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TITHE

God promises to rebuke the devourer for tithers. Devourer. That's an interesting word. A word that makes me think immediately of the Tasmanian Devil. Not Bugs Bunny's nemesis, but the animal that haunts the dark nights of the island.

The devil is about the size of a cocker spaniel, but don't let its size fool you, its bite packs the same power of an animal four times its size. It has a unusually large head and a mouth that when it is unhinged shows a set of teeth designed to mutilate its prey and frighten its predators. It is an eating machine. In 30 minutes, it can eat up to 40% of its body weight, and when it eats, it devours the entire carcass, bones and all.

It is a devourer.

When God promised to rebuke the devourer for tithers. I don't think He had the Tasmanian Devil in mind when He made that promise. He had things in mind like greed, selfishness, impulse consumerism and waste—things that can destroy people's resources and squander their opportunities.

The very act of giving a tithe is an act of faith. It affirms the belief that living on 90% with God's blessing is better than living on 100% without it. But it also acknowledges our dependence on God and welcomes His protection

—http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues02/feb02/devil.html Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Malachi 3:11 NASB "Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the Lord of hosts.

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TITHE

In 2000 the average non-churchgoer gave 1.3% of their income to charity. How much do you think the average churchgoer gave? Another way to ask that question, is how much difference does faith really make in how generous a person is? The answer: 2.3%. Times haven't changed since Malachi's day have they? We still need to hear the message, bring the WHOLE tithe into the storehouse.

—Reader's Digest, November 01, p. 172 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Malachi 3:10 NASB "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'"

TITHE

In his book, "The Final Tithe: A Christian Approach to Estate Planning", J.D. Rollyn H. Samp writes, "...only six percent of active churchgoers leave anything to religious institutions in their Wills."

—"The Final Tithe", p 4.

But those who do, experience a great sense of joy in doing so. One attorney said, "I have many clients who have decided to leave a 'final tithe'—90 percent to their kids and 10 percent to support Christian work. Many have given a larger percentage to continuing Christ's work. And I've had 100 percent who have done this express a sense of joy in making this decision. It doesn't matter if an estate is large or small. That final gift is a tremendous faith statement some people like to make."

—"The Final Tithe", p 48. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Deuteronomy 14:28 (Darby) "At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates;"

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TITHE

A local newspaper in Bedford, Indiana asked some local clergy about the tithe. Curtis Hurley, pastor of the First United Methodist Church said, "If every member gave a tithe we could fulfill all our dreams... that we're been prevented to do because of our limited budget."

—http://www.tmnews.com/articles/2005/12/23/sections/lifestyles/lifestyles50.txt Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

God's plan for church finance is for His people to support the ministry of the church with their tithes and offerings. If they don't, there won't be enough money to do the work.

Malachi 3:10 NASB "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'"

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TITHE

In his book, "Money, Possessions, and Eternity", Randy Alcorn writes, "If tithing is God's minimum expectation, can I afford not to tithe? Can I afford to rob God, or are there always consequences? Of course, there is one way to reduce my tithe, and that is to reduce my income. If my tithe seems to be a lot of money, I should praise God! It proves how abundantly he has provided."

—"Money, Possessions, and Eternity", p 189. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

2 Chronicles 31:12 (NASB) "They faithfully brought in the contributions and the tithes and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge of them and his brother Shimei was second."

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TITHE

Rich DeVos founder of the Amway Corporation says, "You should always set the tithe aside first, as soon as the money comes in. And make sure you tithe on the gross, not the after-tax net.

Don't think of it as your money. Think of it as the Lord's. If you don't claim it as your own, you won't miss it when you give it to God. But if you put it in your pocket first, it will be hard to give it away. Something inside you will say, No! That's my money! So tithe off the top—giving is easier when you set your tithe aside the moment you get it."

—How to Be Like Rich Devos: Succeeding with Integrity in Business and Life, p162. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Leviticus 23:17 (NJB) "You will bring bread from your homes to present with the gesture of offering—two loaves, made of two-tenths of wheaten flour baked with leaven; these are first-fruits for Yahweh."

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TITHE

In his book, "Daring to Live on The Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances", Loren Cunningham writes, "The New Testament rule is simple: everything you are and have belongs to God. And like Jesus, you are to ask the Father's direction in everything. Just say, 'Here I am, Lord. And here is all my money. What will You have me do?' When you see a need, ask if you are to give and how much. Obey the Lord. New Testament giving is based on total surrender, listening to the Lord and obeying whatever He tells you to do, then trusting Him to do what you cannot do."

—"Daring to Live on The Edge", p. 73. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Acts 4:33-37 (MaceNT) "Great was the power by which the apostles attested the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and they were all greatly favoured by the people. [34] for there was no poor among them, because as many as bad lands or houses, sold them, and brought the value, [35] which they laid down at the apostles feet: and they distributed it to every man as his occasions required. [36] among the rest one Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (that is to say, the son of consolation) a Levite, and a native of Cyprus, [37] sold an estate he had, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles feet."

TITHING

"Lord," I'd pray, "we're not making it. Everything we make is going to pay for Seminary and the new baby, we need more money."

We weren't economically challenged. We were flat broke. We were sharing a small apartment with several hundred cockroaches and often were only able to eat a partial meal each day. Times were tough.

The church I was pastoring was growing, but most of the new money was going into programs and for the new building we were planning. I took on some side jobs teaching Speech at a Christian school and substituting in the public school system to help ease the pressure, but we needed divine intervention. We were in over our heads.

When I prayed about our situation, I kept hearing God say the same thing-"increase your giving." "You've got to be kidding," I'd pray, "increase our giving? You don't understand, we need more money, not less."

We were already tithers, giving 10% of our income to the Lord, but now He was asking us to take a step of faith and increase our giving to be a tithe of our need, not our income. When I put a pencil to the paper, I calculated that we needed $12,000.00 more a year to make it, that meant, if we were to tithe on our need, we'd have to start giving an additional $100.00 a month.

Somehow we did it. Don't ask me how, I'm not an economist, all I know is we made it happen. Giving stopped being routine for us, it became an expression of faith. "God, this doesn't make any sense to me, but I feel like you've told me to do it, so here is our tithe on our need, not our income." I'd pray as I wrote out the check.

We didn't talk about it to anyone, we just did it. The next year the church gave us a substantial raise. More than I'd ever gotten before or since. The amount? You guessed it. To the penny!

-- Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

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TITHING

According to pollster George Barna, less than a tenth of born-again Christians say they give a tenth or more of their income to their church. In 2001, 14% clamed to be tithers, but in 2002, the percentage dropped to only 6%.

Why the dramatic decrease? Some would blame the scandals in the Catholic Church, others the economy or the uncertainty created by the terrorists’ attacks on 9-11.

—Leadership Journal, Fall 2003, p. 7 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

While any or all of those things could be a contributing factor, there is only one explanation: disobedience.

Malachi 3:10 NASB "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

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TITHING

Tithing has always been second nature to me, and my family has always given at least a tithe to the churches we’ve attended. Many of you have the same testimony, yet, according to the Barna Research Group, only 8% of American households tithed in 2001, and only 3% tithed in 2002. The percentage isn’t much better for those claiming to be born-again Christians. In 2001 14% claimed to tithe while only 6% made the same claim in 2002. The only explanation the research group gave for the decline was the priest scandals, terrorist attacks and the soft economy.

—Leadership Journal, Fall 2003, p. 7 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Those explanations ring hollow to me, because I don’t necessarily see the correlation between prosperity and faithfulness.

2 Cor. 8:1-5 (NASB) “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, [2] that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. [3] For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability they gave of their own accord, [4] begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, [5] and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.”

TITHING

According to George Barna, "Fewer than one out of every ten churched Christians donates at least 10 percent of their income to churches and other nonprofit organizations. (More than one-third claim to do so.)"

—"Revolution", p. 33. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Malachi 3:10 (GW) "'Bring one-tenth of your income into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,' says the Lord of Armies. 'See if I won't open the windows of heaven for you and flood you with blessings.'"

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TITHING

Most of us think that what we give is a private matter and is nobody's business but ours. The people at St. Mary's Church in Spring Lake, Iowa don't see it that way. They print the amounts people give in the bulletin each week.

—Reader's Digest, May 2005, p. 30. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Really, it doesn't matter if others know what we give our not, because God knows. And that is what really matters.

Mark 12:41 (TLB) "Then he went over to the collection boxes in the Temple and sat and watched as the crowds dropped in their money..."

Tithing

Ted Cruz, a prominent U. S. Senator who lauds himself as a representative of evangelical Christianity gave nothing to any church from 2006 to 2010. When asked the reason he replied that he and his banker wife were focused on building “a solid financial foundation to provide for my children.”  — Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

The Week, February 12, 2016 p. 16

Malachi 3:8–10 (HCSB) “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” You ask: “How do we rob You?” “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. ⁹ You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. ¹⁰ Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.