Here’s an excerpt of Samson’s story in Judges 15
“When he[Samson] came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that [were] on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it.”

The stories of Samson are a man’s man type of story. As a guy i can really appreciate it. I just envision this guy with Hercules type of strength shredding the ropes off his hands, wiping out a thousand men, and then polishing his nails right after. This guy would make Rambo look like papa smurf. But then you look at Samson a few verses later and you read that as God’s strength leaves his body,  he becomes like every other mortal man.

Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

As sad as this story seems in the life of Samson, this relates so well to our own lives. The only difference is that it’s not physical strength when the the Spirit of the Lord is on me. I would say that we battle a thousand demons in our life every day. This means that a thousand times we need to make sure that the Spirit of God is upon us. There is no room for error or we could find ourselves enslaved and blinded.

P.S. I had intentions of making this relevant to tithing (I know you are thinking of how), but  for once I’m not going to stop there . . . Maybe tomorrow I’ll finish it.

Related posts:

1. Tithing is a Flightless Bird
2. We’ll Leave That up to Tithing

Here’s another excerpt from the News Herald in New Zealand, “Followers were told to ignore people who told them they were too poor to give money to the church. ‘They’ll tell you and try to get you to believe you are too poor and that you have nothing to give. ‘What they’re trying to get you to do, do the opposite and you’ll always be on the right side [with God]. ‘ He spoke of opening up a ‘channel of giving’ to the ‘house of God’. ‘When they [followers] stop giving, the church is poor and it cannot fulfil its wonderful vision or its purpose for God.’

I think one the saddest parts is that they believe the people and the church are actually separate entities. Notice the leader said, ‘When “they” stop giving’ – as if who ‘they’ are and what the ‘church’ is are actually different things?

Related posts:

1. Church Member Gets Shocking Letter From Pastor
2. Can Your Tithe Go Towards a Mission Trip?
3. House Church Attendance Puts the Pressure on Conventional Churches and Its Finances

1. Galatians 5:18
   But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
   Um, need i say more? Sure, because there are 10 more bible verses still to write about.
2. Romans 12:6-8
   Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, [let us use them]: if prophecy, [let us] [prophesy] in proportion to our faith; or ministry, [let us use it] in [our] ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
   This just plainly states that our giving is a Spiritual gift, not an action that is determined by a numerical calculation.
3. Matthew 10:8
   Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, [fn] cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
   With this verse in correlation with other spiritual gifts, such as healing, we should see that our freewill, spirit-led giving is a command and is a spiritual gift as well.
4. Acts 1:8
   But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
   It is the law and sin that no longer has the authority and power over our lives, including our giving.
5. Acts 5:3
   But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself
   In this passage Ananias disobeys the Spirit of God and convinces himself into believing a lie that he should keep back part of the price of land.  If the Holy Spirit was not responsible for instructing Ananias to give everything, then Ananias had no reason to hide part of the price. The guilty need no accusing. This is why i believe that Spirit led giving is not an easy way out of giving. There are direct consequences for disobeying the instructions of the Holy Spirit. With tithing in the Old Testament, you had some idea of what the consequences of not tithing were.  I would think that the worst part about some types of punishments is not knowing what the consequence would be.
6. 1 Peter 4:10
   As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
   Many times we pray and plead for an opportunity to minister our gifts except when it comes time to minister our gifts of giving. It seems that we have the opportunity to bypass the intense pleading and praying part because the ministry of giving is calculated through tithing, not prayer.
7. Acts 2:44-46
   Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
   This is not a verse that even mentions the Holy Spirit, but can we deny that the leading of the Holy Spirit is not upon them? Can we deny that the worries of possessions and materialism have faded into the gladness and simplicity of their communion?
8. 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 9:7
   Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
   So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us–see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. . . .[So let] each one [give] as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity[law]; for God loves a cheerful giver.
   Yes, this is one of the more vague passages to support Spirit led giving, but in this whole passage about giving, i have underlined 2 phrases to summarize this passage on giving. After Paul’s admonishment on liberality and freewill giving, he states, “I speak not by commandment” and “not of necessity”. These phrases should strike a stake into the heart of all tithing supporters, and should make it clear that no standards or laws are a substitute for the Holy Spirit.
9. Acts 11:28-30
   Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
   Here we have a man/woman who revealed through the Holy Spirit that a great famine was going to come. And because of what the Holy Spirit had revealed, the early Church was able to prepare relief for those who would be most effected by this famine. The Spirit led gift of giving many times is not so much the ability to give, but more or less the ability for one to see a financial need that should be filled.
10. Luke 4:1
    And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
    Do we see giving mentioned in here, no. But we do see the Holy Spirit as a leader, and a guide.
11. John 16:13
    Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
    I think we need to realize that Holy Spirit isn’t just this being that puts a permanent smile on our face. Many people believe that Spirit led giving is just simply performing the action of being cheerful. This is not the truth. We not only should be Spirit filled with our giving, but also Spirit led. The Holy Spirit is an instructor, and brings revelation for our lives.
12. 2 Corinthians 9:7
    [So let] each one [give] as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

We need more verses that support Spirit led giving, SO PLEASE ADD SOME SPIRIT LED GIVING VERSES IN THE COMMENTS. I would definitely love old or new testament verses. There are lots of bible verses on giving in the new testament but it’s hard to really pinpoint that a spiritual gift is being used or that the Holy Spirit is guiding someone. So take that into consideration if you wish to add a verse. Also, please add your own little commentary to the verse as well, so i can add your explanation. I don’t want my voice to be the sole interpreter of scripture on this blog. I will send $15 through paypal to the best new verse and explanation of Spirit led giving.

Related posts:

1. Spirit Led Giving Defined
2. Difference Between Spirit-led, Freewill, & Grace Giving
3. Except for Spirit Led Giving

1. Changed the comment section so that comments are threaded so you can reply to specific people.
2. Enlarged the width of the website to enable easier reading and cleaner space
3. Added subscription buttons to both the google and yahoo groups
4. Added a multi-language translator
5. re-enabled commentluv so that your most recent posts are linked automatically inside your comment. Can’t say no to a little publicity for yourself.

I am always looking for ways to improve the blog. If there are any suggestions out there that you would like to input, i would greatly appreciate your advice. Thanks for all your support, and participation for this blog!

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So, I’m throwing out the stop tithing lent challenge. Give up tithing for the next few weeks before Good Friday. This is not a challenge to stop giving. This is a challenge to begin a journey of sacrificial, spirit led giving. By the end of this journey i want to see how blessed your life has been. By the end of lent, if you feel that Spirit led, freewill giving has devastated your spiritual life, then by all means, go back to tithing (No, i’m not gonna offer any refunds)

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2. Tithing & Stewardship Discussion Groups
3. Big Budgets Puts Pressure on Tithing

Could you imagine if God told the Israelites to use the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the Levitical service in the temple? I’m sure a lot of objections come to mind right now. here are a few of my objections:

• The Roman law does not know how much resources are needed to run the temple operations
• The Levites have no influence or authority over the Roman laws
• Old Testament laws and the Roman laws have 2 different duties to fulfill
• The two different statutes are just incompatible, so there would be no way to merge Roman law with the Levitical laws

Using the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the services of the Jewish temple seems ludicrous. But, as bizarre as it may seem, the Church today is financing it’s ministries in this same bizarre fashion. We are using two separate statutes that are incompatible with one another to either govern or finance Church ministry. The Church body uses the Holy Spirit as our guide and our counsel. He is responsible for ordaining evangelists, teachers, apostles, and prophets; and yet we use a different tax code to pay for the service of these offices.

Instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to finance the same ministries that He governs, we use the tithing tax code to pay for them. Since the law used tithing to support the Levites and a type of priesthood that does not exist today; why do we use tithing to support ministries that have no connection with the law still? Here’s my objections:

The tithing law does not know how much resources are needed to run Spirit led operations.

Let me give a practical example. The U.S. Constitution delegates specific powers to our government. So naturally, our constitution delegates funding for it’s own operations. We couldn’t use the financial data from European laws to pay for U.S. government operations. So, how can we use tithing laws to finance the operations that the Holy Spirit has delegated? Tithing has no ability to predict the amount of resources that the Holy Spirit needs.

Also, what better way to confirm that a ministry was  called by the Holy Spirit, then by the same Spirit calling us to give to support it?

The Spirit led Church has no influence or authority over the tithing laws

Let’s just hypothetically say that in the Old Testament, Roman laws distributed a tithe proportionately to 10 levitical districts. What influence would the Levites have over these Roman laws if they felt a change in finances was necessary? The Levites do not have any authority over the Roman government, let alone any of the benefits of Roman citizenship. The needs of each levitical district varies year after year, but the Levites are stuck with the proportions delegated by the Roman laws.

Today, the Spirit led church has no influence over where their tithe must go. You may think that my claim is biased since the church leaders distribute the tithe and offerings after each Sunday. But I’m not talking about what Church leaders do with what others have given. I’m talking about what you do with what God has given you. You and I are the Church. Pastor Bob and his staff is not the entirety of Church operations.

According to most tithe teachers today, our tithe belongs in the local church storehouse. So, if we were to give our 10% anywhere else besides the local church, then we would be in danger of putting ourselves under the Malachi 3 curse. In some cases, our extended family could use some help with groceries this week, but choosing where our tithe can go is not our decision to make. We have no authority to change where the tithe must go, because neither the Holy Spirit, nor your ambitions have no authority to change it.

Even though Christians are to be led by the Spirit of God, what tithing really means is that once you’ve achievedthe minimum guidelines and standards, you are finally free to be Spirit led. Until then, you are under the authority of something other than the Holy Spirit.

Both the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant operations have different duties to fulfill

I’ve already stated that tithing was used to support the Levitical system and a type of priesthood that does not exist today. Tithing financed the duties of Levites in the Old Testament who held governmental positions, couldn’t own land, were guards, and also treasurers of the cities. The tithe in the Old Testament was their government welfare system and also funded multiple yearly festivals. The tithe did not pay for any salaries, nor did the tithe did not go towards any buildings or programs.

There is no way that tithing could have been integrated into a completely different New Testament system without any instructions in the bible on how to modify or migrate tithing into the Spirit led Church. The new testament Church is not the old testament system donning a new costume; so why should tithing be slipped under the cloak of the New Covenant legislation?

In the Old Testament, worship for the Israelites, Levites, and Priests was instructed through the Law. There was no question as to who was to serve, where you were to serve, and how long. This systematic worship, and governance made it quite simple to use a tithe to finance these straight-forward instructions. If the new covenant had laws that dictated who the ministerial class was going to be, as well as where and when they served; then i could see no problem with implementing a systematic way of financing that legalistic operation.

In the New Testament, because we all participate in the operations of priestly worship, our duties are not clear-cut for us. We are all given gifts that differ according to the delegations of the Holy Spirit. Since we all have duties of the priests, there is no Levitical class, there is no priestly portions. We do not have instructions written on who is to serve, how long, or where. The Holy Spirit is spontaneous, and radical. But please take note, that we have the responsibility to develop plans and create order. Spirit led giving is not the presence of anarchy and chaos.

The Holy Spirit and tithing are just incompatible

You cannot use water to fuel a combustion engine, and neither can we expect tithing to fuel the Spirit filled Church. The restrictions of tithing make it impossible to coordinate with the spontaneous and radical movements of the Holy Spirit. You cannot expect a dead, static law, such as tithing, to be fully compatible with a living, spiritual organism.

God’s children are born of the Spirit, so the letter of the law is dead. Nothing screams “letter” more loudly than prescribing a mathematical formula for our worship towards God. Seriously, what other aspect of our worship are we obligated to perform a minimum standard? Name me one – praying, serving, preaching, witnessing, attendance . . . ? Also, name me one spiritual gift, besides giving, where there is a minimum standard attached to it? Could tithing be any less discreet about it’s form of legalism? Tithing IS the definition of legalism! The letter and the Spirit do not mix.

Conclusion

Could you imagine if God told the Church to use the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the ministries in His Church? It sounds ludicrous! So, stop trying to be a church that is governed by Julius Caesar and be a Church that is governed by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God – Jesus Christ.

Related posts:

1. Tithe Definition
2. Spirit Led Giving Defined
3. Holy Smoke Whatever Happened to Tithing

You know of anyone who has been addicted to drugs? I’ve had a couple family members that had been on drugs for quite some time. It’s a sad thing to see. The worst part happens when they need a fix and can’t get their hands on their drugs. They break out in sweat while worry, fear, anger, and panic overcome them. Manipulation and rage are usually the consequences of their complete dependence. For those of you who might not understand; your brother or your sister, whom you’ve known your whole life, might as well be your enemy. They will do the most vile and manipulative things to you and your family in order to get their fix. My cousin (who is dead now), at one time stole all his brothers and sister’s presents on Christmas eve and sold them to buy his drugs! I don’t want to go on an anti-drug rant here, but i do want to show you the affects of addiction.

Many times, in my discussions about tithing, i get a lot of comments about how all the churches would close their doors and all the pastors would leave if we did not have tithing. They feel that the survival of the Church is completely dependent upon the enforcement of the tithing law. Without this tithing law, the church would just shrivel up into nothing. Just the thought of getting rid of tithing causes panic.

Many are so absorbed into the enforcement of the tithing law, that they do not even realize that they are many examples in the bible of ministries thriving without any signs of the tithing being enforced. As a matter of fact, there’s no sign of tithing in the new testament to support any ministry. Not that the absence of tithing is argument for my beliefs, but the fact that people can’t believe the Church can operate without tithing is ignorance to me.

These people are so addicted to tithing that they will come up with the most manipulative things to say in order to get you to tithe. They will threaten you with excommunication, curses from God, and even losing your salvation.

I have enough to worry about with my own finances let alone worrying about some church keeping open their doors.

Let me share a part of my testimony. I lived in a home and a church that always tithed, so as i grew up, i did so as well; even without question. So as i was confronted with the challenge to defend tithing, i began study on my own what the bible had to say. My mind quickly changed about what i believed about tithing.

Although i knew tithing was not commanded, i struggled with the truth for a while. It took me a while to get over the shallow guilt and my conscience. As i look back, it’s sad to see the bondage that i was under. As a former addict, I truly felt that i was a slave, and now i finally feel how it is to be free.

One look at the bible, and you can tell that money is an important subject. It is the most talked about subject in the bible. Because of the bible’s emphasis on finances, and the ability for materialism and money to corrupt, i began to feel that tithing is probably the number one vice of the church. I began to see how churches were so addicted money and the power of tithing to produce it. It is almost as if they would go through withdrawal if tithing were relinquished.

Why is the Church so addicted to money? Is tithing our way of manipulating our brothers and sisters every week so that way we can get our fix? Not that money is evil but can you and i really live off of every word from the mouth of God, or must we feed the money monster ever week in order to get through our withdrawals? I don’t know, you tell me!

Related posts:

1. Definition of Tithing Principle
2. Should the Church Teach Tithing
3. Debating Tithing Arguments

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1. Another Video on Tithing – God Pie
2. Tithe Phobia Video
3. Tithing Tricks Video

• If it weren’t for the blood of Jesus he (creflo) would hold people at gun point to give a tithe.
• If you take the time to tithe correctly it’s impossible to go to hell
• Tithing will keep you in heaven and in the presence of God
• The only way you are going to be healed is through the tithe

This tithing rant by creflo dollar just makes me sick.

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budget planner – Mint.com

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Do we rely on it too much?

How much is too much? Truthfully, I don’t know. I believe that God gave us resources to use as tools to reach people. So, I’m not one of those who believes that we shouldn’t advertise or build church buildings just because you can’t find a verse for it in the New Testament.

I am worried that we rely too much on our advertising to attract others to the city on the hill instead of using the light to attract. What i mean is that our actions should shine a light that reflects Jesus Christ onto the world. Advertising is not bad as long as those who come get some light when they show up. If you use advertising to bring people there, and promos to keep people there, then that’s when i believe we rely on it too much.

Wood, hay, and stubble make can make a lot of light when they are burned, but the fire only lasts for a few moments. On the other hand – gold, silver, & precious stones emit an everlasting glow, and do not decay. How much light would your fellowship have once the flare, and blazes of your promotions burned out? If i say it more directly. . . how much light does your fellowship once the flare of the Sunday performance ends?

Do we spend too much on it?

I realize there is no price limit on how much we should spend to gain 1 soul. But the opposing truth is that if all we had to do was spend money, then i think we would be a lot more successful then we have been. As stewards of God’s kingdom, i think there’s one word to sum up our role – investors. A steward is much more than a person who can keep his master’s possessions safe. A good steward uses wisdom to multiply his master’s wealth.

This is my opinion, but i believe we spend too much money on those who we think are going to deserve God’s grace. We love investing in the middle-class American. If we had to advertise to the poor, then our advertising would be most effective through charitable actions. Advertising to the poor takes a lot of humility, time, and has very little recursive benefits.

One of our struggles as humans is to see the potential that some earthly investments have over others in heaven. That’s why I think most of us are complacent with putting more  money in advertising dollars than in humanitarian efforts. The truth be told, if we wish to advertise Jesus the Christ, find out how Jesus asked us to advertise. And then advertise your advertisement. Make sense?

Is Marketing Evanglism?

I don’t think that advertisements need to have a gospel presentation embedded in it. So, maybe this is one of those gray areas. I think the bottom line with advertising is that we should be seeking the lost, or those who need Christian fellowship and accountability. It seems that some churches really lose site of that.

Some churches think their advertising campaign is a PR tool to promote their popularity. It says nothing about Jesus Christ, and when you go to their advertised events, still nothing is said about Jesus Christ. More or less, it’s either a self help seminar, a warm and fuzzy message, or a concert. I think my statement above applies well to this. Find out what Jesus asked us to advertise, then advertise that.

Maybe it’s OK that our goals are strictly for social reasons instead of Gospel reasons? Maybe we can advertise concerts just to break down social barriers – so that people know Christians can have fun as well? Must we always be on the offensive as Christians? I know I am asking a lot of questions, but like i said, there can be a lot of gray areas when it comes to this topic. I don’t think i have this all figured out yet.

What are the pros and cons?

The Pros

1. It spreads awareness – There’s nothing wrong with telling people – this is what we do, and this is where we stand.

2. It nags people – The consistent reminder here and there wouldn’t hurt.

3. You can focus on certain demographics – Targeting age groups and certain cultures is an effective way to communicate that visitors  will feel welcome and comfortable around those who are like them.

The Cons

1. It costs money – According to Center for Church Communication in 2005 “80% of churches spend less than $10,000 on marketing and promotions each year (includes bulletins, newsletters, web sites, mailings, etc.)”. That figure seems lower than i expected. Don’t know how they come up with their numbers.

2. It’s used as bait – Usually you are not going to advertise the penalty of sin, and that we all deserve to burn in hell. More than likely you are going to advertise a concert, some self help sermons, or a pot-luck dinner or something.

Conclusion

I don’t think I’ve come to any solid conclusions here. Like i said, i have questions, and i see a lot of gray areas. I think this is partly because i don’t believe that Church is an event that occurs on Sundays. So, why should we judge how we prepare for that day different than we would any other day. The important thing is that we are a family, but there’s no laws against using business techniques. Bottom line- Christians have a job to do,- we have the liberty to use resources to get the message out- and we should be wise stewards.

Do you have any Pros or Cons that you wish to add to churches spending money on marketing? Do you think i was wrong with my analysis anywhere?

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1. The Invisible Church
2. House Church Attendance Puts the Pressure on Conventional Churches and Its Finances
3. Invisible Church – Hunger

The Yahoo Group was started in 2005 and was started by George Fox. Currently there are 145 members. The Google group was started in 2007 and was started by me. Currently there are 133 members. The sign up boxes are in the right hand column of this page.

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