So my question is, I'm ok with giving tithe to church but I'm not OK with giving ALL my monies to church. How the heck would I survive? How would I buy my Prada and Gucci?

And de1929, don't you start with "prosperity gospel", I would knock your teeth off!! JK dude.

hmmm I never did ask you this: but what are you doing here in Malaysia?

I worked here. I like it here. Plus, Bak Kut Teh, teh tarik and roti canai are my favourite food here, you can't find that in Germany.

I don't think God wants you to give all your finances to the Church. Where got such a thing?

Tithe is the only requirement.

Yeah I know but I came across some people with "de1929 mentality" that asked to give all their belongings to church. De1929, I like to used you for my example. Mohon maaf pak.

Maybe its a cult church. Anyway, I left that church aeons ago.

Giving beyond your tithe to the Church is a conviction between you and God.

When a believer does this, He should do it willingly and cheerfully not forcefully.

I don't think I've come across any Christian who's forced to do it unwillingly.

Got wan. Either cult or family pressure /bricked

Yeah, I believed that too.

But what I find strange amongst local Church go-er is during the tithing session, they seem to really grasp the bank note really tight, as if not willing to let go.

And when the tithe bag would come to that particular person, he or she would put his / her hand deep down into the bag.

I would just give whatever money that I have in my purse, be it RM50, RM10 or whatever amount.

Again, I hope I don't offend anybody here, maybe its just my imagination.

Then it's not right. God never forces anyone.

Even for a miracle, Jesus did ask the blind beggar, What do you want me to do for you?

He's a gentle God.

I believe tithing is an act of worship. I give my tithes unquestioningly whether I'm financially tight or not. I don't care if the amount is huge in thousands, I give because I believe in tithing.

For me fundamentally Tithing is important.

but beyond that, What I mean is, beyond the Tithe amount which could be offerings or pledge, I don't advise my fellow Christians to feel condemn if they don't give. Give with a cheerful heart, even if you don't give, don't feel guilty and don't feel condemn. It's not right.

What's your job ah? are u an expat?

How about organization that auto-deduct your salary for tithing? There's such a thing too.

I don't feel that's right because like you said, a person should give willingly.

Draughtswomen. But I'm a qualified civil engineer. I'm lazy to work outdoor. I hate the sun. haha...

The part I mention on willingly is for beyond tithing. I see Tithe as fundamentally important.

I may step on some toes about tithing because not every Christians understand what tithing is all about.

There are different opinions saying tithing is under Law, we are under grace, therefore it's not a commandment.

We're no longer bound to tithe.....If only they knew that Tithing existed way before the Law was given.

Abraham tithe 10%....even though there's no Law to force him or commanded him, think about it. I believe Abraham understood tithing. Though not recorded but I believe He got the revelation, the reason why to Tithe and that reason is consistent with the Book of Malachi.

So you're saying tithing is Old Testament law. So, the modern churches nowadays applied the old biblical concept of tithing and offering and used the "minimum 10% rule"?

I'm not familiar with Malachi.

But sometime we give more than 10%, and sometimes we don't. But most importantly we give because we love God.

Tithe means a tenth which is 10%.

In ancient times before money existed people tithe with whatever goods their hands produce.

Today we tithe with our Finance resources because bartering goods has been replaced with money.
We no longer work for exchange of goods but salary, so we tithe from our Salary.

Offering is whatever that is given beyond the 10% of our tithes, that is the difference.

Saying we tithe because we love God is not scripturally correct imo.

We tithe because it's a proclamation of our Faith in God. It's an act of worship of trusting God.

Trusting God in what?

Trusting God that He will protect our finances from being devoured by the enemies and
Trusting God that He will open the windows of Heaven and Bless us because we tithe.

OIC. I trust God over my finance.

but do you know how does that work?

(gee I'm teaching bible lesson in wee hours of the morning )


Romans 11:16 - If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Do you know that when you offer the first fruit of your tithe to God, it becomes Holy? When the first fruit becomes Holy, the whole batch is also holy, which means the rest of your money is also considered Holy to the Lord? What is Holy to God, the Devil cannot touch*.

I'm going to skip explaining in detail and say this in conclusion, hopefully those who read will be patience with me.

God ordained Tithing for our sake. It is for our benefit. Why? Because for one, God doesn't need our money.
Neither is He demanding money for himself. How can we give physical money to a Spirit God? Besides the whole Earth belongs to God, all the cattles, the Hills, the gold, the silver..all Belongs to the Almighty. How can we give something that already belong to God in the first place? (This is a bit deep, but think about it)

If God is not in need of our Money..then why does He command us to tithe?

When you study scripture, after understanding the reason, you will come to realize, he ask us to do this is more for our sake.

So that there resources for God's people in God's Kingdom (Malachi 3:10)
To protect us from the curse of barren or fruitless (Malachi 3:9 relating to Malachi 3:11)
That He'll open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing (Malachi 3:10)
That's He'll rebuke the devourer for our sake (Malachi 3:11)

Even the phrase "for our sake" (Malachi 3:11) is clearly emphasize by the HS in this passage.

He is a good God, Tina, He's not after our money. Tithing is really for our benefit. It will be inappropriate for a Righteous God who cannot lie to say
so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it (Malachi 3:10) to hoodwink or tempt us to give. Even if not for those reason, it's not appropriate for a Holy God
to say such things. but He did. So I'm far convince tithing is really for our sake!

Edit: Disclaimer: *Not unless you allow the enemy to by the way of distrust or unbelieve.

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Jan 10 2015, 10:59 AM

oh... miscommunications... i tought "you, salary man" means me the salary man.

therefore, for salary man i think it much simpler right from budgeting perspective , every month you know what you will have at end of month. business man not, depends on market.

I think UW already highlighted before my post here 10% tithe, so always think about 90% as disposal income.

Basicly the best practice is not to get loan, but live in the budget.

why ?

it's better to use monthly installment to invest in church ... so if you plan to get a car and the installment is RM500, why don't you give RM500 monthly instead ? in addition to 10% or not it's up to you and GOD... ask HS.

if you do loan, on the long run you always pay more than principal. e.g. loan 10k for car for 10 years, after 10 years sure pay at least 15k.

but if you invest in church, GOD will multiply it. How much, it's up to GOD ... not up to us, but there is part that we have to do (just listing):
1. use new mindset
2. use faith
3. Trust in GOD timing

as promised: i will post more about investing in church later on..

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but i need car now... it's urgent... i live far from work... perhaps you can start with this cheap motorcycle, if cannot afford RM5000 old kancil...

http://www.mudah.my/Yamaha+sport+100-32275488.htm

funny enuf GOD just wake me up in the morning to write about investment in church hahaha ...