Lord Teach Us To Pray Part 2 of 2

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series Volume 20 Issue 12 June 27th, 2010

Background: the disciples grew up with prayer. Being Jewish men they would have participated in saying regular prayers. Yet when they watched Jesus pray they knew something was missing in their experience.

Jesus prayed as though he was fed by it.

Jesus prayed as though his life depended on it.

Jesus prayed as though the plan of God depended on it.

One day after Jesus finished one of his prayer times the disciples gathered around and asked, "Lord, teach us to pray." What they meant was "Lord, can you teach us to pray like that?"

Jesus knew better than anyone that prayer is an expression of our relationship with the Father.

Listen to what millions of Christians do at a meal time, they ask God to bless their food. 

Sounds right, yet God shows us something a little different in        Exodus 23:25.

“And you shall serve the LORD your God and He shall bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you.”

Getting back to Matthew 6 we find that Jesus gave the disciples practical guidance for approaching God. He knew that an understanding of and passion for prayer would develop as they spent time with God in this way.

He replied to their request, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.”

Matthew 6:9–13, Luke 11:2–4

For some unknown reason we seem to have set this prayer aside for our children, or joint prayer during corporate worship. But if we only use the prayer at these times, we do not fully understand the gift Jesus gave.

Jesus’ audience was not a group of children that day. His disciples were a mixed bag of men.

Jesus was teaching muscular, leathered fisherman to pray.

Jesus was teaching the professional tax collector to pray.

This prayer had to cross personalities, ages, cultures, jobs as well as teach this unusual collection of men how to pray just like Jesus.

It wasn’t so much that the disciples wanted Jesus to teach them how to pray, as it was that they wanted Him to teach them how to pray like He did!

They wanted him to teach them because when he prayed:

A single portion of food fed multitudes; the lame walked and the blind saw; the dead were raised: the glory of God was revealed.

He didn't tell them how many times a day to pray, or what postures to use when they prayed.

His reply teaches the basics of prayer, and provides the foundation for an effective prayer life.

This was a prayer into which the disciples could grow.

None of us ever grow out of it.

This prayer is complete. It encompasses all of the ways we do and should relate to the Father,

Jesus’ answer when we ask him to teach us to pray is the same as he gave the disciples that day.

Great blessings await those of us who are willing to spend a lifetime learning to pray as Jesus taught us.

What did Jesus mean when he said we were to pray like this?

Did he mean that we should be certain to use his words?

Maybe, but I believe he means more than that. He means that when we pray we are to understand, seek and cling to our father who dwells in the heavens.

He means that when we pray we are to learn to ask him for every thing we need, and then learn total dependence on him.

He means that when we pray we learn to receive and give forgiveness.

He means that we ask for his provision in faith, even if we do not know how he will provide.

He means that our lives change so that our prayers are full and honest expressions of what Jesus is giving and teaching in these words.

Praying his will requires the courage that only faith can bring.

Think about it, you and I need to be radically changed by God in order to fully pray this way.

Interestingly, it is as we honestly pray this prayer that we will experience the very changes we need to in order to enter into it more fully.

Matthew 6:5-18 (Message)

And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant.

They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense.

This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
    Reveal who you are.
    Set the world right;
    Do what's best— as above, so below.
    Keep us alive with three square meals.
    Keep us forgiven with you and

forgiving others.
    Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
    You're in charge!
    You can do anything you want!
    You're ablaze in beauty!
       Yes. Yes. Yes.

"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.

"When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well.

Lord Teach Us To Pray Part 1 of 2

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series Volume 20 Issue 11 June 20th, 2010

Would you like to know how to get your personal prayer needs answered?  James tells us to pray for ourselves… I fear that few of us know how to do that.  Jabez knew how to pray for himself.

The only mention of Jabez in the Word is I Chronicles 4:9-10 And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren; his mother called his name Jabez, because she bore him in sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, oh, that You should bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me and that You would keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him his request.

What was it about Jabez and his prayer that resulted in an answer to his prayer?

This is important - because too often we feel that some people  get their prayers answered because they are so special.

We are wrong to think that some folk are unique, that something in their make-up puts them in line for God’s blessing.

That isn’t true of Jabez and its not true for you and me. Thank God!

The Bible does say, Jabez was “more honorable than his brethren.” But what made him more honorable? Let me just say it right out, Jabez’s claim to fame was his prayer; nothing else.

Basically Jabez was nothing without his prayer.

His mother named him. That in itself was different due to the fact that fathers named children in those days. She named him Jabez: “because I bore him in sorrow.”

Did she name him because there was no father to name him? Had his father died before his birth?

Was he an illegitimate baby? We don’t know. But some sorrow was associated with his birth.

“And Jabez called on the God of Israel.” That ‘s what made him more honorable. He was a man of prayer.

Look at his prayer: “Oh, that You would bless me indeed.”

Being blessed is one thing. We all are. Being blessed indeed is another. It’s the difference in being blessed and really blessed.

What specific blessing does he want? “I want you to enlarge my borders.”

He is praying for increase in the size of his holdings He is praying for real estate! He is praying for that kind of growth.

It could be translated, “Increase my coastline”

He then prays for guidance: “That Your hand would be with me and on me.” Jabez had a desire for the good things of life.

God’s good things. He had a heart for God. He didn’t ask for God’s blessings without God. He wanted in his life what God could bring into it with His presence.

Then He prays for godliness: “That You would keep me from evil, and that it may not grieve me.” 

No wonder he got God’s attention!

Our heavenly Father is touched with the feeling our weakness when we pray as Jabez. “Lord, keep me from an evil life. Keep me from the consequences of an evil life. Keep me pure. Make me a Godly man.”

That’s Spirit controlled self-concern,  “godly selfishness”

“And God granted him that which he requested.”

We need a JACOBIAN Attitude: Jacob between the grunts and groans of wrestling, holding on to God’s messenger blurts out,    “I won’t let you go until you bless me!”

That’s the key….  “I won’t let you go until you bless me!”

Now let’s look at Jabez’ prayer for some doable applications.

In his prayer for growth he prays that God would bless him indeed. Jabez said, “Lord, bless me. Ascribe to me the honor and glory due my name. Look upon me as a person worthy of honor.”

That is confident praying that comes from a confident, intimate relationship with the Almighty. The problem with us is that we see that prayer as being brash - egotistical - we shout out - we are but worms have mercy on us!

Jabez however asks God the Father to look on him as a person worthy of God’s attention and God heard the prayer of Jabez!

Jabez came at God as though God were a blesser.

Therefore Jabez was in a “blessing relationship.”

Very few people pray like that. They are uncomfortable….in sin.

Sin separates, breaks fellowship, destroys a sense of acceptance and intimacy. But when our sins are forgiven up to date we can come with liberty, freedom and openness to the Lord as though He were a blesser.

Have you not read the scriptures where God invites us to come “boldly to the throne….”    It is God’s nature to bless.

You may think it spiritual to never pray, “Lord bless me, really bless me,” but actually it is more like asking God to ignore us!

We need God to enlarge the investment of our lives, we must pray for growth in influence.

Vance Havnar wrote a prayer I use sometimes. It goes like this, “Lord, give me a ministry where a little bit goes a long way.”

There was a little boy of pre-school age whose older brothers and sisters could do things which he could not do. Everybody kept saying, “When you get big you can do those things and have this or that”.   One night he was heard to pray….

“And Lord, make me big…..Soon!”

Listen to this prayer by Oswald J. Smith written by him in his early years: “Lord, use me. Make me a soul-winner. Send me out as an evangelist. Let me see revival. Don’t let me settle down in an ordinary pastorate and accomplish nothing. I have only one life to live and I want to invest it for thee. Let me live for others. Enable me to win lost men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let thy blessing rest upon my ministry.”

Jabez prayed also for guidance. “…and that Your hand might be with me to guide me…”

The blessings of God, without the guiding hand of God, and sometimes restraining hand of God, can do more harm than good.

You and I could name several people who have had such blessings from God that they appear to be constantly standing directly under heaven’s open window. However, there is little or no evidence that they even give God more than a thought, let alone give a tithe.

Blessed, but not indeed.

Blessed but empty.                                    Blessed but disconnected from fellowship with God.

First Jabez prays for godliness. He puts it this way, “that You would keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me.”

How radically different is this thinking from the mind set of someone planning to go into sin.

Anybody who goes into sin willfully, thoughtfully, looking lightly on the death of Jesus is going to come under the slow and fine grinding wheels of God’s judgment.

What a difference to Jabez’ mind set and prayer.

He is not praying to get out of the consequence of his misdeeds.

He is not praying to try to get out of something.

He is praying to stay out of anything that might later lead to grief!

FREEDOM FROM WORRY

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series Volume 20 Issue 10 June 13th, 2010

The key to freedom from all fear and worry is found in two words - sparrows and hair.

Matthew 10:28-33 One of them (sparrows) does not fall on the ground without your Father knowing. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered….

Sounds simple - but what Jesus says here is very profound.

King David boasted, "He delivered me from all my fears!"

He was able to say this because of he saw the greatness of "Him who made heaven and earth."

In Matthew’s passage about sparrows and hair, Jesus was teaching the disciples that He created every sparrow, formed every human body numbering every hair.

For by Him were all things created, in heaven and earth. All things were created by Him and for Him: by Him all things consist Colossians 1:16-17

The disciples didn’t really understand… perhaps Jesus should have said, "Peter, you have 127,550 hairs on your head, 162 in your right eyebrow and 165 in your left; 306 hairs in your left ear and 319 in your right!   Won't you trust me?”

What if He said, "James, did you know that in the last 24 hours 2,000,603 sparrows died a natural death, 986,152 were trapped or killed. In Jerusalem's marketplace there are 2,950 for sale.

Not one falls to the ground without the Father being aware of it. Knowing this, will you now stop worrying?

Won’t you trust Me to take care of all your needs?

Can you now believe your heavenly Father knows what you need and that He will gladly supply It?

David said, Many, O Lord my God are your wonderful works which you have done and the number of times you think about us are more than can be numbered Psalm 40:5

Precious are your thoughts towards me, If I could count them, they would number more than the sands Psalm 139:17-18

God said to the Israelites in captivity: the thoughts I think toward you are thoughts of peace, not of evil Jeremiah 29:11

Heaven is filled with witnesses to the faithfulness of our God.

If God failed in any one of His promises, all heaven would become chaos and ruin.

Yet the fact that all heaven praises God,  is proof that they’ve witnessed and believe in His trust-ability!

God can be trusted to do all

He said He would!

Don’t be afraid - you are more valuable than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore, [in light of all of this] shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven

Matthew 10:31-33

Here is the key: Psalm 31:19 Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for them that fear God and trust in Him before the sons of men!

This "confession" must be seen - not just heard!

He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord Psalm 40:3

When we think of "Witnessing for Jesus”, we picture it as street preaching, passing out tracts, or telling friends and strangers that Jesus loves them.

Beloved, that is only part of it!

The world is not looking for more doctrinal proof of the reality of God!  

It Is not looking for greater proof of the resurrection or better arguments about creation.

The world is looking for Christians who under every crisis, fear, trouble and difficulty, remain calm and at rest in the midst of it all.

The world needs to see God's children trusting wholly in their Lord.  

The world must be able to point to a Christian and say, "There goes one who is not a complainer! He doesn't fret or fear or run in times of trouble. He isn't worried about tomorrow! His faith holds strong at all times!"

Whether you know it or not, you are witnessing and confessing every day -- people see you going through a difficult time, and they watch and listen, saying to themselves, "Will they live what they preach? Will this Jesus let them down?

What do those around you hear coming from your lips when things get tough?

Psalm 124 He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn't slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.

God wants us to be bad-news-proof!

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings [bad news]: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid Psalm 112:7-8

When you lie down, you shall not be afraid... your sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear... For the Lord shall be your confidence and shall keep you…  Proverbs 3:24-26

Trust God with all your heart.

To have freedom from fear and worry is to rest confidently in the Lord of Hosts. Rest in the very One who created you!

If you want to worry about something

· worry about worrying too much!

“Tip, Token or Tithe” Part 2 of 2

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series Volume 20 Issue 8 April 25, 2010

Today in this sermon I’d like to focus on one of the ways that you and I have been called to do the work of God on earth.

Matthew 10:7-8 As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

These were the marching orders that Jesus gave His disciples.

How is the work of God funded?                                                 

God did not intend for His church to beg for money… (There is no record of that in scriptures.) From the beginning, God has chosen to finance His work through the system of tithing.

Since Moses, God directed support through offerings

1.  The Tithe was for temple and Levites

2.  They tithed EVERYTHING (Grain, money, any gain)

I Chronicles 29:1-9  King David said to the entire assembly, "My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for the LORD God. "Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance. “Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple.. (3,000 talents of gold, 7,000 talents of refined silver)… the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the LORD with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.

Old Testament was a system of Law, and Jesus expounded on the spirit of the law.

Adultery - Jesus demanded more - No Lust

Murder - Jesus demanded more - No Hate

Why do we think He demands less when it comes to our giving?

I Corinthians 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.

On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come. 

Give as you prosper (Colgate and the others)

We plan all our bills with forethought, how much forethought goes into what you set aside to support God’s work?

We need to understand that there is a difference between tithes and offerings. 

Thank God for people who give beyond tithes. Unfortunately for many people it goes like this... “Well I like the church this week, so I'm going to give it an offering”

However, we must understand that we have a spiritual obligation to God in the area of money.

When pastors preach on the subject of money, it gets real quiet...  just like it is now.

Some think pastors stop preaching and get to meddling when they speak about tithing and offerings.  But it is all part of true discipleship.

Malachi 3:8-9 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, In what way have we robbed You?... the answer ...In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation.

Have you ever focused on the principle in Psalm 24  The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters”.

Psalm 50:10-15 For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the fields are Mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you; For the world is Mine and all its fullness.

The principal is God owns everything!

God wants us to acknowledge that He owns it all, by giving back to Him a portion of what we control, a portion of what we say is ours, a tenth of the things that we possess.

When we tithe, we proclaim that God is our God. Tithing is an act of worship, the tithe is holy, it belongs to God. 

It may help you to understand that the church is responsible to God for how it spends the tithe…  we individuals are responsible to give it.

God mentions that if we pay our vows to Him, He is going to deliver us in time of trouble. Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, with the first fruits of all your increase; so your barns may be filled and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Tithing, quite frankly, makes the ministry totally and financially free to be responsible to God. If the Church were financed through the pleading efforts of the ministry in begging you for money, human nature would lead - it would lead to the ministry bowing to the whims and wishes of the congregation

Now back in Malachi 3:10-11 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, try Me now in this," says the LORD, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such a blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," says the LORD

Brethren, what God is telling us is;

· Someone can steal from God, by not paying their tithes/offerings.                                         

· Tithing is an act of worship.                                                  

· In tithing we acknowledge who is God in our lives                                                             

· If we honor God with our tithe, He will be free to bless us.

In closing, who does the Bible say was being robbed?  Were the Levites being robbed? Were the priests being robbed? Were the ministers being robbed?  No, God says He was being robbed!

You have robbed Me by not giving Me the tithe that belongs to Me, that which I say is holy.

Who is the victim if God is being robbed?  The person who robs God comes under a curse.

Does God miss the $10 you as a young person didn't tithe? Did He wonder where His next meal was coming from?

We've already read the scriptural proof, that He doesn't need it, He owns everything! Tithing is not so much for God as it is for us.

Tithing is personal. It is between the individual and God.

You and I honor God with our tithe and in doing so He promises to bless us, to keep us, to watch over us.

Not only does God desire bless us if we give His tithe to Him, He rebukes the devourer.  

The Ouch Factor: So what is it you gave God last week a tip, token or a tithe?

CONCLUSION:

Plan your giving, purpose in your heart what you will give to God and BE GENEROUS, God does not take leftovers

Generous giving please God

Generous giving helps to further God’s work speedily

Generous giving HONORS God

James 5:1-3 The “withheld pay” is Exhibit A in the evidence stacked up against the rich.

I wonder if withheld tithes and offerings will be viewed the same way.

Proverbs 11:24 One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

Billy Graham, says: “One of the greatest sins in America today is the fact that we are robbing God of that which rightfully belongs to Him. When we don’t tithe, we shirk a just debt. Actually we are not giving when we give God one-tenth, for it belongs to Him already Leviticus. 27:30. This is a debt we owe. Not until we have given a tenth do we actually begin making an offering to the Lord!”

“Tip, Token or Tithe” Part 1 of 2

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series    Volume 20    Issue 7            April 18, 2010

  

II Corinthians 9:6-7 ...he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

What makes a cheerful giver?

What is it about that kind of person that God loves?

Please note: Although God loves a cheerful giver, He will certainly receive from a grouch!

Sadly for many there is not much cheer in the act. For some folk  giving is likened to having a root canal.

But what is it about a cheerful giver?

The Greek adjective for "cheerful" gives us our word hilarious.

Giving is not a matter of logic, it is more an acknowledgment. "What do we possess that was not given us?"  God has blessed us with abilities, material goods and offered us a new life of forgiveness.

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." II Corinthians 8:9

In the end we possess nothing except what we have used and shared and given away.

People come to realize this when they make out their wills, but then it is too late, because they are making others happier after their death rather than in their lifetime.

No gratitude is felt for the benefit when the gift lingers in the hands of the person who is giving it; when the giver seems sorry to let it go…..

The cheerful giver knows how to use material things without being possessed by them.

The cheerful giver does not identify who he is with what he has.  He or she uses what they have to enrich life.  They’ve discovered the secret to life; it is better to give than to receive.

Winston Churchill said, "We make a living by what we get; but we make a life by what we give."

A cheerful giver wants to be like Jesus who came to minister, not to be ministered to. The depth of our commitment is revealed not by what we can get out of this, but by what we give and do.

If our religion is based only on what we receive, then we set ourselves up for disappointment. For enough is never enough.

If our faith is based on loving and serving, then it will never be disappointing, because the opportunities are endless.

It takes commitment to be a giver                         in a world which says to be a taker.

When we give with “cheerfulness” an astounding thing happens: God is praised.

Proverbs says that when we give to the poor, it is like “lending to the Lord." 

Let each give as each has decided, not grudgingly or by compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.   Why?

Because the cheerful giver moves closer to understanding what God is all about.

Many years ago a boy of sixteen was obliged to leave home because his father was too poor to support him. So he left with all his worldly possessions in a bundle dangling from his hand, resolving, as he journeyed, to set up in business as a soap maker in New York. When the country boy arrived in the big city, he found it hard to get work. Remembering the last words of his mother and also the godly advice given him by the captain of a canal boat, the youth dedicated his life to God, determining to return to his Maker an honest tithe of every dollar he earned. So, when his first dollar came in, the young man sacredly dedicated ten cents of it to the Lord. He continued to do this. And the dollars rolled in!

Soon this manufacturer became partner in a soap business; and when his partner died a few years later, he became sole owner. The prosperous businessman then instructed his bookkeeper to open an account with the Lord and to credit to it one tenth of all his income. The business grew miraculously.

The proprietor then dedicated 20% of his earnings; then 30%, 40%; and finally, 50%. It seemed as if his sales increased in exact proportion to his generosity, so that soon his soap became a household word.

The late William Colgate was this man whom God so signally prospered in return for his faithfulness to his Maker.

Blessings come due to the faithful payment of an honest tithe.

Henry P. Crowell, contracted tuberculosis when a boy and couldn’t go to school. After hearing a sermon by D. L. Moody, young Crowell prayed, “I can’t be a preacher, but I can be a good businessman. God, if You will let me make money, I will use it in Your service.”

Under the doctor’s advice Crowell worked outdoors for seven years and regained his health. He then bought the little run-down Mill in Ohio. He faithfully tithed 10% from each paycheck.  Within ten years Quaker Oats was a household word to millions. For over 40 years Henry faithfully tithed 60 to 70% of his income.

America’s first billionaire said, “I never would’ve been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I hadn’t tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.”        John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) 

Real charity doesn’t care if it’s tax deductible or not.

Stanley Tam American businessman said, “You hear a lot of strange things about tithing. Some say it is a church tax, and they expect me to pay it and that is the end of it. Others say that when I give God one-tenth of my income, He blesses the nine-tenths that is left to the extent that the nine-tenths now goes as far as the whole thing used to go. This isn’t really true, is it?

Suppose a farmer had 100 bushels of corn in the barn and he decides to plant 10 bushel in the ground. What multiplies? Is it the 90 bushels that he has left in the barn? Oh, no. All of us ‘farmers’ know it is the 10 bushels you put in the ground that multiplies. Similarly, it is the 10 percent you give to God that multiplies. 

One of the reasons churches in North America have trouble guiding people about money is that the church’s economy is built on consumerism. If churches see themselves as suppliers of religious goods and services and their congregants as consumers, then offerings are ‘payment.’”

Stanley Tam started by making God a partner, then made him owner.

Food for thought:

With the price of everything else going up these days, aren’t you glad the Lord hasn’t increased the tithe to 15%.

Personally: My family and I absolutely believe in the power of tithing and giving back. However my personal take on tithing is that it has become a diversion. The real issue is: How do we use God’s trust fund - namely, all we have, for His glory?

Why does God bless you financially? 

II Corinthians 9:8