipwrecked Tithe Joke

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Enjoy the shipwrecked Tithe Joke below

Two men were shipwrecked near an island. When they landed ashore, one of them began screaming and yelling, “We’re going to die! We’re going to die! There’s no food! No water! We’re going to die!”

The second man leaned calmly against a palm tree.

When the first man saw how calm his friend was, he went crazy and shouted, “Don’t you understand?! We’re going to die!!”Undisturbed, the second man replied, “You don’t understand, I make $100,000 a week.”

Dumbfounded, the first man looked at him and asked, “What difference does that make?!? We’re on an island with no food and no water! We’re going to DIE!!!”

The second man answered, “You just don’t get it. I make $100,000 a week and I tithe ten percent on that $100,000 a week. Wherever I am, my pastor will be sure to find me!”